The Wyvern's Spur - Kate Novak [25]
"Me?" Giogi gasped.
"You," Sudacar replied, chuckling at the shocked expression on the young man's face.
Giogi had assumed he'd only been sent to find Alias in Westgate because he would recognize the sell-sword. It had never occurred to him that the king would ever require him on other missions. Apparently, finding the spur was no guarantee that his life would return to normal-the way it had been before last spring. "Wait a minute. How'd you know about the spur?' Giogi asked Sudacar. "You said Aunt Dorath wouldn't tell you what was going on?"
"I have my sources," Sudacar replied with a wink. "It's getting late. Time to go." He gave Giogi a pat on the back and strode south from the market square toward Redstone Manor. He called out, "Good night, Giogioni," before he disappeared into the darkness.
Automatically Giogi called back, "Good night, Sudacar." Sudacar had left him feeling bemused and astonished, but not in the least bit anxious. He headed west down the side street that led to his townhouse.
Tired and inebriated, the nobleman did not remember Drone's warning that his life might "just possibly" be in danger. Nor did he notice the sound of clattering hooves on the paving stones made by the angry beast following him.
5
Mistaken Identities
After failing to recognize Olive in her transmuted condition, Nameless continued his inspection of the stable. He searched methodically in grim silence, slamming each stall door a little harder than the last. Olive could sense the anger and frustration building in him. Pulling a needle-thin dagger from his belt, he jabbed it into any bag of grain or stack of hay large enough to hide a halfling.
Finally, when Olive began trembling at the thought that he might study her bestial form more carefully and realize he had her at his mercy, she heard the sound of someone unbolting the stable's front door. Nameless cursed and began muttering another spell.
The stable door opened, and a young woman carrying a lantern strode in. Olive recognized her as Lizzy Thorpe, the stable's owner. Whether Lizzy was aroused by the noise or was just checking on the animals wasn't clear, but when she spotted the cloaked figure in her stable without permission, she gave a shout. The cloaked figure vanished. Lizzy ran out, still shouting for help.
Olive noticed a peculiar churning of straw where Nameless had stood, and it moved down the center aisle to the stable's front door. Olive also sensed the floorboards shift slightly and heard them creak from the weight of a human.
He's gone invisible, she realized, but at least he's leaving.
Lizzy returned less than a minute later with two of the night watch. "He was standing right there when I came in," she told them, pointing to where the cloaked figure had turned invisible. Lizzy and the watchmen began to search the barn as methodically as Nameless had, though without his intense desperation.
Still hiding behind the sacks of grain, Olive heard Lizzy cry out, "Look what he's done to my wall. Left a bloody huge hole in it, big enough to ride a paladin's mount through!" The two guards made their way back to Snake Eyes's stall.
"Wood's just vanished, edges left smooth as butter cut with a hot knife," the older night watchman noted. "Looks like mage work to me. If it is magic, it'll fade, and you'll get your wall back, probably in an hour or two."
"You're lucky this pony had the good sense to stay put," the other watchman said. "Any horses missing, Lizzy?"
Before Lizzy noticed the addition of one small donkey to her stable, Olive snatched up Giogioni Wyvernspur's purse in her teeth and slipped quietly out the open stable door.
The halfling waited what seemed an eternity for Giogi to come out of the