Page 50 of Dishonor Among Thieves
“You did?” My eyes widened. I released her hands and reached for the fragrant tea. The aromas of herbs and sweet honey met my nose as I blew on the steaming cup.
She chuckled and pointed to her forehead. “Who do you think started the fight? She finished it, but by the gods, I let that woman know she was not coming into this manor without meeting some resistance.” She leaned over the bed and tucked my blankets around my legs. “If there’s a mage to track, I’ll watch Lady Brexia. Dale will stand by our ailing guest, and we will manage. We’ll never give up our home and our family without fighting with all we’ve got.”
“Thank you, but no. I cannot stay here and rest when Gini is out there. When any in this house are still at risk.” I scooted to the edge of the bed and got up. I was still fully dressed, but the leg harness with my throwing knives had been removed. “This is one fight I plan to startandfinish myself.”
Antonia nodded at Neo. “You married well,” she said, her face flush with affection. Not just for him. For me, as well. Leaving the cart behind, she slipped from the room and pulled the door closed behind her.
Neo began dressing, pulling a clean, waist-length tunic over his bare chest. “I don’t expect the mage is far,” he surmised. “She’s injured, but possibly not so badly that she’d be unable to make the journey back to Byrlad. Did you find a horse?”
Rain shook his head. “That doesn’t mean she didn’t arrive by one. She may have stabled it in the village and approached the manor on foot.”
“Well, she’ll need to find shelter by sunset.” Neo tugged the tunic over his defined shoulders and tied his hair back with a length of leather. “Unless she can manipulate the minds of a flock of vengersax.”
“I don’t know if she’ll be aware they’re out here.” I spotted my harness on a simple oak desk and fastened it around my thigh. One of the throwing knives was missing, likely still in the sitting room where I’d dropped it. “We have dangerous creatures in Byrlad, but we’re closer to the coast. Vengersax rarely nest there. Too much open space.”
“Vengersax don’t particularly like pecking the eyes of sea trolls. They prefer easier dinners. Ones that don’t fight back.” Rain helped his brother into a clean coat of leather armor. “Perhaps that will work to our advantage. If we can lure her out after dark…”
Neo shook his head. “Think that through, brother. The torches we’d need to keep our eyes in our own heads would drive the blasted birds away.” His honey-gold eyes bored into mine. “You know this mage. Does she have any other weaknesses we can exploit? We know she’s not strong enough to manipulate more than a few minds at once.”
I nodded, distractedly chewing on my lower lip. I believed I knew how to get to Gini, but I knew Neo would not like my idea. Would try to stop me if he even suspected what I was planning. I kept my thoughts to myself and reminded him of what he already knew. “If she is fully engaging her magic, she can probably only restrain two people at once, as she did with Gia and Rain. If there are more, she’ll need to overtake them like she did Dale and Antonia. Injure them or physically restrain them so her mind is free to concentrate.”
Rain paced the room while his brother pulled on leather leggings. “This is good,” he said. “Thank you, Brex. That means we simply need numbers. I’m going to wager she will come back. She came all this way for you. She probably will assume that you discovered the charm she used to track you. She won’t risk you destroying it. Or worse, sending it off on a dog or a horse someplace far away from where you actually are. I believe the only course is for her to return to attempt to get what she came for. But this time, we’ll be prepared. With a strong, coordinated effort to resist her.”
“We must find her before dark,” Neo surmised. “We cannot stay awake all night as part of some living shield. She must be found before our household sleeps. We’ll be too vulnerable.”
I didn’t remind Neo and Rain of this fact, but I was painfully aware that Gini had seen Elgit. That meant she knew we had a vulnerable, long-forgotten being in this house. That made me feel even more confident that she would return to the manor. She would come back for me and, likely, for Elgit. He would fetch an enormous purse in the darker places of the Realm. And while he was still so weak, she would not even need to exhaust her magic to overpower him. Which was all the more reason that I knew I must commit to my own plan.
As my husband and his brother readied themselves, I indulged in a long look at Neo. The hands, so strong and powerful, that had caressed my hair. The sharp contours of his chest and back, the corded muscles in his shoulders round and firm like the shinty ball the foundlings played with. His hair, more luxurious than any dress I’d ever seen, soft and beautiful as it fell around him like a nobleman’s cape. My body hummed with warmth at the mere memory of his lips on mine, his arms holding me close to his chest.
I tried not to regret the altogether too brief time we’d had together. For a few soul-changing moments, I’d been a married woman. A woman who someone had chosen—even if this had never been a partnership forged by emotion. Despite the contract and the terms, the memories of the last few days were far happier and had been filled with more love than all the years since I lost my mother.
It would be an insult to the gods to seek more, despite the tightening of my despairing heart. It would hurt. But I could not allow more harm to come upon this household. The pain that I would feel if the Oderisi family suffered anything more because of me… That would cut me far more deeply than making the difficult choice to protect them. Even though that meant losing them.
I would have to be strong and accept the only duty I was truly meant for. In so doing, I could live alone comforted by the knowledge that I’d sacrificed what I could to rid the Oderisi family from any threats. Well, at least those that I’d brought down upon them.
I knew what I had to do and just how to do it.
“Is Flynn still here?” Neo asked his brother.
“The boy can’t be convinced to leave,” Rain said. “I tried to send him home to his mother to get some rest, but he refused.”
“Good. For once the boy’s strong-headedness is an asset.” He pointed to Rain. “Arm Gia and Odile. If it’s safe to move to Elgit to the cellar or upstairs to one of the rooms, we’ll have the boy keep watch over the goblin. If he cannot be moved, we’ll barricade Antonia, Dale, and Elgit in the sitting room. Every one of us must be ready for the mage when she returns.”
“How will we lure her?” Rain asked, looking nervously at me. “I’m not certain I can abide putting anyone in this family in harm’s path.”
I smiled weakly. Neither could I.
“I suppose the only way to lure her back is to replace the hag stone.” My fingers itched to clutch the token, as if the magic still had some pull on my body.
“When you do, she’ll know exactly where you are. She’ll regain control of your memories. Your mind, Brexia.” Neo walked up to me and slipped his hands beneath my hair. He cupped my head in his hands and leaned close to me. “Are you willing to do that?”
Tendrils of sadness wove through my chest, clutching my heart more tightly than Gini’s thorny vines had choked my throat.
“Wife, answer me honestly. Are you afraid?”
The diminishing firelight in the bedroom reflected off the handsome, tortured face of Neoruzzi Oderisi as I shook my head, breathing in the sweet fragrance of his breath one last time. “No, husband,” I whispered. “I feel no fear. I am committed to what must be done.”
“I will let no harm come to you.” His kiss was soft, his lips etching a promise against mine that meant more to me than all the words in the marriage contract. “Relieve Odile in the sitting room,” he murmured, sounding as reluctant as I was to end the kiss. “Watch over Elgit while we arm and dress the sisters.”
