Page 6 of To Sway a Bard
“The door is locked with troll magic,” he sputtered.
She was interrogating him, ever so easily, with those dark eyes and the way she moved, fingers slipping into her boot, wiggling free a blade, then slicing ever so easily through the ropes, as though she’d done it before. All the attention was on him, and he needed to turn it back to her.
“You’re the Blue-Feathered Bard,” he said at last.
She paused just long enough to scrunch up her nose, lips turned down. “What gave it away?”
“Did you come to steal from the trolls? What did you take?”
Now he had her full attention. Zula stood and marched over to him, holding the knife dangerously close to his neck. She dropped her voice. “There’s something odd about you. I thought so when we bumped into each other in the jungle, and you’re uncannily familiar. I think I know why—you’re from a rival thief gang, aren’t you? After what I’m after, although I see you’re taking the easy route out, trying to steal directly from me instead of from the trolls. It’s happened before, you know, but I’m the best, theverybest. No one steals from me, and no one captures me. So whoever you are, stay out of my way.”
He stared at her, slack-jawed. The story she assumed about him was much better than anything he could have put together. But it was also time to play his hand. He slipped his fingers out of the rope and snatched at the knife.
“Ha!” she yelled, skillfully rolling out of the way, butshe let out a small whimper as her body weight landed on her left leg.
Escaping the last of his bonds, Neo took advantage of her pain to lunge at her. Knocking her flat on her back, he straddled her, pinning her down with his weight. “I can’t let you escape now,” he announced, stretching out the rope. No one escaped from his knots. “Where is the jeweled egg?”
Her eyes went wide, and suddenly Neo couldn’t breathe.
She’d punched him in the throat!
His body went slack as he wheezed for air. The world tilted as he slid off her and his ears burned as his head smashed against the floor. He had the presence of mind to kick out his feet and heard a thump, followed by a wail as she fell. Neo willed himself to move, his long arms flailing, fingernails catching bits of skin and fabric.
He felt bad, clawing at her like that, but repeated the words in his mind like a mantra.
She’s a thief. A terrible thief. She deserves this.
The knife he’d forgotten about snagged his shirt, ripping it. His vision cleared as his sheriff badge fell out and clattered on the dirt floor.
It looked like a jewel, lying there.
Neo lunged for it, but Zula was faster. Snatching it up, she flipped it over, and her expression changed.
Neo’s heart sank as a slow awareness came over her face—surprise, pain, fear, and then anger. Her brown eyes blazed as she glanced from the badge to him, and he felt like she’d punched him in the throat all over again.
Odd as it was, he wanted to apologize. Apologize to a thief, when he was the law and he was doing the right thing. Yet the haunted look on her face said otherwise.
He cleared his throat. “I’m Neo, the sheriff, and you, Zula, also known as the Blue-Feathered Bard, are under arrest for multiple crimes related to the crown—first and foremost, thievery.”
The badge came hurling at his face, followed by a handful of dirt that momentarily blinded him. By the time he finished spitting and swearing and clearing his vision, the Blue-Feathered Bard was gone.
6
ZULA
Stupid, stupid, stupid.Zula fumed to herself, hobbling on her sprained foot as she snuck through the trolls’ village. Why hadn’t she paid more attention? She’d felt like she was being watched, and she was—by the sheriff himself!
He was much younger than she expected, long-limbed and stupidly attractive with those bright emerald eyes and that thatch of red hair. Nothing about him even hinted at the fact that he was the kingdom’s appointed sheriff. He was innocent-looking and easygoing, with a relaxed attitude that didn’t indicate he hunted outlaws. But now she knew the truth: he was the reason her heist had gone awry. How long had he been watching her?
Leaning against the solid wall of a hut to regain her balance, she pondered her next move. First, she had to find her ukulele, but obviously it hadn’t worked on all the trolls. The sheriff—Neo—would escape from the hut soon and she expected him to chase her down. Him, she could handle. It was the trolls she was worried about, as well as how to find the egg again.
Snores haunted her steps as she moved. The pain in her ankle made her eyes water and the scuffle with Neo hadn’t done her any favors. Still, she pushed forward, pausing when she heard voices. Ducking behind a hut, she peered around the corner, making out two shapes: trolls, talking.
“—has to be done. This is an invasion, a call to arms.”
“We don’t know that it is intentional. The sheriff came to warn us?—”
“Unless he’s in on it, part of the plot. To take our most precious relic, our symbol of protection, of luck. Our magic calls for action. We must be swift and firm, let anyone know that if they steal from us, wrath and punishment will be fast and unrelenting.”
