Trudi Canavan - The Rogue

“They wouldn’t be so bad at it if they practised,” she said.

Lilia shrugged. “They’d practise if they liked it. And they’d like it if they were good at it.”

Ley glanced at Lilia and smiled. “Do you like Warrior Skills?”

“I’m not good at them. I never have worked out what sort of strike to use, or when.”

The teacher nodded. “You don’t have the mind of an attacker. You’re strong, though, and you pay attention. It makes you a good defender.”

A warm feeling of gratitude filled Lilia. So I’m not terrible at this, but neither am I going to be a great Warrior. There was a kind of relief at knowing that her decision to not choose that discipline was the right one. Now I just have to decide between Healing and Alchemy.

At least she had a whole year and a half to make up her mind. Naki had only half a year, and she was torn between Warrior Skills and Alchemy. She was worried she would come to regret choosing the former, though it was her favourite and best discipline, because the only useful thing she could do with it during peaceful times was teach, and she didn’t think she’d be a good teacher.

Whereas I find Alchemy more interesting, but it seems so indulgent when I could be more useful to others as a Healer.

If they both chose Alchemy, it would be something they had in common during the year Lilia would continue at the University. Naki would be a graduated magician free to do whatever she chose.

A stab of worry went through Lilia’s gut. She couldn’t help fearing that Naki, once she had graduated, would grow sick of Lilia always being tied down to lessons, and find someone else to befriend. But I’m getting ahead of myself , she thought. I’m not even sure Naki wants to spend that much time with me anyway. I don’t know if she loves me in return.

As if to argue with that thought, a memory flashed through her mind of Naki pressing a finger to her lips, then leaning across the carriage seat and pressing it to Lilia’s in turn. She’d dropped Lilia off at the Guild after they’d left the brazier house. Lilia had been unable to hide her disappointment. She’d hoped Naki was taking her back to her house.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Naki had said. “Remember, we must not show a hint that we might be anything more than friends. Do you understand? Not a hint. Not even when you think you’re alone. It’s the watcher you don’t see who catches you out.”

“More than friends.” Surely that means Naki loves me, too .

A sudden impact on her shield snapped her attention back to the Arena and she instinctively drew and sent more magic to it.

“First round goes to Froje,” Lady Rol-Ley announced. “Begin round two.”

The day after their visit to the brazier house, Naki had said Lilia could stay over at her house at the end of the week. Lilia tried not to think about that. Instead she took a deep breath and forced herself to concentrate on the two girls fighting in the Arena, and on keeping her shield strong.

But inside, her stomach fluttered with anticipation.

Once he opened the door Lorkin understood straightaway why Evar’s instructions had referred to the passage as a tunnel. The walls were roughly cut. For one long stretch it looked as if he was walking along a natural fissure, the floor filled in with slabs of stone and the roof gradually narrowing to a dark crack far above him. His guess was proven right when the floor abruptly ended. He peered over the edge and sent his globe light floating downward. The crack descended below the floor, which was, indeed, slabs of stone wedged between the walls. The distance of the drop below was impossible to guess at. The glow of his globe light did not penetrate far enough into the darkness.

Shuddering, he turned to a large hole carved into the rock to one side and stepped through into another roughly cut passage. This continued in a straight line for quite a distance, and he realised he must be far from the occupied caves of the city now.

I hope I’m not technically leaving the city , he thought. Then I’ll be breaking a rule. I could argue that I didn’t know the sewers were outside the city, but I don’t think as many Traitors would be so willing to believe in my innocence as last time if I’m found to be sneaking about again.

If only Tyvara was allowed to see him. He could have simply visited her then at her rooms. He would have liked to see what her rooms were like. What would they tell him about her?

Sometimes it feels as if I know too little about her , he thought. I only know what people tell me, and what I learned of her on the journey from Arvice to Sanctuary. People aren’t going to describe her rooms to me. I’m sure it would not make me love her less if she had terrible taste in furnishings or kept her rooms a mess.

The passage began to curve gently. After several hundred more steps he saw a light ahead. He shrank his globe light until it was just bright enough that he wouldn’t trip in the dark, and quietened his footsteps.

As he neared the end of the tunnel a rushing sound reached him. He peered out, but could see nobody close by. Emerging from the tunnel, he found himself on a ledge carved into the site of a huge, natural underground tunnel. The rushing sound abruptly grew louder and gained a rhythmic beat. He leaned forward to look down and saw a narrow but swiftly running river below; the ledge was several times the height of a house above it. A large water wheel pushed water out of a side tunnel to join the larger flow. This water was a darker colour.

That’s the sewer , he realised.

The air was not as fragrant as he’d feared, perhaps because of how far away the dark water and water wheel was. If you can operate such a mechanism from a distance, why wouldn’t you? And I suppose you could create a magical shield to keep the bad air away, too.

“Lorkin.”

He jumped at the voice and looked around, but could not see anybody.

“Up here.”

Looking up, he saw that two women were peering down at him from a ledge above, both sitting on a stone bench carved out of the rock. One was Tyvara and the other …

He blinked in surprise and dismay as he realised the other was the queen.

Recovering, he hastily performed the hand-on-heart genuflection. The queen smiled and beckoned to him. He looked to either side. There were no stairs or ladder.

“You can levitate, can’t you?” Tyvara asked.

He nodded. Creating a disc of force beneath his feet, he lifted himself upwards until he was level with the ledge, then remained floating.

“Am I breaking any rule doing this?” he asked of the queen. “I know Tyvara isn’t supposed to talk to me.”

“Never mind that,” Zarala replied, waving a hand. “Nobody is here to see. Actually, we were just talking about you.”

He looked from her to Tyvara and back, noting the glint of humour in their gaze as he stepped onto the ledge. “All praise and admiration, I hope.”

“Wouldn’t you love to know?” Zarala laughed, the wrinkles deepening around her eyes.

Once again he found himself liking her automatically. He wondered where her helper was. How had she got here all on her own?

“So, why are you here?” the queen asked. She patted the seat beside her.

He looked at Tyvara as he sat down. “To thank Tyvara for a favour she did me.”

“Oh? What favour?”

“Some advice of a personal nature.”

Zarala’s eyebrows rose and she looked at Tyvara. The younger woman stared back at her with a challenge in her eyes. The queen’s smile widened and she turned back to Lorkin.

“It wouldn’t have had something to do with the state your friend Evar was in a few days ago, would it?”