Page 29 of The Elven Spymaster's Thief

“A disagreement.” My brother grimaced. “Again.”

Just then, Maury spotted me. “No. Enough beating me up. Go expend some of your aggression on your brother.” Throwing the double-handed blade to me, he began walking over to the area where the towels were stacked.

Anger flared in Casimir’s eyes at the sight of me, confirming my suspicions.

“Mind abstaining from weapons?” I asked. “I have already been punctured once this week. I prefer to not experience it again for a while.”

Casimir tossed his blade into the air and triggered a spell similar to my own. “What makes you think I am willing to spar with you?” His dusky, copper-toned features darkened.

“Maury is right that confronting the source of your frustration is much better than taking it out on others.”

A flare of silver energy formed a fiery ball around Casimir’s left fist. “You would risk it all for a woman.”

I coiled my magic into a blue rope. “Risk what?”

“Our family name, our reputation, everything we have worked to build since father’s death. You are risking it all.” He hurled a ball of energy at me. I dashed it apart with a flick of my rope.

“You mean if I choose to bond with Avril.”

“Marry, bond, align, whatever you choose to call it. She is a liability.” He glared as we circled each other. “Do you really think the king is going to continue to listen to us if you bring a human into our family? She could be a magus or in league with a magus.” He touched the floor with his fist, and magic fire licked across the flooring toward my feet.

Leaping the fire line, I landed closer to him. Lashing out with my rope, I coiled it around one of his ankles and pulled. He resisted.

“Since when have we made personal decisions based on what the king would think of them?” I retorted.

A blast from Casimir’s energy fist hit me in the shoulder. The flash caused my skin to warm, but only slightly. We weren’t fighting for real. If we had been, my clothing would’ve been ash, and my shoulder scorched.

“Never,” my brother admitted as he attempted again to pull his foot free from my coiled rope. “But I will use any argument I can to persuade you from this path.”

“Why?” I demanded. Forming a second rope, I looked for an opening, but Casimir had created a defensive ward and was attempting to work it through my first rope.

“Because it is foolish.” He gritted his teeth in concentration.

I began pelting him with raisin-sized tongues of fire. They melted through his ward and landed on his skin, flaring for a moment before extinguishing.

“Nothing done in love is foolish,” I protested. “You should know that. Father demonstrated that to us repeatedly as we grew up.”

“Even something that will only leave you a shell?” he demanded before suddenly dropping his defenses. The pain in his eyes cut through me. We were alone in the world. For so long, it had just been the two of us fighting for our place in the world. I could completely understand his fear.

I released my hold on both ropes. The magic dissipated in a flash of sparks. “First, I never said that I was definitely doing this, only that I was considering it.”

He pressed his lips tightly closed as though fighting a retort.

“Second, I have waited.” At a century old, I had waited longer than most elves to select a mate. Elves were made stronger by companionship and marriage. Casimir and I were unusual in our lack of interest in bonding for so long. Truth is, neither of us had particularly wished to ally ourselves with any of the elven females we had met thus far. Thanks to our connections, we knew almost every elf in Eldarlan. We knew who was out there and available.

“We might still be the end of our line,” I pointed out. “Avril could deny me if I asked. I might never make the offer.” Elven courtship rituals were long and extensive. If one was committing to centuries in union with another, it made sense to be entirely sure of alignment in every way. Still, there was more to a marriage than compatibility. “It is too early to tell, but I am concerned at the strength of your objections to me even entertaining the possibility.”

He looked away from me and glared at the far wall. “Just remember that you are not the only one who has to live with your decision.”

“I promise I won’t forget it.” A slight jolt shot through me as the promise took hold.

“That is all I ask.” Casimir dropped his chin to his chest. “Now, why did you send Odon to walk Lynan’s region?”

∞∞∞

Chapter Eight

Avril

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