The Wyvern's Spur - Kate Novak [56]
When I was younger, he thought, I had no trouble devouring a meal this size and asking how soon until tea. What's happened to my appetite? he wondered.
Conversation was suspended briefly while they ate, but Cat resumed her questions as they finished off the lemon tea. "If I must be a Wvvernspur because the guardian let me pass, then the spur's thief must be a Wyvernspur, too. right?" she asked.
Giogi nodded.
"How many of you are there?"
"Well, there's me and Aunt Dorath and Uncle Drone and Frefford and Steele and Julia, oh, and Frefford's wife and new baby daughter. That's all that's left of Gerrin Wyvernspur's line- that's old Paton's grandson. There must be other lines of the family. Gerrin had a brother. I can't remember his name, but, anyway, none of his descendants have kept in touch with the Immersea branch. We didn't even know if there were any, but the real thief must be one of them. You must be one of them, too," Giogi explained.
"I wouldn't know," Cat said with a disinterested shrug. "I'm an orphan," she explained.
Giogi gave the mage a sympathetic look. "I'm so sorry," he said.
"Why should you be?" Cat asked sharply, annoyed by what she thought was pity.
"Well, it's pretty awful being an orphan," Giogi replied sincerely. "I know. I'm one myself. My father died when I was eight. My mother died a year later, of a broken heart, they say. I miss them both."
The nobleman's tenderheartedness disturbed the mage. She explained hastily, "I don't remember my parents." She stifled a yawn.
"I shouldn't be keeping you from your nap," Giogi said. "I'll show you to your room."
"What will you be doing this afternoon?" the mage asked.
"Well, I'd like to visit Frefford's new daughter. Then-" Giogi hesitated, trying to decide what he could do. "I think I need to speak to someone who knows more about the spur."
"Who's that?" Cat asked, stifling another yawn.
"I don't know," Giogi replied. "There has to be somebody."
10
Cat's Master
From the journal of Giogioni Wyvernspur:
The 20th of Ches, in the Year of the Shadows
My Uncle Drone died this morning, apparently a victim of his own magic. No one will mourn his passing more deeply than I. Yet, I can't help feeling cross with him at the same time. It seems apparent he was involved somehow in the theft of the wyvern's spur. Since his very last message to me enjoined me to find the thief, however, I must assume he did not steal the spur himself.
It would have been an easy matter, though, for Uncle Drone to disengage the magical alarms that warn of intruders in the crypt, giving his accomplice the opportunity to sneak in.
The theft might have gone undiscovered for some time had it not been for the presence of a second thief, who did set off an alarm.
Since Uncle Drone was desperate enough to cast a dangerous spell to locate the spur, it's probable that his accomplice betrayed him. A disturbing idea, that, since the thief must have been another Wyvernspur.
Besides the problem of discovering the thief, I'm also left with the worry that my life still "might possibly be in danger," as Uncle Drone warned me last evening. That danger might be past now that I've returned safely from the crypt, but, somehow, I doubt it. I've just taken into my protection a young woman. Cat, whose former master, Flattery, is, according to Cat, "a powerful mage with a violent temper."
Flattery also wishes to obtain the spur.
I can't help thinking that to find the spur, I'll need to find out about its alleged powers. The guardian spirit in the family crypt might know, though I don't relish the idea of asking her. Aunt Dorath might know, too. I'm not certain I relish the idea of asking her, either.
Giogi leaned back in his chair and waved his quill idly in the air. Having settled his guest in her room, he'd returned to the parlor to make a quick entry in his journal