Read Master (Book 5) for Free Online Page A

or hire my guild?”
    “Perhaps both,” Arydni said, facing the door.
    Cyrus let the quiet fill the room for a moment. “You seem to be taking great pains to twirl your way around this without providing any detail.”
    She turned her profile so that it was visible to him, and a wistful smile curved on her mouth. “I have always enjoyed a dance from time to time.”
    “Unfortunately, I’m not very light on my feet at the moment.” Cyrus gestured to his legs, splayed on the bed. He could feel fatigue setting in, a weariness from the sick feeling the resurrection spell had left him with. “Why not just tell me?”
    “I am not sure how to say it,” Arydni said. “What I would ask of you—I am not certain it can be done, that you could do it, that anyone —” She sighed. “It is uncomfortable to even put into words.”
    “So long as you’re not asking me to father your children,” Cyrus said, wondering where the hell those words had come from even as he finished the sentence, “I think we’ll be all right.”
    Arydni gave him a sidelong look, and her smile went from wistful to amused all in one. “How old are you now?”
    “Uh … I am thirty-one.”
    “Oh, you’re as green as the first blooms of spring,” Arydni said dryly.
    “I … uh … I am seeing someone in any case,” Cyrus said, clearing his throat.
    “I hope it’s Vara,” Arydni said, watching him for a response.
    “I’m afraid it’s not,” Cyrus said. He suppressed a desire to cough, and loudly.
    “What foolishness is this—yours or hers?” Arydni asked.
    “It’s more complicated than that,” Cyrus said. “I’m sure you weren’t just here to talk about her, though. Or her and I.”
    “I am not,” Arydni said and glanced back at the door. “Where is Andren with the lef’tres and the honey? You need to inhale some of the grass, mixed with the honey and burned, in order to help keep the affliction from growing in your lungs.” She tapped on the stone floor with a foot and Cyrus’s mattress moved, giving him a slight feeling of queasiness.
    “Tell me what you need from us,” Cyrus said. “No more dancing, no more evasion.”
    She turned her head and gazed at him. “You’re in an odd position to make demands. Flat on your back, weak like a baby goat. You look more likely to fall asleep than have a discussion about what I’m after. Take your rest, we can talk after you’re better.”
    “I’d like to know,” Cyrus said, reaching over and taking her hand in his. He cupped it and she looked up at him, all seriousness. She was warm and soft, but there was strength in her fingers. “Please. I’ll help if I can.”
    Arydni sighed. “It is against my better judgment to burden a man as potentially ill as you, but as it seems you are fixated on knowing, I will explain. You may ask me questions for a few minutes, and then you will take your inhalation and sleep. If this is something you wish to pursue further, we can discuss it once you are mended.”
    “Your terms are acceptable,” Cyrus said. “Go on.”
    Arydni hesitated, pulling her hand from him. “I need … someone found.”
    “‘Someone’?” Cyrus gave her a small smile, indulgent. “And this someone has a name?”
    “Indeed they do,” Arydni said, smiling at him. She’s dodging again; nary a blade could land upon her in a battle of words.
    “All right,” Cyrus said. “Are they missing? From the war, perhaps? You can’t find them after the battle of Termina?”
    “Not exactly,” Arydni said.
    “You’re going to make the sick man guess, huh?”
    “I will tell you, if you give me a moment.” Arydni smoothed her robes again, fidgeting. “This … person … has gone missing. They are not to be found where they were before. They were not in Termina, nor in Pharesia, nor in the Elven Kingdom at all, so it has nothing to do with the war, so far as I know.”
    “Where were they?” Cyrus asked, trying to keep his patience. The fatigue was settling on