The Ambassador's Mission

gestured for him to stop. She drew in a deep breath, forced herself to stand firmly and turned back to Osen.

“Abducted?” she repeated.

“Yes. By a young female magician posing as a slave. Ambassador Dannyl believes there is a possibility your son went willingly, but he’s not certain of it.”

“Ah.” A traitorous and seductive relief trickled through Sonea. Women. Why is it always women with Lorkin? She felt her heart slow to a calmer rhythm. “So this is more of a matter of social impropriety than impending and certain death?”

“We certainly hope so. But it is more complicated than that. It seems we are not the only people with an underground, secret and not entirely lawful society, and they may be involved.”

“Criminals?”

Osen shook his head. “Ambassador Dannyl described them as rebels. They call themselves the Traitors. It is rumoured that they are all women.” Osen’s eyebrows rose, hinting that he thought this unlikely. “They are also magicians – black magicians. The woman who abducted Lorkin is one. She killed another slave the same night and drained her of power. Dannyl is not sure whether the abductor is the Traitor and the slave just got in her way, or the dead slave was a Traitor and the abductor is not. Either way, the Traitors have indicated that they want her and Lorkin found, and apparently they have such influence that this makes the likeliness of that happening very good.”

Sonea took a moment to absorb that. “So when was Lorkin taken away?”

“Three nights ago.”

Sonea’s heart stopped. “Three nights! Why wasn’t I told immediately!”

“You are being told immediately.” Osen smiled wryly. “When I impressed upon the new Ambassador that he only contact me in the gravest of emergencies, he took me far too seriously. He expected to find Lorkin quickly, and only told me of the situation tonight.”

“I’ll kill him,” she muttered, moving away to pace the room. “If this woman is a black magician – do they have any other kind over there? – how is Dannyl going to force her to give Lorkin back?”

“He has the assistance of the Sachakan king’s representative.”

“What if she doesn’t want to be found? Who knows what she’ll do to survive? Threaten to kill Lorkin?” Sonea stopped, suddenly out of breath. She felt as if her lungs weren’t expelling as much air as she was drawing in. Her head was starting to spin. Grabbing the back of a chair, she forced herself to breathe slowly. When her head had cleared she turned to Osen. “I have to go there. I have to be there when they find him.”

Osen’s expression had been open and sympathetic. Now it closed in and became hard.

“You know you can’t do that,” he said.

She narrowed her eyes at him, feeling a deep fury rising. “Who would dare stop me?”

“The Guild must have two black magicians present at all times,” he reminded her. “The king will never allow you to leave Imardin, let alone Kyralia.”

“This is my son!” she snapped.

“And the Sachakan king might not appreciate us sending – or allowing – you into his country,” Osen continued, “making a politically dangerous situation worse, and implying his people can’t sort something like this out for themselves.”

“And what if they ca—”

“Lorkin isn’t stupid, Sonea,” Rothen interrupted quietly. “And neither is Dannyl.”

She stared at him, struggling to hold back a surge of hurt and anger that he was arguing against her. But if Rothen doesn’t think I should go...

“I don’t believe Lorkin would have gone with this woman if there hadn’t been a good reason.”

“What if that reason was he had no choice?” she argued.

“Then we must trust Dannyl. You know he would have told us straightaway if the situation was truly grim. If Lorkin is a hostage, then you will not be able to do more for him than Dannyl. Dannyl has experience at negotiation. He has the help of the Sachakans.” His voice hardened. “If you barge in there you could make the situation much worse, not just for Lorkin but for Kyralia and Sachaka.”

Suddenly she felt weak and drained. Helpless. What is the use of all this power if I can’t use it to save my own son?

But perhaps he doesn’t need saving, a faint voice said somewhere in the back of her mind.

Osen sighed. “I’m afraid I must forbid you to leave, Black Magician Sonea. Or to speak of this to anyone but myself, the king, High Lord Balkan and Lord Rothen.”

“Not even Akkarin’s family?”

He shook his head. “Not even them. As Lorkin’s mother you have a right to know what is happening, and I will keep you informed of the situation. I will be discussing ways that we may assist Lord Dannyl with High Lord Balkan tonight, including sending someone to help him. If we do that, I will let you know as many details as it is safe to reveal.”

You had better, she thought. “I will look forward to regular reports,” she said stiffly.

He gave her a long, thoughtful look. “Good night, Black Magician Sonea.”

She followed him to the door, opening it with magic. Before he stepped out, he nodded politely to her. Then he was gone and she shut the door on the sound of his footsteps striding away down the corridor.

She turned to Rothen.

“I’m going anyway,” she told him, then headed for her bedroom. A small trunk sat upon the clothes cabinet. She lifted it with magic and set it on the floor.

“You won’t be let back in a second time,” Rothen told her, from the doorway.

She moved to the cupboard and opened it. It was full of black robes. “I don’t care. I’ll find Lorkin, then we’ll go travelling. It’ll be their loss, not mine.”

“I didn’t mean the Guild. I mean the country. The Allied Lands.”

“I know. There are lands beyond the Allied ones, you know.”

“Yes. But while the Guild can train another black magician to replace you, you will not find another Guild to replace it. You may not care about that, but will Lorkin?”

She was still staring at the robes. They were not what a magician ought to wear when casting off the shackles of the Guild. She wasn’t sure what a magician ought to wear when rebelling and storming out of the country, only that these were definitely not appropriate. But they were all she had.

I can’t believe I’m worrying about clothing right now!

“You need to find the rogue, Sonea.”

“Regin can find her.”

“Cery doesn’t trust him.”

“I don’t blame him,” she muttered. “Cery will have to make do.”

Rothen sighed. “Sonea.” His voice now had a fatherly, stern tone.

She crossed her arms, put on her best don’t-mess-with-me-I’ve-faced-worse-than-you-and-won stare, which made novices flinch and magicians reconsider their words, and turned to face him. “What? ”

As always, he remained unaffected.

“You know you can’t go,” he told her. “You know you will more likely make Lorkin’s situation worse than better, and that after this is over he’ll need a safe, secure Guild to return to – with his mother in it.”

She stared at him, then cursed.

“Why are you always right, Rothen?”

He shrugged. “I’m older and smarter than you. Now, you and I need to discuss and make less obvious and destructive plans. For a start, I think we should send someone to Sachaka to act on our behalf.”

“Who?”

He smiled. “I have a few people in mind. Come sit down and I’ll tell you.”