The Traitor Queen (42 page)

His head spun with the possibilities.
This is all just a bit too incredible. I just want to be with Tyvara. And … yes, children would be great eventually
. He looked at her, and felt his heart warm yet again.

“It sounds wonderful. Well, except maybe the bit about us being in charge of a whole country. But I suppose if the Traitors
can bear the idea of a Kyralian as their king … sure, I’ll put up with that if it means I get to spend my life with you.”

She rolled her eyes. “You won’t be king. We don’t have kings.”

“Not even through marriage?”

“Not even then. Were you really hoping to be king?”

“Of course not. I can think of nothing worse.” He grinned. “Though it does seem unfair. I bet the queen’s husband still has
to work incredibly hard, with no hope of retirement, talk to annoying people and attend boring ceremonies and events, and
listen to his wife complain about how hard life is while having to obey her every whim – and look after her children while
she’s off doing queenly things. All while getting no credit for it.” Which was probably what the Kyralian queen had to endure,
he realised.

Tyvara shrugged. “None of them have complained before.”

Lorkin snorted. “You Traitors aren’t as equal as you claim you are. But, as you said, a lot can change.”

She poked him in the ribs again, hard. “Not
that
much. Now let’s get this bed back together and get some sleep. Tomorrow we have a lot of work to do.”

“Y
ou were dreaming about Cery again, weren’t you?”

Sonea looked up at Regin. He held a steaming cup of raka out to her. She pushed herself into a sitting position on the bed
and took it. The flavour of good Sachakan raka filled her senses and she felt the last threads of the dream loosen their hold.

“I miss him.” She sighed and wiped her eyes. Knowing that she would never see Cery again was like discovering something vital
inside her had been stolen. “Even though I didn’t see him that often before his family died. I wish I could have done something.”
She saw him open his mouth and shook her head. “No, you don’t have to remind me. It wasn’t my fault. Things may not have gone
differently if I’d been here …”

“… and you couldn’t have been in two places at once,” Regin finished. “At least, it’s not something the Guild has worked out
how to do yet.”

“I suspect the tasks of finding a cure for roet and discovering how to make stones without the need of gemstone-producing
caves are more urgent.” She sipped the raka, then looked towards the window screens. “What time is it? The sun’s only just
rising, from the looks of it. Why did you get up?”

“A message arrived. The king has summoned the Higher Magicians to the palace.”

She swung her legs down to the floor and stood up. “When?”

“Not so soon that I haven’t time for this.” He drew her close and kissed her.

“Hmm.” She slipped her arms around him as he began to pull away again. “Time enough for anything more?”

“Not now. The king did me a favour. I shouldn’t repay him by making you late.” He pushed her towards the clothes cupboard,
then got back into the bed.

Sonea dressed quickly, and gulped a few more mouthfuls of raka before slipping out of Regin’s rooms. Moving in with him had
been her way of stopping the rumours that she and Regin were lovers. It wasn’t a rumour any more when it was an obvious fact.
She was sure Lilia was enjoying having rooms all to herself. Anyi visited now and then with Jonna’s help, disguised as a servant.
The Guild had finally removed the problem of the underground tunnels by having them filled in. Though she checked on Lilia
regularly and monitored her progress, it was more out of concern that Lilia wasn’t completely recovered from everything that
had happened to her.

After all, she killed someone with black magic. That isn’t as easy to live with as most would think, even when your victim
was a bad person
.

A door opened further down the corridor. Recognising Lady Indria, Lord Telano’s replacement, Sonea waited for the woman to
catch up.

“Any idea what this is about?” Indria asked.

“Not yet.” Sonea smiled. “How are you settling in to your new role?”

Indria shrugged. “It’s both harder and easier than I expected.
I’ve been teaching for years, so I understand teachers’ complaints and needs. But there are so many
records
I didn’t have to deal with before.”

Sonea chuckled. “Yes. The only advice I can give is that you get yourself an assistant or three.”

“I will.” As they stepped out of the Magicians’ Quarters, Indria glanced around. “It doesn’t help that Telano left everything
in such a mess,” she added in a low voice. “I guess he stopped caring. Have you got any closer to finding a cure for roet?”

Sonea shook her head. “No.”

Indria sighed. “These things take time. How are the hospices?”

“Full of addicts in withdrawal. Some responding to Healing, some not. Thankfully, those magicians resistant to roet have automatically
healed, so we only have to deal with the forty or so who can’t.”

They discussed the ongoing roet problem as they walked through the garden. Reaching the front of the University, they saw
Osen, Balkan and Kallen standing beside a carriage, and another carriage waiting behind. Osen looked up, saw them and beckoned.

“There’s room for you in here Lady Indria,” Osen said. “The rest have gone ahead. We’ll take the other.”

As Indria climbed inside, Osen led the way to the second carriage. Once they were all inside and the carriage began moving,
Sonea looked at Osen and raised her eyebrows. He met her gaze and shook his head.

“No, I don’t know exactly what this is about, but the King’s Adviser assured me there is no invasion and Lorkin is fine.”

Sonea smiled.
They’re afraid I’ll go rushing back to Sachaka at
the slightest sign of trouble. Still, it is good to know this isn’t anything to do with him
.

“Have you read Dannyl’s research notes yet?” Kallen asked the Administrator.

“I’m halfway through.” Osen’s eyebrows rose. “They’re actually rather fascinating, especially the Duna’s stories. I’m looking
forward to reading the whole book, once he finishes and prints it.”

“He’ll have to write a new chapter on the Sachakan Civil War and magical gemstones first,” Kallen said.

“And I have a feeling there’ll be another chapter to add after that,” Balkan added.

Osen’s eyes narrowed at the High Lord. “Are you still worried about minestrike and that contraption the king’s spy says they
have in Igra?”

“The ballshooter.” Balkan nodded. “Dargin thinks it is what enabled the Igrese priests to conquer all their neighbouring lands.”

“More likely the Igrese magicians weren’t very powerful or skilled,” Osen replied. “I can’t see how a ball sent through a
tube can threaten a magician, if he or she is shielding well enough.”

“I suspect it works much like Lilia’s innovative idea of stabbing with magic rather than using a knife when performing black
magic. A focused force sent quickly enough will overcome all but the strongest shield.”

“The spy said there’s little chance an Igrese army would survive a desert crossing,” Kallen reminded him. “And we know they
do not have black magic or gemstones.”

As Balkan shook his head, Osen turned to the window and rolled his eyes. “It’s not the Igrese I’m worried about,” Balkan said.
“The minefire the Thief Cery used was unlike the usual—”

“We’ll have to leave that argument to another time,” Osen said, turning back from the window. “We’ve arrived.”

The carriage slowed to a stop, and the door opened. Osen gave a little sigh of relief as Balkan stepped out. He, Kallen and
Sonea followed. They were in a small courtyard within the palace where magicians were taken when the king wanted to avoid
the delay of formal greetings. The other carriage was pulling away and the occupants had already disappeared inside.

A palace attendant ushered them through a door and into a sumptuously decorated hall, then led them along a corridor to a
dining room. Sonea had eaten here a few times before, along with other Higher Magicians, sometimes as a guest of the king,
sometimes in order to meet important foreign visitors. Today the chairs were occupied only by the Higher Magicians and four
of the king’s non-magician advisers. Rothen smiled and nodded as she saw him seated at the end of the table. As she, Osen,
Balkan and Kallen took the four unoccupied chairs a man strode into the room and all rose to their feet.

“Your majesty,” Osen began.

The king waved a hand. “Sit. You have important decisions to make, and knowing how quickly magicians make decisions you’d
best get started without delay.” Sonea suppressed a smile at his dry tone. He moved to the end of the table and planted his
palms flat on the surface.

“Yesterday the new Sachakan Ambassador arrived. As you know, she is a black magician – or, as she calls it, a
higher
magician. As you also know, her not being a member of the Guild makes her a rogue magician. So her presence here means two
of our most serious laws regarding magic are being broken right now.

“So, either I send her home or we change our laws.”

He paused to look around the table, meeting each magician’s gaze.

“I do not intend to send her home, so we had better change our laws. That is what you are here for. You’ve been arguing about
this for months, and it is time you came to an agreement. Between yourselves and my advisers, before the end of the day, you
will draft new laws that will allow foreign, non-Guild magicians to live and trade here legally and with effective, workable
restrictions. Those restrictions must regulate both the use of black magic and the possession of magical gemstones. Your predecessors
had good reason to fear black magic, but we need a better method of control than banning it.

“It has also been pointed out to me that gemstones put magic into the hands of non-magicians, and we don’t want them hearing
about the Igrese and deciding to rid the Allied Lands of magicians. Though I think it is unlikely they’d succeed, I do not
want to deal with a civil uprising. We must have some kind of regulation of gemstones, even if only to prevent the Thieves
from getting hold of them. The rise of the Rogue Skellin should be a warning to you: we must keep magic out of the underworld.

“I also expect that these laws will go some way toward improving the behaviour of Guild magicians. It is clear from the corruption
roet has revealed in the Guild’s ranks that some magicians aren’t immune to vice and profiting at the expense of others. It
is time their excesses and activities were curtailed.”

The king straightened. “You have a lot to discuss, so I will leave you to it. Bring me a summary of your progress at midday.”
He pausing for a last look around the table, then turned and strode out of the room.

All were quiet, listening to the king’s footsteps fading in the background, then Osen cleared his throat and looked at the
advisers.

“If it is acceptable, I will lead the discussions.”

The advisers nodded. As Osen started to speak, Sonea felt an unexpected sadness.
And so everything changes again. Just like after the Ichani Invasion, when we knew we had to accept black magic as our only
form of defence, and restore the Guild by taking in lower-class novices. There were so many unforeseen consequences, like
the Thieves battling each other and the city overtaking the slums. We can try to make laws that control the changes that magical
gemstones and an alliance with Sachaka will bring, but they will have effects we don’t anticipate
.

All they could do was try. And, for her part, attempt to ensure that when Lorkin returned to Kyralia, even if only to visit,
he – and the family he might eventually have – would be safe and welcome.

ANIMALS

aga moths – pests that eat clothing

anyi – sea mammals with short spines

ceryni – small rodent

enka – horned domestic animal, bred for meat

eyoma – sea leeches

faren – general term for arachnids

gorin – large domestic animal used for food and to haul boats and wagons

harrel – small domestic animal bred for meat

inava – insect believed to bestow good luck

limek – wild predatory dog

mullook – wild nocturnal bird

quannea – rare shells

rassook – domestic bird used for meat and feathers

ravi – rodent, larger than ceryni

reber – domestic animal, bred for wool and meat

safly – woodland insect

sevli – poisonous lizard

squimp – squirrel-like creature that steals food

yeel – small domesticated breed of limek used for tracking

zill – small, intelligent mammal sometimes kept as a pet

PLANTS/FOOD

anivope vine – plant sensitive to mental projection

bellspice – spice grown in Sachaka

bol – (also means “river scum”) strong liquor made from tugors

brasi – green leafy vegetable with small buds

briskbark – bark with decongestant properties

cabbas – hollow, bell-shaped vegetable

chebol sauce – rich meat sauce made from bol

cone cakes – bite-sized cakes

creamflower – flower used as a soporific

crots – large, purple beans

curem – smooth, nutty spice

curren – coarse grain with robust flavour

dall – long fruit with tart orange, seedy flesh

dunda – root chewed as a stimulating drug

gan-gan – flowering bush from Lan

husroot – herb used for cleansing wounds

iker – stimulating drug, reputed to have aphrodisiac properties

jerras – long yellow beans

kreppa – foul-smelling medicinal herb

marin – red citrus fruit

monyo – bulb

myk – mind-affecting drug

nalar – pungent root

nemmin – sleep-inducing drug

nightwood – hardwood timber

pachi – crisp, sweet fruit

papea – pepper-like spice

piorres – small, bell-shaped fruit

raka/suka – stimulating drink made from roasted beans, originally from Sachaka

roet – plant from which a soporific drug and a perfume are derived

rot – slang term for the drug roet

shem – edible reed-like plant

sumi – bitter drink

sweetdrops – candies

telk – seed from which an oil is extracted

tenn – grain that can be cooked as is, broken into small pieces, or ground to make a flour

tiro – edible nuts

tugor – parsnip-like root

ukkas – carnivorous plants

vare – berries from which most wine is produced

whitewater – pure spirits made from tugors

yellowseed – crop grown in Sachaka

CLOTHING AND WEAPONRY

incal – square symbol, not unlike a family shield, sewn onto sleeve or cuff

kebin – iron bar with hook for catching attacker’s knife, carried by guards

longcoat – ankle-length coat

quan – tiny disc-shaped beads made of shell

undershift – Kyralian women’s undergarment

PUBLIC HOUSES

bathhouse – establishment selling bathing facilities and other grooming services

bolhouse – establishment selling bol and short term accommodation

brewhouse – bol manufacturer

hole – building constructed from scavenged materials

stayhouse – rented building, a family to a room

COUNTRIES/PEOPLES IN THE REGION

Duna – tribes who live in volcanic desert north of Sachaka

Elyne – neighbour to Kyralia and Sachaka and once ruled by Sachaka

Igra – country far to the north of the Allied Lands where magic is forbidden

Kyralia – neighbour to Elyne and
Sachaka and once ruled by Sachaka

Lan – a mountainous land peopled by warrior tribes

Lonmar – a desert land home to the strict Mahga religion

Sachaka – home of the once great Sachakan Empire, where all but the most powerful are slaves

Vin – an island nation known for their seamanship

TITLES/POSITIONS

Administrator – magician who sees to the running of the Guild

Ashaki – Sachakan landowner

Black Magician – one of two magicians allowed to know black magic

Directors – magicians in charge of managing novices within and outside of the University

Heads of Disciplines – in charge of magicians of the three disciplines of Healing, Warrior and Alchemy

Heads of Studies – in charge of teaching the three disciplines of Healing, Warrior and Alchemy

High Lord – the official leader of the Magicians’ Guild of Kyralia

Ichani – Sachakan free man or woman who has been declared outcast

King’s Advisors – magicians who advise, Heal and protect the Kyralian king

Lord/Lady – any magician of the Magician’s Guild without a greater title

Master – free Sachakan

OTHER TERMS

the approach – main corridor to the Master’s Room in Sachakan houses

blood gem – artificial gemstone that allows maker to hear the thoughts of wearer

earthblood – term the Duna tribes use for lava

lowie – slang term used in the Guild for novices from middle-and lower-class origins

Master’s Room – main room in Sachakan houses for greeting guests

obin – separate house joined to the main house of a Naguh Valley house

snootie – slang term used in the Guild for novices and magicians from the Houses

slavehouse – part of Sachakan homes where the slaves live and work

slavespot – sexually transmitted disease

storestone – gemstone that can store magic

The Slig – a hidden people who live in the passages underneath Imardin

vyer – stringed instrument from Elyne