The Wyvern's Spur - Kate Novak [78]
"It feels funny," Giogi said, shifting it about on his head.
Cat laughed. "You'll get used to it," she said, steering him toward the dining room door.
Giogi turned the handle and led the enchantress in to dinner. The nobleman was heartened to see that their fancy attire had pacified Thomas considerably. The manservant dropped his earlier reserve and served dinner with considerable courtesy. Giogi caught the servant smiling at him once and sneaking appreciative glances at Cat often.
Thomas wished his master had removed the rakish jewelry in his ear and hair, but the headdress actually pleased the servant. He decided it gave Giogi a commanding air-something he'd always lacked. As for the woman, though her earlier slip in decorum marked her of "lower" birth, her speech revealed a certain amount of education.
He could easily see that his master's interest extended beyond the woman's ability as a spell-caster. It would be impossible not to do so. The woman's attractiveness startled Thomas each time he looked at her.
Ever alert to the dangers that beautiful women presented to a man of his master's fortunes, Thomas considered carefully what course he should take to ensure that Giogioni did not entangle himself with this woman on a personal level. Such a situation, he decided as he served the soup, could only lead to scandal.
The servant considered letting news of the woman's presence leak to Dorath, but he dismissed that idea almost immediately. Giogi's aunt would take too heavy-handed an approach, the kind that drove couples closer together. Similarly, Thomas realized while presenting the roast duck, a cautionary word of his own to the young nobleman could backfire drastically.
By the time he cleared the dinner plates and served the apples and cheese, Thomas felt the need to consult with someone who not onlv cared for Giogi, but who understood the subtlety of the situation, someone who could also keep an eye on Cat and make sure she wasn't using her magic to influence him. The servant realized that he would have to wait until later for such a consultation, after Giogi had retired.
"So," Cat began after Thomas had retreated to Servant Land for the final time, "this man you went to see, Sudacar, couldn't tell you how your father used the spur?"
"No, but we think my father could use it to fly."
"It must have more power than that," Cat said after sipping her brandy, "or Flattery wouldn't have sent me after it. He can already fly."
"Well, Sudacar suggested I speak with Mother Lleddew. She adventured with my father once, so she may know something more."
"Who is Mother Lleddew?" Cat asked.
"The high priestess of the House of the Lady. That's our temple to Selune. I hiked all the way up there tonight, by the Immer Stream path. It got dark, and I fell in the stream. I told you that already."
"That's when you were attacked by the lacedons but were saved by the bear," Cat said, remembering.
"Yes. One of them scratched me right across my face-the lacedons, not the bear. Then, when I got to the temple, there was a girl." Giogi knit his brow. "I didn't think about it at the time, but that girl did look like the Cledwyll statue, except much younger. Since the guardian said I'd been kissed by Selune, I sort of associated this girl with Selune, since she healed me with a kiss, and then-poof!-! was home. Oh, but first she told me Mother Lleddew wasn't there, and that I should try tomorrow. It was all very strange after the fight with the undead. Do you think I imagined it all?"
"Well,…" Cat hesitated and looked down at her lap, then she looked up again. "Do you know what adventurers mean when they say someone was kissed by Selune, Master Giogioni?"
"Well, Selune is the goddess of the moon, so I thought it meant I was born under a full moon or something. Sort of like being