Canavan Trudi - The Traitor Queen

“The Ambassador is dressing,” she said, then moved over to a wall and stood with her back to it, eyes lowered.

Osen said the Traitors are going to free the slaves, Dannyl thought. If they succeed, where will the slaves here go? Perhaps they would stay on as paid servants. He hoped so. It would be a relief when they stopped behaving so submissively. Though I may, perhaps, think differently should they start pushing us around like some Kyralian servants do. He blinked as something else occurred to him. If the Traitors win, end slavery and join the Allied Lands, could some of these ex-slaves one day become magicians?

He thought of the lengths to which Fergun had gone in order to prevent Sonea entering the Guild. If he’d felt Sonea didn’t deserve to become a magician, what would he have thought of Sachakan slaves?

The idea made Dannyl feeling oddly cheerful, but the mood dissipated as Tayend appeared, looking dishevelled in his hastily donned elaborate clothing.

“Ambassador. Lady Merria,” Tayend said, beckoning. He ushered them to the stools arranged in the middle of the central room, then sat down on a particularly large pillow and rubbed at his eyes.

“Late night?” Dannyl asked.

Tayend made a face. “Late and well irrigated. My Sachakan friends were particularly determined to drown their worries.” He turned to the slave girl. “Bring some water and bread.”

Once she had left, Dannyl drew magic and surrounded them in a sound-blocking barrier. He leaned toward Tayend. “They have reason to.”

The Elyne’s eyes widened and he straightened. “Oh?”

As Dannyl told them of Osen’s news, both Tayend and Merria began to nod.

“That explains it,” Merria said. “Last night my friends told me that female slaves suspected of being Traitors are being tortured and killed.” She paused and frowned. “Well, that explains something else, too. My friends were making arrangements to travel to a country estate for the summer, and invited me along. I said I couldn’t go. I had to stay with you.” She nodded to Dannyl. “And they said you and Tayend could come as well, if you needed to.”

“ Needed to’?” Tayend echoed. “Hmm.”

“They’ve probably left already. I suppose I could find out where they are.” Merria looked worried.

Dannyl shook his head. “We can’t go with them.”

“But should we stay here?” Tayend asked, looking at Dannyl. “Mistakes happen in wars. People can be killed by being in the wrong place, or by a stray bit of magic that misses its intended target.” His pursed his lips. “I don’t suppose we and Achati could go on another research trip.”

The suggestion brought a pang of gratitude and anxiety. Though he likes Achati, I doubt he’d have included him if it weren’t for me. “If we suggest it he’ll suspect we knew the Traitors planned to invade,” Dannyl replied.

“Unless he doesn’t know. We could get him out of the way. He’d never forgive us for preventing him from doing his duty though,” Tayend added, looking away.

Tayend was right. Achati’s loyalty was with his king and people. He’ll never leave Sachaka. Not for me. He’d always known that.

“What will the Traitors do to the free women, and their children?” Merria asked.

They exchanged grim looks.

“I don’t think they’d kill anyone who wasn’t a magician,” Tayend said slowly.

“It may depend on how well they treated their slaves,” Dannyl added.

Merria shrugged. “Well, for all that they say they don’t like the Traitors, my friends do seem to have some connection with them. Surely that means they’ll be all right.” She looked at Dannyl. “It’s your friend I’d be worried about.”

He was saved from having to respond by the return of the slave girl. As Dannyl rose to leave, Merria did the same.

“Stay a while, Dannyl?” Tayend asked. The Elyne waited until Merria and the slave girl had gone before he spoke. “You’re worried. I can tell. But remember, the Traitors might lose.”

“Lorkin is with them.”

Tayend grimaced. “Ah. Yes. There is no good end to this, is there?”

Dannyl shook his head. “All we can hope for is that, whatever the outcome, the people we care about survive and escape.” He turned and walked toward the door.

“You do care about him, don’t you?”

Dannyl stopped and looked back to see Tayend had got to his feet. He thought about Achati’s words: “ I would like us to be more than friends, for a time at least, before circumstances make us feel we must behave like enemies.” He sighed.

“I’m not in love, Tayend.”

“No?” Tayend walked over and placed a hand on Dannyl’s shoulder. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. I’ve never thought it would last. I just… I expected that if it ended it would be for more mundane political reasons.”

“You fear for him.”

“As I’d fear for any friend.”

Tayend eyebrows rose in disbelief. “You two are more than just friends, Dannyl.”

“You and I are more than just friends, Tayend. We were together too long to say otherwise. I’d fear for you in this situation, as well.”

Tayend smiled, and his hand on Dannyl’s shoulder squeezed. “And I for you. The only difference is I’d take you back without a second thought. You wouldn’t.” He turned away and walked back to the stools.

Breath catching in his throat, Dannyl gazed at Tayend. As the Elyne glanced back, Dannyl tore his eyes away and stepped out of the room. It wasn’t until he reached his own suite that his mind snapped out of its surprise and began to churn with all that he’d learned and feared.

Pushing through the door into the inner passages of the University, Lilia took a few steps before she saw the novices ahead. They didn’t move out of the way as she neared them. Instead, they turned to face her, the three of them blocking the way.

Lilia slowed. From behind her came the sound of the door opening again, then a “ha” of triumph. She turned to see Bokkin and two more novices approaching, all grinning.

“Lilia,” Bokkin called. “Just who we were looking for, weren’t we?” He glanced back at his followers and they nodded.

She shook her head. I can’t believe how stupid they are. Don’t they think about the future? Do they think I won’t remember any of this when I’ve graduated? But that was in the far future, to them. They knew she would never be allowed to use black magic except in exceptional circumstances, and they couldn’t imagine any other way she might gain revenge.

“You know what I heard, Lilia?” Bokkin asked. “I heard someone saying that novices haven’t united against someone like you for years. Someone who doesn’t know her place. Last time it was real effective, I heard.”

They mean Sonea, she realised. “Effective?” she replied. “She beat her rival in a challenge and became a Higher Magician. If that’s effective, I ought to encourage novices to unite against me.”

She held back a laugh at the surprise on the other novice’s faces.

Bokkin scowled. “ Before then. Before-”

The door behind him opened and a black-robed magician strode through. Lilia felt a rush of relief, then quickly schooled her face. If anything had shown, she hoped they were too busy staring at Kallen to see it.

Kallen looked at them, his frown deepening as he took in the scene. The novices bowed. His eyes narrowed.

“Lady Lilia,” he said. “We only need one volunteer.” He scanned the faces. “Which of you would like the honour?”

Bokkin’s followers turned to frown at him. Kallen followed their gaze and nodded. “You’ll do, Lord Bokkin. Follow me.”

The novices flattened themselves against the wall as he moved past. Not wanting to trail behind Kallen with Bokkin, Lilia turned and led the way to the small room Kallen used for her training. When she reached the door she turned back, expecting to see that Bokkin had fled.