Page 41 of Shelf-Made Man
“Stop!”
At the sound of Alfie’s shout, Tobias froze, as did all the other trolls. Even Snjokarl stopped struggling. Alfie had unbound his hands and grabbed a letter opener off the desk. He stood straight-backed and regal, without any sign of fear. “All of you—sheathe your weapons and fall back, or my troll will destroy your master!”
After a moment’s hesitation, the trolls obeyed. Tobias didn’t blame them; it would have been hard to ignore Alfie’s commanding tone.
“Tobias, let him breathe. But don’t let him go.”
Oh. Right. Tobias was still strangling an elf.
He loosened his grip enough for Snjokarl to take several huge gasps. “How dare you! I am aprinceand you are nothing but?—”
“Shut up,” Alfie snapped. “I’m a prince too, remember? That didn’t stop you from….” He shuddered and then regained his composure.
“The King of the Kingdom of Five Sisters has disowned you and declared you an outlaw,” Snjokarl spat. “You are prince of nothing.Youare nothing.”
Alfie maintained a stoic expression, but when Tobias saw hurt flash in his eyes, he gave Snjokarla good shake. He thought about continuing to strangle him—it was such a satisfying activity—but Alfie gave a slight movement of the head and Tobias reluctantly desisted.
“I could snap his neck,” Tobias offered helpfully. “Or yank out his tongue. Or both.”
Alfie walked closer and set a gentle hand on Tobias’s back. “Is that really what you want to do?”
“Yes. No. I don’t….” He remembered his mother’s lessons and wondered what she would have advised him to do in this situation. Yes, Snjokarl was smaller and weaker, but he was hardly blameless, and he had a small army of trolls backing him up. Nonviolence was all well and good in principle, but did it always hold up in practice?
Alfie went up on his toes so he could whisper in his ear. “Can you transfer all three of us?”
Tobias opened his mouth to say that was a good idea and to ask where to?—
And the doors burst open, a flood of armed trolls surging toward them.
Acting mostly on instinct, he mentally highlighted himself and the two elves, cut… and pasted.
Chapter
Eighteen
Snjokarl took off running as soon as they arrived, but Alfie tackled him to the ground. When Tobias caught up with the two of them, he gently pushed Alfie to the side before sitting on Snjokarl’s back. That would make him stay put for a bit.
“Where is this?” Alfie looked around.
That was an excellent question. Tobias hadn’t had time to pay much attention to that aspect when he was transferring them.
It was nighttime and they were outside. The air was cold—although Tobias was, as usual, comfortable—and it was damp but not quite raining. They were on an expansive grass lawn with some tall trees scattered around, a street running in front, and a large brick building behind them.
“I recognize this place,” said Tobias with a degree of relief. “It’s a college near my house.”
Beneath him, Snjokarl made a pained moan. Tobias rose but grabbed him before he could run off, keeping a tight grip on Snjokarl’s arm.
“What have you done?” snarled Snjokarl.
Alfie brushed some debris off his clothing. “We’ve been transferred.”
“It won’t save either of you. My trolls will track you down.”
Tobias realized that was probably true, and it meant that he couldn’t simply let Snjokarl loose to make his own way in the wilds of Portland. And now, back in his own world, Tobias’s taste for murder had faded, which didn’t leave many options.
Alfie looked thoughtful, however. “We are prepared to negotiate.”
“I won’t negotiate with the likes of?—”
