The Traitor Queen

with her.

But it was time he took charge again.

“Lady Merria,” he said, standing up and holding out his hand. “Thank you for your help.”

She hesitated, then reached into her robe and brought out the ring. As he took it she gave him a measuring look. Judging whether he was fit for resuming his ambassadorial role? He nearly smiled at that.

“King Amakira is dead, as are the rest of the Ashaki,” she told him. “He killed himself, and the rest forced the Traitors to kill them by attacking the Traitor queen. Sonea and Regin are making their way here to meet you. Osen says we are to join together and request an audience with the queen.”

“What are the Traitors doing now?”

“Entering the nearby houses. They’ve already found and killed an Ashaki who hid during the battle.”

Tayend drew in a quick breath. “Achati’s slaves.”

Dannyl felt his heart skip a beat. “They’ll kill them.”

“Will they?” Merria asked. “They might not.”

“We can’t take that chance. We must warn then.” Tayend took a few steps toward the corridor.

Merria frowned. “If they can get away, they will have done.”

Tayend stopped and looked back at Dannyl. “But if they can’t...”

“Then we’ll take them with us,” Dannyl said. “If they choose to come with us. They are free men now.”

“You’d hire them as servants?” Merria asked, frowning. “When they don’t have much choice. Surely that’s no different than slavery.”

Dannyl shook his head. “It’s better than death. But I think... we will simply offer to take them with us. The rest is up to them.”

“We have to find them first,” Tayend reminded them. “If they’re here, they’re hiding. And we might not have much time.”

“Then we split up,” Dannyl decided. “You go with Merria for protection. They may attack you if they can’t see you, thinking you are a Traitor. I’ll look upstairs, you stay on this level.”

Dannyl headed down the corridor to the stairs. As he explored Achati’s house, he found parts he had never seen before. All were decorated in the same subdued, earthly colours that Achati had preferred over the stark white walls of Sachakan tradition. Dannyl felt as though he was surrounded by Achati’s presence, and his heart ached.

At the back of the house he pushed open a door, looked around and sucked in a breath in astonishment.

Why didn’t he tell me about this?

Dannyl had seen Achati’s library. It was a modest room within the man’s private suite, the books and scrolls contained in finely crafted cabinets. The room Dannyl stood within now was several times larger and lined with shelves. A large table stood at the centre, bare but for a piece of paper, folded and sealed.

Behind the table stood two men. Achati’s slaves.

They were not wearing the usual slave wrap now, but were dressed in simple trousers and tunic. They lowered their gaze as Dannyl looked at them.

“The master left this for you,” one said, gesturing at the letter.

Dannyl opened his mouth to speak, then changed his mind. First, see what the letter says. He walked over to the table and picked it up. His stomach clenched as he saw his name written across the front in Achati’s elegant hand.

Taking a deep breath, Dannyl broke the seal, opened the letter and read.

Ambassador Dannyl of the Magicians’ Guild of Kyralia

The trouble with collecting the best of anything is that there must also be the mediocre and the worst to compare it to. I have endeavoured to discard the latter in most things, but found that I could not always do so when it came to my family, my king, or my library.

If they will allow it, I give you my library. The rest of my belongings they will surely take or destroy, and I only hope that my slaves will benefit from some of it.

Ashaki Achati, formerly adviser to King Amakira of Sachaka

Dannyl closed his eyes, swallowed hard, then cleared his throat and looked up at the slaves.

“Well, Lak and Vata, I may not have much time to explain, so I will have to be forthright. Your master is...” Dannyl’s throat closed up.

“We know,” they said together.

“The Traitors are entering the houses around the parade, and I suspect they may perceive your staying here as an indication of loyalty to your master. So Ambassador Tayend and I are offering to take you with us.”

“Must we leave?” Vata asked, his eyes wide.

“Probably,” Dannyl replied. He shook his head. “I honestly don’t know what the Traitors will do. I don’t know if it’s better that you become our companions or servants – or if you’ll even find that acceptable. But I promise that we will do what we can to protect you.”

The two men looked at each other, then Lak nodded. “The master said we should do whatever you tell us.”

“Then I’m telling you to come with me,” Dannyl said, beckoning and heading back to the library door. “But not in a slave-like way,” he added. “Behave like the free men that you now are. Not in the way the Ashaki were free men, of course. I don’t think the Traitors will look kindly on that.”

“I’m not sure how to be a free man,” Vata said in a low voice.

“You’ll work it out,” Dannyl assured him. He placed Achati’s letter in his pocket and led the man’s former slaves out of the library into a new and frightening freedom.

Chapter 30 Negotiating the Future

Once again, Savara had occupied the main suite of rooms in the mansion she had commandeered as a base. This time the Master’s Room was where those wanting audience with or summoned by the queen were waiting. As people came and went, reporting on the Traitors’ progress in gaining control of the city, Lorkin and Tyvara sat to her left, keeping watch.

All of the houses around the parade had been searched now. A few Ashaki had been found hiding within to ambush Traitors and had been disposed of. Several free women and their children had been discovered, too. Their husbands, fathers and sons had been so confident that they would win that they hadn’t bothered to send their families somewhere safe. Some of the mansions were full of the bodies of slaves who had not been able to escape before their masters killed them for their magical strength.

A mansion had been chosen to house the healthy and uninjured free women and children until the Traitors decided what to do with them. Which will probably be the same as with the other families we encountered, Lorkin thought. They’ll have to find their place among the freed slaves, which probably means working for the first time in their lives.

“Some slaves attacked their former owner’s families before leaving the city,” Speaker Shaiya told the queen. “Some free women lashed out at slaves after they heard of the Ashaki’s defeat. We’ve sent all the injured to a mansion across the parade from here. A few slaves and one free woman have gone into childbirth, too. All of the Traitors with healing experience have been sent to treat them.”

“Are they enough?”

Shaiya shook her head. “We need more. When do the Kyralians arrive?”

“In a day or so.”

“I’ll go,” Lorkin offered.

“No.” Savara turned to look at him. “I need you here, for now.”