The Ambassador's Mission

“Or they’ll take what they learned from that experience and tackle this case differently.”

He scowled. “A lot differently, I hope.”

“Are you willing to work with them?” she asked, meeting and holding his gaze.

He grimaced, then sighed. “Maybe. Yes. I guess I have to. Don’t have much choice, do I?”

“Not really. Tell me how they can contact you.”

Cery sighed. “Could you... sleep on it before telling anyone?”

She smiled. “All right. I’ll decide before tonight’s shift. Either you’ll hear from me or the Guild will come knocking at your door.”

The kitchen slave’s eyes had gone round the moment he’d entered the room and spotted the corpse, and had remained wide through all Dannyl’s questions. Yet he answered calmly and without hesitation.

“When did you last see Tyvara?” Dannyl asked.

“Last night. I passed her in the corridor. She was heading for these rooms.”

“Did she say anything?”

“No.”

“Look any different to usual? Nervous, perhaps?”

“No.” The slave paused. “She looked angry, I think. It was dark.”

Dannyl nodded and noted the small detail. He had quite a list of them now, but then, he had been interviewing slaves for several hours.

“You said she and Riva knew each other. Did you ever see them arguing? Any odd behaviour?”

“They argued, yes. Tyvara told Riva what to do a lot. Riva didn’t like it. Tyvara had no right to. But,” the man shrugged, “it happens.”

“That some slaves order around others?”

The man nodded. “Yes.”

“Did you see them arguing any time yesterday, or hear of them arguing?”

The man opened his mouth to reply, but paused at a soft sound from the doorway. Dannyl looked up to see the door slave hovering nervously in the entrance. The man threw himself to the floor.

“You may rise. What did you come to tell me?” Dannyl asked.

“Ashaki Achati has arrived.” The slave was wringing his hands, as he had every time Dannyl had seen him since arriving home.

Dannyl turned to the kitchen slave he was interviewing. “You may go.”

Both slaves scurried away as Dannyl rose and tucked his notebook into his robes. He looked around Lorkin’s rooms, then strode out of them and made his way to the Master’s Room. He arrived just in time to meet Achati.

“Welcome, Ashaki Achati,” he said.

“Ambassador Dannyl,” Achati replied. “I’m afraid it took some time for your slave to track me down. What has happened? All he would tell me was that it was urgent.”

Dannyl beckoned. “Come and I’ll show you.”

The Sachakan followed Dannyl through the Guild House silently, to Dannyl’s relief. The late hour and constant questioning of slaves had begun to take their toll. But there is still much to do. I won’t be sleeping for a while. He drew a little magic and used it to soothe away the tiredness. I’ll be doing that a few more times in the coming days, I suspect.

They arrived at Lorkin’s rooms. Dannyl led Achati in and to the door of the bedroom. Lamps had burned low, but the body was still clear and shocking to behold.

“A dead slave,” Achati said, moving inside and peering at her. “I see why you are concerned.”

“To put it lightly.”

“Did your... ?” Achati’s gesture took in the rooms.

“No. The body is empty of energy. Whoever killed her used bl—... higher magic, which Lorkin has not been taught.”

Achati glanced at him, then frowned and touched the dead woman’s arm. While the Guild did not want the Sachakans knowing how few Kyralian magicians could use black magic, it didn’t require Dannyl to pretend that they all did either. It would seem plausible that Lorkin, as a low-status magician, would not yet have been taught it. It’ll be stranger to them that I do not know it.

“So she has,” Achati said, withdrawing his hand with a grimace of distaste. “But this means whoever did kill her had been taught it.”

“One of the other slaves, a woman named Tyvara, is missing. I have questioned most of the slaves here and she looks the most likely culprit.”

Instead of expressing surprise, as Dannyl expected, Achati looked worried. “You read their minds?”

“No. Guild magicians are not allowed to read minds without the permission of the Higher Magicians.”

Achati’s eyebrows rose. “Then how do you know they are telling the truth?”

“The slaves were expecting to have their minds read, so they would not have come up with a false story or planned answers before I started questioning them. I had them wait in the corridor in silence, so they could not do so once they realised I wasn’t going to be reading their minds. Their stories match, so I doubt they are lying.”

The Sachakan looked intrigued. “But what would you learn by questioning them that I wouldn’t by reading their minds?”

“Perhaps nothing.” Dannyl drew out his notebook and smiled. “But there may be advantages. We won’t know until we compare methods.”

Achati looked amused. “Shall I read their minds now to test which is better, or do you want to tell me what you have learned?”

Dannyl looked at the corpse. “It would be better if I told you, to save time. Do you agree that this has the look of a spontaneous killing rather than a planned one?”

Achati nodded.

“I’ve learned that Tyvara and the dead woman, Riva, often argued. Riva appears to have been the subordinate of Tyvara. Riva wanted to be Lorkin’s serving slave the day he arrived, but Tyvara took her place. Both women were formerly of Ashaki Tikako’s household, and often received messages from slaves there – though each had a separate contact. They did not receive messages from slaves in other households, so I think the most likely place Tyvara would have taken Lorkin is there.”

Achati frowned. “If we are to look for them there, we must be sure. Could someone else have taken him?”

“Lorkin had no other visitors. If he was taken against his will, the abductor must be a powerful magician. If not...” Dannyl shrugged. “They must be persuasive.”

Achati sighed and nodded. “If this Tyvara does know higher magic, it is likely she is no true slave. She must be a spy.”

“A spy for whom?” Dannyl asked.

“I don’t know.” Achati grimaced. “Not the king’s, as he would have warned me about her. But if whoever sent her wanted Lorkin dead, he would be. If they have taken him from here alive, they must have a purpose for him.”

“What purpose?”

“Blackmail, perhaps?” Achati looked thoughtful. “The question is, is the target King Amakira, or the Guild – or both?”

Dannyl smiled wryly. “Must be the Guild. If they sought to embarrass the king, they’d have abducted me. A kidnapped Ambassador has more embarrassment value than a mere assistant.”

“But he’s not a mere assistant,” Achati said, his eyebrows rising. “You didn’t believe we were unaware of his parentage, did you?”

Dannyl sighed. “I guess it was too much to hope you hadn’t noticed.”

“If it eases your mind, we did not think he would be in any danger because of it. In truth, we believed the prospect of his mother taking her rightful revenge if he was harmed was enough to deter foolish acts like this. Though...” He stopped, turned back to the dead woman, and frowned as if he’d thought of something.