Page 41 of Of Sword & Silver

“Do you forget that we are doing this to end your curse?” His face is furious.

I sigh, rolling my eyes. “Of course not. But is it a life worth living if I can’t have fun making the dark death knight who hates me even more annoyed?”

He opens his mouth, and I hold up a finger. “Don’t answer that.”

His eyes flash, and I can’t hold in my laughter anymore.

“Fine, fine, the spired city is Nyzbern. Obviously.” I drag out the word, enjoying his discomfort very much. “The King of Diamonds won’t be happy to see me, though.” My lips twist to the side as I think back to what the dead person said. “Was that possession? It wasn’t really talking, whatever that was.”

“Something like that,” he mutters testily. “Need four more.”

“Ugh, yeah.” Four more. “Maybe we can bring Lara.”

“Another thief?”

“No, more than one thief’s a crowd,” I tell him. “You can’t trust thieves.”

“My thoughts exactly,” he interrupts darkly.

“You can’t trust thieves other than me.” I blow out a breath. “We swore an oath, or did you already forget? No, no more thieves. Lara’s a mage. Precognition, a seer, all that Nakush magic woo-woo.” I wiggle my fingers. “She’s the one who told me to find you.”

“A mage helped you?” He gawks at me, which is a new expression for him, and I would laugh at him if his disbelief weren’t so rude.

“Lara is my friend.” I pull the leather cord off the end of my braid, shaking out my hair and running my fingers through it. I can’t quite rid myself of the crawling sensation on my scalp.

“A mage… is your friend?”

“At least I have friends.” I smile up at him. “Ones that are alive, at least.” He scowls.

Heh.

“And why, exactly, won’t the King of Diamonds be happy to see you?”

I blow out a breath, then put my hands on my hips, ignoring the twinge of pain in my wrist.

“Well, because he wanted to marry me, and you see, I might have, ah, left in the middle of the night with the engagement ring.” I wink outrageously, and to my surprise, the Sword does not look amused.

Or irritated.

“Fine. Not just the engagement ring. I might have stolen a bit more than that.”

No, definitely not amused. He looks furious.

“Don’t get mad at me, the so-called King of Diamonds is a real piece of shit, and everyone knows you can’t polish a turd.” I shrug one shoulder. “He got what he deserved. Don’t feel bad for the man. He’s horrible. You’ll see.” It comes out slightly defensive.

“You were betrothed to… a horrible… man?”

I cross my arms against my chest, hugging myself. “I was younger. He seemed like an easy mark.”

Seemed was the operative word.

I touch my ribs reflexively. They didn’t heal as fast as the rest.

“He has a crew of mercenaries and thieves?” The Sword strokes his chin, the shadow of a beard there.

“Yeah. His treasury is very well-guarded.”

“You’ve been inside it?”

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