The Rogue (7 page)

All turned to regard her. Cery’s daughter looked too young to be a bodyguard. But then, these days Sonea felt most graduating novices looked too young to be considered responsible adults.

“Go on,” Cery said.

“What if I took up one of the offers?” Anyi said, her eyes gleaming. “What if I pretended to be fed up with working for you, and decided I was never going to get anywhere working for the least powerful Thief in the city? I could take a job and spy for you.”

Cery stared at his daughter. His face did not appear to move, but Sonea saw subtle shifts in his expression: horror, fear, caution, speculation, guilt.

“They’d never trust you enough to put you anywhere you’d learn something useful,” he told Anyi.

Why doesn’t he just say “no”
, Sonea wondered. But as Gol glanced at Cery his expression was full of warning.
He knows Cery has to tread carefully. Perhaps if Cery blocks Anyi outright she’ll be more likely to defy him.
Like Lorkin had been inclined to do to Sonea, from time to time.

Anyi smiled. “They will if I betray you,” she said. “I could tell someone where to find you, perhaps. Of course, you’ll know and can arrange an escape plan.”

Cery nodded. “I’ll consider it.” He looked at Sonea. “Anything from Lorandra?”

Thinking of Skellin’s mother, locked away in the Dome, Sonea winced. “Some of the Higher Magicians don’t like me talking to her, and I suspect Administrator Osen only agrees to it because he thinks it would be cruel if nobody ever spoke to her. Kallen told us that she doesn’t know where Skellin is so they can’t see why I bother questioning her. They don’t see that mind-reading has limits, and that she may be able to guess where her son is if prompted. I doubt I’ll ever get permission to read her mind myself.” She shook her head. “And talking
to
her is all I do. She never says a word.”

“Keep at it,” Cery advised. “Even if you feel ridiculous asking the same questions over and over again. It has a way of wearing a person down.”

Sonea sighed and nodded. “If it doesn’t wear me down first.”

He smiled grimly. “Nobody said interrogation was easy. You’re not the one locked up, though. She’s got to be fed up with being shut away in a stone room for so long.”

“We have little other choice. There’s been talk of building a prison somewhere on the Grounds, but that could take several months.”

“Why don’t they just block her powers?”

“Same reason they were reluctant to read her mind. It could offend her people.”

Cery’s eyebrows rose. “She broke the laws of our country and plotted, with her son, to take over the city’s underworld and enslave magicians. The Guild is worried about offending her people?”

“Yes, it’s ridiculous. But I expect she’ll be even less cooperative if we block her powers.”

“She might be more cooperative, if you suggested you might remove the block later.”

Sonea looked at Cery reproachfully. “Lie to her?”

He nodded.

“You Guild types are far too squeamish,” Anyi said. “Things would be a lot easier if you weren’t always worried about rules and lying to enemies or offending people.”

“As if the life of a Thief is any different,” Sonea pointed out.

Anyi paused. “I guess that’s true, but your rules force you to be so darn nice all the time. Nobody expects a Thief to be nice.”

“No.” Sonea smiled. “But how different do you think the Allied Lands would be if magicians weren’t forced to be nice.”

Anyi frowned, opened her mouth, then closed it again.

“The word ‘Sachaka’ just popped into my mind,” Gol muttered.

The young woman nodded. “I see what you mean. But perhaps there are times for being a little less nice to avoid something really nasty happening. Like Skellin getting control of the city.”

Anyi looked at Sonea expectantly. Sonea suppressed a sigh.
She has a point.
She looked at Cery.

“I’ll talk to her again,” she promised. “But I won’t deceive her unless there isn’t any alternative. Even little betrayals tend to have nasty consequences later.”

Lilia picked up her bag and paused to look around her room. Like most University entrants from the lower classes, she had been astounded to find she would have an entire room to herself in the Novices’ Quarters. The rooms weren’t big by snootie standards, of course. They contained a bed, a cupboard, a desk and a chair. Bedclothes and robes were washed and the room cleaned by the servants.

She knew that several years ago, with the number of magicians diminished due to the war and that of novices growing rapidly after lowies had been allowed to join the Guild, accommodation in the Novices’ Quarters had been quickly filled and novices from the Houses had been allowed to share empty rooms in the Magicians’ Quarters.

Not now. The Magicians’ Quarters were full again. Graduating lowies were given priority whenever rooms became available, since magicians from the Houses were more likely to have respectable homes in the city to live in. Some lowie magicians used their income from the king to buy or rent houses in the city, too.

The Novices’ Quarters were still too small, and the Guild had been forced to allow some of the snootie novices to live at home. They’d done so reluctantly, Lilia knew, because magicians weren’t supposed to involve themselves in politics and the Houses were
always
involved in politics. Removing snootie novices from their families helped to distance them from that world.

Naki was one of the snooties living at home. She said she hated it. Lilia didn’t quite believe her new friend, and it certainly didn’t put her off accepting an invitation to stay the night.

Do I have everything?
She looked at her bag and considered the contents: some toiletries, nightclothes and a spare set of robes.
We magicians don’t need much.

Turning to the door, she opened it and stepped out into the corridor. To her dismay, her friends from her class were walking past. Though they hardly paid much attention to her these days, now that they had paired up with the boys, they would notice anything unusual in Lilia’s behaviour. Lilia’s heart sank as they saw her and, noticing her bag, immediately looked curious.

Madie walked over, Froje following.

“Hai, Lilia! Where are you off to?”

“Naki’s place,” she replied, hoping she didn’t sound too smug.

“Ooh-er. Friends in high places.” Madie’s tone was lighthearted and teasing, to Lilia’s relief.

Froje frowned and stepped closer. “You know they say things about her, don’t you?” she asked in a low voice.

Lilia stared at the girl. Froje wasn’t one for gossip and spite normally. The girl looked more concerned than mean, however.

“They say things about everyone,” Lilia said lightly, then cursed herself.
I should have played along to find out what people are saying. Not that I’d believe it, but still … it might help Naki avoid trouble.

Madie smiled. “Well, you can tell us if it’s true or not, eh?” She looked at Froje and tilted her head toward the main entrance of the Novices’ Quarters. “Have fun,” she said. The pair continued on their way.

Gripping her bag, Lilia followed slowly, letting them gain a lead on her. As she emerged from the Novices’ Quarters she saw Naki standing nearby and her mood immediately brightened. The late sun cast streaks of reflected gold in her friend’s hair and made her pale skin glow. It was colouring all the novices’ complexions too.
But none suit it so well as Naki. Half the boys out here are staring at her. I can’t believe someone so beautiful and popular wants to be my friend.

Naki saw her and smiled. Lilia’s heart lifted, but at the same time her stomach fluttered uncomfortably as it had since Naki had first invited her to her home.
I had better not do anything to annoy her, because I don’t have the good looks and charm that she has to ensure I’ll always have people wanting to be my friend.

“Father’s carriage is waiting for us,” Naki said as they met each other.

“Oh! Sorry. I must be late.”

“No, not really.” Naki shrugged and started toward the path through the gardens. “He often sends it early. It’s annoying, as there are only so many carriages that can fit out the front of the University and they always get jammed. What do you want to do tonight? I thought we might put our hair up.”

Lilia tried not to wince. Her mother had done fancy things to her hair when she was a child, and she’d hated the tugging and pinching, and how the clips made her scalp itch. Naki looked at Lilia and frowned.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Lilia read disbelief on the other girl’s face. “My mother used to do it to me for special occasions. There was always a hair pulling or a pin sticking into me.”

“Don’t worry. I promise there will be not one pulled hair. It’ll be fun.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

Naki laughed – a throaty, deep laugh that made heads turn. They chatted more as they walked through the gardens. When they rounded the end of the University they found a mass of carriages waiting. Naki took Lilia’s arm and guided her through them. She stopped at one and the driver leapt down to open the door for them.

The jam of carriages outside delayed them for some time, but Lilia barely noticed. She was too busy enjoying talking to Naki. They started by swapping amusing stories of encounters between servants and their masters, then an anecdote about a servant Naki had grown up with made her pause and look at Lilia thoughtfully.

“You know, you remind me a lot of her. I wish you could have met each other.”

“She doesn’t work for you any more?”

“No.” Naki’s face darkened. “Father sent her away.”

He seems to be the bad guy in all her stories
, Lilia mused.

“You don’t like him, do you?” she asked cautiously, not sure how Naki would react to a personal and perhaps sensitive question.

Naki’s face changed dramatically. Suddenly her gaze was darker and her face taut. “Not much. And he hates me.” She sighed, then shook herself as if trying to throw off something bad. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to say anything, in case it made you afraid to meet him.”

“I’m not that easily scared,” Lilia assured her.

“He’ll be perfectly polite to you. After all, you’re a member of the Guild. He has to treat you as an equal. Well, as a novice anyway. He might turn all teacherly, though.”

“I can handle that.”

“And we don’t have to tell him you’re from a servant family for now,” Naki said anxiously. “He’s a bit … like that.”

“That’s fine. What matters is that
you’re
not like that. I appreciate it.”

Naki smiled. “And what I like about
you
is that you don’t hate us, like the other … you know … do.”

Lilia shrugged. “My family works for a nice, decent family. It’s hard to agree with people who say—”

“Look! We’re here.”

Naki waved eagerly at the carriage window. Lilia peered out, looking where her friend pointed. They stopped outside a huge building. She’d known that Naki was from a rich and powerful House, but it hadn’t quite sunk in until this moment. Nerves and excitement warred within her. She tried to quell them.

“Don’t worry,” Naki said, somehow picking up on Lilia’s trepidation. “Relax and leave everything to me.”

The next hour passed in a blur. Naki led her into the house. First she introduced Lilia to her father, Lord Leiden, who welcomed her in a distant and distracted way. Then they went upstairs to a spacious collection of rooms that were all Naki’s. Aside from the main bedroom, there was a room filled with clothing and shoes, and another with its own bath. Naki fulfilled her promise to put Lilia’s hair up, combing through a special cream first, then using smooth silver pins that she somehow arranged so they didn’t pull or irritate Lilia’s scalp. Then they hurried downstairs for dinner.

Naki’s father was at the table. Looking down at all the different types of cutlery, Lilia had a moment of panic. A messenger arrived and Lord Leiden stood up. He apologised at leaving them to eat alone and strode away.

As the door of the dining room closed behind him, Naki grinned at Lilia. Without saying a word, she slipped out of her chair and walked quietly to the door. Opening it carefully, she listened. A distant thunk reached Lilia’s ears.

“He’s gone,” Naki announced. “Grab your glass.” She picked up her own glass, freshly filled with wine, then moved to the door the servants had been entering through. As Naki reached it, the door opened and a servant woman carrying a tray of small bowls paused at the threshold.

“We’re coming down,” Naki told her. The woman nodded, then turned and disappeared the way she had come.

Lilia had managed to pick up her glass and slide out of her seat. Naki beckoned, then followed the servant, leading Lilia down a short corridor with a bench and cupboards to one side filled with vessels, cutlery and glasses. The servant woman was descending a stairway at the end. Naki hurried after her.

“I eat downstairs whenever Father isn’t here,” she explained. “Then there’s no need for them to serve the food on the silverware and I have friends to chat to.”

The stairway was long enough that Lilia suspected they were now two floors below the dining room. They entered a kitchen not unlike the one in her childhood home. Three women and a boy were working, their sleeves rolled up and their hair covered with caps that had flaps to tie around behind the ears. Lilia had worn these herself, as a child.

Naki greeted them with an affection that they did not seem surprised at. After introducing them, she moved to a wellworn old table and sat down on one of the stools beside it. Lilia took the stool beside her. She listened to the banter between Naki and her servants and felt at home for the first time in three years.

What a pair we make
, she thought.
A snootie who’s friendly and kind to servants and a lowie who doesn’t hate the rich.
And the Guild – and magic – had brought them together.
That’s an interesting idea. I’d have thought it would be having a similar background, from different sides of the situation. But it’s really due to magic. And magic doesn’t discriminate between rich and poor any more than it does between good and bad.