The Traitor Queen

He can’t die. King Amakira was flanked by Achati and one of his other advisers. More Ashaki fell. He won’t, he told himself. He’ll be fine if they get back to the palace.

“Oh.” Merria said. “Look.”

Tearing his gaze away, Dannyl saw she was pointing towards the grand palace building. People were pouring out of the entrance. At first he felt a surge of hope and triumph, thinking they were more Ashaki, then Tayend whistled quietly as he always did when impressed, and at the same time Dannyl realised he wasn’t seeing glittering Ashaki garb.

“The Traitors have already overtaken it.” Tayend sighed. “And the Ashaki haven’t even noticed.”

Looking down again, Dannyl felt sick as he waited for signs that the Ashaki had realised the truth. When they do, they’ll surrender. They have no other choice. The Ashaki were bunching together around the king. No more than twenty now. Some were looking back at the palace. The ones at the back stopped, shouting a warning. He saw the king begin to turn, then stop. Saw Amakira’s lips move, and Achati’s nod. The king and the other adviser continued to retreat, but Achati stopped. The strikes from the Traitors suddenly intensified, perhaps at the sight of their enemy’s leader moving out of sight. Achati staggered.

Then he made an impossible leap backwards, contorting in the air and crashed to the ground.

Dannyl’s heart stopped. He stared at the twisted, limp form of his friend in disbelief.

But... why? Why didn’t he retreat with the king? Why sacrifice himself then, when he didn’t have to. The king must have known they had lost. He should have surrendered. I should have done something. If I’d known he’d do this I would have done something...

Hands were restraining his arms. He looked down to see both Merria and Tayend holding him. He looked at them in surprise. Then he realised he was very close to the edge of the roof.

“I’m sorry,” Tayend said. As he met Tayend’s gaze he saw understanding and sympathy there. Merria had said something at the same time, and it took Dannyl a moment to realise what it was.

“Don’t what?” he asked.

She stared at him intently. “Try to save them.”

Dannyl stepped back from the edge and shook them off. “For a moment I thought you were worried about me,” he said bitterly. He flinched at the petulance in his tone. Then anger filled him, and something else. Something that threatened to overwhelm him. Suddenly he had to get away from them. Away from the sight below. He took a few steps toward the hatch they’d climbed through to get onto the roof.

“Wait.” Merria hurried to him and grabbed his hand. He pulled away and felt something slip from his finger. Osen’s ring. He’d forgotten about it. Everything I saw and felt would have been seen by... But he didn’t care. Achati was dead. Dead. And I stood by and watched and did nothing.

Tayend walked over and placed a hand lightly on Dannyl’s shoulder. It was both unwelcome and yet soothing.

“Let’s go inside and wait,” he suggested. “Merria can take over from here.”

Resentment faded. Tayend understood. He followed his friend down into Achati’s house, along corridors and into the Master’s Room. There they stopped, looked around the room, then at each other. Tayend’s eyes glittered with tears. He walked over and wrapped his arms around Dannyl.

“I thought you didn’t like him,” Dannyl whispered.

“I did. Just not as much as you did.”

No. Not as much as I did. Dannyl bowed his head and let the tears come. When the worst of it had passed he was surprised to find he could feel affection and gratitude at the same time as grief and horror. I am so lucky Tayend is here with me. He has always understood me better than anyone. Even if we are never more than friends again, I hope we will always have this.

With Tayend beside him he would not mourn Achati alone. With Tayend close by he would be able to face the people who had killed Achati. With Tayend he had someone who would remember how fine a man Achati had been.

And now that I’ve seen how ruthless the Traitors can be, I must do what I can to ensure they don’t decide the Allied Lands need “freeing”, too.

* * *

Without taking his eyes from the Ashaki, Lorkin explored the pockets of his vest in case he had missed any strike or shield stones, but found none. The red and blue rings were depleted, so he had been using his own store of power. He didn’t want to use the power within the storestone until he had to.

He suspected it wouldn’t be necessary. The Traitors who had emerged from the palace were now joining with the main army, encircling the remaining Ashaki. Only a dozen or so Ashaki were left, surrounding and protecting the king.

He was not sure how long had passed since the battle had begun. A few hours, perhaps? From the angle and length of his shadow he guessed it was afternoon, but the smoke from the burning houses was giving the sunlight a deceptive golden glow that suggested the day was older than it was.

The battle had been surprisingly uncomplicated, with few Traitor deaths. Twenty or so had been lost during one side attack. While the Traitors on the right had defended themselves successfully, those on the left had been taken by surprise when the building beside them had exploded and Ashaki had surged out into their midst.

But the Ashaki had never stopped retreating. The battle had become a steady Traitor advance to the city centre. The Ashaki began to fall long before they reached it, and by the time they were driven to the parade their numbers were down to a third.

No magical battle that he’d ever read of had resembled this one. The parameters of magical fighting have changed. Gemstones have made it into something completely new. The Guild knows that it needs gemstones for defence, but it has no idea how badly. If it doesn’t adapt it will be left behind.

Still, the battle wasn’t over yet. He was all too aware that he wasn’t the only Traitor who had run out of stones. Their method of fighting ensured that, barring surprise attacks, all were protected until the entire army was exhausted. Only Savara knew how strong the army was now, through communication with the other Speakers, who received reports from each Traitor as he or she left the front. We could be onto our last stones or still bursting with power, Lorkin thought. Savara has shown no sign of concern, but then she’s very good at looking calm and confident.

He looked at her again. She was taking in the scene with narrowed eyes. Straightening, she raised an arm, palm facing outward – the signal to stop.

At once the Traitors stopped striking the Ashaki. The hum of power streaking through the air ended. The shuffle of feet ceased. Voices fell silent. The few sounds that followed were muted, as if all noise had been dampened.

A circle of Traitors surrounded the remaining Ashaki, who stared back defiantly. Lorkin looked from them to Savara.

What will she do? So far the order has been to kill all Ashaki. I’ve seen no Ashaki attempt to surrender. The few we heard about who were sympathetic to the slaves and did not want to fight the Traitors have left the country.

The order to kill all Ashakis had been to ensure their defeat. Now that they were defeated, would they remain unharmed if they surrendered? He thought of the stones keeping the wasteland lifeless. The Traitors could be ruthless...

Savara took a step forward, then another. Lorkin saw Tyvara tense. He turned the ring holding the storestone around so he could curl his fingers around it, ready to draw power if he needed it. Savara stopped.

“King Amakira,” she called.

The Ashaki did not move. Lorkin searched for some glimpse of the king among them. The silence lengthened.

“You are defeated,” Savara said. “Come forth, or are you too cowardly to show your face?”

Low voices were heard from the Ashaki now, then Lorkin saw movement.

“You expect me to surrender?”