The Wyvern's Spur - Kate Novak [30]
Olive shook her head, unwilling to believe Nameless capable of such treachery as long as there were other possibilities in the Wyvernspur family. Giogi might know who those other possibilities were, she realized. Remaining with him would be my best opportunity to discover the identity of Jade's murderer.
And when I find out which Wyvernscum murdered my Jade, Olive thought, I can avenge her death.
Having settled her mind about Nameless and realizing that her transformation and captivity might have some tactical advantage, Olive's thoughts turned to more mundane matters. Her stomach was rumbling. She'd missed dinner, and her appetite had not diminished upon her transformation. She sniffed experimentally at the bucket of oats.
*****
Giogi tossed uneasily in his sleep. He was dreaming that he was soaring over a meadow on a spring morning. He knew that he was asleep. He hadn't the ability to soar over anything except dream things. Besides which, he'd had this particular nightmare before. That's why he tossed uneasily. While most people would find the beginning of this dream enchanting, or even exhilarating, Giogi was too well acquainted with the ending to appreciate the soaring part.
His chestnut mare, Daisyeye, galloped into sight beneath him. Giogi swooped down on the horse more silently than an owl on a rabbit. He sunk his talons into the mare's haunches and his fangs into her neck and snatched his prey from the ground. Daisyeye neighed in terror and pain as Giogi beat his wings harder and faster and climbed back into the air. The horse writhed in his grasp for a few moments, then went limp.
Giogi landed back in the meadow. Blood flowing from Daisyeye's neck and haunches steamed in the cool air. Her bones snapped as Giogi began swallowing her whole.
Giogi awoke with a gasp, trembling with fear. "Why me?" he moaned.
That was the question he'd been asking himself since he'd come of age and he'd started having the dream. At first, the prey in his dream had been wild creatures: stags and boars and mountain goats, and while the dream had disturbed Giogi greatly, at least he was accustomed to hunting such creatures for real-with a bow, of course. Ever since the dragon who'd waylaid him last spring had eaten the first Daisyeye-not Daisyeye II, who was safe in the carriage house-the prey in Giogi's nightmares had become Daisyeye. Like all Cormyrian nobles, he loved his horses, and the idea of slaughtering and devouring them appalled him.
Just to reassure himself, Giogi padded barefoot over to his bedroom window to look out at the carriage house, where Daisyeve was stabled. Giogi could make out the silhouette of the carriage house and see that nothing had burned it down or broken in looking for an equine snack. The moon had set, but the sky was not completely dark. The sun would be up soon.
"Oh, my gosh. I have to be at the crypt," Giogi remembered aloud.
*****
Thomas was awakened by a thumping noise followed by the clatter and clash of metal on metal, like the sounds made by gladiators battling in an arena. Thomas listened more intently, trying to determine if the noise wasn't coming from outside the house, created perhaps by a band of drunken adventurers with no respect for the conventions of town living-such as sleeping at night. A second thump and more bashing noises reached his ears. Now he was able to tell for certain that the disturbance came from within the house. The noise originated from his own kitchen.
It was early dawn, the sky just beginning to lighten to iron gray. Presuming the noises had been made by some very careless burglar, the servant picked up the poker from beside his fireplace and carefully eased open his bedroom door. A bright light shone across the hall. A very brazen, as well as careless, burglar, Thomas thought as he tiptoed to the kitchen door and peeked around the door jamb.
His kitchen was in complete disarray. Serving trays and mixing bowls lay scattered about the table and floor. All the cabinets stood open-most of