The Traitor Queen (36 page)

—
Dannyl?

—
Yes, Osen. It’s me. The conflict has moved into sight. The Ashaki formed a line at the entrance to the parade, but they’re
now in retreat
.

—
Sonea, can you see?

—
Yes
, came Sonea’s reply. Her mental voice was clear, but he could sense nothing of her presence or thoughts. Below, the retreating
Ashaki were fifty paces from Achati’s house and getting closer. Soon Dannyl would be able to see more than the back of their
heads. See if Achati was still among them.
A strike slammed two of them back into the men behind. Dannyl caught a glimpse of crushed, bloodied faces.

—
The Ashaki are losing
, Osen noted.

—
They may have another force waiting at the palace
, Dannyl replied.

—
Can you see Lorkin?
Sonea asked.

Dannyl dragged his eyes away from the Ashaki to the Traitors. He caught his breath. Hundreds of them were moving into the
parade. They walked in columns, their orderly formation a telling contrast to the crowd of retreating Ashaki. As he watched,
a few of the foremost Traitors stepped aside and let those behind take their places.

He had assumed it would be easy to pick Lorkin out as the one man among many women, but there appeared to be as many male
Traitor magicians as women and they were all dressed the same. Male or female, they were dipping into the pockets of the vests
they wore, then holding out whatever it was they’d removed. He caught a glint of light, then another, and realised what they
were doing.

Stones. They’re using stones
.

Then his eyes found a familiar face and he felt recognition and relief rush through him. Lorkin was standing at the centre
of the Traitor line, behind and a step to the side of a shorter, older woman.
Tyvara? No. None of the personal slaves at the Guild House had been that woman’s age
. So who was the older woman?

—
The queen
, Sonea sent.

Looking at the older woman again, Dannyl noted her position at the centre and the determination in her face.
Queen Savara
, he thought.
Who, unless the Ashaki come up with some last-moment winning manoeuvre, will be the woman I will soon have to kneel before
and negotiate with
.

The Ashaki
… were drawing level with Achati’s house. They were a much smaller group now. He steeled himself as he looked down and sought
a familiar face. A head turned to look up toward him, and all the fear and affection he’d meant to hide from Osen and Sonea
surged up and paralysed him. Achati smiled as if he had known Dannyl would be watching from atop his home all along, then
turned his attention back to the Traitors.

Dannyl couldn’t move. His heart hammered in his chest as the Ashaki continued backing towards the palace.
He can’t die
. King Amakira was flanked by Achati and one of his other advisers. More Ashaki fell.
He won’t
, he told himself.
He’ll be fine if they get back to the palace
.

“Oh.” Merria said. “Look.”

Tearing his gaze away, Dannyl saw she was pointing towards the grand palace building. People were pouring out of the entrance.
At first he felt a surge of hope and triumph, thinking they were more Ashaki, then Tayend whistled quietly as he always did
when impressed, and at the same time Dannyl realised he wasn’t seeing glittering Ashaki garb.

“The Traitors have already overtaken it.” Tayend sighed. “And the Ashaki haven’t even noticed.”

Looking down again, Dannyl felt sick as he waited for signs that the Ashaki had realised the truth.
When they do, they’ll surrender. They have no other choice
. The Ashaki were bunching together around the king. No more than twenty now. Some were looking back at the palace. The ones
at the back stopped, shouting a warning. He saw the king begin to turn, then stop. Saw Amakira’s lips move, and Achati’s nod.
The king and the other adviser continued to retreat, but Achati stopped. The strikes from the Traitors suddenly
intensified, perhaps at the sight of their enemy’s leader moving out of sight. Achati staggered.

Then he made an impossible leap backwards, contorting in the air and crashed to the ground.

Dannyl’s heart stopped. He stared at the twisted, limp form of his friend in disbelief.

But … why? Why didn’t he retreat with the king? Why sacrifice himself then, when he didn’t have to. The king must have known
they had lost. He should have surrendered. I should have done something. If I’d known he’d do this
I
would have done something
…

Hands were restraining his arms. He looked down to see both Merria and Tayend holding him. He looked at them in surprise.
Then he realised he was very close to the edge of the roof.

“I’m sorry,” Tayend said. As he met Tayend’s gaze he saw understanding and sympathy there. Merria had said something at the
same time, and it took Dannyl a moment to realise what it was.

“Don’t what?” he asked.

She stared at him intently. “Try to save them.”

Dannyl stepped back from the edge and shook them off. “For a moment I thought you were worried about
me
,” he said bitterly. He flinched at the petulance in his tone. Then anger filled him, and something else. Something that threatened
to overwhelm him. Suddenly he had to get away from them. Away from the sight below. He took a few steps toward the hatch they’d
climbed through to get onto the roof.

“Wait.” Merria hurried to him and grabbed his hand. He pulled away and felt something slip from his finger.
Osen’s ring
. He’d forgotten about it.
Everything I saw and felt would have
been seen by
… But he didn’t care. Achati was dead.
Dead. And I stood by and watched and did nothing
.

Tayend walked over and placed a hand lightly on Dannyl’s shoulder. It was both unwelcome and yet soothing.

“Let’s go inside and wait,” he suggested. “Merria can take over from here.”

Resentment faded. Tayend understood. He followed his friend down into Achati’s house, along corridors and into the Master’s
Room. There they stopped, looked around the room, then at each other. Tayend’s eyes glittered with tears. He walked over and
wrapped his arms around Dannyl.

“I thought you didn’t like him,” Dannyl whispered.

“I did. Just not as much as you did.”

No. Not as much as I did
. Dannyl bowed his head and let the tears come. When the worst of it had passed he was surprised to find he could feel affection
and gratitude at the same time as grief and horror.
I am so lucky Tayend is here with me. He has always understood me better than anyone. Even if we are never more than friends
again, I hope we will always have this
.

With Tayend beside him he would not mourn Achati alone. With Tayend close by he would be able to face the people who had killed
Achati. With Tayend he had someone who would remember how fine a man Achati had been.

And now that I’ve seen how ruthless the Traitors can be, I must do what I can to ensure they don’t decide the Allied Lands
need “freeing”, too
.

Without taking his eyes from the Ashaki, Lorkin explored the pockets of his vest in case he had missed any strike or shield
stones, but found none. The red and blue rings were depleted, so he had been using his own store of power. He
didn’t want to use the power within the storestone until he had to.

He suspected it wouldn’t be necessary. The Traitors who had emerged from the palace were now joining with the main army, encircling
the remaining Ashaki. Only a dozen or so Ashaki were left, surrounding and protecting the king.

He was not sure how long had passed since the battle had begun. A few hours, perhaps? From the angle and length of his shadow
he guessed it was afternoon, but the smoke from the burning houses was giving the sunlight a deceptive golden glow that suggested
the day was older than it was.

The battle had been surprisingly uncomplicated, with few Traitor deaths. Twenty or so had been lost during one side attack.
While the Traitors on the right had defended themselves successfully, those on the left had been taken by surprise when the
building beside them had exploded and Ashaki had surged out into their midst.

But the Ashaki had never stopped retreating. The battle had become a steady Traitor advance to the city centre. The Ashaki
began to fall long before they reached it, and by the time they were driven to the parade their numbers were down to a third.

No magical battle that he’d ever read of had resembled this one.
The parameters of magical fighting have changed. Gemstones have made it into something completely new. The Guild knows that
it needs gemstones for defence, but it has no idea how badly. If it doesn’t adapt it will be left behind
.

Still, the battle wasn’t over yet. He was all too aware that he wasn’t the only Traitor who had run out of stones. Their method
of fighting ensured that, barring surprise attacks, all were protected until the entire army was exhausted. Only Savara
knew how strong the army was now, through communication with the other Speakers, who received reports from each Traitor as
he or she left the front.
We could be onto our last stones or still bursting with power
, Lorkin thought.
Savara has shown no sign of concern, but then she’s very good at looking calm and confident
.

He looked at her again. She was taking in the scene with narrowed eyes. Straightening, she raised an arm, palm facing outward
– the signal to stop.

At once the Traitors stopped striking the Ashaki. The hum of power streaking through the air ended. The shuffle of feet ceased.
Voices fell silent. The few sounds that followed were muted, as if all noise had been dampened.

A circle of Traitors surrounded the remaining Ashaki, who stared back defiantly. Lorkin looked from them to Savara.

What will she do? So far the order has been to kill all Ashaki. I’ve seen no Ashaki attempt to surrender. The few we heard
about who were sympathetic to the slaves and did not want to fight the Traitors have left the country
.

The order to kill all Ashakis had been to ensure their defeat. Now that they were defeated, would they remain unharmed if
they surrendered? He thought of the stones keeping the wasteland lifeless. The Traitors could be ruthless …

Savara took a step forward, then another. Lorkin saw Tyvara tense. He turned the ring holding the storestone around so he
could curl his fingers around it, ready to draw power if he needed it. Savara stopped.

“King Amakira,” she called.

The Ashaki did not move. Lorkin searched for some glimpse of the king among them. The silence lengthened.

“You are defeated,” Savara said. “Come forth, or are you too cowardly to show your face?”

Low voices were heard from the Ashaki now, then Lorkin saw movement.

“You expect me to
surrender?
”

Lorkin shivered at the voice. A memory rose of an old man on a throne, followed by the palace prison, the slave girl … He
blinked them away and concentrated on the scene before him. The Ashaki parted and the king stepped out.

“We do not submit to Traitors,” he said.

As he spoke, his hand moved to his belt and closed around the hilt of a knife. Gems glittered in the sunlight as he drew the
blade. He extended his arm toward Savara, pointing at her. He let the knife go. It hovered in the air. His arm dropped to
his side.

Then, in a movement almost too fast to follow, it reversed and shot backward, plunging into his chest.

Lorkin sucked in a breath, and heard gasps from all around.
Well, I didn’t expect that
, he thought as the king fell, and was caught and lowered to the ground by the Ashaki behind him.
Did he just commit suicide, or did he ask one of the Ashaki to—?

The rest of the Ashaki stepped back hastily as a bright light enveloped the king’s body. A sharp crack, followed by a roar
like a fire flaring before a gust of wind, echoed between the buildings.
The king’s remaining power, released as his control failed
. Lorkin shuddered.

The light vanished, and all that was left was ash.

Then the air before Savara began to vibrate. Lorkin looked up to see that the remaining Ashaki’s gazes were fixed on her.
Realising that the men were striking at their queen, the Traitors attacked. Lorkin winced at the dull thuds and crack of bones,
as the last Ashaki fell before the onslaught.
They didn’t bother to shield. They used their last magic in a
final vain attempt to kill the Traitor queen, and to ensure they would die
.

The Traitor strikes ended as quickly as they had begun, and a different kind of silence fell. One filled with relief as well
as horror. Savara’s shoulders lifted and dropped and she bowed her head. She didn’t look up or speak, and as time stretched
the Traitors began to frown and exchange glances. As Tyvara stepped forward, concern in her eyes, Lorkin followed, but he
kept a few steps back, ready to help but leaving Tyvara to speak.

Savara looked at Tyvara and shook her head. “Ashaki and Traitors. We are so different. And yet we are the same. So determined
we are right.

“The Traitors are no more too. We will have soon destroyed what we rebelled against. We should now call ourselves Sachakans.”

“We are not the same,” Tyvara told her. “The Ashaki are no more.”

Savara looked back at Lorkin. “What do you think? Are we the same?”

Lorkin shook his head. “No. Yes, you are determined, but that is no bad thing in itself. Only a stronger determination to
end their power would overcome their determination to hold onto it.”

Savara eyebrows rose. “An interesting observation from a Kyralian and former Guild magician.”

He shrugged, then managed a smile. “But don’t tell me you’ve succeeded where the Guild failed until you’ve successfully held
onto power here for a few decades – and have done so without being as ruthless as the Ashaki.”