Page 6 of Rogue Elves of Ardani

“Yes, Patros.”

“I hope so, for your sake. Because you know you’ll get no aid from me if you get into trouble.”

She bit her tongue. Fog swirled around him on the glass. The room behind him was dark—he liked it that way—but she could tell he was sitting at his desk because she could see his shelf on the wall behind him. It was filled with neat lines of books. Books that recorded names, dates, events, relationships. Secrets. Information that was valuable enough to pay for. It was his trade. And Crow’s, she supposed. Not that she kept track of any of the details. She just read minds. Patros handled everything else.

“The guards aren’t what I’m worried about,” she said.

“Don’t be cocky, Crow. Unearned confidence is your ugliest feature. It will be your downfall.”

“Of course not,” she said. “We wouldn’t want you to lose your Ashara spy, would we?”

“Only half Ashara, I believe.”

Her lips twitched, trying to pull into a scowl. She didn’t let them.

Because she knew what he was doing. He loved to remind her that she was alone. She was the only half-Ashara in Valtos—perhaps the only Ashara, period—as far as either of them knew. She didn’t fit in anywhere, was trusted by no one, and had been abandoned by everyone who could have helped her. He wanted her to remember how alone she was, always.

She chose not to acknowledge the subtle dig. Like always. “Toreg is a halfwit with a bad disposition. I don’t like that combination.”

“Did you think he’d be bowing and calling you lady? He’s a criminal. I’m not bringing him here for his pleasant company and good manners.”

“He threw a shit bucket at me.”

Patros chuckled.

“It isn’t funny,” she growled through her teeth. “He made threats. He could try to kill me on the way out or... or anything else. I don’t know what he’ll do.”

“You’re Ashara. Use your empathy to keep him under control. What else do I keep you around for?”

“That’s not reliable enough. He’ll snap out of it if I try to control him for more than a few minutes, and when he does, he won’t be happy with me.”

Patros frowned at her, considering. Crow waited, tonguing her teeth nervously.

“I have need of you tomorrow night,” he said unexpectedly.

Crow’s brow wrinkled. “It’ll take time to find a ride back to Valtos. I can’t be back as soon as tomorrow.”

“Not to Valtos. Come to the abandoned farmhouse five miles down the road west of the prison. I’ll figure out a way to deal with Toreg in the meantime.”

Whatever he had planned for her there, it wouldn’t be anything good. But at least he was taking her seriously about Toreg. “Fine.”

He didn’t bid her goodbye. The mirror simply fogged over, and when it cleared, only her own face looked back at her.

Chapter 3

The next morning, there was a knock at her door.

When she opened it, she was surprised to find not Callias waiting for her on the other side, but one of the prison guards.

“Lady Crow?” he said. He was tall. Blonde. Broad-shouldered. Square-jawed.

He looked her over in a surprised, appreciative way—much the same way she was looking at him.

“You’re our new mage?”

She grew uneasy, wondering if he was going to ask her to perform some magic that she, of course, couldn’t perform. She could temporarily confuse someone into thinking they’d seen something they hadn’t, but that was a risk she’d rather avoid.

“Yes?”

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