The Wyvern's Spur - Kate Novak [114]
Eager to get her hands on something the wizard truly desired, something she could barter for her memory, Cat didn't think twice about entering the secret door to the catacombs. It felt good to be away from the undead and free of Flattery's nerve-racking presence. She even enjoyed encountering some of the monsters that lived in the catacombs. They were awful, but at least they were alive; you could talk to them and bribe or trick your way around them.
Finding the spur missing came as a crushing blow to all her hopes. Finding her escape blocked hardly seemed to matter. Trapped inside those horrible tunnels, without even the comfort of having succeeded at stealing the spur, she wandered as aimlessly as any monster. As she wandered, Cat began to re-evaluate her last few months. She decided she could have done better.
Then she'd stumbled across Drone's nephew, Giogi. Giogi's offer of protection had been pretty amusing. Even if the nobleman found the spur, he didn't stand a chance against Flattery. She knew that Giogi's Uncle Drone could be a powerful ally, though. Flattery had taken the trouble to warn her how shrewd Drone was and how cleverly he'd warded the crypt against magical entry and scrying. After talking to Giogi, Cat fell upon a plan: In exchange for information on Flattery and his plot to steal the family's heirloom, Cat had hoped to get Drone's help stealing the crystal that held her lost memory.
To Cat, Drone's death had been nearly as big a blow as finding the spur missing from the crypt. Giogi's chances at finding the spur did not look very good to her, but he was her only hope. If Flattery found the spur first, she would have nothing to barter for the memory crystal-until the wizard found some other, possibly even more dangerous or distasteful, way for her to prove her "worth."
Then someone had tried to smother her in her sleep. In the moonlight it had looked like Flattery. Frefford and Steele Wyvernspur both resembled Flattery, but neither of them had any reason to kill her, and she doubted that either of them could walk through walls.
Flattery could have been playing some sick game or testing her loyalty. Or he might have decided to make himself a widower, in some mad fit of anger or jealousy, and then changed his mind.
On top of last night's shock had come Olive Ruskettle's accusations about Flattery killing that Jade person. Giogi seemed to trust Olive completely. At Thomas's mention of the halfling's name, the nobleman had raced down the stairs with positive excitement. No one challenged the halfling's claim to be a bard, even though Cat was pretty sure halflings were not accepted at barding college, but then Cat hadn't known that Harpers accepted halflings into their organization, either.
Then, when confronted with the accusation that he'd been responsible for Drone's death, Flattery not only did not deny it, but joked about it. That had been the final blow. Cat realized she was an absolute fool to trust him.
Finding the spur was no longer enough. She had to find the power to ensure herself against Flattery's power and deceptions. Olive Ruskettle's amulet of protection had been her first lucky break. The halfling convincing Giogi to bring her to Drone's lab had been her second.
Even if Drone's journal did not reveal information on the spur's whereabouts, Cat could loot from it enough magic to guarantee her survival.
And, if Giogi reaches Mother Lleddew in time to learn whatever she knows but which Flattery does not want Giogi to learn, then manages to bring that information back to me. Cat told herself hopefully, I may even have some power over Flattery.
The mage could not deceive herself about Giogi's chances, though. They were very, very small. He's so aimless and ridiculously romantic, she thought. One knock on the head, and he thinks he's been kissing a goddess, for heaven's sake. Even with a potion of superheroism in him, he's not likely to be much of a challenge against Flattery's hordes of undead. Still, I'm obeying