Page 2 of Once Upon A Bear

Linnea grinned at the reference to the time they had been forced to lather Conrad with a magical salve while he was delirious after a bad reaction to bee stings.

“It fixed him,” Linnea pointed out. “You never know.”

“I would need gallons of salve to try to cover a bear. Even if I had the ingredients for that, I certainly don’t have the equipment to make that much, and I don’t think a salve is the key here. I think I’ll have to find some other way. Probably a potion,” she said, thinking of what had worked for Lord Alexander. After a moment, she sighed. Making potions was much more complicated than a magically infused salve.

It would do her no good to make a potion designed to unlock his tongue the way she had for Alexander if the curse were tied to his feet, for example…and he seemed perfectly able to speak.

But before she could figure out how to make the proper potion, she had to figure out what was wrong with the bear, exactly—and knowing who he was would be the place to start.

She had her suspicions; she had for a while. But she needed to know for sure before she could help.

“I wonder if your friend’s husband might have any ideas,” Linnea said quietly, staring into Guinevere’s eyes until she understood the meaning.

Alexander might actually be able to lend a hand to her mission.

Lord Gideon Rendon had been acting oddly for at least the past year, and if she was right about it being him, maybe Beatrice and Alexander would be able to help her.

Because an illegal magic user had no place waltzing up to a noble and asking if he occasionally turned into a bear.

Guinevere made her way to Eldenwilde with a few of Beatrice’s favorite pastries in hand. She might as well bribe her into sharing everything she knew.

She slipped in through the kitchen, exchanging pleasantries with the cook and the other staff. “Where’s Lady Beatrice?” she asked.

Even though she was no longer working as Beatrice’s lady’s maid, everyone knew that she and Beatrice were friends.

“I believe she’s in Lord Alexander’s study with him,” the housekeeper said as she hurried by.

“Thank you,” Guinevere called over her shoulder as she made her way toward the study, knocking loudly for a moment.

It was best not to surprise Alexander and Beatrice if one didn’t want to catch them kissing.

After giving them a moment to stop anything they might have been doing, she let herself in. As she expected, Beatrice was sitting next to her husband, her hair mussed and a bright pink on her cheeks.

“Hello, Guinevere,” Alexander said, his tone dry. “Nice of you to let yourself in.”

“It is, I’m sure,” she said brightly as she approached with a muffin in her open hand. “I brought a peace offering.”

No one could resist a muffin from the café. If Guinevere didn’t know better, she would think that perhaps Thea was infusing them with magic to make them irresistible.

“I have a question,” she said, sitting next to Beatrice and flopping backward into the comfortable support of the couch. “I believe you two are alone?”

“We are,” Alexander said, getting to his feet. “I’ll let the two of you chat.”

“Actually, I wouldn’t mind you staying,” Guinevere said, so Alexander took a seat behind his desk and surveyed Guinevere with a look that might have made her quiver in fear if he were still her employer.

But she knew that underneath his stern exterior was a man full of softness who was absolutely in love with his wife and unwilling to hurt a flea.

“How can we help?” Alexander asked.

Guinevere aimed her gaze in his direction. He was more likely to know what she was talking about. “Have you heard about the bear?”

“The bear?” Alexander frowned, running his hands through his hair as he leaned back in the chair. “You mean the bear that keeps being spotted around our land and has half my people scared to leave their homes?”

“That’s the one,” Guinevere said.

“What do you know about the bear?” Beatrice asked, her keen eyes far too perceptive.

“I think he might be a human under a curse,” Guinevere said simply.