The Traitor Queen

“Wouldn’t that be dangerous? You said this spy is a magician? How strong is he? Is he a higher magician?”

“I don’t know,” Achati admitted. “Probably. He has been ordered not to kill anybody. He...” His gaze shifted to the doorway Tayend had entered through. Dannyl followed his gaze and felt a shock of surprise as Lorkin walked into the room.

The young man’s gaze met Dannyl’s, then slid away. His eyes were very dark and his face pale. Straightening his back, he gave Achati a forced smile.

“Ashaki Achati. What brings you here so late at night?” Lorkin asked, his tone jovial but strained. “Come to take me back to the palace prison?”

A strange, pained look crossed Achati’s face, then the man’s expression smoothed. “No, no. I am trying to prevent that.”

What was that expression? Dannyl asked himself. Then he felt a jolt as he recognised what he had glimpsed: sympathy and sorrow. He felt his recent doubts about Achati weaken a little.

“Achati has warned us that a spy among the slaves is going to attempt to abduct you soon,” Tayend said.

Lorkin’s eyes widened and he looked from Tayend to Dannyl. “Really?”

“Yes,” Dannyl replied. “Tomorrow night, or a following night.”

Dannyl was relieved to see Lorkin’s eyes narrow as he considered the implications. He looked at Achati again.

“Why are you helping us?” he asked bluntly.

“I...” Achati sighed and looked down, then lifted his head to regard Tayend, Lorkin and Dannyl in turn. “I don’t like how the king is treating you. Sachaka may not need Kyralia as an ally, but it also doesn’t need another enemy. We received news a few months ago that has divided our opinion. The...” Achati paused and frowned, then shook his head. “I see no way to explain this without telling you: our spy among the Duna revealed that the Traitors proposed they join forces and attempt to take over Sachaka.”

Dannyl felt a chill run down his spine. I wonder...

“Unh?” he asked.

Achati smiled. “I’m hardly going to tell you who our spies are, Dannyl.”

“No,” Dannyl agreed. “But Unh’s name did spark some interesting reactions from his people when I mentioned it. If it is him, then I suspect they know he is a spy.”

“The Duna turned down the Traitors. Many of the Ashaki have concluded that the Traitors would not approach the Duna unless they needed them, and they feel confident the Traitors would not win a confrontation with us.”

Was this why the Traitors had destroyed the Duna’s stone caves? Was it punishment for refusing to help? Dannyl wondered.

“The king agrees,” Achati continued. “He does not believe the Guild is to be feared. He says you are a Guild of only two magicians. It is more important to rid Sachaka of the Traitor threat before they become strong enough to beat us than to avoid offending Kyralia and the Allied Lands. Only the voices of Ashaki who do not want to lose trade and peace with the Allied Lands, like myself, prevent him taking the information from Lorkin by force.”

A tense silence followed Achati’s words. Lorkin was staring at the floor. The young magician sighed and narrowed his eyes at Achati.

“You wouldn’t have come here if you weren’t willing to work against your king’s orders and wishes,” he said. “How far are you willing to go?”

The Sachakan stared back at Lorkin. He looked uncertain. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “There’s a big difference between preventing my king doing something foolish, and outright betrayal. What do you have in mind?”

Lorkin opened his mouth to reply, but did not get to speak.

“Take the spy away,” Tayend injected. “Make him disappear.”

Dannyl frowned. Though it was a test of Achati’s trustworthiness, it was not a good one. If Achati took the spy to the king instead, the king would still claim that Lorkin wasn’t safe in the Guild House – and he would find out Savi was a Traitor, too.

“No,” Lorkin said. “Take me.”

Dannyl blinked in surprise. Maybe he hasn’t realised this could all be a trick to get us to trust Achati. Tayend shook his head and laid a hand on Lorkin’s arm, but before anyone could speak, Lorkin raised his hands to stall their protests.

“I’m not stupid. I know it’s a risk.” He looked at Achati levelly. “He could hand me over to the king, but judging by the number of slaves here that aren’t slaves – and I don’t mean they’re Traitors – I’m going to end up back at the palace soon anyway.”

This time the shiver that travelled down Dannyl’s back sent cold through his whole body. Just how many spies are there? How many of them are magicians?

“All you need to do is smuggle me out of the Guild House and take me to your mansion,” Lorkin told Achati. “The Traitors will arrange the rest. They will ensure the king does not know your part in my escape. In return, and not until I am sure of my safety and freedom...” Lorkin sighed, then his expression hardened “... I will answer the question your king most wants to ask me. I will tell you where the Traitors’ home is.”

Achati stared back at Lorkin, his surprise changing to thoughtfulness, then approval. He nodded. “I can do that. It won’t be easy getting you into the carriage unseen but—”

“Lorkin,” Dannyl interrupted. “You don’t have to betray the trust of—”

“Let him go,” Tayend said. He met Dannyl’s eyes, his gaze sharp and unwavering, and nodded. Dannyl felt a stab of anger, but it quickly faded.

Tayend wouldn’t do anything to risk Lorkin’s life unnecessarily. He must think this will work. Or that it is the only chance Lorkin has. Which meant that Tayend thought Achati was telling the truth. How strange that it is Tayend who trusts Achati now, when I’m no longer sure of him.

Dannyl could believe that Achati didn’t approve of the king’s actions, but it would take a lot to convince him that the man was willing to go against his ruler’s orders, and risk that his actions would be discovered and considered treachery. He would lose not just the king’s trust, but his position, reputation and wealth. And possibly his life.

But Dannyl couldn’t think of an alternative, so he watched in silence as Achati and Lorkin sealed their agreement with vows. When they were done, Tayend beamed at them all.

“Perfect! Now all we have to do is figure out how to get Lorkin into Achati’s carriage without any of those pesky watchers noticing.”

* * *

Finishing her cup of raka, Lilia sighed with relief. In the last day or so she had begun to feel a bit worn around the edges – like the old clothes Jonna had given her to wear when she visited Anyi, Cery and Gol. Late nights spent underground and early morning lessons with Kallen were starting to take a toll.

She suppressed a groan at the thought of facing Kallen this morning. Anyi had told her about the cellar she, Cery and Gol had found under the Guild, and the conversation they’d overheard. From the descriptions, she suspected the two magicians were Lady Vinara and the Healer in charge of growing cure ingredients.

The news that they wanted to grow roet had shocked her at first, but it made sense. She didn’t agree with Cery’s theory that the Guild wanted to grow roet in order to put Skellin out of business – or at least prevent him being the sole supplier of the drug to magicians. It was far more likely that the Guild wanted it to help them find a cure for roet addiction, as well as to explore the plant’s potential as a cure for other maladies. After all, cures for the ill effects of plants were often found in the very plant that caused them.

But the news that the Guild was seeking roet seeds roused other suspicions, and for that reason she was not looking forward to meeting Kallen. Part of her wanted to confront him with what she’d learned. Is this why he won’t help Cery set a trap for Skellin? Are he, and the other magicians addicted to roet, afraid of