I closed the final door of this the hall and turned the corner, nearly stepping on the duke’s tail.
He twitched it out of the way at the last moment, while I teetered on one foot, trying not to step on a peer of the realm. The ridiculousness of the situation hit me, and I had to bite my lip, much as I had the night before, not to laugh at the duke. If I wasn’t careful, I wasgoing to try to scratch him under his chin or scoop him in my arms before I remembered who he was. He was such a . . . floof.
Then he spoke, that incongruously deep voice and bored drawl reminding me that he was not cuddly in the least. “Looking for something?”
“If I were, I’m certain it is in one of these rooms. Not that I’d ever find it. Do your guests generally like tripping over something with every step?”
His whiskers vibrated. “It makes them feel important.”
“It annoys me.”
“Hmm, then you must not be important, Miss Cardh.”
I snorted. “Or I recognize my own importance and therefore don’t need five ormolu clocks to bolster my ego.”
One black ear twitched. “Five?”
I pointed at the offending room. “Two on the mantle, two more on side tables, and one on the windowsill.”
“You can always change rooms if yours doesn’t have enough clocks.”
I gave the duke a look that made most men stammer and make their excuses as quickly as possible. It was more fun that way than pointing out that I wasn’t my twin and watching them flee just as quickly.
The duke was either made of sterner stuff than the men of Leort or he had a warped sense of humor. He chuckled. “Seriously, then. Were you looking for anything in particular?”
“Not anymore. I have a few questions for you.”
“Right now? It is barely past sunrise. I haven’t even had breakfast.” He unwrapped his fluffy tail from around his paws and rose, sauntering down the hall I had just come from.
I followed him back to the stairs he had led me up the night before. “Then why are you out wandering the halls?”
“To discover why you had decided to poke your nose in every room.”
“You knew what I was doing?”
He glanced back at me. “Are these really the questions you wanted to ask?”
“Not originally, but I don’t put a limit on the number of questions I ask. Every answer can help, and I never know which questions will turn out to be the critical ones, Your Grace.”
“I didn’t arrange for a mage to come to my home so she could badger me with questions. You are supposed to use your power to break my curse.”
I let him get several steps in front of me before following him down the stairs. “If I’m to have any chance of success, I need more information. So, I will start by asking questions.”
“Fine.” The duke sighed as he led the way to the nearest door. “But I want to at least get some breakfast while you pester me.”
The door stood slightly ajar, and he slipped inside without waiting for a response. I pushed the door open wider and saw a surprisingly simple dining room. The duke was already halfway to the far end of the table. As I watched, he reached the end and hopped up in front of the chair placed at the head of the table. He nodded at the chair to his right.
I glanced at the seven other seats, but saw no reason not to take the chair he had indicated. I sat down, then jumped when a bowl of porridge materialized in front of the duke. Concentrating, I heard the chime of node power when he twitched his paw and a pot of tea with four cups appeared next.
The duke narrowed his eyes at the empty cups. “I can call a full mug for myself no problem, but if I want a pot, the cups come empty.”
I reached for the teapot and poured two cups. I remembered the four cups on the tray in my sitting room. “I take it you can’t change the number of cups that come with the pot, either?”
“No. A pot of tea comes with four cups.”
I pushed one full teacup toward the duke.
“Thank you, Miss Cardh.”
