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 going to do. I care about what you did.” Miranda leaned forward, resting her elbow on Gin’s forehead. “Did it not cross your mind, even for a second, what kidnapping a king might do to his country?”
“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 that idea?”
“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.”