Elven Fury (Agents of the Crown Book 4) Read online

  Elven Fury

  Agents of the Crown, Book 4

  Lindsay Buroker

  Copyright © 2018 by Lindsay Buroker

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Epilogue

  1

  Zenia whipped her arm up to block, but she was a split second too slow, and Rhi’s gloved fist glanced off her temple. Zenia winced and jumped back. Her heel came off the mat and onto the red clay floor tiles.

  “You’re out of bounds.” Rhi lowered her fists and took a few steps back to the center of the sparring area. “My point.”

  “Wasn’t it your point when you clubbed me on the side of the head?” Zenia, sweat making her loose exercise togs stick to her body, hesitated to follow her friend back onto the mat. She needed a break, and the tile felt deliciously cool under her bare feet.

  “Nah, I barely touched you. No judge would count that. You were slow to block though. You should be sparring with me every morning before work.”

  “I’m usually in the office before dawn.”

  “Yes, and that’s pathetic considering there aren’t any trolls invading this week, and I haven’t heard about any other dire emergencies.” Rhi waved her gloved hand, an invitation for Zenia to return to the mat.

  Zenia dragged her damp sleeve across her forehead and eyed the towels draped over the nearby bench. Elsewhere in the gymnasium, a couple of pairs of men wrestled or sparred, but the open area was mostly empty, with Kor’s subjects busy at work this time of morning.

  One of the sparring men noticed her looking his way, and he threw a wink, then looked her up and down. He turned his bare chest toward her, puffed up like a peacock, and flexed his muscles. His partner slipped past his distracted guard and landed an uppercut on his chin. The man staggered back but made a show of dismissing the blow, thumping a gloved fist against his bare chest and leaping back in to take revenge.

  “Just because we thwarted that scouting party of trolls,” Zenia said, not interested in the sparring men, “doesn’t mean an invasion isn’t still coming.”

  “Have your reports suggested it?” Rhi asked.

  “Nothing has escalated this week.”

  “So, you’re just in the office from before dawn to after dusk each day to avoid thinking about Jev’s upcoming nuptials.”

  Zenia grimaced. “I’m attempting to do the job the king has entrusted to me, nothing else. It’s a demanding position with a lot of responsibility.” Zenia unwrapped her padded gloves. “I need a break.”

  “It’s only been an hour.”

  “For some people, that’s considered a long workout.”

  Rhi snorted. “Barely a warmup. Do you want to switch to a bo for a while?” She waved toward where her wooden staff leaned against a marble column.

  “I don’t carry a bo around town, so that wouldn’t likely help me.”

  “You could. Don’t Crown Agents get to wear what they want? And carry what weapons they wish?”

  “A pistol is less unwieldy than a six-foot staff.”

  “But not nearly as versatile. There are times when you only want to thump people, not kill them. Come on.” Rhi waved toward the center of the mat again. “Another half hour. This was your idea, remember? I thought we were going to visit informants, but you randomly dragged me in here for some reason. I usually work out in the castle gymnasium.”

  “I know. I’m expecting someone.” Zenia glanced toward the large archway that led into the practice area, but it remained empty.

  On the nearby mat, the two sparring men broke apart, one heading over to a bench. The one that had been posturing for Zenia dropped to the mat and did a series of pushups.

  “Is it one of them?” Rhi waved toward the boys. They were well-built and handsome, and the one doing push-ups certainly knew it. He pushed his legs into the air, balancing carefully to do hand-stand push-ups. “Because if things don’t work out with Jev, I’m sure that one would scratch any itches you have.”

  “I don’t need itches scratched.” Zenia looked away, hoping to convey that to the man. He kept glancing over, his head flushed red now, as he did his exercises. “Maybe you can get his address.”

  Rhi twitched a shoulder. “Maybe. I’m actually a bit tired of men.”

  “Going to switch to women?”

  Rhi snorted. “No. I just mean that I went a little wild after tossing my monk’s gi—and my oath of celibacy—aside, and it wasn’t unenjoyable, but…” She shrugged again. “This will sound silly, but it was more fun when I was a monk.”

  “Sex was more fun when you were celibate?” Zenia arched her eyebrows, though she knew full well that Rhi had sneaked men into her room in the temple.

  “When I was supposed to be. And there was the possibility of being caught. It made it riskier and more exciting. A couple of times, my gentlemen visitors had to hide under the bed or jump out the window if a fellow monk knocked on my door.”

  “I remember the morning you went out early to cut the thorny Bougainvillea away from your window.”

  “A bit belatedly,” Rhi said. “I felt the need to apologize several times to Branik Chasinlar after he, in his haste to slip out before Archmage Sazshen entered, had numerous exposed parts perforated by thorns.”

  “Was everything exposed?”

  “Yes. My point is, that I’m not finding sex quite as stimulating.” Rhi looked over at the red-faced young man, who had completed his exercises and lay on the mat on his back, watching them. At her glance, he rolled to his knees and started a series of languid stretches to show off his musculature.

  “Perhaps you should seek out a relationship, rather than a simple itch-scratching.” Zenia looked toward the archway again, wondering if she should head into the rest of the gymnasium to look for her contact.

  Rhi grunted dubiously. “I’m not looking to get married. Or have babies. Can you imagine me as a mother?” She waved down her stocky frame. The exercise togs didn’t reveal her muscles, but Zenia knew they were there and that she could likely go toe-to-toe in a push-up competition with the young man.

  “Not every relationship has to have that goal, I’m sure. You could seek out someone you enjoy spending time with, and maybe it would make you happy, no thorns or windows required.”

  “The way Jev and his engagement to another woman is making you happy?”

  Zenia winced.

  “Sorry.” Rhi touched her shoulder. “I shouldn’t have said that. I just meant… Oh, I don’t know. Relationships seem like more of a complication than I want in my life.”

  “Understandable.” Zenia hadn’t thought she wanted that complication, either, not while she was busy settling into a new job, and yet… She’d fallen in love with Zyndar Jevlain Dharrow, the unattainable nobleman. At least unattainable for someone who wasn’t noble herself. She sighed. “Let’s go visit the baths. The person I need to see may be back there.”

  As Rhi went to pick up her bo, Zenia headed for the exit. The man who’d been trying to get their attention jumped to his fe
et and trotted over to intercept her.

  “I believe the person you need to see is right here.” He patted his pectorals and smiled at her, his gaze dipping to her chest.

  Zenia couldn’t imagine that she appeared sexy at the moment, with her hair pulled back in a ponytail and stray strands plastering the sides of her sweat-dampened neck. Admittedly, her damp exercise clothes clung to her body and outlined her figure. The man’s long perusal up and down made Zenia uncomfortable.

  “No,” Zenia said. “I’m looking for a woman.”

  “That can’t be. Women don’t have the right parts.” He let his hand trail down his chest to the waist of his trousers.

  “Back off, pervert,” Rhi said, coming over with her bo. “Nobody wants to see your parts.”

  “That’s not true. Just last night, I entertained Zyndari Mekhari in her townhouse. She used the words stallion-like to describe me.”

  His buddy ambled over, and Zenia hoped it would be to tell him to quit being an idiot and get out of the way, but he planted himself behind his friend and in front of Rhi.

  “Are you two headed for the baths? Why don’t you join us?” He poked a thumb over his shoulder. “We can help you relax.”

  “No, thank you,” Zenia said, missing the days when she’d worn an inquisitor’s robe and nobody had dared step into her path, to flirt or do anything else.

  “No, and I’m not going to thank you.” Rhi jammed the end of her bo downward and would have hit one man’s bare foot if he hadn’t yanked it back in time. “Step aside. And keep your arms down. The aromatic stench of those pits is more likely to make your foes pass out than your wrestling skills ever will.”

  Unfortunately, her insult only made the man grin and look at his friend. “I like a challenge.”

  “Too bad you don’t like soap,” Rhi grumbled and moved to step around him.

  He shifted, not grabbing her but blocking her path.

  A hint of warmth came from the dragon tear Zenia wore on a leather thong around her neck, and it seemed to ask a silent question.

  No, Zenia thought at it. We don’t need magical help. She didn’t want to use magic to hurt these men.

  A sense of disappointment emanated from the gem, and though no words formed in Zenia’s mind, it managed to convey an, “Are you sure?” notion.

  “Move your ass out of my way,” Rhi said, “or I’ll move it for you.”

  “Go ahead and try.” The man’s eyes glinted. “I’ve been hoping you would ask me to wrestle since you first walked in.”

  Rhi lifted her bo as she lowered into a ready stance.

  Zenia, less enthusiastic at the idea of fighting with these loons, especially since they seemed excited by the idea, said, “Rhi is one of the king’s hand-selected Crown Agents. It’s against kingdom law for you to impede her. Please step aside.”

  The man snorted. “Girls can’t be king’s agents.”

  The bare-chested man in front of Zenia seemed less certain. He took half a step back, lifting his bare hands. But his buddy scowled and lunged for Rhi, as if he meant to rip her bo from her grip.

  She used it, striking twice in rapid succession, to block his lunging hands. The humor vanished from his face, and his fingers snapped into fists.

  Zenia’s dragon tear allowed her to sense people’s feelings and sometimes thoughts, and she keenly felt when the man’s thoughts shifted from wanting to show Rhi a good time to wanting to teach her her place, subservient to him. Zenia knew Rhi could take care of herself, but a true fight might bring the staff and end up with them kicked out of the gym.

  Don’t hurt anyone, please, Zenia thought to her dragon tear as she pulled it out from under her tunic. But you can show them a little intimidating flair.

  The gem flared a blue so intense she had to squint. The men flung their arms up against its brilliance and stumbled back.

  Rhi’s would-be assailant recovered first and sneered at Zenia. “I’ve seen dragon tears before. You can’t scare—”

  The mat under his feet lifted and was yanked to the side, as if someone had gripped the end and pulled. Someone with the strength to knock a grown man off his feet. He tumbled sideways, crashing into his comrade.

  More mats stirred, and Zenia and Rhi scurried to the safety of the tiles. At least a dozen mats lifted into the air, twisting and snapping at the two men like living creatures. They shouted in alarm, trying to get to their feet and run. But the mats blocked their efforts to escape, just as the men had blocked Zenia and Rhi from escaping.

  The other people sparring in the gymnasium gaped, their eyes bulging at the sight.

  Zenia rubbed her face. This flair was more conspicuous than she’d had in mind. She tried to impart the idea of finishing up and putting the mats back down to her dragon tear.

  Some of them settled back to their spots on the tiles, but other mats swept in and wrapped around the two men. Soon, they were pinned and bundled like stuffed gort leaves, with only their bare feet and their faces free. Their very red faces. They struggled, attempting to wriggle their arms out and escape, but the mats only tightened.

  “We should go,” Zenia said.

  “Are you sure?” Rhi chortled and waved at the pinned men. “I was hoping we could get a painter to come in and capture this on a canvas.”

  “I’m sure.” Zenia hustled through the archway and turned toward the changing rooms, aware of the onlookers gaping after her. Her gem still glowed a bright blue, and she stuffed it back under her tunic.

  “Normally, I would feel disgruntled that you jumped in without letting me thump anyone, but that was too delightful to complain about.” Rhi peered back as they entered the shady hallway. “I didn’t think you possessed such creativity when it came to mischief.”

  Zenia almost said that she didn’t, that her dragon tear had been fully responsible, but she clamped down on her tongue. Most dragon tears didn’t have personalities; they only did what the mages linked to them told them to do. Hers was special. Zenia still didn’t know the full extent of its capabilities.

  “Captain Cham?” a quiet voice asked from a closet full of stacked towels and robes.

  Zenia halted, recognizing the young woman’s voice. “Jia?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” A slender figure wearing the starched white uniform of the gymnasium staff stepped out with a stack of towels in her arms. She wore a blue and gold scarf on her head that seemed a fashion choice but that Zenia knew covered slightly pointed ears. “I understand you wish to speak with me?”

  A door opened farther down the hall, and two women with towels wrapped around their bodies walked out blurred by a cloud of escaping steam. They chatted easily, heading for the changing rooms.

  “Yes,” Zenia said quietly. “Is there a good place?”

  “Perhaps you require my assistance and I could accompany you to the women’s baths.” Jia lifted the stack of towels.

  “I prefer to bathe myself,” Rhi said. “Or have handsome men do it, those who are suitably respectful and appealing. Not like those toads back there.”

  “Ssh,” Zenia whispered. “Go along with it.” She nodded for the half-elf woman to lead the way.

  They entered the ladies’ bathing room, passed the main pool with a few women paddling back and forth, and chose one of the heated baths in the rear corner.

  “Jia,” Zenia said, stopping at a bench to disrobe, “this is my fellow agent, Rhi Lin. Rhi, this is an informant you didn’t meet the last time we were making our rounds. I actually found her later on a special list that wasn’t with the others.”

  Jia smiled faintly. “One that included dwarves and half-elves?”

  “One that was made up of only dwarves and half-elves,” Zenia said. “As well as a half-orc living outside of town that I introduced myself to earlier in the week. He said I looked tasty. I’m still not sure if it was a sexual comment or a literal one.”

  “That was Ox, right?” Jia asked. “It could have gone either way.”

  “How does a half-orc
come into existence?” Rhi asked.

  “You, being more worldly than I, shouldn’t need me to explain that,” Zenia said.

  “Uh no, I being more worldly than you definitely need an explanation. Not on how equipment works, but on, er, why it would between those two species.”

  “Another time.” Zenia waved away the conversation and nodded for Jia to share her information.

  The week before, right after the dwarven ship had blown up and Jev had been injured, Zenia had received a note from the anonymous person who had now sent her three such messages. It had warned her to “Avoid the elf.” The only elves Zenia knew were Jev’s friend, Lornysh, and the former elven ambassador and his staff. The latter had all disappeared from their embassy before the troll incident started, so that only left Lornysh. Zenia didn’t want to suspect Jev’s friend, especially on the basis of an anonymous note, but the two previous notes had been accurate with their warnings. She hoped some other elf might be about, causing trouble, and that it referred to him. Or her.

  “Your message said you wanted to know if there are any elves in the city, or if I’ve heard of half-elves involved in illegal activities, right, Captain?” Jia sat cross-legged, ostensibly holding towels for Rhi and Zenia as they slipped into the warm water.

  “Yes, please.” Zenia resisted the urge to wave for her to set the towels down and relax. She always felt uncomfortable having someone wait on her, but Jia was a secret informant, so they had to be subtle, lest someone think it odd that an agent of the crown and a gym employee were having a long chat.

  “There are very few elves currently living in the city or anywhere in the kingdom. I only know of Zyndar Dharrow’s comrade, Lornysh, here in Korvann.” Jia raised her eyebrows. “Is it true they are friends? And treat each other as equals?”

  “From what I’ve seen, yes.”