Nemesis of Mars by Stewart Glynn

Author:Stewart, Glynn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Faolan's Pen Publishing
Published: 2023-02-07T00:00:00+00:00

26

Beauchene appeared to be more reconciled to his situation than he had been when Roslyn had last spoken to him. That hadn’t even been an entire day earlier, but felt like days or weeks.

“Ros,” he greeted her as she entered the room. “Beer?”

“Don’t call me that,” Roslyn said sharply. She’d hated Ros when she’d been eighteen, and it hadn’t grown on her since. “And no, thank you.”

“Suit yourself.” Someone had, it appeared, delivered Beauchene a pack of beer bottles. Roslyn’s glance at the labels suggested it was expensive beer—which, while it didn’t guarantee that it was good, meant that someone was at least trying.

A cot had also been brought into the office they’d set aside for their informant, along with several chairs. Beauchene had moved the desk over to the side and was using it as a table to store his beer—and, from the tray shoved off to the side, eat his dinner.

“What do you want, Roslyn?” he asked. “I’ve given you everything I can. I helped you save the Chancellor. You already said that’s worth something.”

Taking a cue from Damien Montgomery’s book, Roslyn crooked a finger and pulled a chair across the floor to her with a spark of magic. She took a seat, studying Beauchene in silence for a hopefully long few seconds.

He raised a tattooed eyebrow at her.

“Roslyn, I’ve been sweated by some of the best the Tau Ceti cops have,” he pointed out. “I wouldn’t have made it as far as I did or get in as much trouble as I did if sitting and staring at me made me shiver.”

She smiled thinly.

“We agreed on a pardon for…organized crime charges,” she told him.

“We did.” Beauchene did not attempt to expand on or clarify those charges. “And in recognition that my involvement in the Queen’s kidnapping was entirely unwitting.”

“And for the services you’ve provided, Lord Montgomery will honor my word, without question,” Roslyn said.

“Then we’re done here, right? I can go?”

“Well, I mean, right now it looks like O’Kane’s allies are cutting off loose ends with explosives and mind control,” she said. “I’m going to ask one more thing of you, no matter what, but once we’re done…if you really want to, you can leave.”

“And what are my alternatives?” he asked, his tone careful.

“We’ll get to that. First, though, I want you to fully understand just what you enabled,” Roslyn said. “And I remind you, my old friend, that there are charges on the books that are intended for Mages…but just because we’ve never charged a mundane with aiding and abetting personality murder doesn’t mean we can’t.”

“What…what the hell does that even mean?” the informant asked after a moment.

“It’s one possibility on the board,” she noted. “So’s treason. We know who O’Kane worked for now. Over seventy Marines and a Royal Guard died finding that out, Kah. Someone has to pay for that.”

She could see his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed, hard.

“Okay,” he said slowly. “You know I didn’t know anything about that.”

“No, actually, I don’t,” Roslyn replied.

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