Before she could say anything else, there was a knock on the door, and Dietrich strode in.
“Ah, good. I was looking for you, Beatrice,” he said. “I was hoping that we could go over plans for setting up a guard around the place. They may not be able to help with magical problems, but if the sorcerer arrives with men of his own, we can make sure that we are at least protected on a human level.” Dietrich looked at Alexander. “What do you think?”
Alexander turned and glared at Beatrice.
“Alexander may be having a little difficulty speaking at the moment,” she said in a measured tone that didn't at all imply that she was at fault.
Alexander glared at her some more.
“I am hopeful that his voice will return to him momentarily,” Beatrice said with a grin.
“What did you do?” Dietrich asked, sighing. “I'm sorry, Lord Dunham. She is quite a troublemaker. I should have warned you before you married her.”
Alexander sighed and rolled his eyes.
He would have married her anyway, but it would have been nice to know that she had a devious side before he did. He would have been more prepared for her to do something like have him drink a potion that would take away his voice.
Fortunately, it was only a little while before Guinevere came scurrying back into his study with another potion for him to try.
He held his breath as he accepted it. Should he even attempt to try this one? If he didn’t, he wouldn’t be able to speak…but who knew what would happen after he drank this one?
And if he didn’t drink it, he wouldn’t have to taste that awful mess again.
But it wouldn't do for him to be mute for the rest of his life.
He closed his nose and took the potion in one big gulp. As it slid down his throat, it burned. Was it going to make his situation even worse?
His stomach began to rumble as it bubbled inside him. If he’d thought the first one tasted like frogs, this one tasted even worse.
He gagged and turned to Beatrice and Guinevere. He didn't want to open his mouth, fearing his voice wouldn't work, but he did.
“That is the most awful tasting thing I have ever tried in the world. Why on earth did you make me do that?”
He couldn’t stop more words from pouring out. “I can't believe you took away my voice with the first potion, and then the second potion to make it come back was even worse. What am I supposed to do now? I'm just going to keep talking about it because I can't seem to stop talking. Guinevere, what did you do to me?”
Guinevere, Dietrich, and Beatrice stared at him in horror.
“Somebody give me another potion. I don't want to be talking like this for the rest of my life. Beatrice, this is your fault. What happened? Go find that book you found. Where is it? I need to find the recipes and make it so you can make me stop talking because I can't make myself stop talking and this is going to drive me mad, and it's going to drive you mad, and it's going to drive Dietrich mad, and Guinevere mad, and the whole world mad because I can't stop talking and nobody is going to want to be around me and I am going to be sick of myself.”
Beatrice turned to Guinevere, who shrugged.
“Somebody figure out right away how to make this stop before I have to start screaming.”
“Why don't you talk to Rose?” Beatrice suggested, picking her from her spot on his desk and shoving the kitten into his lap as all three of them scurried out of his study.
Alexander kept talking to the kitten, the words driving him wild as he couldn't stop talking. Rose stared at him in the way only a cat could, asking silently if he had truly gone mad. He tried to explain to the kitten what was going on, but he wasn't sure she understood any of it because, frankly, he didn't understand it either.
As he kept talking and talking, his voice began to grow hoarse. He stumbled to the door and yanked on the bell pull.
Jenkins popped his head in and Alexander said, “Would you please get me some tea?” before turning back to the cat andbeginning to talk to her again, hoping that Jenkins wouldn't realize he couldn't stop talking.
This was worse than the silencing potion from before. How were they going to turn this off, and what was it going to do to his tongue? Would he be able to speak after this at all? Would he even want to hear himself talk?
Maybe it would be enough for him to be quiet forever. Maybe he didn't need the silencing curse broken, maybe he could just be quiet for the rest of his life. That would suit him better than the never-ending monologue.
Jenkins came in with the tea and stared at him curiously as he poured it, while Alexander continued his monologue to the cat. “Thank you, Jenkins,” Alexander said, before returning to Rose and telling her a story about his childhood when he had been playing with some kittens of his.
It was more information than had come out of him in years. But since he couldn't stop talking, telling his kitten about cats seemed like a decent enough way to pass the time while he waited for the others to come back with a potion that would hopefully stop the issue.
