Page 8 of The Elven Spymaster's Thief

He picked up the wayward ball and studied it.

“Are we finished?” The huge blond elf asked. A flicker of uncertainty passed across his face as he glanced from me to Whispier and back.

Whispier dismissed the elf with a wave of his hand. “Tomorrow.”

The man nodded and left.

“An intriguing choice of occupation.”

I snorted. “Not that you offered me much alternative.”

He tossed the ball into the bin that it had come from and reached over my head for a towel.

“So, elves do sweat when they exert themselves,” I observed without moving. “I always wondered.”

He stilled with the towel to his face. Then, slowly he lowered it to eye me. “What did you think we did?”

I shrugged. “Not sweat. It seems so base for such an elevated species.”

For a moment, his face froze. Then, he abruptly turned away.

Without really thinking through the consequences, I threw the red ball at his retreating back. It bounced harmlessly off his left shoulder.

He came to a halt but didn’t turn.

I threw the second ball, this one blue. It struck the middle of his back.

He let his head fall back, and he glanced at the ceiling as though pleading for patience from a higher power.

Determined to get more of a reaction, I whipped the last ball at his head, a purple one.

He moved quicker than I could flinch and caught the ball right before it hit his head. Irritation sparked in his eyes. One moment he was about a dozen feet away; the next, he was standing over me, fist tightening around the ball so that his knuckles whitened.

“What are you doing?” he demanded.

I slapped a grin on my face, despite my sudden fear at the anger darkening his eye color. “Testing the bond to see if it can detect intent.”

He closed his eyes, straightened, and took a long, careful breath. “It can. And apparently, the intent to irritate doesn’t trigger it. Are you satisfied?”

I shrugged. “For now.”

He groaned. “I am going to go wash up and then do some research in the library. You may meet me there. Do you need a guide, or did you memorize the location when planning your mission to invade my home?”

“I know where it is.” No point in playing sly since we both knew I had researched my mission. I bounced to my feet with purposeful enthusiasm. “I will fetch the rest of the balls.” I strode off to retrieve the errant balls from among the potted crowd. After years of risking life and limb stealing for my master, antagonizing an elf was turning out to be far less perilous than expected.

As much as I didn’t appreciate the result of Whispier interrupting my heist, I could do some good while I was caught. The elf spymaster was far too crotchety. He needed some loosening up.

∞∞∞

Chapter Three

Illeron

My time in the library was my favorite part of the day. Even when I couldn’t find time to read any of the tomes surrounding me, I loved to be near them. Centuries of elven knowledge, cultural treasures from all our continent's species, and literary works in multiple languages filled my shelves. Now, if only my new companion could restrain herself long enough for me to actually work, all would be well.

To my shock, I found her curled up in my favorite chair with a book on the history of the elves. Glancing up, she noted my appearance with a nod and then returned to reading.

I stood there for a moment in wonder. Maybe she wasn’t a complete hoyden.

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