Dannyl paced his rooms.
There must be some way I can warn Achati without revealing how we know the Traitors are coming. It would be a few days before the Traitors arrived and they needed to behave as if nothing extraordinary was happening, so Tayend had left to visit an Ashaki merchant, and Merria was making an afternoon visit to the market with a friend who hadn’t left the city yet, leaving Dannyl alone to ponder his dilemma. I could pretend one of the slaves told me the Traitors are coming. Or passed on a message to me. But what if that leads to the Ashaki torturing more slaves?
A movement in the doorway caught his attention. He turned to see Kai drop to the floor.
“Ashaki Achati is here to see you.”
He’s here! Dannyl felt his heart lift, then plunge downward again. And I don’t have a solution yet. Then he shook his head. Well, it has only been half a day. Even if I’d thought of something, I ought to run it past Tayend first, so I’ll have to behave as if I know nothing for this meeting anyway.
“Have some food and wine brought.”
The slave rose and hurried away. Entering the corridor, Dannyl strode down it to the Master’s Room. He felt a wave of affection as Achati turned and smiled at him.
“Ambassador Dannyl.”
“Ashaki Achati.” Dannyl inclined his head. “A pleasure to see you again.”
The Sachakan’s smile vanished. “Ah, I hope it always will be.” He sighed. “I have news.”
“Good or bad?” Dannyl ushered the man to a stool and sat down in his usual place.
Achati considered. “Not good. Not overly bad. Possibly advantageous.”
“You’re being mysterious now.”
“Just answering the question.” The corner of Achati’s eyes crinkled, then smoothed as he sobered. Two slaves appeared with the wine and food. Achati waited until they had gone before speaking again.
“The Traitors have ventured out of the mountains and have begun attacking estates all around the country,” he said in a low voice. “They’ve killed every magician they encountered and are heading toward Arvice. It appears they are intent on taking over Sachaka.”
A wave of relief swept over Dannyl, which he hoped he hid well. He knows! I don’t have to warn him. But I can’t admit that we knew already. He drank a mouthful of wine, considering how to respond. Not with surprise. He’s mentioned the possibility of a Traitor rebellion before.
“You thought this might happen,” he said, “but doubted they were strong enough to be a threat.”
“I still do.” Achati shrugged. “Which is why this is not good news, yet is possibly advantageous. The Traitors are unlikely to survive, so we will finally be rid of them. Unfortunately we will lose many good men in the process. The king doesn’t want to send forces out to meet them. They are attacking from all directions, so it would thin our ranks if we tried to tackle them all. He has sent messages ordering Ashaki and their families to retreat to the city.”
“Will they obey him?”
Achati nodded. “Most will, but whether they do so quickly enough is another matter. And there is one setback we didn’t anticipate.” He paused to look around the room. “Slaves have taken the opportunity to rebel. Mostly by fleeing from estates just before the Traitors arrive, but a few have attacked their owners.”
“And succeeded?”
“Only in a few cases — with poison. Which is one of the reasons I am telling you this. Be careful of your slaves, Ambassador Dannyl.”
Dannyl looked at the wineglass in Achati’s hand. The man hadn’t even sipped it yet. Did he fear the slaves here? The Guild House slaves belonged to the king, but that hadn’t prevented the Traitors putting their spies among them. Dannyl had drunk only a little of the wine, and hadn’t touched the food. He sent his mind within but found no sign of distress.
“I should be able to counteract the effect of poison with Healing magic,” he told Achati.
Achati chuckled and raised the glass to his lips. “Handy skill, that one.”
Dannyl nodded. “Do Ambassador Tayend, Lady Merria and I have anything to fear from the Traitors?”
Achati shook his head. “I see no reason why they would attack you, so long as you keep out of the way. If by some ill chance this goes badly, and the Traitors reach the city…” He paused and sighed, his shoulders dropping. “I confess I fear you would be in more danger from my people than theirs. The king has treated you as if you had colluded with the Traitors. If the rebels do a lot of damage, some Ashaki may come here to seek retribution. Or, if the battle goes badly, they may seek to replenish their store of power.”
Dannyl stared at Achati. For the man to admit his people might do this… there must be a real danger.
“What should we do?”
Achati held Dannyl’s gaze. “There is a ship in the harbour called The Kala. The captain has been told to take you, Ambassador Tayend and Lady Merria on board if you request it. He will sail you back to Kyralia.”
But Osen told us to stay… ah, I can’t tell him that without revealing we already knew about the attack. Still, Osen might change his mind once I tell him what Achati fears.
“Thank you. I’ll have to ask the Guild what they want us to do. Would you…?” Dannyl paused, wondering what Osen would think of the proposal. If it meant we were safe, he’d agree to it. “Would you come with us?”
The Sachakan’s eyes widened a little. He smiled and reached out to touch Dannyl’s arm in a gesture of reassurance and fondness. “My place is here, with my king and people.” He waved his other hand, holding the wineglass. “And it is very unlikely the Traitors will reach the city anyway. The ship is just a precaution.” He squeezed Dannyl’s arm gently, then let go. “And an excellent excuse to visit you.”
“I appreciate the warning. And the visit.” Dannyl put his wineglass aside. “You’ve missed Tayend, though. And Merria.”
“A pity. I may not have much time spare to visit again until after this little crisis is over.”
Dannyl’s heart skipped. If he is wrong about the Traitors, it might be the last time we are together.
“But I do have the House all to myself for the evening. Can you stay long?”
Achati’s eyebrows rose, then he smiled. “Perhaps for an hour or two.”
The room shivered with candlelight. Though the effect looked as if it was the result of the flickering flames, Cery knew some of the movement was from the shaking of his hand. He felt hot wax drip over his knuckles and looked down. Though it felt like they had been standing like this for an hour, the candle wasn’t visibly shorter.
He looked across the room at Gol, who was also holding a candle at the ready. Cery frowned as Gol shifted his weight and the flame came perilously close to lighting a timer strip. He could hear Gol’s quick breathing. His own seemed too loud. He tried to breathe deeper and quietly, to will his racing heart to slow down, worried that either would drown out the sound of someone approaching.
Skellin — if it is Skellin — is going to hear us and know we’re waiting for him. The only reason we’d stay put is if we knew he was coming was if we had set a trap. I’d realise that. Surely he would, too.
Several ways that his plan could go wrong went through his mind. He knew the trap wasn’t perfect. The minefire might go off before he and Gol had a chance to get safely away. It might go off too late to harm Skellin. While they hoped that it would kill him, their aim was to blow a hole in the Gardens above and reveal the Rogue Thief to the Guild. But what if it didn’t? What if there was no hole, and Skellin survived?
What if Skellin didn’t come personally to deal with Cery? What if Cery and Gol blew a hole in the Gardens, and possibly themselves, only to reveal Skellin’s minions to the Guild?
Gol was looking at Cery now, and shaking his head. In his eyes was a question. How long would they stand like this before they decided Anyi had been wrong, and no intruder was in the passages? Cery looked at his candle. Should they take turns instead? Should they…?
From somewhere down the corridor came a sharp intake of breath. Cery looked at Gol, then followed his bodyguard’s surprised gaze to the doorway.
Someone was standing there. No, Cery realised. Someone is floating there. Someone all too familiar.
“So this is where you’ve been all this time,” Skellin said. Then he whistled. From further back in the tunnels came a piercing reply.
Cery moved his hand in the direction he’d feared to go moments earlier, and heard a sizzle as the timer strip caught alight. He saw a spark flare in Gol’s direction, then turned and dashed for the door to the next room.
And slammed into the wall.
No, not the wall. A barrier of magic. Cery cursed as he realised Gol had encountered the same invisible obstruction. Light filled the room — the distinctive glare of a magic globe light. His friend looked at him, his expression grim and frightened. Cery met Gol’s eyes and grimaced. So that’s it, then. We might have had time to escape if we’d heard Skellin coming… But Skellin had levitated to avoid his footsteps being heard. As Cery turned to face his enemy he saw the flame of the timer strip Gol had lit retreat in its hole. He closed his eyes and held his breath. At least Anyi got away.
“Now, now. No need to brace yourself. It would be rude of me to kill you without having a bit of a chat first. Hmm. Not much of a hideout.”
Cery opened his eyes to see the Thief magician, his shoes now touching the floor, walking toward him. Two men stepped into the doorway behind him. They were young and well muscled. Skellin looked around the room, then over Cery’s shoulder at the next one. “Not as nice as your old one, from what my mother tells me, though perhaps that was your wife’s taste in decoration and you’ve reverted to the habits of your namesake since she died.”
My wife… the hideout… Cold shock and then hate rushed through Cery. Lorandra did murder my family. Though why would she do so when Skellin and I weren’t enemies then?
“Though perhaps you were glad to be rid of her. You were supposed to be so angry that you’d form an alliance with me so I’d find the Thief Hunter for you,” Skellin said.
Cery stared at Skellin. He killed my family to make me want to join forces with him. After he “found” the Thief Hunter — or some poor scapegoat — I’d be indebted to him. He looked at the other wall, seeking the flame of the timer he’d set alight. He saw no spark of light. It, too, had burned back into the wall, toward the tubes of minefire. Soon it would blast Skellin into…
Gol cursed and bowed his head. “Sorry, Cery,” he muttered. “It should have gone by now.”
Cery cursed as he realised the trap had failed. Gol had shown him that the minefire worked. Why not now?
“What are you chatting about?” Skellin came closer, his strange eyes narrowing. He leaned toward Cery and his mouth stretched into a humourless smile. “There’s someone missing, isn’t there? Where is your daughter, Ceryni?”
Cery’s heart began to shrink inside his chest, but he forced himself to laugh. “Do you really expect me to tell you that?”
Skellin shrugged, then straightened and looked around. “No. But my sources in the Guild tell me she is down here with you. I wonder where she could be.”
“Safe from you,” Cery told him. Sources in the Guild? So the rumours are true. But how do they know Anyi is here?
“Is she?” Skellin must have removed the barrier, as he moved past Cery into the next room, his globe light floating before him. “Who sleeps on the third bed, then?”
“Someone you don’t want to meet.”
Skellin didn’t reply. He was looking at the doorway to the passage leading to the Magicians’ Quarters. Though his face was turned away from Cery, the set of his shoulders suggested he was listening to something.
Anyi and Lilia? Cery felt a rush of hope followed by fear. I hope Lilia is ready for this, and Anyi has the sense to stay out of the way.
Skellin took a step toward the doorway, then another. Cery sensed that Gol had crouched down. He looked away and saw that his bodyguard had picked up a still-burning candle. Skellin’s two henchmen had moved into the room, however. They would be able to stop Gol getting to any of the minefire tubes set into the walls.
A laugh drew Cery’s attention back to Skellin. The Rogue had stepped into the passage. He extended a hand toward something out of Cery’s view. An all-too-familiar voice cursed. Anyi appeared, struggling as an invisible force pushed her into Skellin’s reach.
At the sight of her Cery felt his heart jump and twist like an animal struggling to escape — and it hurt. He clenched his fists against the pain and started forward, but something caught and held his legs. Gol, too, lurched to a halt.
Where is Lilia? As Skellin reached out to grab Anyi, she stopped resisting and darted forward. Surely Anyi didn’t come back without Lilia. But the hand that stabbed toward Skellin twisted as it encountered his torso and she cursed in pain. Skellin grabbed her wrist and prised the knife out of her grip. But if she couldn’t find Lilia then…
The Thief looked up at him, grinning. “Safe from me, eh? Looks like you’ve failed to protect your family again, Ceryni.”
Cery gritted his teeth. Had Anyi at least sent a message to Lilia? Was Lilia on her way? Cery wanted to ask Anyi, but the pain in his chest made it hard to breathe and he didn’t want to warn Skellin that Lilia was coming. We have to delay him. Give Lilia time to get her.
Anyi was still fighting, but she could do nothing to harm or unbalance Skellin. Cery swayed as a wave of dizziness hit him, and the room darkened. When his sight cleared he saw that Skellin had pushed Anyi against a wall. She stayed there, held in place with magic. Skellin whistled, and the men pushed past Cery.
“Search and bind her.”
Anyi’s jaw tightened as the men stripped off her coat and felt for weapons. Cery wrapped aching arms around his chest and dragged in a breath to speak.
“You want me, not her,” he managed.
Skellin laughed. “I want all three of you. But you have to die in the right order. And…” Skellin looked up and around as if he could see the magicians above them. “Not here.” He turned to face them, his eyes moving from Cery to Gol. His nose wrinkled and he shook his head. “You’re not worth the trouble.” His eyes narrowed and Cery heard a sickening crack. Gol cried out in agony and surprise, and fell to the floor.
No! I have to stop him killing Gol. Slow him down! Cery tried to think past the fire in his chest. Find some way to delay Skellin a little longer. He opened his mouth to speak but only ended up gasping out a breath. Another wave of blackness consumed him and he felt his knees go weak. He suspected that only Skellin’s magic was holding him up. What has he done to me?
“Wait a moment,” he heard Skellin say. “There’s something wrong with him.”
Cery felt a growing fear as he realised Skellin was right. It’s not him. It’s me. My body… my heart… Though his eyes were open, darkness still obscured his vision. A bitter triumph rose. At least Skellin didn’t get the satisfaction of killing me. But… Anyi…
The force holding Cery melted away and he felt himself land on the hard floor. Whatever Skellin said next, he said at such a distance that Cery could not hear it. Then, after a stretch of silence, he felt cool hands on his face and he heard Gol talking from far, far away.
“ Don’t worry. He won’t kill Anyi. He wants to make a trade. Lilia will get her back. If Anyi doesn’t kill him first. Those two will always look after each other. You know it. Don’t worry. It’ll all be fine. Anyi will be fine. We’ll make sure of it.”
Lilia hurried down the passage, keeping a tiny globe light floating before her.
Should I extinguish it? The intruder might see the light and know I’m coming. But if I do that, I’ll have to feel my way in the dark. It’ll slow me down. What’s more important? Speed or remaining undetected?
Her footsteps sounded loud in the narrow space. They would betray her approach anyway. She decided to keep the light burning.
Aside from her own footsteps, she heard no other sounds. The secret entrance to the passages that Anyi had cleared was on the far side of the University, so Lilia had to make her way around the foundations of the building. Fortunately, the passages were no labyrinth here. They were straight and turned at right angles until they led away from the University, under the gardens. Lilia’s heart was pounding by the time she reached the first curved wall.
I don’t think I’ve been so scared in all my life, she thought. I think I’d even consider having a little roet right now, if someone offered it to me.
The intruder might be someone harmless — a novice or servant venturing where they shouldn’t. Anyi might be wrong, and there was no intruder at all. Or it could be Skellin’s people, come snooping or looking for Cery. In that case, she had to hope that, if they’d found Cery, then he, Gol and Anyi had been able to hide until she got there.
But if it was Skellin or Lorandra. Or Skellin and Lorandra…
I have to hope, if both of them are here, that I’ve gained enough extra power from Kallen to fight them. And enough skill.
She’d considered this many times before. It was unlikely Skellin or Lorandra had much training in fighting. Lorandra might have learned something before she left her homeland, but she and Skellin would have had no training here. The most they could have done was practise on each other.
She was not far from the rooms now. As she started down the last stretch of passage she slowed, staring into the darkness ahead.
Should I whistle to warn them it’s me? It’ll warn Skellin if he’s already there. But if he is, wouldn’t I be able to see light and hear voices?
She added more magic to her shield and crept forward. A faint noise reached her. A low, murmuring voice. The doorway was dark, but as she drew closer she saw a faint, flickering light. Reaching it, she peered around the opening and saw a single candle burning, braced between two rocks, and a hunched figure sitting on the floor. At the same time she heard a choking sound.
Something about that sound made her stomach sink.
The man’s head lifted and the shadows concealing his face retreated from her globe light. Gol’s cheeks glistened.
“Lilia,” he said.
She brightened the light and saw what he was sitting beside.
“Oh no.” She hurried forward and knelt on the floor. Cery’s face was pale, his eyes closed. She could see no sign of injury. Placing her hand on his forehead, she sent her senses out — and immediately recoiled. “Oh no.”
“It’s too late, isn’t it?” Gol said, his voice tight.
She felt her heart twist, then looked around the room. Where is Anyi?
“Yes. What happened?”
“I don’t know. Skellin did nothing to him. Was going to take him away. But… he just collapsed.”
Reluctantly she reached out and touched Cery’s body, forcing herself to examine him again. She had never used her Healing skills on a dead person before. The lack of presence, the mental silence within, the lack of a natural barrier to repel the will of another, all were shocking to her. But if Skellin had done this…
No. The damage was clear, once she found it. Cery’s heart had failed. Not that Skellin didn’t cause it indirectly, by forcing Cery to live here, constantly fearing for his safety. And Anyi’s.
Anyi. She withdrew her senses, opened her eyes and looked at Gol. He had slumped forward, and was breathing quickly. His face was contorted with pain, but she suddenly understood it was not just the pain of grief.
“What’s… are you hurt?” She reached out and grabbed his arm, then jumped as her senses opened to a flood of agony. It was coming from somewhere lower. His legs. Letting go of his arm, she crawled over to him and grabbed his shoulders. “Lie down.”
He did as she told him, sucking in sharp breaths as he moved. Once he was lying flat, she moved her light over to his legs.
“Don’t,” he said. “Go. Find… her. Find… Anyi.”
She froze. From somewhere deep inside her rose a terrible dread. “ Where is she? ”
“Skellin… took her.”
“When?” Her mind raced ahead. She climbed to her feet. Cery had not been dead long. Skellin could still be in the passages. If she left now, she might catch him. Save Anyi. “But why take her? Why not kill her?”
“You.” Gol gasped, sucked in a breath, held it. “Wants you. Will send… a message. Where… to meet.”
She pictured herself catching up with Skellin. Fighting Skellin. She shook her head. He won’t fight me. He’ll put a knife to Anyi’s throat. Or do something with magic. He’ll use her to get away. And take me with him. And make me teach him black magic.
Would it work out any differently if she waited for his message? Perhaps he’d torture Anyi in the meantime.
No. He won’t harm her. Not if he wants me to teach him.
He might accidentally hurt her if she rushed upon him now.
If she waited for the message, waited for the meeting, she would have time to work out how to rescue Anyi without teaching Skellin black magic. Time to strengthen herself. Time to decide how I’m going to tell Anyi her father is dead.
She may know already. Oh, Anyi. I’m sorry I didn’t get here faster.
It took more strength of will than anything she had done before to not run after her. Forcing herself to kneel down next to Gol, ignoring his protests, she set to work mending his shattered bones. And hoped, desperately, that she had made the right decision.