Free Nemesis by Emma L. Adams Page B

clearing, where the centaur contingent awaited us. Markos cantered over to me and said, in English, “Please kill me.”
    “Family reunion went well, then?”
    “I would prefer to gouge out my eyeballs with a stick,” said Markos. “Speaking of which, I am certain I’ve managed to offend most of my relatives. I forget they don’t understand the concept of sarcasm.”
    “Now that’s a tragedy,” I said, and Markos laughed. Naturally, several centaurs glared at us and Raj backed slowly away.
    “What’s the latest from the council?” asked the centaur.
    “Same as usual,” I said. “Except someone seems to think magic is wrong in Aglaia. Since what happened to the Balance. I wouldn’t know, but have the centaurs noticed anything odd?”
    “Funny you should say that.” Markos gave a sharp glance towards the other centaurs. “When they haven’t been eviscerating me, they’ve been complaining that the mages are tampering with the weather conditions. It hasn’t rained in a month.”
    “Hmm. That’s not exactly uncommon here, is it?”
    “True, but any excuse to blame humans…”
    On cue, a female voice shouted in Aglaian, “Why are you talking to that human?”
    How many times are we going to have to go through this? I turned to the interrupter, inferring at a glance she must be Markos’s sister. They had the same long, dark hair and sharply angled features.
    “Hello, Eidora,” said Markos. “My sister,” he added, for my benefit, switching to Aglaian. “Eidora, meet Kay. My colleague from Central, and Ambassador for the Alliance.”
    “Pleasure to meet you,” I said.
    “I cannot say the feeling is mutual,” said Eidora, stony-faced.
    Yeah, centaurs definitely didn’t get sarcasm.
    “My charming sister is, surprisingly, on board with my plan to get the hell out of here… that is, to respectfully withdraw from my role as the king.”
    “That’s something,” I said.
    “Now we just need to convince… everyone else. We’re working on it.”
    “And the king’s death?” Tread carefully, I thought, as Eidora’s gaze snapped onto me.
    “No new developments,” said Markos. “Yet. If we are to determine whether magic was indeed the cause, we would need to convince the council to allow Alliance members from offworld in to check for traces. Central, for one, has the technology, does it not?”
    “On Earth, our trackers can pinpoint an individual magic-wielder. I doubt it could be that specific here on Aglaia, but it would certainly help. Is there no chance the council would allow the Alliance to check? It seems an obvious solution.”
    “It does. But no human has set foot in our royal grounds since the last war. There would be backlash.”
    “That figures,” I muttered. “No offence to you, but you aren’t making this any easier for yourselves.”
    “It’s none of your concern, Ambassador,” Eidora cut in, her eyes narrowing.
    “On the contrary,” I said, “if magic is involved, it concerns the Balance. That affects the Alliance by default.”
    Eidora kicked her back hoof up, and Markos moved towards her.
    “Watch it…” he said. “The human is right. You know it.”
    Eidora’s expression could have frozen a river, but I crossed my arms and met her stare. “I’m sure the council will have come to the same conclusion.”
    “You’d better go,” Markos said in a low voice. His sister appeared on the brink of lashing out with those hooves. I was fairly sure I could get away, but starting another argument wouldn’t make negotiations any easier.
    “I meant no offence,” I repeated to Eidora. “The choice is yours.”
    “Get out,” snapped the centaur.
    Shrugging, I turned to find Raj staring at me across the clearing, near the doorway.
    “What was that?” he said. “You’re playing a dangerous game, Kay.”
    “I’m aware of that,” I said. “Someone had to tell them.”
    We stepped through the doorway, and the temperature dropped about thirty degrees. Magic