Canavan Trudi - The Traitor Queen

The latch slid open without a sound, then the door swung inward silently. Jonna stepped forward to help Lilia out. The hatch was slightly higher in the wall than was comfortable to step down from, not helped by the fact that she had to fold double to get through it.

“How are they all?” Jonna asked.

“Fine,” Lilia told her. “Grateful for your help. Is Black Magician Kallen back yet?”

“Yes, about ten minutes ago.”

Lilia headed for her bedroom to change back into her robes. “I’d better hurry up, then, or I’ll catch him in his bedclothes.”

Jonna made a small noise of amusement. “That would be an odd sight.”

Lilia grinned. “It sure would be.”

The simple trousers and shirt Jonna had found for her to wear when visiting Cery and Anyi were much easier to climb in, and she felt a wave of gratitude as she saw the scuffs and stains she’d gained that night. Better she spoil these than her robes.

Changing quickly, she returned to the main room.

“Thanks for waiting for me,” she said to Jonna. “You don’t have to hang around now. I’ll come straight back after talking to Kallen.”

Jonna shrugged. “I don’t mind staying.” She straightened and placed her hands on her hips. “I promised Sonea I’d keep an eye on you, and I won’t sleep right unless I know you’re back here in your bed at a decent hour.”

Lilia rolled her eyes and sighed. “Nobody ever worried about that when I was staying in the Novices’ Quarters.” But she didn’t mind. It was nice that someone cared enough to look out for her. I don’t want to take any longer with Kallen than I need to, anyway.

Slipping out of the main door into the corridor, she walked to Kallen’s rooms and knocked. A short pause later the door swung inward. At once she smelled the faint scent of roet smoke, but it was stale and faded as if emanating from the furnishings. Kallen was sitting in a large chair, a book in his hand and a look of mild surprise on his face.

“Lady Lilia,” he said. “Come in.”

She stepped inside, pushed the door closed and bowed. “Black Magician Kallen.”

“How can I help you?” he asked.

He had the patient expression of a teacher interrupted at a bad time by a novice. She resisted a smile. She was acting as messenger, not a novice, and the content was far more important than mere lessons.

“You know I occasionally meet Anyi, my friend and bodyguard of the Thief Cery,” she began, sitting down on another chair. “Without leaving Guild grounds,” she added quickly.

He nodded. “Yes.”

“I’ve already told you that Cery is in hiding, and can’t maintain his…” She waved a hand, searching for the right term. “Business arrangements and… contacts.”

“Everyone in the city thinks he is dead.”

“It’s likely Skellin won’t believe Cery is dead unless he sees a body.”

Kallen nodded. “Or sufficient time passes.”

“This makes Cery the ideal bait to lure Skellin with. Which is his own idea,” she reassured him. “He said to tell you he is prepared to do it and proposes you meet with him to work out a place and time.”

“Hmm.” Kallen frowned and looked away. “That is a very generous and brave offer. One that I admire and appreciate and I’m sure the rest of the Guild would too, if they knew of it. One that we might take up.” He shook his head. “But not right now. We’re exploring another avenue. I can’t tell you the details yet, but if it succeeds we will not need to risk Cery’s life at all.”

Lilia felt a brief disappointment, then relief, followed by anxiety. “How long until you know? Cery’s hiding place is… well, it’s his last safe place. If Skellin discovers it, Cery won’t have anywhere else to go.”

“What we’re doing can’t be hurried. It may take weeks, or months. How long does Cery believe he can remain hidden?” Kallen asked.

Weeks! Months! Anger flared inside her, but when she looked at Kallen she saw genuine concern in his eyes. The anger ebbed away.

“I don’t know. He doesn’t know. Skellin could find him tonight, he could find him in a few weeks. Getting food without being seen is difficult. Each time they go out it’s a risk.”

Kallen reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder briefly.

“I understand. We are doing everything we can, Lilia. Tell Cery we appreciate his offer, and may take it up if our other plans fail. In the meantime, he should do all he can to stay hidden.”

Lilia nodded, and sighed. “I’ll tell him. He won’t like it, though.”

“I don’t expect he will.” He gave her a sympathetic look, but it suddenly changed to a frown. “He won’t do anything foolish out of impatience, will he?”

She swallowed a bitter laugh. “I don’t think so, but he’s a Thief. He’s used to being in charge of his life.” Seeing Kallen’s eyebrows lower further, she shook her head. “Anyi and I will do all we can to talk him out of it, if he tries. And Gol is used to talking sense to Cery, I suspect.”

Kallen nodded. “Good.”

Getting to her feet, Lilia smoothed her robes. “I had better be going. Goodnight, Black Magician Kallen. I hope your plans are successful.”

He nodded. “Thank you. Goodnight Lady Lilia.”

As she turned toward the door it swung open. Stepping out into the corridor, she breathed the cleaner air outside with relief. Then her mood darkened again.

Cery isn’t going to like this. But I think he trusts… no, it’s more that he respects Kallen than trusts him… enough to wait and see if these other plans work. That wasn’t the main problem, though. How am I going to keep them fed and undiscovered for weeks — perhaps even months? Someone’s bound to notice something eventually.

She could only hope that, with Jonna’s help, they could prevent that, or for Kallen’s “other avenue” to succeed.

“Do you think we should wait until Lilia is with us?” Anyi said as she eyed the roof of the tunnel. Cery lifted his lamp. “It doesn’t look like it’s about to cave in this very moment.” The tunnel was long and Anyi had set a brisk pace. Too brisk. He’d taken advantage of the sagging roof to pause and catch his breath, hoping the others would think he was being cautious. “But then, how do you tell?”

“I don’t know,” Anyi admitted. “I figure it won’t collapse so long as we don’t touch anything. But we shouldn’t hang about.”

Gol made a low noise that suggested they were both crazy. He was regarding the tree roots hanging from the ceiling and matted over the sides of the tunnel with a frown. As he took a step toward it, Cery realised it wasn’t a frown of disapproval but of interest.

Then he saw what Gol had noticed. Light didn’t penetrate beyond some of the roots as it should have. Behind lurked a stubborn darkness. He moved closer then hooked his fingers in the cascade of white roots and pulled gently. They swung forward with no resistance.

They’re not attached to anything. There’s a hole behind here.

“Remember what I said about not touching any…” Anyi began as he pulled the roots aside. “Oh.”

The entrance to another tunnel opened before them. The same deteriorated brickwork held back the earth and supported the roof. He glanced at her and smiled as she came closer and peered inside, eyes bright.

“Now that’s a bit of luck,” she remarked. “If we have to make a run for it, we can slip through here. So long as whoever was chasing us didn’t see us do it they’d never know where we’d gone.”

“Want to explore?” Cery asked.

“Of course.”

Cery looked back at Gol. “Stay here. You hear anything like a cave-in, go get Lilia.”