The Wyvern's Spur - Kate Novak [44]
Olive stared at the nobleman in amazement. Don't you realize she's got to be the thief who stole the spur? Olive berated Giogi mentally. How can you stand there calmly feeding her cheese sandwiches? "I don't understand," Giogi said. "Uncle Drone said I wouldn't find the thief or the spur down here."
Olive huffed, wishing she could tell Giogi, Shake this woman down for the spur and turn her over to Lord Sudacar. Uncle Drone's made a mistake.
Cat held up her finger, chewed faster, and swallowed. Then she said with a grin, "Your uncle was right. You didn't find the thief or the spur."
"What are you doing in the catacombs if you aren't the thief?" Giogi demanded.
Cat took another large bite, chewed, and swallowed before answering. "Wishing I were the thief. You see, my master sent me here after the spur, but when I got up to your stupid family crypt, the thing was gone. Someone else took it. The door from the crypt to the upper mausoleum was locked, so I had to come back through the catacombs, and, like I said, some idiot-that'd be your uncle-blocked the stupid door to the outside."
"He's not my uncle, really," Giogi said. "He's, well, he was my grandfather's cousin, so that makes him my first cousin twice removed. We all call him uncle, though, because he's so very old." The young noble frowned suddenly. "You have a lot of nerve, you know, admitting you came to steal my family's most precious heirloom, and then insulting my relatives to boot."
"Well, I didn't steal your heirloom, now did I?" Cat pointed out defensively. "And if your uncle knew the thief with the spur wasn't in the catacombs, it was pretty idiotic to seal me up in here, wasn't it?" she asked before popping the remainder of the sandwich in her mouth.
"Uncle Drone is a sweet, gentle old man," Giogi declared with indignation.
"If you say so," Cat mumbled with her mouth still full. When she'd managed to swallow, she asked, "Do you have anything to wash this sandwich down?"
"There's tea," Giogi offered. He began reaching into the picnic basket for the tea jug but stopped short upon noting the disgusted look on Cat's face.
"Would you prefer water?" the nobleman asked. "Haven't you got anything stronger?" the sorceress asked with a sly grin.
Feeling rather odd, Giogi drew a silver hip flask from his back pocket and held it out. He'd never offered hard liquor to a woman before. "It's Rivengut," he warned. "Quite strong. Would you like me to water it down for you?"
Cat took the flask, unscrewed the lid, and took a long swallow. "No, thank you," she said with a cheerful smile. "It's just right."
Giogi blinked twice in astonishment, then he shook himself mentally. "Why did your master send you after the spur?" he asked.
Cat shrugged. "I have no idea. I just follow his orders. One doesn't ask men like Flattery to explain themselves. It's a good way to get oneself killed."
"But you could have been killed, anyway. The catacombs are full of dangerous creatures, and the guardian is supposed to slay anyone in the crypt who isn't a Wyvernspur. Did you really go into the crypt?"
"How else could I know the spur was missing? I never saw hide nor hair of any guardian. Are you sure your guardian's not a myth your family uses to frighten would-be thieves?"
Giogi shook his head. "She's not," he insisted. "If she didn't kill you, that must mean you're a Wyvernspur. We've always suspected there were missing members. What branch of the family are you from?"
"I'm a mage, not a family historian," Cat said with a sniff. You're too proud to admit that you don't know, aren't you, girl? Olive thought slyly. You think you're an orphan, just like Alias and Jade. Somehow, though, the guardian must have realized that you're connected to the Nameless Bard, who is a Wyvernspur.
"If your master, this Flattery person," Giogi said, "told you that the guardian wouldn't bother you, then he must have known you were a Wyvernspur."
Cat's brow furrowed with some thought. She looked down at her hands, as if to examine them for proof. "You could be right," she admitted