Canavan Trudi - The Traitor Queen

Merria frowned. “But whether the king pretends his spy is a slave or admits he’s not, you’ll be breaking a law.”

Tayend nodded. “Better to be charged for destruction of the king’s property than murder. Perhaps you could make it look like an accident.”

Why must I be the one to do it? Dannyl thought. Because I’m the highest-ranking person in the house. Then he felt a traitorous hope. Does Tayend outrank me, as an Ambassador to a country rather than just the Guild?

“If Savi kills the man using black magic it’ll be clear none of us did it,” Merria suggested.

“But it’ll also be clear there’s a Traitor here somewhere,” Tayend pointed out.

“She can block a mind-read, can’t she?”

“If the king knows no slave has entered or left the House, and is determined to find which is the Traitor, he could have them tortured.”

“Or kill them all,” Tayend added.

A slave appeared. Dannyl realised it was Tav, the door slave. The man dropped to the floor.

“Mind what you say,” Dannyl warned, then let the shield fall.

“What is it, Tav?”

“Someone at the door,” the man gasped.

“Go find out who it is.”

The slave hurried away. The Master’s Room was quiet as they waited for him to return. The rapid, soft thud of footsteps growing louder preceded the slave’s return.

“A message,” he said.

“Bring it here,” Dannyl ordered before the man could abase himself again. The slave quickly padded forward, a scroll held out in both hands. Dannyl took it and waved a hand. “Leave us.”

He unrolled the message. Tayend and Merria leaned in on either side to read it.

“A summons to the palace,” Merria murmured.

“‘Immediately’,” Tayend read.

Dannyl let the scroll snap back into a roll. “Whatever we do, we have to do it now. Kai!”

His personal slave appeared in the corridor.

“Fetch Savi.” As the man disappeared, Dannyl spoke quietly, “Only reasonable to ask her what she’d prefer us to do.”

They did not wait long. The woman entered and threw herself onto the floor as quickly and unselfconsciously as any ordinary slave.

“Is the meal not to your liking, master?” she asked.

Dannyl glanced at the plate in his hands, the food barely touched. He sighed and raised the barrier of silence again.

“I’ve been summoned to the palace,” he told her. “We have to come to a decision about the fate of the king’s spy. What would you have us do?”

She grimaced. “Well… swapping clothes is definitely not going to work this time.”

Tayend straightened abruptly. “Ah!”

All eyes turned to him. “What?” Dannyl asked.

The Elyne raised a hand, palm-outward. “Wait. Give me a moment. I have an idea…” He closed his eyes and his lips moved, then he nodded. He looked around at them, then at Savi. “Tell me if this will work: could you get away with being one of the carriage slaves, despite it not being your usual work, and that you’re a woman?”

She frowned. “If it worked for Ashaki Achati, it might for me.”

“Is there a safe place on the way to the palace that Dannyl could drop you off?”

Her eyes brightened. “Yes.”

Tayend looked at Dannyl. “I think this is our best option. If we can get Savi out of harm’s way, there’s no need to kill the abductor.”

Dannyl nodded, his heart lightening with relief until he remembered that a live abductor was also going to reveal more than that Savi was a Traitor. The king isn’t going to admit publicly the man was his spy, though. Which will be very, very annoying after all we’ve been through. Unless…

“We’ll take him with us,” he decided.

Merria’s eyes widened, but Tayend only chuckled. “You’re going to tell the king everything.”

“Except how Lorkin got away.”

“Then I’m coming too. I have to see this.”

“Tayend-”

“No, Dannyl. I have to see this. My king would be most disappointed if I didn’t.”

Dannyl could not argue against that. It will be better if there are witnesses other than myself, Osen and the Sachakan court, too. He dropped the barrier of silence.

“Merria, go with Savi and fetch the spy. Kai!” The man dashed into the room. “Have the carriage brought to the front.”

As Savi and Merria hurried away and Kai disappeared, Dannyl restored the shield again. Tayend rubbed his hands together. Then he stopped and his grin faded. “I hope Achati’s involvement won’t be discovered.”

Something inside Dannyl swooped downwards. He sighed and set his plate on the floor. The previous night he’d lain awake, either worrying that Achati would turn Lorkin over or anxious at the risk Achati was taking by helping Lorkin escape.

Tayend’s spoke in low tones, despite the barrier of silence. “It occurred to me last night… What if the king orders Achati to wear one of his blood rings? They allow the creator to read the thoughts of the wearer, right? I’m sure Achati was communicating with the king during their journey to Duna. I doubt the king would wear anyone else’s blood ring and risk them reading his mind, so Achati must have been wearing one of his. Will Achati now refuse to wear a ring?”

“I don’t know.” Dannyl shook his head. “Achati knew what he was doing.”

“Well… I hope it wasn’t sacrificing himself for us. He turned out better than I expected. I like him.”

Dannyl looked at Tayend in surprise and gratitude. Tayend liking Achati makes me like Tayend better, he realised. Tayend’s good opinion also makes me like Achati better, too. All because Achati had helped Lorkin. But at what cost?

Footsteps heralded the return of Savi. She was pushing the spy, bound and gagged, before her. The man was staggering as if exhausted, Dannyl noted. No doubt she’d drained his power again.

A grim silence fell between them all as they filed down the corridor to the front entrance. The carriage was not waiting, but before long the doors to the stable swung open and the horses and vehicle emerged. Dannyl ordered Savi to climb up onto the back to cling on beside the usual carriage slave, then hauled the spy up into the cabin. He climbed in after, and Tayend followed.

“Good luck,” Merria said quietly, then pushed the door closed.

At Dannyl’s order, the carriage left the Guild House. He did not speak and Tayend stayed silent. They couldn’t discuss what they were planning to do in front of the spy, and it was hardly a situation for small talk. The spy huddled opposite Tayend and Dannyl, his frightened gaze flickering from one to the other, which was disconcerting enough. When the driver suddenly shouted they all jumped.

The carriage began to slow. Dannyl opened the window and leaned out.

“What is it?”

“The slave, master. She jumped off and ran.”

Dannyl paused and looked behind, but Savi had already disappeared.

“We can’t stop,” he told the man. “Continue to the palace.”

Perhaps it was the mention of the palace, but the abductor had stopped staring at them. Relieved, Dannyl spent the rest of the journey considering and refining his plan, and gathering his courage. When they arrived, he dragged the man out after him. Leaving Tayend to hurry after, he forced the spy before him and marched into the palace.

The guards watched intently, but didn’t stop him. Once in the hall, Dannyl was pleased to see the king had arranged for a large audience of Ashaki to watch the meeting, including a few who, Merria had learned, disagreed with Lorkin’s treatment. Perfect. Achati stood near the throne, to Dannyl’s relief looking unconcerned.

The monarch’s eyebrows rose as Dannyl pushed the spy to the floor. Following protocol, Dannyl knelt and Tayend, hurrying up beside him, bowed.