Page 33 of The Elven Spymaster's Thief

Avril

Solon stayed in the palace. After instructing Ergon to assign my brother the room next to mine, Whispier disappeared into his study without further comment.

“What possessed you to try and steal from an elf?” Solon demanded the moment we were alone in his bedchamber.

“It wasn’t as though I did it willingly,” I protested. “I returned from the raid on Ohata’s fortress with the team, and Grimore pulled me aside. He said it was a personal mission. Apparently, he thought I was the only one suitable for it.”

Recalling the warlord’s phrasing and expression in hindsight, I began to suspect Grimore had known that Whispier would catch me, and I wouldn’t be returning. Strange to think I might have been a final piece in some strange blood oath agreement between the warlord and the elf. I would have to pin Whispier down and have him explain at some point.

“Sneaky geezer,” Solon muttered. “First, Grimore drives me out, and then he exploits you.”

“He didn’t.” I glared at my brother before crossing to the window.

“Drive me out or exploit you?” Solon tossed his cloak over the nearest chair.

I made a face at him. “Both. Either. You decided to run off on your own, remember. He had nothing to do with it.”

“Not true.” Solon began removing his extra weapons from their various places on his person. “I petitioned him for help first. The miser refused me a decent wage in exchange for my service.”

I rolled my eyes. “Really, Solon. You were fifteen. How many boys that young are skilled enough to demand a wage, any wage?”

“I had been training,” he protested. “Besides, he had a duty to us after our parents’ faithful service. Not to mention how they died.” He swung around with a glare. “Do you know what he told me? He said he had already paid our parents risk compensation, and he couldn’t help it if we had already spent it. Arrogant miser!”

A niggling suspicion had been bothering me for months now. It had taken more clarity the longer I spent with Whispier. I suspected our aunt and uncle were responsible for the missing funds. “The spymaster is an honorable elf.”

Solon paused in arranging his weapons. “Yeah, so?”

“He wouldn’t lie.”

Solon shrugged. “He is incapable of it. Light elves can’t lie, and even the shadow ones are physically disturbed if they do. Something about their brain chemistry. Malida tried to explain it to me once.”

“Malida?” I asked.

“A shadow elf in our squad, she did the scouting and such ahead of our infiltrations. She was annoyed by my ignorance and tried to explain things to me.” His demeanor had shifted toward the dismissive, but I wasn’t fooled.

Amusement made me smile.

“What?” Solon demanded. “What is with the smile?”

I shook my head and stored the possibility of him having an elf girlfriend away for later. I would tease him about it when he least expected it. “My point is that Whispier wouldn’t cheat us, either of us, right?”

Solon nodded.

“Then he most likely sent the money. I suspect both Grimore and Whispier sent the money they said they did.”

“So, you are saying our aunt and uncle lied?”

“I suspect they collected it all and decided not to mention it to us.”

Anger flared in Solon’s eyes. “How soon after I left did they toss you out the door?”

“A week at most.” That time had been a blur of pain, grief, and then panic when suddenly I was without a home, family, or a means of support.

I grimaced. “I suspect Grimore also sent the support to them, and they never mentioned it. He is an honorable man for a warlord. He didn’t have to offer me a chance, a way to survive with honor.”

“He exploited an opportunity.” Hefting his gear onto the bed, Solon surveyed the room. “I keep forgetting how rich Whispier is.” He pulled his satchel closer and began unpacking his weapons. “Is the gymnasium still available to anyone?”

“As far as I know.” I hadn’t had an opportunity to utilize the space yet. “I have only visited it in Whispier’s company.”

---