Canavan Trudi - The Traitor Queen

Anyi shrugged. “We can block off the entrance to the Guild passages — collapse them if you think it’s safer. There are passages that come out in the forest, so we have escape routes. Well, ones that don’t lead into the Guild buildings, that is.” Anyi glanced at Lilia. “We’ll work out ways to get food and water down here.”

Lilia nodded. “I’m sure Sonea would help.”

“No, we can’t tell her.” Cery paused, surprised at the conviction in his own voice. Why don’t I want Sonea’s help? “She won’t like it. She’ll want to smuggle us out of the city. She’ll tell Kallen.” He didn’t entirely trust Kallen, and it wasn’t only because the man was a roet addict.

“She wouldn’t,” Lilia said, though her voice lacked conviction.

“Cery’s right,” Gol said. “Sonea’s leaving for Sachaka. She’ll either want someone else high up in the Guild to know we’re here, or she’ll move us out.”

“So… if you don’t want Kallen to know either,” Anyi said, “then you won’t be able to work with him any more.”

“No.” Cery turned to Lilia. “But he doesn’t need us to tell him that. We can say it’s safer if we communicate through messages, which Lilia will send.”

“We won’t have anything useful to tell him if we stay here and have no contact with your people,” Anyi pointed out.

“No, but he’ll keep us informed as to what’s going on out there,” Cery replied, “before he gives up on us as a source of information. And hopefully we will find a way to be useful again — which we won’t if Sonea sends us away.”

The four of them exchanged looks, then nodded.

“Well, first Lilia and I need to find solutions for the most basic needs, like food and water,” Anyi said decisively, straightening. “And then to make things safer and more comfortable down here.”

Cery smiled at the determined look on her face. If he let her, she would take charge of them all. “No,” he disagreed. “That’s not what we’ll do first.”

She looked at him, frowning in puzzlement. “No?”

He nodded at the basket. “First we eat.”

If there was a code of etiquette that allowed Sachakans to refuse entry to an unwanted guest, Dannyl wished he knew what it was. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to see the Ashaki who was coming down the entrance passage of the Guild House. He yearned to see the man. But he suspected that the visitor was here in his official capacity, and that was something Dannyl was not looking forward to.

Being friends with the enemy certainly complicates matters.

As Achati entered the room, Dannyl searched the man’s face for some hint of good news, despite knowing the chances were slim. He was surprised when he saw regret and apology there. He’d expected a carefully maintained neutral expression.

“Welcome back to the Guild House, Ashaki Achati,” Dannyl said, falling back on Kyralian manners.

“I wish it were under more amicable circumstances,” Achati replied. “This is an official visit, but I also wish it to be an informal one between friends, if that is still possible.”

Dannyl invited Achati to sit, taking the main chair for himself. “That depends on how the official part goes,” he replied wryly.

“Then let’s get the official part over with first.” Achati paused to regard Dannyl. “King Amakira wants you to persuade Lorkin to answer all questions regarding the Traitors.”

“I doubt I would succeed.”

“Would he refuse if you ordered him to?”

“Yes.”

“And this is acceptable?”

“It isn’t his choice, or mine.”

“But he is your subordinate. He should follow your orders.”

“That depends on the orders.” Dannyl shrugged. “We do not have a… a custom of unquestioning obedience in the Guild, or even outside it. Except in the case of royalty, but even then advisers have the right to advise — to give their opinion and recommendation without reprisal — though they still must obey orders even if they disagree with them.”

“You are also an Ambassador — and not just a Guild Ambassador. Until Ambassador Tayend arrived, you spoke for all the Allied Lands, too. Though you no longer speak for Elyne, you still represent the rest.”

“Yes, I speak for them.” Dannyl spread his hands. “But I cannot make decisions for them.”

“So you are saying that only one of the monarchs of the Allied Lands could order Lorkin to answer questions?”

“Only the Kyralian king. Monarchs of other lands and non-ruling royals cannot give orders to Kyralian magicians.”

Achati’s eyebrows were high. “How do you maintain order?”

Dannyl smiled. “Most of us are smart enough to know that disorder would lead to a loss of freedom and prosperity. Those who don’t… well, the rest of us keep them in line. Like the general rule against magicians involving themselves in politics. Though it’s not strictly enforced, maintaining the appearance that it is being followed restricts the more ambitious of us.”

As Achati paused to ponder this, Dannyl took the opportunity to ask a question.

“Has King Amakira considered that Lorkin may not have any information to give? After all, why would the Traitors have let him return to Arvice if he knew anything that might harm them?”

Achati looked up. “Why doesn’t he answer our questions, then?”

“Perhaps it is a test.”

“Of what? Lorkin’s loyalty to the Traitors?”

Dannyl frowned at the suggestion that Lorkin had changed his loyalties. “Or to Kyralia. Or perhaps it is not a test of Lorkin at all.”

Achati’s eyes narrowed. “It is a test of King Amakira?”

Dannyl spread his hands. “And the Guild, King Merin and the Allied Lands.”

“Put us in a position of conflict and see what happens?” Achati nodded. “We have considered that.”

“Though perhaps Lorkin believed that he could return to Kyralia via Arvice, because he didn’t think King Amakira would break his agreement that all Guild magicians would remain free and unharmed in Sachaka.”

Achati’s expression hardened. “So long as they did not seek to harm Sachaka.” He looked at Dannyl directly. “Do you honestly believe Lorkin’s withholding of knowledge about the Traitors will not harm my country?”

Dannyl held his friend’s gaze but, not prepared for such a direct question, he felt the mix of guilt and suspicion that the question roused shift something in his own expression. Achati would have seen it. He would know if Dannyl lied. So best to answer with a different truth.

“I don’t know,” he replied honestly. “Lorkin has only discussed what he knows with Administrator Osen.”

Achati frowned. “Did he tell you why he returned?”

Dannyl nodded and felt himself relax a little. “To go home. He particularly wants to see his mother. Of course, we did not know if he would ever return, so after months of worry she is anxious to be reunited with him as well.”

“I imagine she is,” Achati replied, standing up. He sounded sympathetic, but his expression was a mix of amusement and defiance. “The sooner Lorkin answers our questions, the sooner that will be.”

Dannyl rose. “What will King Amakira do if he doesn’t?”

Achati paused to consider his answer. “I don’t know,” he replied, his apparent honesty and helplessness a mirror of Dannyl’s.

“The Allied Lands will view the reading of Lorkin’s mind as an act of aggression,” Dannyl warned.

“But hardly something to go to war over,” Achati replied. “Sachaka has prospered for centuries without trade with the lands to the west, thanks to our links with lands over the eastern sea. Without training for all in higher magic, your magicians are hardly a threat. We don’t need you. We don’t fear you. You were only ever an opportunity we wanted to explore.”