The High Lord

'There are two of them now.'

'It appears the one who nearly caught you has met with the woman.'

'Why have they made the light?' she wondered aloud. 'They can be seen from all around. Do you think they're trying to trick us into coming closer?'

He paused. 'I doubt it. Most likely they do not know we are so high above them. They have stopped within a cluster of boulders. If we were lower on the slopes, we would not have seen the light.'

'It is going to be a big risk, approaching them just for the sake of showing Lorlen the truth.'

'Yes,' he agreed. 'But that is not the only reason to do it. I may also learn how the Ichani plan to enter Kyralia. The North Pass is blocked by the Fort, but the South Pass is open. If they enter from the south, the Guild won't have any warning of their approach.'

'The South Pass?' Sonea frowned. 'Rothen's son lives near there.' That put Dorrien in considerable danger, she realized.

'Near, but not on the road or in the Pass. The Ichani would appear to be a small band of foreign travellers. Even if they were noticed, Dorrien may not hear about it from the local people for a day or so.'

'Unless Lorlen instructs him to keep an eye on the road, and question travellers.'

Akkarin did not reply. He remained silent, watching the distant Ichani. The sky brightened beyond the horizon, heralding the rise of the moon. When the first sliver of light appeared, he spoke again.

'We will have to approach from downwind, or the limek will smell us.'

Sonea glanced back at the bowl of water. It was full to the brim and overflowing.

'Then, if we have the time, there is something we ought to do first,' she said.

He watched as she walked over to the bowl. She warmed the water with a little magic, then glanced up at him. 'Turn around - and no peeking.'

A faint smile curled his lips. He turned his back and crossed his arms. Keeping him in sight, Sonea pulled off her clothes a piece at a time, washing them and herself, then drying off with magic. She had to wait for the bowl to refill a few times as her clothes soaked up the water. Finally, she emptied the bowl over her head. She scrubbed at her scalp and sighed with relief.

Straightening, she shook her hair out of her eyes.

'Your turn.'

Akkarin turned, then approached the bowl. Moving away, Sonea sat down with her back to him. A nagging curiosity stole over her as she waited. She pushed it aside and concentrated on drying her hair with magic while combing out the knots with her fingers.

'That's better,' he said eventually.

Glancing back, she froze as she saw that his shirt was lying on the ground beside him. Seeing his bare chest, she felt her face flush and turned away.

Don't be ridiculous, she told herself. You've seen plenty of bare chests before. The workmen in the markets wore little more than short trousers in the summer heat. That had never embarrassed her before.

No, a voice in the back of her mind answered, but you'd have felt differently about those workmen if you'd fancied any of them.

She sighed. She did not want to feel like this. It made the situation more difficult than it needed to be. She drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. For once, she wanted to be moving, so that all her attention was focused on traversing the rough terrain of the mountains.

She heard footsteps behind her. Looking up, she saw with relief that he was fully dressed again.

'Come along then,' Akkarin said.

She rose and followed as he started down the mountain slope. The journey did seem to clear her mind. They descended quickly, taking a direct route to the Ichani and their light. After more than an hour had passed, Akkarin slowed and stopped. His eyes were fixed on a distant point.

'What is it?' she asked.

'Lorlen has put on the ring,' he said after a long pause.

'He isn't wearing it all the time, then?'

'No. Until now, it has remained a secret. Sarrin was reading the books and would have recognized it for what it was. Lorlen usually slips it on a few times each evening.' He started moving again. 'I wish I had some glass,' he murmured. 'I would make you a ring.'

Sonea nodded, though she was heartily glad he hadn't. A blood ring would have revealed too much of her thoughts. Until she managed to rid herself of this foolish attraction to him, she did not want Akkarin knowing what was going on in her mind.

They continued slowly. After several hundred paces, he pressed a finger to his lips. They crept forward slowly, pausing many times as Akkarin noted the direction of the wind. Sonea saw a glimmer of light between two boulders ahead of them, and knew they had arrived.

Faint voices grew more audible as she and Akkarin approached the boulders. They stopped and crouched behind the rocks. The first voice Sonea heard was male and thickly accented.

'... better chance than I had, with a yeel.'

'She's a smart girl,' the woman replied. 'Why don't you have one, Parika?'

'I did once. Last year I picked up a new slave. You know how the new ones can be. She took off on me and when the yeel found her she killed him. He'd torn her legs up, though, so she didn't get far after that.'

'You killed her?'

'No.' Parika sounded resigned. 'As tempting as it was. Too hard to find good slaves. She can't run now, so she isn't as much trouble.'

The woman made a low noise. 'They're all trouble - even when they're loyal. Either that or they're stupid.'

'But necessary.'

'Hmmm. I hate travelling on my own, with nobody to serve me,' the woman said.

'It's faster, though.'

'These Kyralians would have slowed me down. I'm almost glad I didn't find them. I don't like the idea of keeping magicians prisoner.'

'They're weak, Avala. They wouldn't have been much trouble.'

'They'd be less trouble dead.'

A chill ran down Sonea's spine, then prickled over her skin. Suddenly she wanted to get as far from this place as she could, as quickly as possible. It was not a comfortable feeling, knowing that two powerful magicians who wanted her dead sat just a dozen or so strides away.

'He wants them alive.'

'Why doesn't he hunt them himself?'

The male Ichani chuckled. 'He's probably itching to, but he doesn't trust the others.'

'I don't trust him, Parika. He might have sent us to find the Kyralians to get us out of the way.'

The man didn't answer. Sonea heard a soft rustle of clothing, then the sound of footsteps.

'I did what I could to find them,' Avala declared. 'I won't be excluded. I'm going back to join the others. If he wants these two, he'll have to hunt them himself.' She paused. 'What will you do?'

'Return to the South Pass,' Parika replied. 'I will see you again soon, I'm sure.'

Avala gave a soft grunt. 'Good hunting, then.'

'Good hunting.'

Sonea heard footsteps, growing faintly softer. Akkarin looked at her, jerked his head in the direction they had come. She followed him slowly and silently away from the boulders. When they had walked several hundred paces, he quickened his stride. Instead of heading to the higher slopes of the mountain, he set off in a southerly direction.

'Where are we going?' Sonea murmured.

'South,' Akkarin replied. 'Avala was anxious to get back to the others, as if she feared she might miss something. If she is travelling back to meet Kariko without Parika, who is heading to the Southern Pass, that suggests Kariko intends to enter via the North Pass.'