Trudi Canavan - The Rogue

“How many magicians watched over and drained you?”

“I don’t know. Two were always there, but I don’t know if they were the same two. They must have been working in shifts, as the draining continued through the nights.”

Riaya gave the Speakers a meaningful look, then turned back to him.

“Will you consent to a mind-read to prove your story?”

He considered the question. While the idea of having another person roaming about his memories sent a chill down his spine, he’d rather endure that than risk that Kalia might remain free and unpunished for her crimes. Every Traitor he let into his mind was another who would gain knowledge of Healing, but that knowledge was already stolen. Had Kalia passed it on? Perhaps she hadn’t had a chance to. But if she allowed a mind-read, the knowledge would be given to another anyway.

He could feel eyes on him. Gain some time , he told himself. Make them try other ways of gaining the truth first.

“I will, but only if there is no other way,” he replied.

Riaya looked at the Speakers again. “Any further questions?”

The women shook their heads. Riaya nodded to Lorkin. “You may go.”

He walked back to stand beside Tyvara. She gave him a nod and a smile.

“I call upon Speaker Savara to tell her part in this.”

Savara stood. As she spoke, Lorkin learned that Evar had alerted her to his disappearance. She had investigated whether he had left Sanctuary and searched for him within it, but also arranged for any person who had been heard speaking against him recently to be followed. This led her to an abandoned cave near an unstable part of the city, where she found Kalia in the process of reading Lorkin’s mind.

The Director told Savara she could be seated, then turned to Kalia.

“Speaker Kalia, step forward and be judged.”

Kalia strode to the centre of the room and turned to face the Table. Her back was straight and her expression haughty.

“Is Lorkin’s account true?” Riaya asked.

Kalia paused and nodded. “Yes.”

“Are you innocent or guilty of abduction of a Traitor, and reading a Traitor’s mind against her or his will?”

“Guilty – if you consider him a Traitor, that is.”

Riaya folded her hands together. “Then there is no need to investigate the matter further.”

“May I address the people?” Kalia asked.

Riaya looked at the Speakers. The six women did not look surprised. They all nodded, some eagerly, some with resignation.

Kalia turned to face the audience. “My people, I felt driven to break our laws for your sakes. I have a duty, as your Carer and Healer, to ensure that when you come to the Care Room no harm is done to you. Recently Lorkin the Kyralian has taken to administering magical Healing, a skill he has refused to teach us. How could I be sure what he was doing was safe? That it would not do more harm than good? He claimed that it has limitations, but how can you or I know if this is true, should his magic ever harm or kill one of us?

“I have taken him in and given him occupation out of kindness to a newcomer. I have offered him all the lore and training that I and my predecessors have always shared. In return he has disobeyed and defied me, using untested magic without guidance or permission.

“If he refuses to follow Traitor custom, is he truly one of us? I say he is not. And if he is not a Traitor, then what I did was not unlawful. It was justified and necessary, in the defence of our people.”

Lorkin saw many thoughtful expressions among the audience. He looked at the Speakers, who were frowning.

“May I speak, Director?”

The voice was Savara’s. Kalia turned to stare at her enemy with narrowed eyes.

“You may, Speaker Savara,” Riaya replied. “Speaker Kalia, please leave the floor.”

Once again, Savara rose. Her mouth was set in a determined line. She waited until Kalia had returned to her former position, then lifted her chin.

“When Lorkin decided he would come to Sanctuary I had my doubts about him,” she began. “Why would a magician from a sophisticated, powerful nation sacrifice the wealth and power that he possessed and accept the restrictions we would put on him? He knew little about us. It was a great risk he took, trusting that we were a fair and good people.

“Why did he do it? To defend a Traitor. To save someone of a nation that was not even his, simply because it was the right thing to do. How many of us would do that?

“The secret of Healing is not his to give. If one of us were in the situation he is in, we would not expect to give away our secrets. We would expect our hosts to respect that, and not demand or steal them.”

Savara’s voice grew loud and stern. “This is not only a crime of an individual against another. This is an unlawful act of one nation against another. Kalia has not only stolen knowledge from Lorkin; the Traitors have stolen secrets from Kyralia, and the lands Kyralia is allied with – one which lies just over the mountains. Lands that are not our enemies, though they would be justified in considering us one after our treatment of Lorkin. Let’s hope that Kalia has not secured us a long future of hiding from lands on all sides, instead of just the rest of Sachaka.”

Faint whispers were all that stirred the quiet that followed. Savara sat down and nodded to Riaya.

“Speaker Kalia admits to the crimes she is accused of,” the Director said. “We Speakers must now discuss her punishment.”

As the Speakers and Director began to talk, the room exploded with sound as all discussed what had been said. Lorkin felt Tyvara’s shoulder brush his as she leaned close.

“Don’t get your hopes too high,” she murmured.

He looked at her. Her expression was sour. “What do you mean?”

“They won’t execute Kalia,” she told him, looking away.

“Well …” He looked over at Kalia and shuddered. “That’s probably a good thing. Even if she did plan to kill me. It means the rest of the Traitors are better people than she is.”

A bell rang out and he looked over to the Speakers in surprise. That was quick.

“We have decided,” Riaya declared when the room quietened. “Speaker Kalia will be stripped of her title, and will never be considered for a Speaker’s position again. She will be given menial duties for a year, for the benefit of the city. She is forbidden to use or teach Healing magic unless ordered to. If she is deemed to be trustworthy, she may apply to return to working in the Care Room, but never in a position of leadership.”

Protests were voiced in the audience. Lorkin felt as if someone had punched him in the stomach. That’s not a punishment. It’s a delay. Eventually, when they’ve made a good enough act of looking contrite, they’re going to let her use the knowledge she stole from me. He felt betrayed. Tricked. Maybe this was the plan all along. He thought of Tyvara’s warning …

The protests stopped and he looked around to see the cause. The queen had risen from her seat, one hand on the arm of the chair to steady herself.

“In compensation for the abuses he has suffered,” she said, “and the secrets that were taken, Lorkin is to be taught the art of stone-making.”

Lorkin stared at the queen in surprise. She met his gaze, her eyes bright with amusement. Realising he was gaping at her, he quickly stopped himself and lowered his gaze. A thrill of excitement ran through him. At last! New magic to bring back to the … As quickly as it had come, the excitement faded. He could not take the knowledge to the Guild. He was stuck here in Sanctuary, forbidden to leave. And besides, leaving Sanctuary would mean leaving Tyvara.

With the Traitors in possession of Healing, he no longer had anything to use to lure them into trading with the Guild and Allied Lands. Looking at it that way, he realised he had failed. The Traitors had gained Healing, the Guild still did not have stone-making.