The Wyvern's Spur - Kate Novak [50]
Now, that has the makings of a good joke, the halfling mused. She studied the newcomer. He didn't have a mole like Steele, but he was just as young. His eyes weren't the right shade. Jade's murderer had ice-blue eyes, like Nameless's eyes. The eyes of the man before them now were definitely hazel.
Beside her Olive felt Cat start for a moment and gasp softly. Funny, the halfling thought, that's the same reaction she had when she got a good look at Steele. I wonder why.
"It's just my Cousin Frefford," Giogi explained. "Let me do the talking."
Cat relaxed instantly.
So, this is Frefford, Olive thought. Well, he's not the murderer. That leaves me with Uncle Drone.
"Good morning, Freffie," Giogi greeted his kinsman when they stood face to face.
"Good morning, Giogi. What happened to Steele?" Frefford asked.
Giogi sighed with exasperation. "He went in without me. I found him under a kobold trap. I thought I'd better get him back before exploring further. This young woman was in the graveyard. She offered to give me a hand with him. He'll be all right, I think. Freffie, how's Gaylyn?"
"She's fine," Freffie replied. "Mother and daughter are both fine." His grim tone, however, did not match his good news.
Giogi broke into a grin. "Congratulations' I'm so happy for you. But shouldn't you be with them?" Frefford's hard expression finally registered with Giogi. "Freffie, what's wrong?"
"Aunt Dorath sent me to fetch you and Steele," Frefford explained. He took a deep breath and put a comforting hand on Giogi's shoulder. "It's Uncle Drone," he said. "Aunt Dorath said he went to his laboratory to cast some awful spell. We looked everywhere for him, but he's disappeared. On the floor of his lab we found," Frefford's voice broke. He swallowed and continued. "All we found were his robes, his hat, and a pile of ash. Uncle Drone is dead, Giogi."
9
Drone's Last Message
Giogi felt as if he'd been pole-axed. The color drained from his face. He did not reply to Frefford's news at once, but stood looking out at the lake in the distance. Wind whipped his hair about his face, but he seemed not to notice.
"Giogi, are you all right?" Frefford asked, squeezing his cousin's shoulder gently.
"No," Giogi said. "There has to be some mistake. He can't be dead."
"I'm afraid it isn't a mistake. I'm sorry, Giogi. We all cared for him very much," Frefford said. "Come on, let's get off this cold hill," he suggested, pulling on his stunned cousin's arm, leading him down the hill.
Olive and Cat followed, with the disk carrying Steele trailing behind them. Frefford's and Giogi's cloaks whipped out behind them in a wind that swept up the hill. Olive glanced sideways at the mage and was surprised to see she wasn't shivering with only her satin robes to protect her from the weather. Cat was deep in thought.
I'll bet she's weighing her chances with Giogi without his Uncle Drone to protect her from her master, Olive thought.
What are the chances, she wondered, that Drone killed Jade and retribution caught up with him the very next morning? Olive shook her head. It hadn't seemed very likely that the old man Giogi had described as sweet and gentle would be Jade's murderer. Now I won't be able to identify Drone for sure, Olive realized, since he's been turned to a pile of ash.
A pile of ash-like Jade! Did Drone meet his fate at the same hands? Was the murdering Wyvernspur running around killing all of his kin? Olive trotted closer to Giogi and pricked up her ears to eavesdrop on the two men's conversation.
"How could this have happened?" Giogi asked, rubbing tears from his cheeks.
"We think he used a gate spell to bring in something dangerous and evil, then lost control of it, and the thing killed him"
"But he hated gating things," Giogi protested. "That spell always ages him horribly. Why would he do a thing like that?"
"To help him find the spur," the Wyvernspur lord explained. "You see, after the baby was born, Gaylyn and Aunt Dorath both wanted me to lend a hand