Page 16 of The Elven Spymaster's Thief

I smirked at him. As much as I was enjoying my new companion, the fact that I could use her to annoy Casimir, entertained me nearly as much. “It was your suggestion.”

“A fact I am painfully aware of,” he retorted.

“Are you two finished?” Avril asked abruptly.

We both turned our heads to regard her. Laughter danced in her eyes, causing her features to brighten. I found myself enthralled.

“I have a question,” she declared.

“Yes?”

“Who owns the land?”

Casimir answered first. “That is debatable.”

“The Unseelie claim that it is within their agreed upon borders negotiated back when we all first came to settle among humans,” I explained.

“And the humans claim that the Unseelie modified the agreement without their consent, thereby making the claim invalid,” Casimir added.

She considered this for a moment. “Is there record of the original agreement in anyone’s possession aside from the Unseelies’?”

Casimir tilted his head ever so slightly to the side. “In fact, there is. It is in the Seelie King’s possession.”

“Then, perhaps he should be consulted,” Avril suggested.

“Which was what I was going to request,” I said.

Casimir nodded. “Then, I will send a messenger to inquire of the Seelies.” With a slight shifting of air, he left.

Avril frowned at the small whirl of dust skittering across the floor in his wake. “Is he always so abrupt?”

“Frequently.” I turned back to my scattered pages on the table. “You will get used to it.”

She let out a soft sound that I suspected was to say she doubted it. Then, she returned to her chair and I to my work.

∞∞∞

Avril

A soft whump signaled the appearance of one of Master Whispier’s shadow elves. I didn’t even bother looking up from arranging the stack of book options I had set on the table hours before. I loved having so much time to read, but with such a wide selection to choose from, I frequently struggled to settle my focus on one at a time.

Suddenly, something slammed against the window overlooking the gardens.

Whispier and his elven spy lifted their heads but didn’t move to check on the window.

When they returned to their conversation, clearly not intending to investigate the noise, I set aside my book and rose to my feet. When I approached the window, the view looked like it should. Sunlight played over the orderly paths of the garden and the expansive swaths of grass. Then, I scanned the sky. The deep blue expanse offered a clear view for miles. The only blemish in the perfect color was a formation of dark birds flying toward the palace.

Strange. They were unusually large for birds.

“Master Whispier?” I glanced over my shoulder. “You might want to see this.”

I turned back to the window only to jump backward. A filthy creature with a woman’s head and arms clung to the outer ledge beyond the glass by her huge taloned claws. She turned her maddened red-ringed eyes on me, and she grinned with half-crazed bloodlust. Then lifting a claw, she smashed the window.

I scrambled back from the cascading glass, reaching for my hidden knife.

“Avril, run!” Whispier’s urgent voice reached me moments before someone grabbed my arm and yanked me behind them. I only caught an impression of a lean, well-muscled shoulder before the harpy opened her mouth.

A piercing scream ripped the room, rising in volume. I covered my ears, trying to muffle the sound, but to no avail. A sharp shard of agony pierced my head as both of my eardrums burst, plunging me into an eerie world of complete silence and pain. A glimpse of Whispier’s rage-filled features as he stabbed the first harpy passed before me as the pain in my head became too much. The contorted face of a shrieking harpy diving claws first at my head was the last thing I saw before darkness claimed my senses.

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