Centaur of the Crime: Book One of 'Fantasy and Forensics' (Fantasy & Forensics 1) (20 page)

“But,” Kajari continued, “he’s still the best Air Cavalry commander this kingdom has. I can’t pull him from service.”

Emotion bubbled up my throat like a draught of fizzy champagne. Made me swallow before I spoke again.

“So you need him.”

“The kingdom needs him,” Kajari said, his voice surprisingly soft in my ear. “As the Lord Regent, I need everyone. Every able bodied person. To fight the war that draws close upon us now. Like a wolf breathing down the neck of its prey.”

I shuddered at that. I groped for the wide, wooden sill at the base of the window. Turned and sat my butt down.

Dammit, not now! Not in front of Duke Kajari!

I felt a trembling, an uncontrollable trembling, race up my arms. I clenched my fingers so they wouldn’t shake.

Kajari’s warm hand clasped mine. I felt the rough ridges of his palm, the calloused inner side of his fingers against my skin. With his other hand, he gently raised my chin.

“I know you are strong,” Kajari said, in that same rich, deep voice. I had no choice but to look at him. His eyes were the rich, roiling blue-gray of a storm-tossed sea. “Even so, I am truly sorry that you have been caught up in these events.”

I didn’t trust myself to speak. I’d felt everything building up inside. Everything had felt on a knife-edge since I’d come to Andeluvia. I felt like Death had given me a half-dozen passes, and I was burning through those passes like there was no tomorrow.

I’d been short of sleep, short of food, short of everything. Someone had tried their effing best to kill me. I’d fingered them, called them out in public. And then that bastard was just—let go?

I closed my eyes. Felt tears run down my cheeks. Warm, wet. Salty and tinged with ash from the Fayleene’s forest.

And the Duke? The folds of his mantle rustled slightly as he shifted weight. His masculine scent filled my awareness, along with sharp spice notes, like cloves and cinnamon.

He folded me in his arms. Slowly, gently.

I hadn’t had a man hold me like that in a long while.

Damn, it felt good.

“Lady Chrissie,” Kajari went on, “I know that the things I have done…have only made your life more difficult. You must understand. This is not what I wished to do. Only what I must.”

“I understand,” I said, and I pulled back from him. “It’s just that…I’m trying to do what’s right. To bring a criminal to justice. And almost no one wants me to actually do the job. I’m not used to that.”

Kajari nodded. “I know how that feels, Lady Chrissie.”

“As I said before, I’m no ‘Lady’.” I took a half-step back, and this time I took his hands in mine. “But I’d like it very much if…well, could you call me Dayna? At least in private?”

He smiled, though his noble face remained sad. “I shall, Dayna. And you can call me ‘Evan’. When we are out of earshot of the court.”

“Evan,” I said, contemplating its sound. I liked it. “How is it that you know…what it feels like?”

He shook his head ruefully.

“Politics, Dayna. Even when you try to do the right thing for everyone, they can turn on you. That experience pains me more than you could ever know. It pierces the heart like arrows in the breast.”

“What do you know,” I said, making an attempt to laugh. “We do have something in common, after all.”

“That we do, Dayna.” Kajari handed me a small cloth from a drawer. I dried my eyes as I finally composed myself. It took a while. Kajari took the time to straighten out his attire as well.

“Evan, I understand what you had to do,” I finally said. “But if Vazura murdered Benedict, then I’ve just lost my best shot at putting him away for good. And if Vazura wasn’t the one who murdered Benedict…”

My voice trailed off as my brain finally clicked the next piece into place. And the piece beyond that. Kajari frowned, puzzled, as I remained silent a moment longer.

I realized then what I’d been doing wrong. And what I had to do next. It wasn’t what I wanted, but as the Duke had said, you did what you had to if you wanted scrambled eggs.

And I was about to shatter some eggshells.

“Lord Regent, can you summon everyone to the meeting hall? Immediately?”

Duke Kajari straightened up as I used his formal title. He raised an eyebrow at me. “What do you mean by, ‘everyone’?”

“I mean every single damned one of the nobles in this palace. Even Vazura, if you can recall him before he’s left the palace.”

“And those assigned to you? The griffin, the Fayleene, and the wizard?”

“Especially the wizard.”

“That is easily done.” Kajari pulled a small silver medallion from one of his pockets. He rubbed it with his thumb, and I heard a bell-like chime. “Another of Galen’s inventions, similar to the one that brought you here. A signal to all those who wear one to come to the hall.”

“Then we should go, too.”

“You must go,” Kajari said, and he made an apologetic shrug. “Yet another duty of my station. It is best if I come a few minutes afterwards. That way, no one looks like they’re disrespecting my station by arriving late.”

I nodded. Once I was out of Kajari’s chambers, I all but sprinted down the corridors, navigating more by luck than sense of direction. I found myself back at the long, deep room of the meeting hall.

I finally got one piece of good luck. Galen and Shaw had arrived at the hall first. I hurried over and Shaw stepped forward, his stern-looking face even more grave than usual.

“The wizard told me of thy trial by fire,” the griffin hissed, as quietly as his voice would allow. “On the eve past, many in the court spoke ill of your mission.”

Galen nodded. “Truly, I doubt many would have wept if we’d fallen.”

With the delicate tic of his hooves on stone, Prince Liam entered, flanked by a pair of awed-looking courtiers. I nodded meaningfully in his direction. He spoke a word to the humans and left them behind to join us.

Shaw looked at the new arrival with a curious stare.

“Mine eyes have never seen the like! A Fayleene, here?”

“Shaw, this is Prince Liam,” I said, introducing the two with a gesture, “Liam, this is Shaw, the noble griffin I spoke of.”

The two creatures bowed to each other.

“Dayna,” Liam said worriedly, “The word ‘round this court is grim. Much treachery lurks in the shadows.”

“I know. That’s why we need to act, and act fast.”

“I’m all for that,” he agreed, with a dip of his antler, “but in which direction do we dash?”

“Up and out,” I replied, and then I addressed Galen. “When would you be able to transport us? To my world, I mean?”

“Verily, I have already prepared the spell to send you back. I have modified it to return you to your home dwelling.” Galen did a double-take. “Bide one moment, Dayna. Did you say, ‘us’?”

“That’s right.” I smiled at him.

Galen rummaged in his pockets. “Yes…I have the components on hand. We can leave when you wish.”

“Then follow my lead. Get ready to cast the spell.”

“Another world,” Liam breathed. “Truly, this will be an adventure!”

“Where thou must go, I shall follow,” Shaw intoned, with a majestic flex of his wings.

“Dayna,” Galen said, “are you sure that this move is a wise one?”

“No,” I replied. “But it’s the best one we’ve got left.”

Galen looked doubtful. However, if he had any more concerns, he kept them to himself as the room filled with the assorted nobles from all over the palace. Captain Vazura and Lady Behnaz came in and sat together at one end of the table, a concentrated glower of dislike on their faces.

That was fine by me. If Vazura wasn’t the murderer…then I hadn’t gotten anywhere by staying in Andeluvia. It was time to change my strategy. I’d been playing the game on the enemy’s home turf. It was time to bring it back to mine.

Kajari finally made his appearance. The assembled lords and ladies bowed slightly to him as he passed. Instead of sitting at the head of the table, he addressed my group with a genuine curiosity.

“As you requested, Lady Chrissie, I have assembled the court of Andeluvia on short notice.” He tapped a foot in a show of impatience. “What is it that you deem important enough to interfere with our business?”

A murmur of agreement ran through the crowd.

“Only to announce our good news,” I said confidently. I beamed my best grin, and then added, “The centaur wizard has prepared a spell to take us back to my world. I have a device there which will tell me who Benedict’s murderer is.”

The murmurs redoubled. Vazura and Lady Behnaz whispered urgently to each other. Kajari glanced at them, and then frowned.

“You are sure of this?”

“Without a doubt. And what’s more–” the room went quiet as I paused for emphasis, “the murderer knows this, too. It’s why they tried to kill me last night. He or she knows that I’m breathing down their neck.”

I took a step back towards Galen. I nodded at him.

“Until next time, Lord Regent,” I said.

Galen’s voice boomed out an incantation. A soundless flash, and the ranks of people before us vanished in a blaze of white.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Galen’s spell to send us to my world dumped my brain back into an ocean of eye-searing whiteness. The burnt-oven smell of ozone filled my nostrils. I tried to scream. Air rushed out from between my lips in a dull hiss.

I landed with a bump that sent a painful twinge through my knees. Teetered on the sandy brown edge of my well-worn living room carpet. I stumbled forward a step.

My senses threatened to overwhelm me. The solid walls of my home, the scents of coffee and newsprint and lemon wood polish made me weak in the knees. Then Galen’s firm, warm hand clasped my shoulder and steadied me.

“Allow me, Dayna,” the centaur said, as I regained my footing. “Crossing worlds is rarely a comfortable kind of travel.”

“No kidding,” I said, in a quavering voice.

Liam sprawled on the carpet next to me. After a moment, he raised his head, shook it groggily, and got to his feet. He pawed at the carpet’s surface with one cloven forehoof.

“Strange ground cover you have in this world,” he said, half to himself.

Shaw managed to keep his footing, but the griffin swayed and listed like a drunken lion. He spread his wings reflexively to balance himself and knocked over the books and knickknacks that I had perched on the fireplace mantle.

“My apologies, Dayna,” Shaw said ruefully. “Thy chambers are a snug nest for one such as I.”

“Admittedly, you do keep rather cozy quarters,” Galen agreed.

My living room had a vaulted ceiling, but the centaur had to duck his head under one of the mission-style beams. He’d have to do some serious knee bends if he was going to get through some of the other doors in the house.

“The architect wasn’t familiar with centaurs or griffins.” I stepped over to the windows looking out over my front yard. Gauzy white curtains lay over the glass, but I hastily drew the heavy drapes closed. “Neither are my neighbors. I’ll have to come up with a way to get you three out of the house without attracting attention. Probably after dark.”

Galen snorted. “With less than two days left before my people go to war? I hope that we shall not throw away the pittance of time we have!”

“The wizard doth speak true,” Shaw chimed in. “Together we can out-run, out-fly, out-fox, or out-fight anything in thy world.”

I held my hands up. “Guys, hold on. Listen to me. This place is different than Andeluvia. A lot different.”

“In what way?” Liam asked, canting an antler at me.

“Well…” My mind raced for a second, trying to pick the best way to explain. “For starters, the ground cover you mentioned, my carpet. A lot of my world is covered in things that would be odd to you. We, ah, crush rocks into a kind of paste and smooth it out flat, flatter than the cobblestones in Andeluvia, and use it all over the place, for sidewalks and streets.”

“Why in the world would you do such a thing?”

“Because most people in my world get around using cars. Automobiles. They’re vehicles that can go fast on that kind of surface. You could think of cars as a ‘horseless’ carriage.”