fitting end for a wizard who would not take her power.”
Miranda jerked back, eyes flashing, but when she spoke, her voice was cold and sharp. “Bold words, enslaver,” she said, holding up her right thumb, which was wearing a knuckle-sized ruby that was glowing like an ember. “But it will take more than the raving of a jilted prince to make me forget the truth of the vows I serve.” She thrust out her hand, and the ruby began to smoke on her finger. “Perhaps you’d like to try your speech on another of my spirits? You’ll have to speak quickly, though, because I don’t think he’ll listen as patiently as I did. Will you, Kirik?”
When she spoke the name, the wind around them died out completely. A flame winked to life above Miranda’s fist. It hovered there for a split second, sputtering like a candle, and then, with a deafening roar, it exploded upward, growing into an enormous column of fire that reached the sky. Any dust it touched vanished, burned to cinders in an instant. The column surrounded Miranda on all sides, the heat pouring off it in waves until even Renaud was forced to step back and put up his hands to shield his face.
“What’s the matter, enslaver?” Miranda crowed from behind the wall of flame. “Weren’t you going to put your boot on his neck?”
If Renaud answered, it was lost in Kirik’s crackling laughter. Grinning triumphantly, Miranda raised her voice to command the attack.
Just before she spoke the words, the prince fell to his knees. Miranda squinted against Kirik’s bright light. No, Renaud hadn’t fallen; he’d sunk up to his thighs in the sandy ground. As she watched, more sand poured up his chest, pinning his arms and pulling him toward the ground. He struggled frantically, but for every handful of sand he tossed away, five more took its place. Within seconds he was buried up to his shoulders, completely trapped in the shifting, buzzing ground.
“So sorry,” said a smug voice.
Miranda whirled around, her eyes wide and astonished as a gangly, dark-haired figure stepped out of the dust. “Can’t have any of that.” He snapped his fingers and a torrent of water shot up from the ground at his feet.
Miranda had no time to react, no time to do anything except stare stupidly as the water arched through the air and struck her fire spirit full on. Kirik roared and steamed, but there was nothing he could do against the endless deluge. The column of flame shrank to an ember in the space of a breath, and Miranda barely managed to pull him back into his ring before the water extinguished him altogether.
For the next few moments, Miranda was so furious she couldn’t do more than sputter and clutch the dimly glowing ruby on her thumb. When she did find her voice, however, she made up for lost time.
“What do you think you are doing?!” she roared so violently that even Gin flinched back.
Eli raised his hands. “Easy, Lady Spiritualist, I couldn’t let you bake him just yet. You see”-he glared down at Renaud, still pinned by the dirt-“this man still owes me some money.”
If possible, Miranda looked even angrier. “He tried to kill his brother, enslaved my spirit, threatened the entire spirit world, and you’re worried about
“Of course.” Eli looked at her innocently. “I’m a thief. What else is there for me to worry about?”
“You could start worrying about your hide,” she growled, “because I’m about to flay it off you.”
“Charming!” Eli said, grinning. “But give me two seconds first. I need to make a point.” He crouched down in the dirt beside Renaud. “Hello, Lord Whoever-You-Are. I don’t know if you’ve heard of me, but I’m Eli Monpress, the greatest thief in the world.”
Eli put his arm around Renaud’s sand-covered shoulder. “I’m going to let you in on a secret. I didn’t get to be the greatest thief in the world by letting hack wizards like you cheat me out of my hard-earned money. However, I’m a generous man, so I’m going to offer you a choice: Either you give me my money or I take it from you. Now, while five thousand may seem like a hefty sum, please take my word on this”-he smiled sweetly-“you don’t want me in your treasury.”
Renaud’s eyes widened. “Aren’t you the pair?” he said, spitting the sand out of his mouth. “The thief and the officer of the Spirit Court working together.”
“We’re not together!” Miranda shouted. “Enough of this nonsense! Gin, bite the thief’s head off.”
Gin charged forward, but all he got was a mouthful of sand as the ground in front of Eli sprang up to protect him.
“An impressive spirit, Mr. Monpress,” Miranda said as Gin coughed up dirt.
“Oh, it’s not mine,” Eli said, grinning. “This particular stretch of ground was getting frustrated that a certain Spiritualist’s wind spirit was whipping bits of it up into the air. I simply offered to help it stop the wind if it helped me.”
Miranda stared at him in disbelief. “You offered? What, you mean you just had a chat with the ground, without opening your spirit or having a servant spirit to mediate, and it listened, just like that?”
Eli shrugged. “More or less.”
“Don’t be stupid,” she scoffed. “You can’t just sit down and talk to the ground.”
“Some of us don’t need slaves or servants to get things done,” he said.
Miranda sputtered, but Renaud burst out laughing. Miranda and Eli both turned to stare at him, but the prince paid no mind, laughing until he was nearly choking on the sandy dirt.
“That’s it?” he said when he could speak again. “
Eli arched an eyebrow at him. “I don’t see how it’s so hard to believe. Most spirits are very obliging when you’re not trying to crush them into submission. But you wouldn’t know much about that, from what I hear.” He straightened up. “Now, are you going to play nicely, or do I need to ask the dirt for another favor?”
The ground around Renaud began to snicker, but the smile on the prince’s face did not change. “As grateful as I am to you for the opportunities you’ve given me, I’m afraid my thanks are all you’re going to get, Mr. Monpress.”
“Oh?” Eli crossed his arms over his chest. “Does that mean you choose the ‘Eli takes the money from you’ option?”
Renaud’s smile widened. “Let me show you how a true wizard works.”
Still chuckling, he closed his eyes and, for a moment, nothing happened. Then Renaud opened his spirit, and everything changed.
This wasn’t the controlled opening Miranda had done earlier. Renaud threw his spirit wide for the world to see, and the strength of it was wholly unexpected. Miranda barely had time to register what was happening before it hit her. She fell to her knees, gasping for breath as the full pressure of Renaud’s soul landed on her. Her rings cut into her fingers as her spirits writhed under the weight. Behind her, she heard Gin whimpering as he fought it, but even the ghosthound was forced to the ground in the end. Miranda gritted her teeth and focused on dampening the panic shooting up the link she shared with her spirits, but they were already beaten down. Another wave of pressure hit, and she gasped as it slammed her into the ground.
Spitting out dirt, she forced her head to turn, and she caught something out of the corner of her eye. Eli was still standing beside her, arms crossed just like before, as if nothing was happening, but the cocky smile on his face had vanished.
The sand trapping Renaud burst outward, the grains cutting Miranda’s skin. The prince stepped calmly out of the crater he had made and looked over to where Gin lay pinned with the king’s body still slung over the arch of his back. His hand went to his pocket, and when he spoke, his words pulsed through his opened spirit, battering over Miranda like iron waves.
“I’ve been saving this since I left the desert and returned to Allaze. I was waiting to use it on my brother, if I ever got the chance.” He grinned at Eli. “Now that you have made me king, I won’t be needing it anymore. Such a pity.” His mad grin grew deadly. “I will miss collecting your bounty.”
Eli glared at him. “And why’s that?”
“Because once I’m done cleaning this clearing, there won’t be enough of you left to turn in.”
“Sounds like a stupid waste of fifty-five thousand standards to me,” Eli said. “And if that false-bottomed chest was any indication, you could use the gold.”
“Yes,” Renaud cackled, “but as another of your kind once told me, there are some things that are worth more than money.”
His eyes flicked away from Eli’s incredulous expression and came to rest on Miranda, who was still fighting to
