The Rogue

Lorkin grinned. “Oh, I’m pretty sure I can guess. Would you like to wash and eat before I give you the news?”

Moving to one of the stools, Dannyl sat down. Lorkin chuckled.

“I gather that’s a ‘no’.”

“If you don’t mind,” Tayend said. “I’d like to wash and eat. I’m sure you can fill me in later.”

“Of course,” Dannyl said. “Tell the slaves to prepare something for us both.”

The Elyne hurried down the corridor to his room. As Lorkin and Merria sat down, Dannyl noted that both wore worried expressions.

“So is this good news or bad?”

Lorkin smiled wryly. “Both. The bad is this …”

He handed Dannyl a letter. Noting the Sachakan king’s seal, already broken, Dannyl opened the letter and read. He felt a chill run down his spine.

“So,” he said. “He forbids you to leave and informs you that he will summon you to meet with him once I have returned. It makes sense. You’ve spent months with the rebels so the king obviously wants to know everything you’ve learned.”

“You don’t expect me to tell him, do you?”

“Not unless the Guild – no, our king – orders you to.”

Lorkin looked worried. “Can he stop me leaving? Do I have to meet with him?”

“That depends how much he’s willing to test the peace between our lands.” Dannyl frowned. “The fact that you left to live with the rebels probably tested that peace quite a bit already. If we ignore this and send you home, it will be an even greater insult.”

“So what do we do?”

“You cooperate. You stay here. You meet him. You tell him nothing, respectfully and politely. We – myself, the Guild and king, and anyone else we can persuade to help us – work at persuading him to let you go.”

“It might take a long time.”

Dannyl nodded. “That’s very likely.”

Lorkin looked even more anxious now. He glanced at Merria, then at the door Tayend had disappeared through.

“There is … something else. I gather, since you were surprised to see me here, that you haven’t been in contact with Osen?”

Another chill ran down Dannyl’s spine. “No. There was a storm and … I’ve been too preoccupied to put on the ring.” He cursed silently. The blood rings were so useful and yet so limited. If only he’d been allowed to make a blood ring and leave it with the Administrator. Then Osen could have contacted him directly.

Lorkin met Dannyl’s eyes, his expression serious. He suddenly looked much older than he was – or than Dannyl was used to regarding him.

“I can’t discuss anything aloud in case we’re overheard. You need to contact Osen,” Lorkin said. “Now.”

EPILOGUE

A noise down the passage alerted Cery before he saw the light. Relieved, he stood up and waited for Anyi to reach him. As she neared him he saw her smile and he sighed with relief.

It was good to see her so happy. Good that she had a friend. Being cooped up in the hideout did not suit her, and no matter how many practice sessions he and Gol put her through they wouldn’t be able to curb her restless nature.

The only real danger in these visits to Lilia is the stability of the passages under the Guild. No Thief has dared to occupy them. The Slig, the slum children who had built themselves homes in parts of the Thieves’ Road, were said to instinctively know and avoid unstable areas. Anyi had taken Lilia down into the tunnels and they’d both started to make repairs. He hoped they knew what they were doing.

“You don’t have to wait for me,” Anyi said, and not for the first time.

Cery shrugged. “I don’t mind.”

“I was gone for hours.”

He looked at Gol. “We kept ourselves occupied.”

She sighed and walked past him. “Where to now?”

“Home,” he said.

As they travelled, slipping out of the Thieves’ Road as soon as they reached a safe place, he thought about Sonea’s message. He couldn’t blame her for seizing the opportunity to meet Lorkin. He’d have done the same thing.

But he didn’t trust Kallen in the same way he trusted her. Not just because I don’t know him like I know Sonea, or that he’s not from the lower end of Imardin society, and not even because of Kallen’s liking for roet. The man is too … He searched for a word, and eventually settled on “rigid”. Cery didn’t doubt the man’s promise to never give up in his search for Skellin, but it came first from a dedication to law and what was right, rather than a desire to protect others. He doubted that Kallen would ever bend the law or his idea of rightness, and that could lead to people getting hurt. The people most likely to be hurt are Anyi, Gol and I.

At last they reached the entrance to the hideout. It had been cold outside, and the chill clung to them. They were all keen to get inside and warm up, but forced themselves to go through all the precautions, and their numb fingers to work all the safeguards. Once inside, Anyi set about starting a fire while Gol checked for indications that the escape routes had been compromised.

Cery sat down. A bottle of wine and three glasses had been set on the table. He sighed. Right now all he wanted was a warmed glass of bol.

“Is there something to celebrate?” he asked, looking at Anyi and Gol.

They turned to regard him, their expressions puzzled.

Cery gestured to the bottle. “Your idea?”

The pair shook their heads.

He turned to stare at the bottle. His heart lurched. A rushing sound filled his ears. A tag hung from a loop of string about the bottle’s neck. On it were scrawled three words. He looked closer.

For your daughter.

He staggered to his feet.

“Out,” he gasped. “Someone’s been here. We have to get out.”

GLOSSARY

ANIMALS

aga moths – pests that eat clothing

anyi – sea mammals with short spines