The Rogue

“Read her mind.”

Both Kallen and Naki stilled. Kallen looked surprised; Naki slowly turned white. She recovered first.

“No,” she said angrily, tugging against the hand still holding her arm. “How many times do I have to have my head invaded?”

The two men exchanged looks. Osen’s expression hardened and he nodded to indicate that Kallen should continue. Kallen drew Naki closer.

“Wait!” she exclaimed, panic in her voice. “Isn’t it enough that I’ve been abducted by a Thief and forced to work for him? Isn’t it enough that … that my father was murdered.” She pointed at Lilia with her free hand. “By her. You should be looking into her mind again. You should …”

“If there’s nothing new to see in your mind, then let Kallen read it,” Osen told her.

“No!” Naki shouted. She cringed away from Kallen. “I’m grieving! I don’t want you to see that. Leave me alone!” She covered her face with her free hand and started sobbing.

Kallen frowned. To Sonea’s surprise, he looked up at her, his expression questioning. She met his eyes and saw the reluctance there. Turning to Osen, she was a little chilled to see no sign of sympathy. He reached out, grabbed Naki’s free hand and pulled it away from her face.

There were no tears. Naki stared at them each in turn, eyes wide with fear.

“Do it, Kallen,” Sonea said quietly.

Naki fought him with magic, but the struggle didn’t last long. As he took hold of her head Sonea looked at Lilia, concerned that the girl might be frightened, but Lilia watched with a calm intensity.

After a long silence, Kallen let Naki go, releasing her with a sound of disgust. He looked at Osen.

“You were right to suspect. The ring hides the wearer’s true thoughts and memories.”

Osen looked down at the ring, his mouth tightening in grim triumph. “What was she hiding?”

Kallen drew in a deep breath and let it out again. “She did learn black magic before she met Lilia – deliberately. She resented the constraints put on her by her father and the Guild, and wanted to be free to do whatever she wanted.” His face darkened. “She befriended Lilia and lured her into learning black magic so that she could kill Leiden and someone else would be suspected of it – drugging Lilia and wiping blood on her hands to make her look guilty.” He looked at Lilia sympathetically, then back at Osen. “She was inspired by Skellin, who she admired for avoiding capture for so long. The mind-block wasn’t something she’d planned for, but it was easy to get past – I suspect no ordinary block would have been effective on a black magician. Naki then found a Thief willing to teach her how to survive in the underworld in exchange for magical favours.” Kallen turned to regard Naki with contempt. “He brought her people that nobody would miss, so she could strengthen herself, and ensured the bodies were never found.”

Sonea stared at the girl, outrage at her callous manipulations and murder of her father turning into horror. How could she have done it? To kill people who meant her no harm … Naki was now standing with her back stiff and her arms crossed, her lip curled in sullen defiance. All so she could do as she pleased.

“Sonea,” Osen said.

She dragged her eyes away and looked at him. He held up the ring.

“I want you to attempt to read my mind.”

She blinked in surprise, then understood as he slipped the ring on again. Moving forward, she placed a hand on each side of his head and closed her eyes.

Sending her mind forth, she slipped past the defences around his and sought his thoughts. She detected a strong sense of his personality, but the few thoughts she picked up were vague and fragmentary. Drawing her consciousness back, she opened her eyes.

“That’s … odd. Your thoughts were disjointed, as if you were having trouble focusing them.”

He smiled thinly. “I was thinking about Lorlen.”

She regarded him thoughtfully. Osen had admired and worked with the former Administrator for years, and grieved over his death deeply. There was no chance she would have missed those thoughts and the accompanying emotions, without some kind of magical interference.

“I didn’t sense this disjointedness when I read Naki’s mind the first time,” Kallen pointed out.

“Nor did I,” Sonea said, turning to face him. “Perhaps there is some knack or skill to using the ring.”

“From what I’ve learned, that is exactly the case,” Osen told them. He smiled as they both looked at him. “Ambassador Dannyl reported to me as I was readying to go to the Hearing. He has discovered the existence of mind-read-blocking stones, among other things. Since there were so many inconsistencies between what Sonea and Kallen read in Naki and Lilia’s minds, I decided to check whether either girl was wearing a gemstone before we proceeded.”

“What will we do now?” Kallen asked.

“Proceed with the Hearing,” Osen answered, looking at Naki. She glowered back at him. He turned to Sonea. “You and Lilia return first. I will come afterwards with Kallen.”

She nodded. He led the way to the door and, to her surprise, followed her and Lilia out, shutting the door behind him.

“Before you go,” he said, his voice low. His gaze moved from Sonea to Lilia and back, indicating he was speaking to them both. “Do not mention the ring to anybody for now.” He turned to Sonea. “Construct a barrier of silence and tell the Higher Magicians that Kallen has read Naki’s mind after a block was removed that prevented a mind-read. Tell them they will be given the details after the Hearing.”

She nodded, and as he gestured that they could go, hurried away with Lilia at her side.

“So,” Lilia said, as they entered the Great Hall. “If Naki is guilty of murder … of murder using black magic …”

Sonea felt a chill run down her spine. The punishment would be execution. She looked at Lilia and felt a wave of sympathy. She definitely chose the wrong girl to be infatuated with. Lilia had not just had her heart broken, but had found out that the object of her desire had murdered others, set her up, and then tried to kill her. Now it is likely her friend is going to be executed. I hope she is going to be all right. I should keep an eye on her …

The girl looked away.

“The king may grant her a pardon,” Sonea told her.

Lilia gave a short and bitter laugh. “That’s not going to happen.”

Sonea sighed. “No, it’s not likely.”

As they reached the door to the Guildhall, something else occurred to her that made her pause, her heart filling with sudden dread.

Then who will have to perform the execution?

CHAPTER 27 UNPLANNED ASSISTANCE

Standing outside the hunter’s shack, Lorkin looked around and wondered what time it was. All he was sure of was that the sun was up, because the fog around him was too light for it to have been illuminated merely by moonlight.

Should I stay here until it lifts?

Because of the storm that had delayed him and Tyvara, he was running low on food. While he was willing to go hungry for a day, he knew that, down at the end of the valley, Traitors disguised as slaves were waiting to meet him. The longer he took to arrive, the more likely they’d be missed at the estate they belonged to.

So long as I always go downhill, I shouldn’t get lost. Tyvara said I wouldn’t go astray if I travelled at night, because the road crosses the mouth of the valley. She said to just walk until I find it, then turn