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.
CHAPTER 10
Josef 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