The Spirit Thief (10 page)

“Smart aleck mutt.” Miranda smacked him good-naturedly. “You’re right, we’re not leaving. I’ll give up my rings before I let that jerk have his way.”

“What jerk?” Gin panted.

Miranda gave him the short version of her meeting
with Renaud. When she finished, Gin growled thoughtfully. “Politics and gold are human vices, so maybe there’s something here I don’t understand, but I have trouble believing that an exiled prince like Renaud is really that concerned over the recovery of the little brother who took his throne.”

“My thoughts exactly.” Miranda leaned over to scratch his ears.

“What are we going to do, then?”

“That part is simple. We’re going to find Eli first.” She pointed to the left, where a thick line of shaggy conifers separated two fields. “Duck into that copse.”

Gin picked up the pace, and a few seconds later they were hidden behind the small stand of pines. Miranda jumped down and, after checking the area for any stray watchers, pressed her thumb against the fat, smooth sapphire on her right index finger. “Allinu, wake up, I need you.”

A moment later, a small, white spout of pure water bubbled happily out of the ring, forming a small pool in Miranda’s cupped hand. When the water was up to her thumb, Miranda shoved the ransom note in. “Find this ink’s source.”

“Yes, mistress,” the water whispered, and began to churn.

Miranda kept her fingers pressed as tightly as she could, though she knew it was not needed. Allinu was a mountain mist. She could stay together in a sieve if she needed to. Still, it made Miranda feel better when the water was splashing in all directions like it was now.

A few moments later, the note floated to the top, perfectly dry.

“I’m sorry, mistress,” the water said. “The ink’s been dry too long. It doesn’t remember anything.”

“I figured as much,” Miranda said, shifting the water to one cupped hand and plucking the note out. She looked at it once more before stuffing it into her pocket. So much for that.

“The paper was a bit more helpful,” the water added, almost as an afterthought.

Miranda’s head jerked up. “The what?”

“The paper,” Allinu said again. “I noticed a few rips on one side, so I asked it what had happened. Once it realized I wasn’t going to drown it into pulp, it told me about the bird. Apparently, your thief had the note delivered by falcon. In the falcon’s talons, actually, which the paper did not appreciate. Claws are very hard on paper, and—”

“Yes, of course,” Miranda said. “Did the paper say anything else?”

“I was getting to that,” Allinu sloshed, insulted. “It said, ‘At least the trip was short.’ ”

“How short?”

“Two, three minutes from when the falcon grabbed him until the falcon dropped it on some guards,” Allinu bubbled.

“That’s more like it.” Miranda grinned. “Thank you, Allinu.”

The water rose in a white mist, swirling and then vanishing back into the sapphire, leaving Miranda’s fingers damp and cold.

“Two minutes,” Gin said. “That’s a pretty big area.”

“Not everything’s as fast as you are,” Miranda said, wiping her hand on her trousers. “Coriano did say Eli
wouldn’t run far. Besides, if he wasn’t close by, how could he see the signal when they meet his demands? He specifically told them to fly it from the second tower, which is barely visible above the wall.” She smiled at the castle rising over the city, less than a mile behind them. “Look, you can hardly see it even at this distance. He must be close, and when they give the signal, he’ll need to send another note to set up the trade and deliver the king. When he does that, we’ll be ready.”

She reached into the neck of her shirt and pulled out a silver pendant of delicate spirals wrapped around a large, white pearl. It was a lovely piece of work. She’d had it made especially for the spirit she kept inside, before she caught him, which wasn’t the normal order of things, but Eril had been worth it. The number of Spiritualists who kept wind spirits could be counted on one hand. Wind spirits were almost impossible to catch, and nearly as impossible to control if you did catch one. That was why she’d chosen a pendant to house him. It kept him close. A Spiritualist never forced her spirits to serve, but some spirits required more supervision than others.

“Eril,” she said, holding the pendant out. “I need you.”

At first, nothing happened. Miranda stood stone still, eyes on the pendant, until a soft breeze tangled the wispy hair around her ears. “You called?”

Miranda grimaced inwardly. Talking to a wind spirit was uncomfortably like talking to thin air. Eril, of course, took full advantage of this.

“I need you to keep an eye on the castle and all surrounding land for the next few days,” she said, careful to keep her face in the determined but slightly bored
expression that worked best with flighty spirits. “You’re watching for a white flag from the second tower. The moment it flies, you’ll be looking for a bird, likely a falcon, but it could be anything, with a note in its claws. I’ll want to know where it came from, where it goes once the note is delivered, plus anything else of interest you might see.”

“Bird watching?” Eril said and sighed dramatically, blowing Miranda’s hair into her eyes. “That sounds so
boring
. Can’t I do something else?”

“No,” Miranda said firmly. “Don’t forget to keep an eye on
all
the surrounding territory—the city, the countryside, and the forest to the north where the king keeps his deer. I’ll want reports on everything.”

“All right, all right, I heard you the first time,” he huffed. “Never get to have any fun,” Miranda heard him mutter as the wind began to die down.

Miranda stayed frozen even after the air was still, a scowl etched on her face.

“He’s gone,” Gin said.

“Good,” Miranda said, giving herself a little shake. “He likes to hang around sometimes, just to see what I say about him. Gives me the jeebies.”

The hound snorted sympathetically. “How did you catch him in the first place if you couldn’t see him?”

“I used smoke,” Miranda said, untying Gin’s pack and dropping it on the ground. “But even when I could see, it took me a solid month before I managed to catch hold of a wind spirit long enough to convince him to join me.”

Gin shook his massive head. “I will never understand how you humans manage to get through your short lives being spirit blind. That’s probably why the Powers gave
your kind the ability to command spirits. It’s a survival mechanism.”

“We get by well enough.” Miranda pushed aside the thick branches for a better look at the castle. “It might have been a little much, sending him so early. The riders won’t even reach the Council city until late tomorrow, and that’s if they ride through the night. Then there’s the wait while the bounty is approved.”

“So what?” Gin flopped down on the thick carpet of pine needles. “I could use a break.”

“Lazy mutt.” Miranda grinned. Still, he was right. Ever since they’d gotten Coriano’s tip that Eli was in Mellinor, they’d been constantly on the move. She hadn’t had more than three hours of sleep in one stretch since she’d left the Spirit Court.

“All right,” she said, slumping down next to him, “you win. But since you got to sleep while I was searching the castle, you get first watch.”

Gin snorted, sending pine straw everywhere, but he moved to the edge of the clearing where he could lounge and watch the road at the same time. When he was settled, Miranda lay back, looking up at the deep blue sky through the tree tops. Eventually, they’d need to find a better hiding place, but this would do for now. Anyway, the sun was warm here. She closed her eyes. When Eli made his move, they would be ready. The thought made her smile, and with that, she fell asleep.

J
osef glared at his opponent, watching for an opening. The smallest twitch could show the weakness that would turn his defeat into victory. A few feet away, Eli lounged in the sunlight, leaning against the branches that hid their tumbledown stone shack and grinning like an idiot.

The thief’s eyes flicked down, and Josef saw his opening. “Match and raise,” he growled, tossing two gold standards on the grass in front of him.

Eli’s grin faltered a fraction, and he picked up a pair of oblong coins from his own stack. “You’re showing a knight,” he said, pointing at the face-up card by Josef’s foot. “That’s five points at least. Maybe you’re confused, but in Daggerback, it’s the
lowest
hand that wins.” He paused, twirling the coins between his long fingers, seemingly oblivious to the danger of taunting a man whose daily dress included over fifty pounds of edged weaponry. “You can take the bet back, if you want,” he said, his voice positively dripping with generosity. “I won’t mind.”

“No.” Josef crouched behind his cards. “You’re not getting me with that again.”

“Have it your way,” Eli said, tossing his coins into the pot. “Let’s see who was right.”

Josef threw his hand down, adding a bearded man with a staff and an old geezer with a crown to his gallant knight in the grass. “Bachelor party: wizard, king, knight. That’s ten points,” he said, grinning.

Eli smirked and deftly flipped his cards like a fan. “Wizard, king, and my lovely lady.” He scooped up the queen card he’d laid face-up in the grass after the first round of bets, and his smirk became intolerable. “Nine points.”

Josef glowered murderously as Eli rubbed his hands together and reached out to gather his winnings.

“Grand sweep,” Nico said quietly, and the two men froze. “Hunter, weaver, shepherdess.” She named each card as she laid it in the grass. “Three points.”

Eli sighed and shoved the pile of gold toward Nico. Now it was Josef’s turn to grin. “Too bad, Eli,” he said, leaning back against one of the mossy trees that ringed their tiny clearing. “Next time, you should worry less about bluffing me and more about not losing your shirt.”

“I don’t mind losing to Nico,” Eli said, tossing her the last of the coins. “She’s a much better winner than you are.”

Josef grunted and nodded over his shoulder in the direction of the castle, where the spires were barely visible through the thick trees. “Speaking of winning, have those idiots gotten back to us? We’ve been sitting here for almost a week, and if I have to spend another day playing Daggerback with you lot, the name might start to sound like a good suggestion.”

“Actually, the flag went up fifteen minutes ago,” Eli
said casually. “I just wanted to see if I could win the rest of your gold before telling you.”

Josef jumped to his feet. Sure enough, a large flag dangled from the top of the second tower, its white folds lying limp against the slate shingles, twitching in the breeze.

Eli winked at Josef’s murderous glare and walked whistling into the hut.

The king was lying on the dirt floor, looking miserable as always. Eli had left him under the watchful flicker of the fire, which, in exchange for Eli keeping Nico outside for most of the day, was willing to make sure their royal prisoner didn’t escape. Eli skirted the edge of the hearth and poked the king’s shoulder with the toe of his boot.

“Almost done, your royalness.”

The king sat up stiffly, and Eli handed him a tiny pot of ink and a pen nib attached to a stick, which he produced from somewhere in his pockets. “All you have to do now is write exactly what I say, and we’ll take you home.”

The king looked defiant for a half second and then he nodded glumly and began to copy Eli’s demands word for word.

Josef was gone when Eli emerged ten minutes later, the king’s letter rolled in a tight tube and ready to go. Nico, however, was where he had left her, arranging her newly acquired gold in shining patterns across the scrubby grass.

“Don’t worry,” she said without looking up. “He’s just gone to scout the meeting place.”

“Why?” Eli said, laughing. “We haven’t even told them where it is yet.”

Nico shrugged. “He said you would say that, and he said to tell you that you can’t make assumptions about
anything.” She paused thoughtfully. “He also said to tell you that if he does find any traps he’s going to make sure you stand on them.”

“Marvelous.” Eli sighed. Why did swordsmen have to be so competitive about
everything
? “The good king was kind enough to write another note for us,” he said, twirling the roll of paper in his hands. “I’m setting the trade-off for this evening, an hour before sunset. That should give them plenty of time to prepare, and us plenty of leeway should things go off course.”

Nico turned back to her coins. “Do you expect things to go off course?”

Eli shrugged. “Does anything we do ever go as planned?”

Nico looked up at him and shrugged back.

“Anyway,” Eli continued, holding up the note, “I’m going to find a bird to take this to the palace. If Josef gets back before I do, make sure to tell him that if his trap finding is as good as his card playing I’ll gladly stand anywhere he tells me.”

Nico’s mouth twitched, and if Eli hadn’t known better, he would have said she had just suppressed a laugh. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he turned and walked into the forest, whistling a falcon call.

An hour before the appointed time, Josef made everyone move out.