The Rogue

makers had a similar fatalistic humour, he’d noted. Though accidents were rare, they did happen. Lorkin had seen some badly scarred women making their way through the caves. Once, one of the newer makers had whispered to him that some of them worked alone not just to avoid dangerous distractions, but because they preferred that others didn’t see their scars. Some of them ate, slept and worked in the inner caves permanently, almost never leaving.

After staring at the stone intently, Halana put it down again. “You’re doing well,” she said. “It’s a little better than most first stones. In a few days we should be able to activate it.”

He smiled. “And then?”

She met his eyes and paused, then shrugged. “Then you’ll move on to bigger tasks. I’ll check on you again tomorrow.”

With that, she turned away and moved on to the next student. Lorkin watched her, wondering at the pause after his question. It was almost as if the question had surprised her, and she’d assumed that he had known already.

Perhaps she hadn’t thought that far ahead. Or she’s not used to students wanting to know what they’ll be learning next. Or the answer is rather obvious.

Shrugging, he turned back to the stone and, as he was growing quite skilled at doing, resolved to think about it later.

With a little magic, Lilia gently warmed the water in the bucket. She dared not heat it too much in case other servants noticed it steaming, realised that Lilia hadn’t gone to the kitchen to heat it, and started to wonder about her. Kneeling on the floor, she dipped a cloth in the water and began to wipe and scrub.

For a week Lilia had been living in the bolhouse, sleeping under the stairs and pretending to be a cleaner. Donia had been surprised when Lilia had suggested the disguise, until she learned that Lilia’s family were servants. Anyi had disappeared after the first dinner, and when she reappeared the next morning she’d been angry to find Lilia scrubbing pots in the kitchen. Lilia had needed to talk her out of telling Donia off.

“You’re a magician,” Anyi had said, her voice low so the other servants wouldn’t hear. “It shouldn’t matter that you were born a servant.”

“Actually, I’m not a magician – not a Guild one, anyway,” Lilia pointed out. “They threw me out, remember? I don’t mind doing this, and I could hardly expect to stay here for free.”

Anyi had told Lilia of her meeting with Cery. He’d agreed not to tell the Guild that Anyi had rescued Lilia and knew where she was. Lilia could not help feeling curious about him. Anyi had strong opinions about what was right and wrong, and Lilia couldn’t imagine her working for anyone who didn’t agree with her ideals. From what she had said about Cery, he was working at great risk to himself to keep magic out of the hands of the underworld. Donia, on the other hand, seemed to think Cery was more pragmatic – perhaps even ruthless – than Anyi believed.

A booted leg appeared beside her. Startled, she jumped and a yelp escaped her. Looking up, she was relieved to see it belonged to Anyi.

“You startled me,” she said reproachfully, throwing the cloth back into the bucket. “Can’t you make a small bit of noise when you walk up behind me?”

“Sorry.” Anyi didn’t look sorry, though. She looked smug. “Part of my job. I forget that I’m doing it.” She looked at the bucket and wet floor. “Looks like my timing has been good. What have Donia’s guests left for you to clean up this time?”

Lilia grimaced. “You don’t want to know. And it would have been good timing if you’d got here before I had to clean it up.”

“Sorry about that. I’ll try to be early next time.” She grinned. “Are you done? We have a meeting to get to.”

Lilia felt her heart skip. “With Cery?”

“Yes.” Anyi’s eyebrows rose. “You look eager to meet him.”

Lilia stood up. “Only because you make him sound like an interesting person.”

“Do I? Well, don’t tell him that.” Anyi bent to pick up the bucket, but Lilia moved it out of reach with magic.

“I’m the servant, remember. I’ll just drop this off before we go.” She picked it up and headed downstairs. Anyi grumbled quietly as she followed.

Once the bucket had been rinsed and returned to the stack, and Lilia had borrowed a heavy coat from Donia, Anyi led her out of a back door into an alleyway after checking if anybody was watching. The air was very cold and Lilia had to resist the temptation to warm the air around them. To add to her discomfort and frustration at not being able to use magic, it began to rain.

The alley was empty of people, though full of rubbish and boxes.

“You need to know some things,” Anyi said quietly. “I’ve been trying to prevent this meeting, for two reasons …”

She paused as they reached the end of the alley, checking the cross street before they walked over it into another, narrower alleyway.

“Firstly, my employer is in hiding, too. Bringing you to meet him is a risk. Seems to me that bringing two wanted people together doubles the risk of them both being found. But it is safer bringing you to meet him, rather than the other way around. The people who want to find you want to lock you up. The people who want to find him want to kill him.”

“Skellin wants to—”

“Shh. Don’t say his name. The rain covers our voices, but some words attract more attention than others. But … yes.” Anyi peered around a corner, then continued around it. “He’s very powerful, you know,” Anyi glanced at Lilia. “The most powerful Thief in the city. Got allies everywhere, high and low.”

“So … if your employer is in hiding, and the most powerful Thief – who is also a magician – is after him, is he going to be able to help me find Naki?”

Anyi stopped and turned to face Lilia. “He has allies, too. Not as many, but they’re reliable people. The rest would hand you over to him straightaway.”

Lilia stared back at the woman. She’d obviously offended Anyi by questioning Cery’s abilities. Which is fair enough … but something tells me there is more to her relationship with this Cery than she’s letting on.

“You’re very loyal to him, aren’t you?” she observed.

Anyi sucked in a deep breath, then let it out again. “Yes. I guess I am.” Her expression was oddly thoughtful, but only briefly. She started forward again.

Lilia realised that the rain had stopped, which would have been a relief except that it was now snowing, and even colder. She shoved her hands deep into her coat pockets, then regretted it as her fingernails filled up with grit caught in the bottom.

“Good,” Anyi said, more to herself than to Lilia. “I was hoping for snow. It’ll keep people off the street.” She flipped the hood of her coat up over her head.

“So what’s the second reason?” Lilia asked.

Anyi frowned. “Second reason for what?”

“For avoiding this meeting.”

“Oh. Yes.” Anyi grimaced. “Even though he said he wouldn’t, I wasn’t completely sure he wouldn’t hand you over.”

To the Guild, Lilia finished. “So you’re loyal, but you don’t trust him.”

“Oh, I do,” Anyi assured her. “I’d trust him with my life. Trouble is, I wouldn’t trust him with most other people’s.”

“That’s not very reassuring.”

“I realise that. But you should know. He is what he is.”

A possibility flashed into Lilia’s mind.

“A Thief?”

Anyi glanced at Lilia and frowned. “Was I that obvious?”

Lilia smiled. “Either that, or I’m getting better at this.”