Canavan Trudi - The Traitor Queen

She slid into a chair, Rothen and Jonna taking the other seats. With trembling hands, she picked up the message and turned it over. The seal, she noted, was a simple crown hovering over a knife. King of the Thieves. Disgust and anger steadied her. She broke the seal and unfolded the paper. Her eyes moved over the words. As their meaning became clear, she dropped it back on the table.

“It’s an address,” she told them. “It says ‘tomorrow’ and a time. And he says to tell no one and come alone.”

“No surprises there,” Gol muttered.

“Where is the address?” Jonna asked.

“In Northside.” Cery’s old territory. He’s rubbing it in. She looked at Rothen. “I have to go. I have to try to save Anyi.”

He nodded. His agreement sent a perverse anger through her.

“Shouldn’t you tell me I can’t?” she asked. “You know what he wants. It’s bad enough we have a rogue magician ruling the underworld. A rogue black magician will be so much worse.”

“It may not be what he wants. He may already have found a book on black magic and learned it for himself, though that is unlikely. If there are any more books out there, they’re well hidden.” Rothen sighed. “Even so, we Higher Magicians have considered what to do if he does learn black magic.” He smiled thinly. “It won’t mean we can’t catch and deal with him, it’ll just be a little more dramatic when we do.”

“But many more people will die before you do. And we don’t even know if Anyi is still alive.” She felt her throat close and fought back tears again.

“He won’t have killed her,” Gol assured her. “He knows you’ll ask to see her before you teach him anything.”

Lilia took a few breaths to steady herself. “Even if she is alive, how do I know he’ll let her go after I’ve taught him?”

“You have to make sure she can get away before you teach him anything,” Rothen said.

“It would be easier if I could take another magician.”

“He’ll never let you,” Jonna said. “You can’t even take a magician disguised as a servant. He said you must be alone.”

Rothen nodded. “If he has sources here, a disguise may not work anyway.” He sighed. “If it weren’t for these sources, I’d suggest we go to the Higher Magicians. They could have Kallen make a blood ring so we can track Lilia with it. If the exchange goes badly we’ll be close enough to help.”

Lilia looked up at him in surprise. A blood ring! Why hadn’t I thought of that? “I can make blood rings. Kallen taught me.”

His eyes widened. “You can? Well then…” He straightened and rubbed his hands together. “We could have the beginning of a plan.”

Gol looked away. “Don’t ask me to help. Last plan I made wasn’t very good.”

“You did what you could with the few resources you had,” Rothen told him. “It was impressively bold. I’d never heard of minefire before. Intriguing stuff. If your trap had worked, you’d have delivered Skellin right to our door, so to speak.” He smiled briefly. “I’d appreciate your advice, Gol. You know the underworld and the city better than we do.”

Gol frowned. “Well… this idea of using a blood gem, if I’m getting it right how they work, will only be any good to us if you can pick the places you’re seeing through it,” Gol pointed out. “What if you don’t know where they are? What if you’re blindfolded?”

“Both would be a problem.” Rothen drummed his fingers on the chair, his brows creased in thought.

“Does Skellin know what a blood ring is?” Jonna asked. “He might notice it and make her take it off.”

Lilia shook her head. “I’m not supposed to wear a blood ring made from anyone else’s blood — except Sonea’s and Kallen’s.”

Rothen nodded. “Of course. Whoever supplied the blood would be able to read your thoughts and might learn about black magic. So Gol must wear one made of your blood.”

Lilia turned to Gol. “And you must smash it if anyone tries to get hold of it.”

“Otherwise it could be used against Lilia.” Rothen shook his head. “If only there was another way to follow you. It’s not like we have to track magicians often…” He drew in a quick breath and his eyebrows shot upward. “Ah! Of course! Sonea! We located Sonea before she joined the Guild by sensing her using magic.” He looked at Lilia. “All you have to do is use magic without hiding it. Concealing the use of magic was one of your earliest lessons.”

She nodded. Every year, when new novices joined the Guild, she detected a few of them using magic before they were taught how to conceal it. “But won’t Skellin sense that, too?”

“Only if he’s trying to. If you do something small and constant, like holding a shield, that may lessen the chance he’d notice, too.”

“So you track me using magic,” Lilia said, “while Gol wears my blood ring because he’s more likely to recognise where I am.”

“Once you have tracked Lilia to Skellin, are you strong enough to fight him if something goes wrong?” Jonna asked Rothen.

“Skellin and Lorandra,” Gol added.

Rothen frowned and shook his head. “I doubt it. But between Lilia and me, we may be strong enough. We can’t risk recruiting another magician in case they are Skellin’s source. I wish Dannyl was here,” he added in a murmur.

“I can be as strong as I need to be,” Lilia pointed out, meeting Rothen’s gaze and holding it.

He grimaced. “It would be better if you avoided breaking the law against using black magic without permission. But… perhaps we can bend it a little. I will give you permission, as a Higher Magician, but that doesn’t comply with the law completely since it is supposed to be agreed upon by all Higher Magicians.”

Lilia looked down. If anything goes wrong, and the Guild doesn’t agree with him bending the law, he’ll lose his position. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. Allowing you to go to this meeting, when there’s a chance you’ll be forced to teach a rogue black magic, is far worse than allowing you to strengthen yourself using willing volunteers. I can give you my strength tonight.”

“And mine,” Jonna said.

“Mine, too,” Gol added.

Rothen nodded. “I will recover my strength overnight.”

“Will we?” Jonna asked.

“Yes.”

“Then take strength from me tomorrow as well,” Jonna said. “It’s not as if I use it. Perhaps, if we give Lilia enough magic, she’ll be able drag Skellin back here with her.”

“Let’s concentrate on getting Anyi back,” Rothen said.

“Of course,” Jonna agreed. “But if there’s an opportunity to catch Skellin at the same time, let’s do it. It’s about time the King of the Underworld became the Inmate of the Lookout.”

The dusk sky was slowly darkening. No clouds hovered overhead for the sun to paint in colourful shades. Looking down from the rooftop, Lorkin wondered how this could be the same city he’d entered with Dannyl so long ago, excited at the prospect of being assistant to the Guild Ambassador to Sachaka. It feels like years ago, but not even one year has passed since we arrived.

Though the walls and buildings had not changed since Lorkin had left Arvice in the slave cart, the population had. Before, slaves had hurried up and down the streets, keeping their distance from carriages bearing their masters. Now the streets were crowded as ex-slaves fled the city centre, most on foot, some clinging to stolen carriages and carts.

A small group had been waiting when Savara and her team arrived at the mansion chosen as the gathering place before the battle. After taking the strength offered by the ex-slaves, Savara had sent them away, then split her team — now over sixty Traitors — into two groups: one to watch and guard, the other to arrange a meal and bedding. As the arrangements were made, Savara had headed for the roof.