Canavan Trudi - The Traitor Queen

Sonea felt her heart skip a beat.

“Ashaki Achati, the king’s representative that Ambassador Dannyl has established a friendly relationship with, visited the Guild House last night,” Osen continued. “He relayed the king’s desire for Dannyl to persuade Lorkin to answer questions about the Traitors. Dannyl, of course, repeated that he was in no position to order Lorkin to. Ashaki Achati would not say what would happen if Lorkin did not talk, but he did make it clear that Sachaka feels no great reluctance to sever friendly ties with the Allied Lands. It was not a threat, Dannyl assures me, but a statement of fact. They do not need to trade with us or feel we would be a threat as an enemy.”

“Is it a bluff?” Balkan asked.

“Perhaps,” Glarrin replied. “It is too close to the truth, however. I would not want to test it. Sachaka doesn’t need us just as we do not need it, but we would both lose some lucrative opportunities if stricter restrictions on trade were imposed.”

“So reminding them of the wealth they may miss out on is all I can do?” Sonea asked.

Glarrin pursed his lips in thought. “It would not hurt to point out that the Allied Lands seek trade with Sachaka rather than rebels. That might at least reassure them that we don’t plan to side with their enemy.”

“Of course, the fact that we are seeking trade with the Traitors should not be mentioned,” Balkan added, with a chuckle.

“Of course not.” Sonea smiled. “Though should I hint that we might consider such a possibility, should Sachaka prove uncooperative… and perhaps unreliable when it comes to upholding agreements relating to the safety of Guild magicians?”

“No,” Glarrin said. “They will not take kindly to that sort of threat. I…” He paused, his eyes focusing on a distant point. “The king asks if the Traitors can be contacted — if they can do anything to help us. After all, they can’t have planned for Lorkin to be imprisoned.”

The Kyralian king and Glarrin must be communicating via a blood ring, Sonea realised. That one little magical trick of Akkarin’s has become very popular since the Guild decided using one wasn’t technically using black magic.

“We can try,” Balkan replied. “Dannyl’s assistant, Lady Merria, has established a way to send messages to the Traitors.”

“We won’t get an answer before Sonea leaves,” Osen pointed out. He looked at Balkan. “Sonea should leave a blood ring of hers here. Should she carry a blood ring from one of us as well?”

“Whoever gives her a ring risks seeing the secret of black magic in her mind.”

“Not if she’s wearing Naki’s ring.” Osen pointed out.

Sonea nodded. The ring Lilia’s former friend had used to stop her mind being read also protected the wearer from access via a blood ring.

Balkan nodded. “It will be useful if Sonea can contact us when she chooses — but Dannyl already has a ring of yours. Would it be better to give her one from me?”

“If the Sachakans seize them, then they can annoy the both of us.” Osen shook his head. “She should take one from me.”

Sonea hid her amusement at his choice of words. If someone got hold of Osen’s blood ring, the malicious things they could do with it wouldn’t be designed to annoy him. Then she sobered. As they could to me, if they got hold of the blood ring I gave Lorkin. Thankfully Osen had told Lorkin not to take it to the meeting with the Sachakan king. If they had it, all they’d have to do is torture Lorkin while…

“When will I be leaving?” she asked, to turn her thoughts somewhere less frightening.

“Tomorrow night,” Osen said. “We’ll call a Meet tomorrow and ask for volunteers to give you magical strength. We’ve decided to let it be known that Lorkin has been imprisoned by the Sachakan king and we are sending you to negotiate for his release.”

“Amakira has given us the perfect excuse to send you to Sachaka,” Glarrin said. “You are to try meeting with the Traitors as well, though it would be best if you did it after Lorkin was free — even better if he was home — in case the meeting is discovered.” He frowned and looked away, then smiled. “The king asks how Lilia’s Warrior training is going.”

Balkan grimaced. “Lilia is no natural Warrior. Her reflexes and comprehension are good, and her defence strong, but she shows no initiative in battle.”

“Ah,” Sonea said, smiling. “A familiar problem.”

Glarrin looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

“I was much the same,” she explained. “If only Lord Yikmo hadn’t been killed in the Ichani Invasion. He was good at teaching reluctant novices.”

“Lady Rol Ley had studied Yikmo’s methods,” Balkan said, his expression thoughtful. “She teaches many of the standard classes all novices attend, so she will know Lilia’s strengths and weaknesses.”

“She sounds like she could help,” Sonea said. “I’d offer to if I wasn’t about to leave.”

“Maybe you can when you get back,” Osen said. “Is there anything else we need to discuss.”

“Nothing that can’t be relayed through blood rings,” Glarrin said. “We should not delay Sonea’s leaving more than necessary.”

Osen looked at her. “Is there anything you must do before you go?”

She shook her head. “Nothing.”

“Then you had better let your assistant know he’ll be leaving tomorrow night.”

She stood up. “If we’re done here, I’ll do that next.”

Final-year Warrior classes had never been a part of Lilia’s plans for the future. According to the University standards, she had achieved the minimum level of understanding and skill required for a novice to graduate. She ought to be off in the Healer’s Quarters learning advanced techniques, but instead she was being roundly trounced by novices destined to be the next generation of red-robed magicians.

They were finding her presence in the class fascinating. It wasn’t every day that a novice or magician got to practise fighting with and against a black magician. They didn’t even seem to mind that she wasn’t good at it, because the lessons were mostly demonstrations with little actual magic used. She wasn’t allowed to take and store power — not even if that power was given willingly. But she had to admit that, when the lessons didn’t involve her making decisions or taking the initiative, she found them as interesting as the other novices did.

Black magic certainly changed the dynamics of fighting. She’d have thought being able to steal magic from a person would be the most useful black magic ability in battle, but it wasn’t. It still required her to get close enough to that person to cut their skin and break their natural barrier against magical outside interference. By the time she had worn an enemy down enough to do this, there was little magic left to take.

Being able to store magic was a much bigger advantage. It was disturbing how it made non-black magicians redundant, once they’d given their power to a black magician. It was also frightening to realise how important it made her, over the others. And more of a target.

When it came to actually engaging in a fight, she nearly always made the wrong decisions, acted too soon or hesitated too long. As her latest attack on the “enemy” scattered ineffectually off his shield, Black Magician Kallen called a halt.

“Better,” he told her. He looked around the Arena. The tall spires supporting the invisible barrier of magic that protected everything outside from the practice bouts within were now casting shorter shadows on the ground. “That’s enough,” he said, looking at the trainee Warriors. “You may go.”

They all looked surprised, but did not argue. Kallen waited as they left through the short tunnel entrance, then walked beside Lilia as she followed them.