The Traitor Queen (11 page)

“By the time I was ready, nobody seemed interested,” she continued. “Men my own age hadn’t quite got over their prejudice
toward magicians from the lower classes, and the only magicians from the lower classes were much too young. All were intimidated
by black magic. Some of the Higher Magicians hinted to me that they thought a husband would be a weakness that someone might
exploit through blackmail – as if Lorkin wasn’t that already. Then there was Lorkin. He was always very jealous of other men
in my life.”

Regin frowned. “What …?” He paused and shook his head.

“Yes?”

He grimaced. “What will you do if King Amakira threatens Lorkin?”

Not expecting the change of subject, Sonea felt her heart freeze. She paused to draw in a deep breath and let it out slowly,
before answering. “I will point out that it is Lorkin who knows about the Traitors, not me. It would be far more sensible
to torture me to get Lorkin to speak.”

Regin’s mouth dropped open, then he swallowed. “Is it wise for you to put the idea of torturing you into the king’s mind?”

She shrugged. “I’m sure it will occur to him the moment he learns I’m on my way to meet him. If he’s willing to torture
me
, then we must conclude that he has put aside any reluctance to rouse the anger of the Guild and the Allied Lands. There will
be no chance of getting Lorkin back, anyway.”

She was desperately proud of herself for not letting her voice catch on that last sentence, though it was a close thing.
If I can keep this up, maybe I
will
be able to hide my feelings in front of the Sachakans and Traitors
.

“I hope for all our sakes that it doesn’t come to that,” Regin said, with feeling.

She nodded in agreement. If King Amakira was willing to torture her, then Regin would not be safe either.

He shifted across the seat so that he was sitting opposite from her, then held out his hands. “It’s been a full day since
the Meet and my strength has recovered. You should take my power now, before we arrive at the Stayhouse.”

She stared at him as reluctance froze her again.
This is ridiculous. I shouldn’t hesitate to take power that’s willingly offered, when I’m allowed to and may need it
. She hadn’t felt this embarrassment during the Meet, she realised. What was it about using black magic on another person
in private that felt
uncomfortably … intimate.
And illicit. Perhaps because the only other time I’ve done it privately was with Akkarin
.

Regin was watching her, his brow creased with growing puzzlement. Drawing in a deep breath, Sonea took his hands. She felt
magic flow from him and began to store it within herself.

“I’m sorry. I can’t get used to this,” she told him, shaking her head.

He nodded. “That’s understandable. You were forbidden to for so long. In fact, I did wonder if you had forgotten how to do
it, after all this time.” His mouth briefly widened into a teasing grin.

Sonea managed a smile. “If only that was possible.”

“It’s all clear,” Gol said.

Cery nodded. He’d sent Gol ahead to check that their room remained undiscovered. It was hard to give up old habits of caution.
They picked up their burdens and carried them through the passages to the room. Cery set down two battered old chairs, Anyi
dropped two bales of hay from her shoulders to the floor, and Gol tossed a bundle of sacks next to the box he’d been using
as a seat.

Next, they emptied their pockets of the fruit, vegetables and other items they’d picked up around the farm sheds. Cery looked
up at Gol as the man set down a reel of coarse thread.

“Where’d you find that?”

Gol shrugged. “In one of the sheds. There was a basket full of them, so I figured nobody would notice if I took one. And this
…” He turned one side of his coat out to reveal a long, curved needle piercing the lining. “If I’m going to make mattresses,
we’ll need it.”

Cery regarded his friend dubiously. “
You’re
going to make mattresses?”

“Anyi said she doesn’t know how to sew.”

“Oh, did she?” Cery smiled at his daughter’s lie. “And you do?”

“Well enough for this. I used to help my da mend his sails.” Gol slipped the end of the thread through the eye of the needle
with telling dexterity.

“You’re a man with hidden depths, Gol,” Cery said. Sitting down on one of the chairs, he smiled as he thought back to their
raid on the farm. His assumption that servants were living in the sheds had been proven wrong. All were empty of occupants.
Though free to move about, he, Gol and Anyi had taken care not to leave signs of their passing and hadn’t taken anything that
wasn’t already there in abundance. Anyi had suggested relocating some of the other chairs around the place as if someone had
simply moved them for some purpose and forgotten to return them, to hide the fact that a few were missing.

Anyi was poking at the fruit. “They’re not ripe,” she said. “A bit too early in the season. It was hard to tell in the dark.
How are we going to cook these vegetables?”

“I only picked ones that didn’t have to be cooked,” Gol said.

Her nose wrinkled in distaste. “Eat them raw? I’m not
that
hungry.”

His eyebrows rose. “Some are better raw, especially when they’re fresh. Give them a try.”

Anyi didn’t look convinced. “I’ll wait for Lilia. She can cook them with magic.”

“She might not always be able to bring us food,” Cery reminded his daughter. “The fewer times she has to come see us the less
risk of the Guild discovering us here.”

“Then I need to find us a secret entrance to the Guild
kitchens.” Anyi stood up. “I’m going to see if she needs any help carrying something.”

Gol shook his head as she grabbed a lamp and left. “Doesn’t know what she’s missing,” he muttered.

Cery looked at his friend. “I hoped you two would take a lot more than three days before you started getting under each other’s
skin.”

“We might not have any choice about the …” Gol stopped as he looked up and saw Cery’s expression. His lips twisted into a
smile. “Yeah. I’ll try not to. She doesn’t like being stuck underground, either.”

“No,” Cery agreed. Hearing a sound, he rose and moved to the room’s doorway. High voices reached him, though he could not
hear what they said. “Looks like Lilia was already on her way.”

Sitting down again, he waited for the girls to arrive. Lilia carried the usual lacquered box, this time full of bread buns
stuffed with spiced meat and sticky seed cakes.

“Now that’s real food,” Anyi said as she seized a bun.

Lilia grinned. “I’ve made an arrangement with Jonna. She’s going to bring something each night for Anyi to eat and give to
poor people, and is going to get me lamp oil and blankets. She thinks I’m being charitable.”

Cery felt a flash of alarm. “You didn’t tell her about us?”

“No.” Lilia looked at the chairs, straw and Gol sewing sacks. “All this came from the farm?”

Anyi must have told her about their raid. “Yes.”

“They won’t miss it?”

“We were careful,” Anyi assured her.

Lilia sat down on one of the boxes. “Well, don’t go back for a few days. I’ll see if I hear anything about trespassers or
thieves. Now … I have news from Kallen.”

Cery’s heart skipped a beat. “Yes?”

“He says people in the city are starting to gossip about your absence. Some believe you must be dead. Others think Skellin
has you locked up or cornered somewhere.”

“That’s not far from the truth,” Gol muttered.

Lilia glanced at him, then looked again as she noticed what he was doing. Her eyebrows rose but she made no comment on Gol’s
sewing skills. “Skellin’s men have been taking over your …” She waved a hand. “Whatever it is that you do.”

“Loan money, protect people, run businesses, introduce people, sell—” Cery began.

“Don’t tell me,” Lilia interrupted. “As Sonea says, it’s better I don’t know so I can’t be accused of being involved in anything.”

“I thought I was doing a good job of making it all sound legitimate.” Cery looked at Anyi, who rolled her eyes.

“Do any of Skellin’s people think Cery’s dead?” Gol asked.

Lilia shrugged. “Kallen wasn’t that specific. He did want to know if Cery was planning to take back these … businesses.”

“Tell him I will be in no position to until he gets rid of Skellin. Has he made any progress?”

The young woman shook her head. “He didn’t say so. I think he was hoping you’d be as useful to him as you were to Sonea.”

Cery sighed and looked away. “You’d better make it clear to him that I’m no use to anybody now.”

Anyi made a wordless sound of protest. “You’re useful to us.”

Cery gave her a disbelieving look. “If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t be stuck here. Down here I’m nothing but a problem
for Lilia.”

Lilia frowned. “You’re not a problem. Not a big one, anyway.” Anyi put a hand on her shoulder.

He scowled. “The only mark I can make now is to be a
nagging worry at the back of Skellin’s mind. People might say I’m dead, but he won’t completely believe it because he hasn’t
seen a corpse. He has to consider I may be alive, and up to something.”

He’ll be moving in on my territory cautiously, and questioning everyone who might know where I am
. Cery felt his heart spasm painfully with guilt.
My people will want to believe I’m dead, because if I’m alive and not fighting Skellin it’ll seem as though I’ve abandoned
them. If they find out I was hiding beneath the Guild, they’ll think I’ve been living in luxury with my magician friends,
not
this.

If only there was some gain to be had, other than mere survival, from being here under the Guild.

We’re isolated from the rest of the city. Magicians are not far away, and one in particular – Lilia – is able to help us.
Few people would dare come here, knowing that
. Cery frowned.
Would Skellin dare?

Perhaps if he had a good reason to.

If he did come here, he’d be
very
wary. He’d send scouts to make sure it was safe first. Then there would have to be a good reason for him to enter the passages
personally rather than send others. No matter where or how he learned about the existence of these tunnels, and how to get
to them, he’d have to suspect the information was meant to fall into his hands, and was part of a trap
.

After all, I would
.

But if there was something here that Skellin wanted badly enough, perhaps he would take that risk. Cery just had to think
of bait powerful enough to lure him into a trap. This time it would have to be something much more tempting than the books
on magic.

L
orkin woke in a rush. He blinked up at the ceiling and puzzled at the unfamiliar bare stone, then a heartbeat later he remembered
where he was and why.

And that he wasn’t alone in the cell.

He turned to see the young woman lying on the floor near the cell’s gate. Her skin and the rags that were all that was left
of her slave garb were stained with blood. She was staring up at the Ashaki interrogator, who stood in the gate’s opening.

As Lorkin got slowly to his feet the Ashaki bent to grab her arm and yanked her upright. She gave a hoarse cry and sagged
as if her limbs wouldn’t support her, but the man laughed.

“That wouldn’t fool a halfwit,” he said. He ran his free hand down her arm to her shoulders, then through her hair, then looked
at Lorkin and grinned.

“Nice bit of Healing. Considering how much was broken, it must have worn you out.”

Lorkin met the man’s eyes and shrugged. “Hardly.”

The interrogator chuckled. “We’ll see.” He looked at the slave girl. “Walk or be dragged.”

She gave up on pretending to be wounded. Bracing her feet, she stood properly, then looked down at herself in amazement before
her wonder at being whole evaporated as the Ashaki pulled her toward the gate.

“Come with me, Kyralian,” the Ashaki said. “We have more to discuss.”

Lorkin considered refusing to leave the cell, but he couldn’t see how it would gain him anything. It would force the Ashaki
to use magic to drag him out, but very little magic and nothing that couldn’t be replaced by taking strength from a slave.
He doubted the Ashaki would hesitate to torture the girl here instead. Saying nothing, he followed the interrogator out of
the cell. The man’s assistant, as always, fell into step behind him.

The slave girl walked with slumped shoulders. Lorkin could not stop images and sounds from the day before running through
his memory. The Ashaki’s torturing had been slow and brutal, calculated to cause as much pain and damage as possible without
killing her.

It had taken all Lorkin’s determination to stay silent. He could not help trying to think of other ways to stop what was happening,
even if temporarily, but none would work for long. These ideas kept taunting him, though. Lying to the Ashaki. Telling him
things about the Traitors that were true but irrelevant. Even offering his own life in exchange for the woman’s.

Eventually he managed an unpleasant detachment from it all. He gave up on any notion that he could do anything to help the
woman or himself. Later he shuddered at what he had done, and worried that accepting that he couldn’t help the slave might
eventually shift into giving up on protecting the Traitors.

He tried to keep Tyvara in his thoughts to bolster his determination, but that only led to him thinking about what she
must have suffered at the hands of Ashaki while pretending to be a slave.
Beatings. Being used as a pleasure slave
. Lorkin’s dislike of slavery had deepened into hatred.

The previous day he had been sure the Ashaki would eventually kill the slave woman. He certainly hadn’t expected the man to
toss her into the cell with him. As time passed his detachment had faded. He’d found it harder and harder to bear listening
to the woman whimpering and gasping in pain.

Did they simply hope to wear me down with guilt? Or were they only hoping I’d weaken myself by Healing her? Or see if I’d
kill her myself to end her pain
.

Using the extra power Tyvara had given him to Heal the slave would not cost him a lot, he’d decided. It would never be enough
to protect him for long, if the interrogator decided to torture or kill him. Only afterwards did it occur to him that Healing
her meant the Ashaki would be able to torture her all over again.

She had thanked him, which only made him feel worse. He lay awake for a long time, trying to convince himself that the interrogator
had achieved his aim. The purpose in using her had been to force him to use up his power. Lorkin had shown that he would not
be persuaded by her torture to speak. She was no longer needed.

Now it seemed like a foolish delusion.

The Ashaki led them to the same room. It had been cleaned. The slave girl was shoved into a corner where she threw herself
into a submissive, defensive crouch.

As before, Lorkin was directed to a stool. The interrogator leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. The assistant perched
on another stool.

“So, have you anything to tell me?” the Ashaki asked. “Anything relating to the Traitors, that is.”

“Nothing you don’t already know.”

“Are you sure about that? Why don’t you tell me what you think I know about the Traitors?”

“And see if our knowledge matches?” Lorkin sighed. “As if I’d fall for that trick. When are you going to accept that I’m not
going to tell you anything?”

The interrogator shrugged. “It’s not up to me. It’s up to the king. I’m merely his …” he pursed his lips in thought, “his
researcher. Only I extract information from people, not dusty old books and scrolls, or by exploring distant places, or spying
on foreign lands.”

“Torture must be the least reliable kind of research.”

“It takes a certain skill.” The Ashaki uncrossed his arms and pushed away from the wall. “One that I don’t get to practise
often, so I’m happy to have the opportunity now. Unless, of course, you distract me with something more interesting.”

Lorkin made himself meet and hold the man’s gaze and keep his voice level, though his stomach churned as he spoke.

“Has it occurred to you that the means you’re using to convince me to talk might make me even more determined to stay silent?”

The Ashaki’s smile was unconcerned. “Does it really? Well, then. Let’s put that theory to the test.”

As he turned to look at the slave she whimpered. Lorkin felt his resolve weaken.
But if I tell them about the Traitors, thousands could end up like this woman. And if she is a Traitor, she knows this and
would not want me to betray them
.

He clung to that thought, and tried to put out of his mind
that she might not even be a Traitor, as the interrogator set about undoing everything Lorkin had mended the night before.

Like most novices, Lilia had learned early on that a complex of inner passages and rooms lay within the University building,
reached through short passages made to look like small storage rooms. They weren’t forbidden to novices, however. Hundreds
of years ago the Guild had grown so large that the need for teaching space outweighed whatever purpose the inner rooms had
been designed for. Now, specialised or private classes were held in them.

The passages under the Guild were no great secret either. Everybody knew they’d been used during the Ichani Invasion. Though
they were forbidden to both novices and magicians because they were deemed unsafe, the threat of cave-ins was never going
to deter the more adventurous of them, so all of the passage entrances in the University had been sealed not long after the
war.

Lilia wasn’t the only novice who suspected the Guild might have kept a few open, just in case. Anyi’s explorations had revealed
that the Guild had been telling the truth, however. All of the passage entrances had been bricked up. Lilia had been hoping
that her friend would find at least one access point into the University. It would be a lot easier than climbing down the
narrow gap inside the Magicians’ Quarters wall.

Not to be deterred, Anyi had been working on making a new entrance. The night before, she had announced that she had broken
through the brickwork at one entrance. Lilia had gone to inspect it. The hidden door in the panelling beyond had needed a
little oiling before it would open smoothly.
Beyond it was one of the inner passages of the University. When it was time to leave her friends, she’d used the door and
then made her way back to Sonea’s rooms.

Now she was heading back to the hidden door, hoping it was too early for other novices to be in the inner passages. Jonna
had brought a large bottle of lamp oil with the morning meal. Lilia was all too conscious that her friends were fast running
out of sources of light – especially since Anyi had used lamp oil to loosen the secret door’s hinges. The new route into the
passages would be much faster, since she didn’t have an awkward climb up to Sonea’s rooms, and when she returned she would
be closer to her first class of the day.

Entering the University, she turned into one of the narrow corridors between the classrooms, and headed for the small room
at its end that led to the inner passages. Somewhere behind her Lilia heard the sound of echoing footsteps following her.
Probably a novice heading for a private class. The inner passages were usually quieter than the main part of the University,
but she’d have to be careful nobody saw her slip through the secret door.

The odd little room that divided the main and inner parts of the University contained a wall of locked cabinets. Apparently
these rooms had been bare until the former University Director had died, and his replacement had decided that no storage space
should be wasted. Lilia pushed through the door opposite and entered the inner passages.

She had taken ten or so steps when she heard the door to the other side of the little room open and close, muffled by the
door behind her. Whoever followed was gaining on her. She lengthened her stride in the hope that she would turn a corner before
this other person would emerge and see her, but
the distance was too great. She heard the door open behind her, then a laugh.

“Hey, Lilia,” a voice called. “Where you going?”

Her heart sank.
Bokkin
. From the menace in his tone she knew he had been tailing her. She stopped and turned to regard him.
How stupid can this boy get? He doesn’t know how strong or weak I am. He doesn’t even have any friends with him to gang up
on me. If he’s hoping I’m up to something that he could turn me in for, he shouldn’t have called out to me before he found
out what it was
.

Even so, he had messed up her plans. Perhaps that was all he was aiming for.

“Come to offer me your powers, Bokkin?” she asked.

He sauntered toward her. “You’ve got big ideas about yourself now, haven’t you? Think you’re better than anyone because you
know black magic. It’s the other way around, you know. You’re the lowest scum of the Guild and everyone hates you. That’s
why you’ve got no friends. Everyone knows Naki’s death was your fault.”

She felt something shrivel inside her, but instead of it making her cringe away from him it left a void that quickly filled
with anger.

Be careful
, she warned herself.
Show anger and he’ll know he’s got to you, and accidentally injuring another novice will only add to the reasons people don’t
like you
.

She smiled. “Glad you got that off your chest, Bokkin?”

He moved closer, trying again to intimidate her with his bulk and height. “Yes. But I’m not done with you. I want you to apologise
– no, I want you to beg me …”

The door behind them opened and he quickly stepped back.

“Lady Lilia.”

Confusion and relief rose as Lilia recognised Jonna’s voice.
She peered past Bokkin to see the servant approaching. The woman bowed briskly at them both.

“A message came for you,” Jonna said. She pushed past Bokkin. “Excuse me, my Lord.”

Jonna placed a hand on Lilia’s arm and guided her along the passage, away from Bokkin. The novice remained silent, and Lilia
didn’t dignify him with a backwards glance. She and Jonna turned a corner. When they had continued far enough Jonna glanced
back.

“He’s not following us. Was he bothering you?”

Lilia shrugged. “He’s a troublemaker, but a pretty thickheaded one.”

“Don’t dismiss him too quickly. He may come back with others. Sonea had enemies among the novices when she was learning here,
and they made her life here a torment.”

“Really? Who was the leader?”
How humiliating to live your life known as the novice stupid enough to have picked on the famous Black Magician Sonea
.

Jonna looked amused. “Lord Regin.”

Lilia stared at her in astonishment. “
Really?
He’s not dumb.”

“No.”

“I guess novice bullies were smarter in those days.”

Jonna patted her arm firmly. “What I want to know is, where are you going with a bottle of lamp oil in your bag?”

Lilia looked down at her bag then back up at Jonna. “What bottle? I left it in the room.”

“You most certainly did not, and it’s obvious from the way that bag is bulging and swinging that you have it in there.” Jonna
frowned in a motherly, disapproving way. “I told Sonea I’d keep an eye on you. I helped raise Sonea’s son, Lorkin, so I know
how to spot when a novice is up to something.”

Lilia gazed at the servant in dismay. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to tell Jonna about Cery, Gol and Anyi living under the
Guild, but she had agreed not to.
But if I don’t, Jonna won’t get me the things they need
.

Jonna had lived in the slums before she became Sonea’s servant. She would surely empathise with Cery’s situation. Even if
she didn’t, perhaps she would help out of sympathy for Anyi.

But am I being too trusting?

“Tell me, Lilia,” Jonna said. “I may not like it, but I promise I won’t report it to the Guild.” She frowned. “Well, unless
you’re teaching someone black magic. Though I suppose I wouldn’t have turned Sonea and Akkarin in, if I’d known what was really
going on.”

“I’m not teaching anyone black magic,” Lilia told her, and winced at the sound of protest in her voice. She drew in a deep
breath, lowered her tone to a whisper. “Anyi is living under the Guild.”

Jonna looked thoughtful. “I see. I guessed that she’d been travelling that way to visit you for a while already. Is it safe?”

“We’ve been making it safer,” Lilia assured her.

“So … why is she there?”

Lilia shook her head. “It wasn’t safe in the city. Skellin’s people nearly killed Cery—”