The Traitor Queen

“We expected that.” Sonea smiled as the queen’s gaze sharpened. “We are willing to negotiate an exception in the case of Traitors, with conditions.”

“What are these conditions?”

“You have not objected to our law that all magicians be trained at the Guild,” Sonea observed.

“No.” Savara looked amused. “It would be an opportunity we’d be foolish to turn down.”

“The condition is this: your magicians must not be taught black magic until they have graduated, and the teaching of it must be done by Traitors, in Sachaka.”

A small line appeared between Savara’s brows. She nodded slowly.

“That might be acceptable.”

“Of course, if King Amakira learns of an agreement between us he will cause us both trouble. He will try to stop your novices reaching us.”

Savara waved a hand dismissively. “Oh, that won’t be a problem.”

“Once they’re in Kyralia it will be harder to conceal what is happening. We could disguise them as Elynes.”

“That won’t be necessary.”

—She seems a little too confident about that, Osen noted.

—Indeed.

“Perhaps you believe that King Amakira, not knowing where Sanctuary is, is no threat to you, but if you want the young women you send to us for training to be safe you had best remember that he does know where Imardin is,” Sonea warned.

Savara smiled. “There will be no need for secrecy. By the time we are ready to send magicians to the Guild, if we decide to do so, King Amakira and the Ashaki will be a problem long resolved.”

Sonea heard Regin draw in a quick breath. She found herself staring at the queen. A thrill ran through her, followed by a stab of fear.

—They mean to attack the Ashaki! Osen exclaimed.

Savara leaned forward. “You said an alliance included military support in defence of the Allied Lands. I am guessing that offensive military support is a different matter. Even so, you are old enemies of the Sachakan Empire. Therefore I invite the Allied Lands to join us in ridding Sachaka of the Ashaki and slavery. You may not be able to offer many fighters, since so few of you learn higher magic, but your strength and Healing assistance would be invaluable.” She leaned back again. “Will you help us?”

Chapter 17 An Admission

Lorkin watched his mother closely. Though her gaze was still on Savara, it did not quite focus on the queen, but somewhere beyond. He looked down at the ring on her finger. She was communicating with Osen. He noticed another ring that he’d not seen before. It, too, held a gemstone but the setting was decorative, suggesting it was mere jewellery.

“We need time to discuss it,” she said. “There are a lot of monarchs to contact.”

Savara nodded. “You have until tomorrow night. I’d give you longer, but my people are vulnerable when outside Sanctuary. I know I am behaving as if we cannot lose, but there is no point discussing a future relationship based on the current situation.”

“Is there no chance of a future relationship if you lose?”

The queen’s expression became grim. “Perhaps a slim one. If we lose it would be likely the Ashaki will find out where Sanctuary is. Without Sanctuary we have no food, shelter and, temporarily, no gemstone-growing caves. We will be more concerned with our survival and recovery than an alliance with the Allied Lands.”

Sonea was frowning. “That would put the caves in the Ashaki’s hands. Could they begin to grow their own stones?”

“They might discover on their own, in time. It is more likely they would force a captive Traitor to teach them, though they couldn’t gain all our knowledge from one or even a handful of Traitors. We have avoided teaching individual stone-makers how to make every kind of stone, instead of spreading the knowledge among many. How dangerous the Ashaki would become would depend on which Traitor or Traitors they captured.”

As the two women fell into a thoughtful silence, Lorkin cleared his throat.

“Whether the Traitors win or lose, an exchange of knowledge between them and the Guild would still be beneficial.”

Savara turned to look at him, her expression apologetic. “But that exchange has already been made.”

“It has and it hasn’t.” Lorkin shrugged. “As with stone-making, Healing knowledge is too broad to be communicated in a short mind-read. Though you will work out more in time, you will make mistakes along the way. Like stone-making, mistakes can be dangerous. Better to be trained by those already skilled in the art.”

His mother was frowning. “They already know Healing?” she asked him.

Savara sighed. “Yes. One of our people disobeyed our law and stole it from Lorkin’s mind. She has been punished, and to compensate Lorkin, Queen Zarala decreed that he be taught stone-making.”

Lorkin watched his mother closely. A range of expressions crossed her face: shock, anger and gratitude. She gave him a thoughtful look. He concentrated on her presence, wondering if he could pick up surface thoughts again. A faint, distant feeling of pride touched his senses, but he could have been imagining it. At least it wasn’t disapproval or disappointment. Yet. She doesn’t know what stone-making involves.

“So...” Sonea said. “One of your people already knows the basics of how Healing works, and one of mine has about the same level of stone-making knowledge. But as Lorkin says, that does not measure up to full training from a teacher with many years of skill and experience. We do still have something worth trading.”

“Except...” Lorkin interrupted. She turned to regard him, her face calm. “They are not of equal value.”

Savara’s eyebrows rose slightly. “Which is of greater value?”

“Healing,” Lorkin replied.

“Why is that?”

“You need nothing more than knowledge and magic to be a Healer,” Lorkin told her. “Stone-making magicians require stone-producing caves.”

“What are they, exactly?” his mother asked.

“Caves where the crystalline stones form naturally. Magical gemstones are trained as they grow. I’ve never heard of any caves like these in the Allied Lands.” He spread his hands. “Not that I’ve been looking for them. It may be that we’ll find them if we search. But until we do have our own caves, we cannot apply stone-making knowledge.”

“Alchemists may find another way to make them,” Regin pointed out. “They already make some kinds of crystals. Perhaps stone-making magic can be applied to those.”

Savara’s eyes brightened with interest. “Do they really?” Then her lips quirked into a crooked smile. “Ah, but there is another catch. You will have to relax your rules regarding higher magic, since it is needed in stone-making. Your current black magicians may not be suited to the task, either. It demands a level of concentration and patience that not everyone can manage, which will also consume more of your defenders’ attention than is wise – and you will only be able to make a handful of stones a year.”

Lorkin caught his breath as his mother turned to stare at him. Guilt and fear rose, but he forced himself to meet her gaze levelly. Her eyes flickered back to Savara, then her face went still, her feelings hidden behind a false calm.

“I see,” she said. “That does make the exchange a little... more costly to us than for you.”

Lord Regin had turned to regard Lorkin as well, but his gaze lingered. His eyes were narrowed, but his expression was more thoughtful than disapproving. Lorkin felt a perverse annoyance at the lack of surprise in the man’s demeanour.

“Perhaps, then, we could exchange Healing for stones,” Savara suggested. “Your Healers could work for us and the Guild would receive stones in payment.”