And now an Excerpt from Peerless:
Tiranna scanned the shop as she followed him to the counter. Stock had rotated since the last time she had been in, but the feel of the place hadn't changed. It was still cheerful and ruthlessly clean.
She reached into her pocket, pulled out the velvet wrapped package, and dropped it careless on the counter with a muffled clank. She gave him a sheepish smile, "I broke it."
Fin carefully untied it then winced as he picked up a large cog from the pieces. He sighed as he dropped the piece back into the pile. Then he pulled a cloth out of his pocket and began to polish his spectacles–a habit she knew when he was irritated.
"What was it?" he asked when he replaced his glasses and studied the pieces closer.
"Pocket watch," Tiranna replied smiling as he winced again.
"Anything obvious missing?"
"Black opal disc.” She answered as she sat herself in the stool next to the counter.
He hummed but didn't ask. The rest of what he was saying buzzed in her ears. Sitting down had been a mistake. Her mind and body had taken the gesture as an invitation to rest and shut down. The fatigue that stormed her was almost brutally painful. Fingers snapped in front of her nose and jolted her back to awareness.
The snapping fingers belonged to Fran, who had apparently come out of the back while she had taken her short jaunt through the fields of exhaustion. Fran’s hair was tucked under a schoolboy hat, and her eyes swirled blue with her concern. She was slightly shorter than her husband but no less skilled.
"What have you done?" Fran asked directly not as dismissive as her husband towards Tiranna's activities.
"Fixed a demon stone so the demon would no longer leak through without a conjurer."
Fran studied Tiranna's face a long moment. "You've drained yourself practically dry. Come on then, let's see what I can do for you."
Tiranna let Fran pull her to her feet then addressed Fin. "How long to fix the watch?"
He waved a hand at her. "I'll call you when it's ready."
Tiranna nodded and let Fran lead her through the doorway and down a short hall into the kitchen area with eat in table and chairs. She dropped into one of the chairs and folded her arms on the table to rest her head there. Fran clucked her tongue and began bustling around the small room.
She wasn’t asleep, but she wasn’t quite awake either. Tiranna floated in a foggy half world of wakefulness while Fran busied herself. It wasn’t a bad place to be, especially when she knew she was as safe in Fran’s kitchen as she would be in any of the great elven courts.
She jolted upright when Fran pinched her arm hard. Tiranna stared until her eyes refocused on the waking world. Fran was holding a steaming cup out to her.
“Drink this. It should give you enough boost to get home and into bed. I’d rather dump you in a guest bed upstairs, but you’re too tall.” She gave a motherly smile.
Tiranna sniffed the liquid and because Fran watched like a hawk, she gulped down the liquid. It burned fire in her veins and that fire burned away a good portion of the fatigue.
“And, don’t think Lord Nathryn won’t hear about this.” She pulled Tiranna to her feet, “Now, let’s get you home.”
About the Author-
Peerless
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