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“ T he Thief Queen?” Elwis asked as he lowers the book that Corallin had handed him. He turned, tossing it onto the desk. New binding, this was not the original. He couldn’t believe it; he had a copy.

“Indeed, she is back and returned to power,” Corallin said, folding her hands in front of her.

“This is a disturbing turn of events,” Elwis murmured. He had always feared this day would come. It was why he had set out to find the Thief Queen all those years ago on the rumor of her survival even a thousand years after her downfall. Instead, he had found Corallin so he couldn’t find it in himself to regret never finding Talyria Undying.

Still, it would have been better if he had managed to get his hands on the Thief Queen all those years ago and gotten her to work for him before she had gained any sort of power.

“How powerful is she?” he asked as he began pacing across his study. His eyes darted to the Highlander man who his daughter brought in, but the boy remained silent.

“It’s difficult to say, but I would advise against raising her ire before we know the full scope,” Corallin replied. “She asked me to join her ring of thieves, I think that I should make use of her offer. That way I can spy on her and report back her strength.”

Elwis reached up, stroking his chin. “Very well, I’ll leave you in charge of this Thief Queen business. You will report to me and allow me to get a better grasp of her numbers. Then we can determine what sort of response is necessary.”

Corallin nods, stepping forward and wrapping him in a quick hug. “Of course, father, I won’t let you down.”

Elwis straightened feeling odd. There was something about her mannerisms that told him not to trust her, but that was ridiculous. This was his daughter. The only people he truly, implicitly trusted were his family. Indeed, the only thing he truly feared losing was them.

There was no crime they could commit against him, even if they destroyed his empire so long as they were safe.

So why would Corallin lie to him?

He gave his head a sharp shake. Ridiculous, it’s absurd. Out of all his daughters Corallin was the one he relied on the most, she was his business partner, same as his wife Vala. Whereas Bronwyn and Natasya were still so young and were only just being introduced to the family business.

He straightened, turning his attention finally to the Highlander. “And who is this?”

“This is—” Corallin began but the man stepped forward holding out his hand.

“I am Lief,” he said.

Elwis stared at his hand, his own arms remaining at his side.

“Father, Lief is my Wilder,” Corallin whispered. This got Elwis’s attention. He raised his gaze looking at the man more closely. How come it was that every time he sent his girls out to get a spellbook, they always came back with a man?

Still this Lief looked strong enough, Elwis would, of course, have to look deeply into his family history and everything he could find on this man. But he had hopes that this man would at least stay out of his way. Unlike Evengi.

He doubted he would be as helpful as Wilder, who he saw as the son he never had.

Corallin cleared her throat. “Lief is the reason we have the spellbook. When I managed to steal it from the Thief Queen, briefly he was able to transpose the spells so I could return it to its place, so that Talyria was none the wiser of my treachery. It’s because of him that I’m able to continue undercover work for you.”

Elwis studied Lief, there is that untruth in his daughter’s tone again, but he didn’t think it had anything to do with that young man. She seemed to genuinely be fond of him. Enough to bring him home with her. That’s always quite a large step, especially after she likely saw the reception Evengi got.

No, there was something about her time with the Thief Queen that she didn’t seem to be telling him, but he decided not to pry. Corallin had her reasons. She would tell him when she was ready.

“You have my thanks then,” Elwis said when he realized that Corallin was waiting for him to respond about her paramour’s part played in claiming the spellbook.

“Oh, and, sir,” Lief said, clearing my throat. “I hadn’t extra pages on hand, so I had to use the book with my novel inside of it. I do ask that you allow me to copy that over at some point.”

“Novel?” Elwis asked, raising his brow.

Lief nodded. “Yes, sir.”

Elwis frowned. “Hmmm.”

He turned to the three spellbooks on his desk as he pressed his fingers against the wood. Three spellbooks written by three of the most powerful magickers in the world. But one is just a copy and there’s still a spellbook out there.

And now he had competition.

But the fourth founder’s spellbook was not the prize. No, the prize was what the spellbooks were able to unlock once they were together.

Because with them he would finally be able to enter the tomb the master of the four founders of the academy a man by the name of Junis Antonov. Junis held more power than any of his four pupils combined and his spellbook contained his life’s work.

Within it lay the secret of how to combine magic and sorcery and not lose your life or go mad.