There were just two chairs there, neither one placed at the head. She limped toward the nearest; he hurried his own steps so that he could pull the seat out for her before taking his own.
If she had been asked to name every single food she liked most at breakfast, she would have found them here. Her stomach didn’t growl, but it did remind her forcefully that she hadn’t eaten since last night.
Since there didn’t seem to be any servants — which was odd, but perhaps understandable, given that the master of this place was on occasion a slavering beast that might turn them into bloody shreds — she helped herself. Perhaps the servants scuttled in at meals, left everything on the table and scuttled out again, locking themselves safely in their own quarters.
He sat opposite her, and served himself, as well. So he was used to it. She waited with her fork poised over her plate.
“You promised me an explanation,” she said, a little severely. He flushed.
“I am not sure where to begin,” he said, toying with his food.
“Well, you weren’t always a werewolf, or I assume people would have noticed,” she pointed out tartly, then did her best not to show how heavenly the bit of ham she had just eaten had tasted.
“No, and that is the peculiar thing.” His brows knitted in a frown. “I wasn’t bitten, not even by so much as a mouse. And Godmother Elena was unable to find any evidence of werewolfery being in my family line — ”
“Wait just a moment!” she exclaimed, interrupting him. “You mean the Godmother knows about this?”
He blinked at her from behind his glasses, mildly confused. “Of course,” he told her. “Why wouldn’t she? Just as the King knows. Anyway, even though I am a wizard — ”
“You’re a wizard?” This was getting far more complicated than she had ever thought it could be.
“I suppose people don’t know,” he mused. “It’s not as if I ever do anything with it — publicly, that is.” He pushed more food around his plate. “Besides, wizards aren’t all that powerful without a lot of practice and — well, never mind that now. It’s a very small duchy and it’s not as if I wanted people to know I did wizardry. They might assume I either needed hiring or conquering. Anyway I could faithfully promise Elena that I hadn’t tried any wolf-transforming spells, because I hadn’t tried any transforming spell, so everyone was pretty baffled the first time — it — happened. I had just turned nineteen.” He sighed. “It’s a very good thing that you don’t make the change and come out of it the first time in fine fettle. It hurts — it hurts every time, actually — and after the first change you are weak and confused. I was really lucky that I was here rather than at the town house, and Eric was there the first time it happened, and he had the presence of mind to throw the wolf in one of the old prison cells in the cellar and bar the door. Then he called the Sheriff and the Sheriff told the King and the King called Godmother Elena. So I didn’t just end up shot.”
“Or forked. Very fortunate,” she said, dryly.
He didn’t appear to notice the faint sarcasm.
“They all decided that since I hadn’t hurt anyone, that Redbuck Manor was about as isolated as you could ask for, and that the old cells were more than strong enough to hold me, there was no reason why I couldn’t just…stay here. But of course, if I ever got loose and did bite someone…” He coughed.
“Well, lucky for you, you’re not some poor peasant they could just shoot when you finally got loose,” she snapped angrily.
He flushed painfully. “I’m really sorry,” he mumbled. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am.”
Well, as nobles went…apologetic wasn’t a bad reaction. Especially sincere apology. “So now what?” she asked. “I am stuck here with you for the rest of my life?”
“Oh, no!” He finally looked up at her, meeting her gaze again. “No, just for three months, until we’re certain I didn’t — you know.” He gulped. “The Godmother says that because they don’t know for certain why I have this — trait — they don’t know if I even can change someone with a bite the way another can. So…not forever, not unless you…”
Once again, his gaze dropped to the plate full of uneaten food.
In silence, she applied herself to her breakfast. Now, perhaps a girl of more so-called “sensibility” would have been so upset by all this that she would have been unable to eat. She wasn’t that sensitive, she supposed. At any rate, she was hungry, the food was delicious and whatever would or would not happen to her was not going to be changed by going without breakfast.
Perhaps Duke Sebastian had already eaten. Or perhaps his appetite had been suppressed by guilt. Vindictively, she hoped for the latter. She paused for just a moment. “Let me make this perfectly clear. Whether you are on two legs or four, your actions have altered the direction of my life without my permission. It is your responsibility to make it up to me. I did not intend to be here this morning. I had things to do. I still have things to do which are not going to get done because I am being held here, quite against my wishes.”
Then, she ate.
Finally, when her hunger was satisfied, she turned her attention back to him. “I assume that the Godmother has been apprised of this situation?” she asked.