Shield's Lady

disappeared in an instant. Fury engulfed him. The hand Gryph had been extending to grasp his kit locked around Sariana’s small wrist instead. He yanked her forward until her upper body was sprawled across the table. Her eyes widened and he realized he was finally seeing genuine alarm in her gaze. It was about time, he decided.
    “Get it back.” Each word he spoke fell like a stone into the appalled silence that had seized the chamber. “Now.”
    “Please,” she whispered, “just listen to me. That’s all I’m asking. Let me tell you the whole story of the prisma cutter. We need your help.”
    “Get back my kit or I’ll find a way to make you vanish just as easily as you made it disappear. Understood?”
    “You’ve made yourself quite clear,” she replied in a shaky voice.
    She was finally scared, but her eyes still met his with steady determination. In spite of his raw mood, Gryph felt a reluctant surge of admiration for Sariana’s daring. He knew of no other woman in Serendipity or the outlying provinces who would have taken such a risk.
    “Give it to him, Sariana,” Jasso hissed. “Quickly.”
    “Hurry, before he kills us all,” Lady Avylyn pleaded.
    Bryer and Mara sat staring at Sariana, panic in their expressions.
    “What will it cost us to get your help?” Sariana whispered, her eyes huge.
    Gryph was amazed. “You’re still trying to negotiate a deal, lady?”
    “We need your help,” she repeated doggedly. “If you won’t accept the offer of being introduced socially while you wait for your payment, what kind of a deal will you accept? Name your price.”
    Gryph looked down at her. “Tell me who needs my help.”
    “I’ve just told you. The Avylyn Clan.”
    He shook his head, knowing suddenly what he wanted from her. “No. Not the Avylyns. They would be long gone by now if it wasn’t for you. Tell me who really needs my services. Tell me who will pay whatever she has to pay in order to get them.”
    Sariana stared at him, confused. Gryph waited, willing her to understand what he wanted from her. Then he saw the knowledge dawn in her large eyes.
    “I need your help,” Sariana said quietly.
    “Say it again.”
    She set her teeth. “I need your help.”
    Gryph nodded, satisfied. “That’s right. You. Not the Avylyns.” He released her. Sariana sat back in her seat, massaging her wrist unobtrusively. She regarded him with wary, smoldering eyes.
    “Get my weapon kit out of that stone table,” Gryph ordered calmly.
    Sariana pressed a hidden button under the table and a section of the polished stone surface silently slid open. She reached inside and retrieved the kit.
    “I only wanted to make you listen to my proposition,” she said, handing the kit to him. “I just wanted to get your attention long enough to convince you that you won’t lose in this deal.”
    “You’ve taken more risks tonight than you even realize,
    Sariana Dayne,” Gryph remarked as he quickly fastened the weapon kit back on his belt. “But you’re in luck. I’ve decided I need the work after all. I’ll take the job provided you can afford daily expenses. I’ll let you know later what my final fee will be.”

Chapter
    2

    SARIANA was awake very early the next morning. As usual, she had dressed and breakfasted long before the rest of the household. Soon after her arrival in the western provinces she had discovered that the locals tended not to worry very much about such things as punctuality or disciplined work hours.
    Lady Avylyn had admonished Sariana more than once for what she perceived as a lack of proper priorities. “Really, my dear,” the matriarch of the Avylyn Clan had declared, “you work much too hard. You must learn to play a bit more or you will run the risk of turning into a very dull little old lady.”
    “I think the results of too much play and too little work are quite obvious in the present financial status of your clan, Lady Avylyn,” Sariana had retorted. “Only a lot of hard work is going to salvage the situation now.”
    “Yes, well, I’m sure you have a point, Sariana, but it does seem a pity for you to miss so many lovely parties. Life is short, my dear.”
    “I am well aware of that, madam. And because of that fact, I cannot waste a moment of my time here in the western provinces. The sooner I accomplish my professional goals, the sooner I can go home.”
    “Yes, yes, I quite understand. But to be truthful, I cannot comprehend why anyone would want to return