Eli recovered in the blink of an eye, slouching into a carefully nonchalant pose. “How long were you waiting?”
“Long enough,” Miranda said, not fooled for a moment by his sudden cool attitude. Below her, Gin choked back a laugh. “You can call off your pet swordsman. My intentions are peaceful for the moment.”
Josef looked nonplussed at his new title, but he put the knives away. Eli just grinned. “Such assurances!” He waved at the king sitting behind her. “Hello, Your Majesty! Couldn’t live without us, could you?”
The king went scarlet and opened his mouth to protest, but Miranda cut him off. “You will refrain from harassing King Henrith any further, Mr. Monpress.” Her voice would have frozen a boiling pot.
Eli gave her a wink and reached for the canteen. “So, Miss Spiritualist, to what do we owe the honor of this peaceful chat?”
Miranda folded her arms over her chest. “I want to know what your plans are for fixing this mess you’ve made.”
“I’m afraid I don’t know what you are talking about,” Eli said, and took a long drink. “I’m just a thief.”
“Just a thief?” Miranda gave him an incredulous look. “You kidnapped the king of a council kingdom.”
“I was going to give him back,” Eli said, splashing a handful of water on his face. He took another swig and then passed the canteen to Josef. “Actually, that makes me better than a thief, since they don’t normally return what they steal.” He grinned. “I guess I’m moving up in the world.”
“I don’t care what you were
“For your information, I chose Henrith very carefully. How was I supposed to know he had a crazy wizard brother?”
“If you used half the time you spend talking on research, you would have known Mellinor’s entire family tree,” Miranda snapped. “Now, because of your shameful incompetence, that ‘crazy wizard brother,’ who also happens to be an enslaver and an attempted murderer, is in spitting distance of the throne, and it’s All. Your. Fault.”
“Now hold on,” Eli said. “You can’t blame all that on me.”
“By the Powers, I can!” Henrith yelled. “Everything was fine before you came! Even Renaud stayed in line. Then you appear and turn things upside down and expect us to let you walk away?”
Josef finished his swig and handed the canteen to Nico. “I understand Dusty’s concern.” He nodded to the king, who fumed. “But I don’t understand why you’re involved.” He fixed his eyes on Miranda. “You were sent here to catch Eli, right? So why aren’t you attacking us and leaving the king to fend for himself? Mellinor doesn’t even like wizards. Why should the Spirit Court care who’s on the throne?”
“Because an enslaver king is bad for everyone,” Miranda said. “He cannot be allowed to secure his power.”
“Seems to me like you’ve already got the answer to that.” Josef looked at the king.
“It’s not that simple,” Miranda said. “Renaud wouldn’t take a chance on this brother surviving without some kind of cover. Henrith tells me that Renaud has probably already convinced the masters that anyone resembling Henrith who approaches the castle is a phantom I’ve summoned to trick them.”
“A phantom?” Eli cackled. “Where did they get
“Don’t ask,” Miranda grumbled. “Anyway, suffice it to say the direct approach is out of the question, but the Spirit Court cannot allow an enslaver access to a kingdom’s power. We learned that lesson with Gregorn. Master Banage would back Henrith’s claim, but the people of Mellinor would never believe it wasn’t a Spiritualist trick. Whatever way we go, Mellinor will be thrown into conflict either with the Spiritualists, the Council forces, or itself. War is bad enough, but war with an enslaver involved?” She shuddered. “Imagine rivers used as soldiers, armies of trees, an infantry of bonfires, and all of them left mad at the end, no matter which way the fighting went. That mad sandstorm was nothing compared to what Renaud could do if he had the reason. We can’t let that happen.”
“Well, that sounds dreadful,” Eli said. “I’m still failing to see what this has to do with us.”
“It has everything to do with you!” Miranda shouted. “Who do you think started all of this? Everything in Mellinor was perfectly fine for four hundred years. Four hundred! That’s four centuries without a coup, a rebellion, or any problems bigger than a trade dispute, until you three showed up.”
“That’s a bit unfair,” Eli said and frowned. “We only-”
“I don’t care!” Miranda rolled right over him. “I don’t care what you wanted or how it was supposed to turn out. No matter what spin you put on it, this whole country is about to go to hell because of
Eli looked from the fuming Spiritualist to the king and back again. He turned to Josef, who shrugged, then Nico, who was trying to get the last drops of water out of the canteen, and his shoulders slumped.
“All right,” he said. “I admit that things might not have gone exactly as I would have liked, but perhaps we can come to an arrangement.” His smile was back as he looked up at Miranda. “Say I agree to help you, what exactly would you be asking us to do?”
“Our primary objective is to apprehend Renaud,” Miranda said, nodding toward the castle, which was now lost in the evening gloom. “After that, returning Henrith to his throne will be easy.”
“And you’d want our help on the apprehending part,” Eli said, tapping his finger against his belt idly. “That’s a tall order. Renaud’s pretty strong.”
“Strong, yes,” Miranda said, “but surely a man with a fifty-five-thousand-gold bounty on his head is plenty strong in his own right.”
“Such flattery is dangerous for a humble man like myself.” Eli grinned, and Josef rolled his eyes. “But I’m a thief, Miss Spiritualist, not an assassin. Robbing him blind is one thing, but confronting him outright?” He shook his head. “I’m afraid you’ll have to sweeten the deal.”
“How do you mean?”
Eli put on his best innocent look. “I do feel somewhat responsible for the current state of affairs in Mellinor, and I am a man who takes his responsibilities very seriously. That’s why I’m going to offer you our services at a very reasonable rate.”
Miranda’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not going to pay you to do what you should be doing in the first place.”
“Oh, not money.” Eli waved his hand. “Nothing like that. Just a small trade of favors. I help you, you help me.”
“If you want me to talk to the Council about your bounty-”
“Powers, no!” Eli laughed. “You couldn’t change a thing even if I did want it. My favor is much, much simpler. You see, right now I’m wanted by both the Spirit Court and the Council of Thrones for different infractions. Two posters, two listings in the bounty roster, two payouts. It’s all very impractical. All I want you to do is convince the Spirit Court to combine its reward of five thousand standards with the Council’s. No extra money needed, just a tiny administrative change.”
Miranda kept her eye on him as she went over the words in her head, looking for the catch. “But that would raise your bounty to…”
“Sixty thousand.” Eli reached in his pocket and pulled out his new wanted poster. “It’s really too bad,” he sighed, unfolding it. “They just copied out all these new ones. I think it’s their best likeness of me yet.”
He tried to hand the poster to Miranda, but she held up her hand. “Stop. You’re up to something.”
Eli blinked innocently, but Miranda leaned forward on Gin’s head, keeping her eyes pinned on his. “Asking Mellinor to pledge money, I can understand. That gives them a thirty-five-thousand-gold stake in making sure you don’t get caught. But the Spirit Council won’t stop chasing you no matter what it costs. You know this, so why raise your bounty? Don’t you realize that every gold standard draws another ten bounty hunters out of the woodwork? Sixty thousand is enough money to bankroll a small war. Your own mother would turn you in for half as much.”
“I don’t doubt she would.” Eli’s grin grew wicked. “But you’re missing the point, Lady Spiritualist. It’s not about the bounty hunters or extorting countries. It’s about the bounty. It’s about a little boy’s dream!” He threw out his arms. “Sixty thousand is nothing. Chump change! My goal is to be worth one million gold.”
Miranda’s eyes widened. “One million? Are you crazy? There’s not that much money in the world! The Council’s war with the Immortal Empress didn’t cost half so much, and they’re still paying it off. Even if you kidnapped a king a week, you’d die of old age before you got your bounty that high.”
