The Wyvern's Spur - Kate Novak [129]
Cat burst into fresh sobs. Giogi pulled her to his chest and hugged her gently, whispering, "There, there, my little kitty-cat." Cat grew calmer.
"What's made you so sad?" Giogi asked.
"You're so nice," Cat said, sniffling.
"I could try to be meaner if it would make you happy," Giogi teased.
"No, you couldn't," Cat argued, looking up at him. "You wouldn't even know where to begin."
"Maybe not," Giogi agreed. "Would it make you cry more if I did something else nice?" he asked.
"Like what?" Cat asked.
Giogi lowered his lips over the mage's and kissed her slowly. Since she didn't start crying again, he kissed her again, longer.
"There. That didn't depress you too badly, now did it?"
"No," the mage admitted. "It wasn't stupid, either."
"Not if you liked it," Giogi said.
"And I can cry if I like, can't I?"
"Of course, but I'd rather see you smile." He began kissing her again, but she turned away and started to cry. "Cat, what is wrong? You have to tell me, darling."
Through her sobs Cat stammered, "Flattery told me crying was stupid, and kissing was stupid, and, and, other things I wanted were stupid. For the longest time, I believed everything he said, but he was lying, wasn't he?"
"Flattery is a vile monster," Giogi said hotly, "and the sooner you forget about him, the better. You won't ever have to see him again."
"You don't understand. He's my master-"
"Rubbish. You don't need a master. I can protect you."
Cat pulled away. "No, Giogi, you can't. You have to let me finish explaining. I have to tell you. He's my master, and I was afraid not to do everything he told me." Cat hesitated, obviously afraid to tell him what she thought he should know.
A cold fear seized Giogi. He swallowed. "Cat, what did you do?" he whispered.
"I married him."
Giogi sat, stunned. Immense relief mingled with acute heartache. He couldn't choose which to focus on first.
"I didn't know about all the people he killed," Cat said.
Giogi took a deep breath and asked, "Did you love him?"
"No."
Giogi breathed out.
"It doesn't matter, though. I consented."
"Of course it matters, and a vow made under duress is not valid."
"He didn't threaten me, Giogi. I was just afraid of him."
"What were you afraid of?"
Cat shrugged. "That he would sell me back as a slave to the Zhentil Keep army or turn me into one of his zombies or feed me to his ghouls."
"Oh, is that all?" Giogi asked, astonished at the horror in which she must have lived under the wizard's rule.
"Yes. I didn't want to die. I'm not afraid of being hit, but I am afraid to die."
"He hit you?" the nobleman shouted, rising to his feet.
Cat cringed, startled by Giogi's anger.
Giogi slammed his fist into an overhead beam. The wizard's villainy had no bounds. Someone had to stop him.
"I'm sorry," Cat whispered.
Giogi looked down at the cowering woman and felt ashamed of having frightened her. He took her hands in his own and brought her to her feet. "Don't be a little ass," he whispered. He kissed her on her forehead. "Come back to the house with me," he said.
Cat let Giogi lead her down the ladder and out of the carriage house. She walked alongside him through the garden, and he held the front door open for her as she entered the house. The couple hurried to the parlor, where it was warm. It was some time before they thought of Olive and wondered where she was.
*****
This is such a nice house for sneaking around in, Olive thought as she crept down the upstairs hallway after Thomas. Ought to make it a law-every wealthy house should have thick carpeting. She wished Jade were with her so she could share that joke with her.
Olive stood behind the attic door, listening to Thomas tread up the stairs. Third and fifth steps are a might creaky, she noted.
She opened the attic door a crack. The stairs were clear. She slipped into the stairwell and padded up the first two steps, tested the third along the side where there was less stress, climbed it and the next and then froze to listen.
She could hear Thomas's