Chapter Five #4
Beyond the spinning energies, an enormous centaur in elaborate armor waited with eight Centauri guards, male and female.
We all proceeded through the gate, Dearg and I moving with deliberate royal grace, the men behind us marching, their carriage flawless.
Apparently Dearg had made his point. Despite my regal expression, my heart hammered.
This could go south between one breath and the next.
“Prince Dearg!” Swiftdeath said in the Sidhe tongue with a broad, toothy grin.
He was even more enormous than poor Baareo had been, with a shining roan coat, long red hair bound in braids, and a long, braided beard bound with intricately engraved silver rings.
He would have been as handsome as most immortals, except his face was marked with scars he’d refused to heal.
One of them drew up a corner of his lip into a perpetual sneer.
Scarring was a mark of pride among the clans, so they rarely used magical healing on any wound that wasn’t fatal.
“What a pleasure to meet you somewhere other than a battlefield.”
Dearg gave him a toothy grin of his own. “Indeed, though I’ve always enjoyed our battles.” He was speaking Centauri, not to be outdone by his rival. “I see you cherish that lip scar I gave you.”
Deathbringer’s grin turned feral. “And yet the wounds I inflicted have left no mark at all. Oh, yes, that’s right -- you Sidhe value your pretty faces more than demonstrations of your courage. Such as it is.”
Oh, it was going to be one of those conversations. At least the ‘taur didn’t seem ready to fight. My heritage gives me the ability to sense violent intentions, and he didn’t appear to have any.
At the moment.
The centaur’s smile took on a mocking edge.
“I understand that you come to notify Argantes Hammerthunder of the details of his son’s murder.
” He made a show of examining our guards’ pikes.
“I’d have thought you’d bring the killer’s head to present to his family.
Or… haven’t you found the murderer yet?”
“Actually, I’m investigating the murder,” I said in Centauri, not about to let this sneering bastard insult Dearg over something that was my responsibility. “I am the head of law enforcement in Summerwood, and I will capture the killer.”
Swiftdeath gave me a contemptuous glance that plainly communicated doubt that I was capable of any such thing. Then again, compared to centaur females, I probably looked as delicate as a child.
He turned to Dearg. “If you wish, I will be happy to help you hunt the murderer, since you seem incapable of protecting your own.”
As I worked to hide my anger, magic gathered in the ground beneath my feet. Hastily, I focused on suppressing it. If I wasn’t damn careful, I’d be the one to trigger the war everyone was trying to avoid.
“Your skill in hunting thieves and killers is well-known.” Dearg lifted a polite, inquiring brow. “Have you warned your sister about Skullcrusher yet?”
Thick orange brows drew down. “What?”
“Skullcrusher, your sister Deathdancer’s future husband.” He nodded toward one of the centaurs, a dapple-gray-coated brute whose eyes had widened in alarm. “He’s using their future union to solicit bribes among those who would curry favor with your father.”
Deathbringer’s head snapped around. One look at Skullcrusher’s paling face told him Dearg was telling the truth.
With a roar of fury, the prince spun on his haunches and lunged at the centaur, conjuring an axe in mid pounce.
Another axe appeared in Skullcrusher’s hands as he reared, dancing backward on his hind legs, barely avoiding Deathbringer’s swing.
As if that was a starting gun, the entire troop fell on each other. Apparently half of them were allies of Skullcrusher’s.
“Well,” I called over enraged Centauri curses. “Didn’t see that coming.”
“Sorry.” Dearg gave me an apologetic look as he threw a quick shield over us all, deflecting a flying battleaxe. “I should have warned you what I was going to do if he started playing the usual ‘taur games.”
I shrugged. “Well, they’re Centauri. If they’re not actively at war with us, they fight each other like motorcycle gangs.”
He rested a warm hand against the small of my back and urged me into motion as our guards and the bier followed.
“It appears they’re going to be busy for a bit.
We’ll have to do the notification without them.
” His expression was so serene, his steps so unhurried, you’d never know he’d just triggered an intraclan war.
“Oh, so that was what you meant when you told the king you had excellent spies,” I said as ‘taur screams and curses faded behind us.
“I wouldn’t be much of a spymaster if I didn’t.” His eyes laughed, despite his sober expression.
As we strolled away, it occurred to me that Dearg’s threatening power signature might be innate and not just Dragon’s Breath.
The sword, I noticed, was no longer drooling sparks in its scabbard, though its hum of malevolent anticipation made the hair rise on the back of my neck.
Well, at least one of us was having a good time.