“Do you think we will read all the journals along the aisles today?” Samantha asked.
“We do not have many more to go,” Petra said. “And I will be glad to know everything that is contained on those shelves.”
Maia snorted. “I will never remember. There should be a list somewhere to keep from having to search.”
“Once the items are reviewed, there are still shelves of books that are full of spells from the past few centuries,” Petra said to which Maia groaned.
“If it were just the veiling spell, I would ask you to quit because there is too much to read,” Antonia said. “I was given this gift, and perhaps this is how it is meant to be felt and I’ll just need to accept it.” Though she really would like some relief so that she could enjoy at least one ball.
“We would still look for that even if that was all,” Maia insisted. “But curing my cousin is also important. I don’t think I want Chedworth to be a werewolf.”
“I appreciate your concern,” Chedworth nearly snorted.
“It is far more important than the veiling spell,” Antonia insisted.
“True,” Maia admitted. “We would need to build a cage in the cellar, I suppose, and lock him away every full moon.”
“That would be dreadful.” And he’d likely never forgive her.
“Yet, it may be required,” Chedworth said quietly, and Antonia truly hoped that it never came to be.
“Not necessarily true,” Lady Wharton offered. “Do any of you know how the werewolf, or a Lycan, came about?”
Antonia did not know and glanced at her friends.
“I remember hearing something of the legend but cannot recall the details,” Petra admitted.
“Lycaon was a king of Arcadia and one night Zeus visited Arcadia in human form and then revealed himself as a god. While the people worshipped Zeus, Lycaon mocked them. He served a meal which included human flesh to Zeus and then intended to kill him in his sleep.”
Antonia lost her appetite and pushed her plate away.
“Zeus became aware of the trick Lycaon was trying to play on him and knew what was served to him. Furious, Zeus, in turn, and as punishment, transformed Lycaon into a wolf who then ran over the plains, howling when he attempted to speak. Zeus also destroyed Lycaon’s house with thunderbolts.”
“Ah, I think I recall reading the tale,” Maia said.
“Lycaon’s transformation into a wolf is found in Ovid’s and Pausanias’ versions of Greek history.” Lady Wharton smiled. “What others consider Greek mythology.”
“Is a cure mentioned in either story?” Antonia asked. Had they been looking in the wrong place? Should she be reading one of the ancient texts instead?
“Not one that would help my nephew,” she answered. “Unless he wished to wait seven more years.”
That was not even to be a consideration. They needed to reverse the spell before the twenty-seventh, and it was already the sixteenth.
“Why seven years?” Maia asked.
“If when the man is the wolf, he abstains from human flesh for seven years, he becomes a man again. But if he tastes human flesh, he remains a beast forever.”
Maia grimaced. “I do not think we need to worry about Philip doing that.”
“I would hope not,” Chedworth agreed. “Though as a wolf, if I was free, would I know better?”
“Thus, the cage.” Maia shrugged.
“I suggest we return to the vault as soon as we’ve finished breaking our fast,” Petra offered.
Antonia was no longer hungry given they’d just been talking about men eating humans.
Chapter Fifteen
