Excerpt: Spies and Sorcery

(From the chapter "A Typical Evening")

Miranda saw a man with red hair fending off three teenagers armed with wooden practice swords. The man with red hair was armed with a long garden rake, and he carried other garden implements with him. Miranda hoped he did not use those. She knew that he had once maimed a man with a pair of pruning shears.

“As I said,” the red haired man said, blocking a blow with a rake and whirling to knock back another youth with a well aimed swing, which knocked him off his feet, “you can use anything as a weapon. And you are out, Heron. Please kindly remain where you are and pretend that your legs are broken.”

The teenager called the Heron, though his real name was Hendrik Robinson, sighed heavily and sank back down. He began to moan softly about how much pain he was in, though Miranda doubted the red haired weapons instructor, a man known as the Robin, had given him more than a bruise.

“Just do us all a favor and don’t step on the injured,” said a girl already sprawled on the floor.

“You are supposed to be dead, Emalia Starling, so you will remain silent,” said Robin as he defended himself against the two remaining attackers.