The Wyvern's Spur - Kate Novak [89]
"Yes. You didn't know? I thought Mistress Cat would have explained that," Olive said, though of course, she'd thought no such thing and would have been surprised to learn that Cat had told Giogi anything useful about her master.
Giogi turned to the mage beside him and waited silently for a denial, an explanation, an excuse. Anything.
Cat looked down at her hands. "I didn't know for certain. I just began to suspect it yesterday. He looks just like your cousins, Steele and Frefford. I was afraid that if you realized he was a relative, you might not take my side against him and let me remain in your protection."
Not very good at making up lies, are you? Olive thought.
Giogi looked wounded. "How could you even think such a thing?" he asked.
"You're always talking about how important your family is to you," Cat whispered. " 'Wyvernspurs look out for one another,' you said."
"But, you're family, too," Giogi protested.
"Suppose I weren't" Cat said.
"But you are," the nobleman insisted. "The guardian let you past, so you must be."
And I'm willing to bet, Olive thought, that that's not just because of your marriage to Flattery.
"But suppose I weren't in your family?" Cat insisted.
"It would make no difference," Giogi replied coldly, offended that Cat did not think more highly of his honor. "I'm not the sort of man who leaves young women in the hands of murdering wizards."
Cat looked down at her lap, unable to explain her anxiety. Giogi sat stiffly beside her, no longer holding her hand.
You've made a miscalculation, woman, Olive chided Cat mentally. You knew you couldn't tell Giogi that he's fallen in love with another man's wife. He might have accepted your not confiding in him, but, by suggesting he might turn you out, you've wounded his pride.
He's not suspicious of her, but at least she's on the defensive, Olive thought triumphantly.
"Anyway, you are a member of the family," Giogi insisted as if reminding himself he still had a duty toward her. "As a Wyvernspur himself, Flattery must have a record of the missing branches of our family tree. That's how he knew it would be safe to send you in after the spur."
Olive nodded, then caught herself. She wasn't supposed to know Cat had been in the crypt. "Do you mean to say Flattery had Mistress Cat steal the spur?" she asked, acting surprised.
Giogi flushed, realizing he'd just betrayed Cat. "Well, yes and no."
"My former master sent me after the spur, but it was gone when I got there," Cat explained hurriedly. "You see, their family crypt has a secret door, which opens-"
"Every fifty years," Olive concluded with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Yes, we know about that as well. What I don't understand is why Flattery sent you after the spur."
The question that had plagued Olive occurred to Giogi in a flash. "Yes! If Flattery is a Wyvernspur, why didn't he just go after the spur himself?" Giogi asked.
"If we knew the answer to that question, Master Giogioni," Olive announced, "we might just know how to defeat Flattery."
14
Breakfast Talk
Thomas knocked and entered the parlor. "Breakfast is ready, sir. Shall I set an extra place for Mistress Ruskettle?"
"Oh," Giogi said, turning from Thomas to Olive. "Would you do us the honor of joining us?" he asked.
"That would be most convenient," Olive replied. "We have much to discuss." Another breakfast couldn't hurt, she thought. It'll be different, at any rate, from eating all that hay and grain he's fed me.
"Yes, Thomas. Three for breakfast," Giogi replied. The nobleman stood and offered Cat his hand. After the mage rose to her feet, however, Giogi ushered her ahead and waited for Olive to rise. He could hardly offer the halfling his arm, as she didn't stand any higher than his hip, but he walked beside her to the dining room.
As Olive and Giogi followed Cat to breakfast, the halfling could sense Cat's displeasure. Again she reminded Olive of the sorceress Cassana. Cassana never could stand any competition, no matter how small.
Thomas set out a high