"Some do, some don't," Gene said with an indifferent shrug. "Some of them resent us. I don't blame them, even if it's unwarranted. They're not natives to Konryu either. Eshai pulled them from their homeworld and used magic to make them meek and docile. When we defeated Malicant, that part of the enchantment ended." He smiled thinly, and there was no humor in it. "I'm glad she didn't do the same to us, all told."

He inclined his head in her direction. "Do they? I suppose I'm the wrong person to ask. I came from one war at home into another war here, and while we're largely living in harmony with the kedan, to me it feels more like an uneasy truce than anything." That thin smile again. "Or perhaps I'm just paranoid. Still, I have good reason to beware a knife in my back."

Constant vigilance!