The Traitor Queen

needed something to fill the long, empty hours so he was rereading some of the books he’d acquired. It had been days since Achati’s visit. Nobody else had visited the Guild House. Tayend had received no invitations. Merria had heard nothing from her friends.

A sense of expectation filled the House. They came together at meals and talked for long hours afterwards, going their separate ways once they realised they were circling around the same old worries and speculations one time too many. Dannyl consulted Osen twice a day now. The Administrator would report on Sonea and Regin’s progress and a few Guild matters that would have seemed more important if Dannyl hadn’t been stuck in a city about to be overtaken by civil war.

“Ambassador Dannyl.”

Looking up from the record, Dannyl found Kai standing in the doorway of his office.

“Kai,” Dannyl replied. “What can I do for you?”

The slave smiled and Dannyl felt a strange confusion. It was as if Kai had become a stranger. He realised he’d never seen Kai smile. And then something else occurred to him.

Kai had not thrown himself to the floor. He had addressed Dannyl by name.

“You Kyralians are strange,” Kai said. “But it is a good strange.”

Dannyl’s mind was racing. What did this mean? You know what it means.

“They’re here, aren’t they? The Traitors.”

Kai shook his head. “Not yet. Tomorrow. We have decided to leave now. The Ashaki know. They are killing slaves.”

Dannyl frowned. “But surely you are safer here. We won’t harm you.”

“I know.” Kai smiled again. “You can’t stop others, though. They will come seeking power. Or revenge. Or both. You should leave, too.”

“Our orders are to stay.” Dannyl pushed away a simmering fear.

“Then I wish you good luck.”

“And I to you.” Dannyl forced himself to meet the slave’s eyes. “And I apologise, on behalf of the magicians who stayed here, if we have done anything... ah, who am I kidding?” He spread his hands. “The whole slave and master thing was wrong. And disturbingly easy to get used to.”

“We made it so.” Kai shrugged. “It was what we were trained to do. But not any more.”

“No.” Dannyl smiled. “I hope the Traitors succeed.”

“I hope you will be safe and stay alive.” The slave took a step back, then hesitated. “Have you ever explored the parts of the House the slaves occupied?”

“Not fully,” Dannyl admitted.

“Do so,” Kai advised. “More than just the kitchens when you get hungry. There are places you might hide in, and other exits. They may save you.”

Dannyl nodded. “I will. Thank you.”

Kai grinned. Then he stepped away from the door and walked, shoulders straight, out of the suite.

For a long time Dannyl stared through the empty doorway, then he got to his feet. No point in wasting time or Kai’s advice. He didn’t say when the Traitors would arrive tomorrow. It could happen first thing in the morning. Or the Ashaki might attack us overnight. I can’t help thinking that if both Achati and the slaves think we’re in danger, we are. Best start making plans to get out of here if we need to.

Leaving his suite, he made his way through the Guild House to find Tayend and Merria.

Chapter 25 Before the Battle

As Lilia neared the door to Sonea’s rooms she quickened her steps. The days since Skellin abducted Anyi had been unbearably long. It was hard to pretend nothing had happened. Hard to behave as if her lessons still mattered. Harder still to concentrate enough to learn anything. Hardest of all was to be around Kallen, when she couldn’t help thinking that, if he had just found and dealt with Skellin as he was supposed to have done, Cery would be alive and Anyi safe.

Reaching the door, she reached for the handle eagerly. Once inside she could stop pretending. Already she could feel the prickle of tears coming. Every day, as the strain of hiding her feelings disappeared, she had curled up on her bed and cried.

It’s all my fault. If I’d arrived earlier I might have been able to save Cery. I might have stopped Skellin taking Anyi.

Gol and Jonna argued otherwise. Gol had explained about the minefire trap he and Cery had set. As soon as she had healed his leg bones, despite her warning that he should not put weight on them yet, he had climbed to his feet and walked to the walls on either side, plucking tubes of powder out of holes and cursing.

“Why didn’t it work?” he said, over and over, she recalled. Then he asked me to bring my globe light closer. Showed me how the paper was stained with damp. Moisture in the walls had got in and ruined them. Not all, but he and Cery had only lit two of them, and they’d picked two of the damp ones.

Lilia suspected that Cery’s heart had been slowly failing for a long time. It could have stopped at any moment. If she had been around to help him when it happened he would have survived. She told Gol this, and hoped it made him feel a little less guilty.

Jonna had lamented that she hadn’t found Lilia quickly enough. She told how a magician had stopped her, concerned that she looked upset. When she’d told him she was looking for Lilia, he’d directed her to the wrong classroom. It would have been an easy mistake for the magician to make. Lilia’s timetable had changed a lot recently. He had probably made a guess, hoping to be helpful.

Turning the handle, she opened the door and stepped inside. Seeing Lord Rothen standing there, she blinked away the threatening tears and swallowed hard.

“Lord Rothen,” she said, bowing. Gol was sitting in one of the chairs, Jonna standing behind him. She and Jonna had smuggled Cery’s bodyguard, disguised as a servant, up to Sonea’s rooms, the night after Skellin’s attack.

Jonna had persuaded Lilia to tell Rothen everything. “You need a magician ally,” Lilia recalled her saying. “Rothen can be trusted to keep a secret. He’s kept plenty for Sonea over the years.” To Lilia’s relief, Rothen had been as discreet and helpful as Jonna had promised. He’d wanted to tell Kallen, until Gol repeated Skellin’s claim of having sources in the Guild.

As Lilia closed the door, Rothen’s mouth thinned in a sympathetic smile. “Lady Lilia.” He looked at Jonna, then down at the table. Following his gaze, Lilia felt her heart lurch. A square of paper lay there, with her name scrawled on it.

“Is it...?”

“From Skellin?” Rothen grimaced. “Probably. We haven’t opened it. We guessed you’d want to read it first. Sit down before you do.”

She slid into a chair, Rothen and Jonna taking the other seats. With trembling hands, she picked up the message and turned it over. The seal, she noted, was a simple crown hovering over a knife. King of the Thieves. Disgust and anger steadied her. She broke the seal and unfolded the paper. Her eyes moved over the words. As their meaning became clear, she dropped it back on the table.

“It’s an address,” she told them. “It says ‘tomorrow’ and a time. And he says to tell no one and come alone.”

“No surprises there,” Gol muttered.

“Where is the address?” Jonna asked.

“In Northside.” Cery’s old territory. He’s rubbing it in. She looked at Rothen. “I have to go. I have to try to save Anyi.”

He nodded. His agreement sent a perverse anger through her.