Page 147 of The Discount Damsel

“Just seems convenient, is all. There was no evidence of dragonfire, just a collapsed tunnel. A sorcerer could’ve magicked the rocks to fall, and you do have a court sorcerer.”

“Are you calling me a liar, Merle?” Leighton snarled. “Then let me become that villain for you. If you don’t deliver that next shipment on time, I’m going to crow from the top of my lungs that I caught your men smuggling those crossbolts and that Skybreaker into the Strip with intent to revolt against your king.”

Merle dropped his spoon into his stew with a sputter. “You wouldn’t d⁠—”

“I would dare. In fact, I made sure to leave everything you’ve already delivered untouched. And you seemed to have forgotten to mark your crates with their country of origin, so I had Raleigh here rectify that oversight for you.”

Raleigh lifted his tankard with a nod. “’Twas my pleasure to assist in the endeavor, sire.”

“I can make my plan work with one Skybreaker, Merle. And the best part? I won’t even take the blame if it all goes south. Your insignia is all over those weapons, thanks to Raleigh, and it was you who wished that Amberlian princess kidnapped by a dragon. You have motive.”

Merle turned a spotty purple under his pointy black beard. “You bastard!”

“Oh shut up. I much prefer we remain friends. Here.” Leighton tossed him a red velvet sack.

Merle muttered as he shoved his stew aside and wiggled his fingers the ties of the sack apart. A pink-hued diamond the size of his thumb dropped into his palm.

“A Kalharis diamond,” Leighton said, “So you know the quality of what you’re getting from this arrangement.”

Merle shot him a sulky look. “A pity my own surveyor couldn’t get into that mine to verify your claims for himself.”

“He will when you excavate the tunnel.” Leighton lifted his tankard for a long swallow, set it down with a disgruntled thump. “Quit your grousing, Merle, and put that rock away. Unless you want every pickpocket in here to know you’ve got goodies for the taking.”

Merle pocketed the diamond and returned to his soup. “I still don’t think you’re worried enough. That dragon isn’t merely her captor, he’s her friend. My spies have also told me she’s amassing her own forces.”

“Your spies? You mean those desert guides?” Leighton gave a derisive scoff. “They’ll spin any tale for a coin.”

“If she gets out, she’ll ruin everything.”

He swallowed more of his ale. “She won’t get out.”

“You don’t know that. You⁠—”

“Yes, I do.” Leighton leaned back in the booth, shielding Dirk fully from view. “Because I have someone inside that tower. And that someone won’t let her leave it alive.”

Dirk’s heart slammed against his ribs.

“That’s a death sentence,” Merle whispered. “The dragon will take his revenge.”

“Only if he fails to kill the dragon, too. He has a lot of incentive—he can’t go home, needs a new life, whatever. You should’ve seen the look in his eyes. There’s nothing that man won’t do.”

Duncan. Getting away from his abusive father was the exact reason the bookish gnome had volunteered.

Leighton chuckled. “And with the dragon known to leave the tower from time to time, that means there will be plenty of opportunities for. . .” He drew his finger across his throat.

With that, Dirk’s claws flicked. The cloak brushed aside with the breeze from the window, and a tendril wind of Dirk’s magic popped the clasp of the gold-and-coral bracelet. It floated into his paw, and before the man could wrench around and complain about cheap window latches and drafts, Dirk and the pickpocket were already deep in the forest.

Pocket leaned against a desiccated tree and fought to catch her breath. A magical wind had shoved her from behind with the force of a charging elephant, and it had only been sheer luck that she hadn’t tripped over any of the myriad exposed roots during her run.

“What was that?” she gasped. “And where’s my bracelet?”

Dirk practically threw it at her, and she caught in cupped palms. Then he riffled through his satchel, lifting wafer after wafer into the moonlight, looking for the right spells.

“That was amazing.” She tucked the bracelet into the little pouch that housed the hag stone and stuffed it down beneath her blouse into her brassiere. “What kind of dragon are you, Dirk?”

He swallowed an amplio spell, followed by an indurus, and smothered Pocket’s surprised cry at his sudden transformation with a magical wind. Dirk hunched down and said in a thunderous voice, “You will either get on my back willingly, or I will carry you by force.”

“No need for threats, Big Red. I’ll take the job.” She hiked up her patchwork skirt, grabbed one of his horns, and hauled herself up across his shoulders. “Now let’s go save your princess so I can teach her the right honorable trade of relieving folks of their valuables.”