The Rogue

He shook his head. “Appalling.”

“Well … there it is. What a pair we are. Except we’re not a pair, since you’re heading home and I’m … well, I am too.”

“If it makes you feel any better, I’ll promise to come back.”

She put a hand out and touched his mouth. “Make no promises.”

He made a sound of protest, then took her hand. “No promises? I’d at least like to know you’re not going to tuck up in bed with someone else while I’m gone.”

She gave a short laugh. “Despite all our efforts to adopt the roles that men have in other societies, we Traitor women haven’t managed to match all of their despicable ways. Though I’ll admit there are certainly a few women who seem bent on bedding every man in Sanctuary,” she added, with a grimace.

He looked at her. “That’s no promise.”

“That’s all you’re going to get,” she told him.

He shrugged and sipped his raka. Well, it isn’t as if I’ve asked her to marry me. I’m not even sure how that works here. Women choose their men, so I gather she’s supposed to ask me.

“You should take power from me before you go,” she said quietly.

Surprised, he looked at her. “Using black magic?”

“Of course. You haven’t noticed, since it’s done privately, but non-magician Traitors regularly donate power to the magicians. There was no time to arrange this for you before you left. I have plenty of extra power, and I can replace it easily enough when I get back. You shouldn’t venture back into Sachaka without first increasing your store of it. The Ashaki might be suspicious of a Kyralian magician wandering about not wearing robes. They might recognise you and, knowing where you’ve been, treat you as they would a Traitor. The mind-blocking stone will stop them discovering anything about us by reading your mind, but it won’t stop them trying to get the information out of you in other ways. Taking a little extra power from me won’t hold them off long, but it may be enough to get you away from them if they’re not expecting it.”

Lorkin felt a chill run down his spine. He looked away, hoping his fear didn’t show.

“Is it … am I … allowed to take it?” he asked.

“Of course you are. In fact, the queen suggested it. She also suggested I teach you Lover’s Death.”

He turned to stare at her, then felt his face warm. “With … you?”

She smiled. “Who else is there?”

“But …” She obviously didn’t want him to kill her and he certainly hoped the queen didn’t mean for Tyvara to kill him.

Tyvara smiled. “Don’t worry,” she said. “The name isn’t appealing, but it’s not only useful for killing people or draining them to the point of exhaustion. For most couples or lovers it’s a much more enjoyable way to give or receive power.” Her eyebrows had risen on the words “much more enjoyable”, and now she was regarding him coyly, her eyes dark and inviting.

His heart began to race. He hoped he understood what she was suggesting. But he could be wrong …

“So. Do you want me to teach you?”

He nodded.

“It takes a certain self-control for a man to bring a woman to the point where he can take power from her. You think you can manage that?”

He smiled and nodded again.

“Well then, let the lesson begin.”

For the next who-cares-how-long, more than an exotic kind of magic was learned. As instructed, he attuned himself to the whole new awareness of the power within his body, and where it brushed up against hers. When he sensed her natural barrier falter … it was fascinating in all kinds of ways and he nearly forgot to try drawing power from her.

And then he saw how it prolonged the moment for her, and he knew why Evar hadn’t been so bothered by his draining. Suddenly he was really looking forward to learning what it was like to give power. He stopped drawing from her, reasoning that he did not know how much power he could safely take.

“Do you trust me?” she asked, when she had regained her composure.

He nodded rapidly. She laughed, then taught him why giving was even better than taking.

Despite the hard, narrow beds and Tayend’s snoring, and the constant, irritating sensation of dust in his nostrils and lungs, Dannyl slept soundly and woke to find sunlight filtering through the half-closed flap of the tent. He rose and stepped outside. A blanket was spread out in front of the tent, and he shook the dust off it before sitting down to watch the activity in the camp.

Not long after, a woman peered around a tent at him, smiled and disappeared. She soon returned carrying a sling-like woven bag full of food, and a bowl of water. The food was the same sort of fare that the guide had provided – fruit and preserved meats grown and prepared in the canyon below. There can’t be much grown up here, and though I’ve seen some domestic animals I’ve seen nothing growing around here that they could eat.

He puzzled over how the Duna of the camp fed themselves and their animals until another two occupants of the tent emerged. Tayend and Achati blinked in the morning sunlight, then joined Dannyl on the blanket, with Achati pausing long enough to wake the guide.

The man came out grumbling, but cheered up when he saw the bag of food. He headed off through the tents, then returned with a pack full of utensils. When mugs and a pack of raka powder appeared, Dannyl took them and began preparing the drink, first heating the water with magic, then pouring it into mugs over spoonfuls of raka.

They ate. They waited. The sun climbed higher and they had to retreat into the tent to escape its heat. Inside, it was stifling as well as hot, but at least their skin did not burn.

Some time after the sun had passed its zenith, the tribesman elder who had spoken for the group the previous night stepped into the tent.

“When we speak as one voice we are nameless,” he said. “But I now speak as one. I am Yem.” One bony hand touched his chest briefly, then his expression became serious. “We talked until the sun came back, then we decided. We put our decisions to the test of sleep and a second talking. They remained the same. We will give our answers to one only.” He turned to Dannyl. “Ambassador Magician Dannyl.”

Dannyl looked at Achati, who shrugged. I suppose he can’t be surprised by that. The Duna hardly have reason to trust him. But then, they don’t have reason to trust me, either. Tayend had opened his mouth as if to protest, but said nothing. Yem’s gaze shifted to him.

“Do you have questions as well?”

Tayend shook his head. “No. I’m just curious to hear the answers.”

“It will be Ambassador Magician Dannyl’s choice if you may hear them,” Yem said. He looked at Dannyl expectantly.

Dannyl grabbed his notebook and stood up. “I am honoured that you have chosen me to hear them from you and your people.”

Yem smiled, then beckoned and stepped out of the tent. Glancing back once, Dannyl saw that Achati was smiling his encouragement, and Tayend already looked bored. He turned away and followed Yem through the tents.

“We have found a Keeper of the Lore willing to speak to you,” Yem told him. “Do you swear not to seek her name or tell others of her?”

“I swear I will not seek or reveal her identity,” Dannyl replied.

They rounded yet another tent and suddenly were striding out into the grey desert. Ahead, Dannyl could see that a shelter had been erected out of poles with a large sheet of cloth stretched over them and tied at the corners to stakes in the ground. The soil beneath his feet was hard and dusty. Is it technically a desert, if there isn’t any sand? Dannyl wondered.

The sun beat down mercilessly. Dannyl felt sweat break out on his forehead and wiped it away with the back of his hand.