The Rogue (12 page)

Rothen regarded his son without speaking, obviously caught up in conflicting emotions.
He would love to see more of his grandchildren
, Sonea guessed,
but doesn’t want to agree to something that could put his son’s life at risk.

Her own heart had lifted at the thought. It would be nice to have Dorrien around for longer than his usual visits to the Guild. She could do with his help, too. Though she, too, would rather not put him at risk, she’d also rather not put
anybody
at risk. At least he was willing to work with her and sensible enough to know when to keep secrets.

The tense silence was broken by yet another knock at the door. As it opened, three servants, led by Jonna, filed in carrying platters of food. Jonna’s eyebrows rose when none of them spoke. She gave Sonea a look that said “
I’ll be back to find out what all this is about
“, before she left, taking her assistants with her.

When the door had closed, Sonea leaned forward and began serving.

“I wonder what family matters we have to blame for taking Regin away from us,” she said.

Rothen looked thoughtful. “Sometimes I wish I hadn’t stopped going to the Night Room to listen to the gossip.”

“I’ll see what I can find out,” Dorrien said, shrugging.

“In one night?” Sonea scoffed.

Dorrien’s eyes twinkled with mischief. “When you only visit the Guild for a few weeks a year, everyone falls over themselves to fill you in on the latest scandals. I’ll have to leave you both a little earlier tonight to be there at the right time, but if there’s an answer to be had I’ll have it for you tomorrow morning.”

Soft, slippery cloth cascaded over Lilia’s head and tumbled toward the floor, but at the last moment it was pulled tight at her waist and swung into artful folds. Naki stepped back.

“It fits perfectly.” There was amusement and annoyance in her voice, and she crossed her arms and affected a pout. “It’s not fair. I’ve grown out of everything, and there’s no point giving it to you because we’ll never get to wear gowns again.” Then she smiled. “You look great. Go take a peek in the mirror.”

Lilia approached the mirror hesitantly and stared at herself. She didn’t quite fill out the chest of the dress, but that could be fixed with some padding. Though she had often seen her former employer’s wife and daughters dressed so fancily, she would have never dared try on their clothing.

“You look beautiful,” Naki said, coming up behind Lilia. She placed her hands on Lilia’s shoulders. Her fingers were cold, and sent a shiver down Lilia’s spine. She remembered what Madie and Froje had said about her new friend, then quickly pushed the thought away.

Naki frowned. “You’re all tense. What’s wrong? Is it uncomfortable?”

Lilia shook her head. “I feel … well … we’re doing something forbidden. Magicians are supposed to always wear robes.”

Naki’s lips curled into a mischievous grin. “I know. It’s kind of fun, isn’t it?”

Looking at her friend’s grin, Lilia could not help smiling. “Yes, but that’s only because nobody else can see us.”

“It’s our naughty secret,” Naki said, turning away. She stooped to grab the hem of her dress and hauled it up and over her head in one movement. Underneath she was wearing only an undershift, and Lilia quickly averted her eyes.

“In fact, you should do something
really
naughty,” Naki continued as she shrugged into her novice overrobe. “Then you’ll be able to do mildly naughty things like this and not get all uptight about it.” She paused to think, then grinned. “I know just the thing. Stay there. I’ll be right back.”

Naki disappeared through the main door to her bedroom. Taking the opportunity to change while her friend wasn’t watching, Lilia slipped off the dress and hurriedly changed into her robes. As she was tying the sash, Naki returned carrying a small black object. She held it up with a triumphant flourish.

It was like a metal bird cage, only smaller and chunkier. Lilia stared at it in bemusement. Naki laughed. She gave the cage a direct look, and smoke began curling out of the openings. Understanding came to Lilia in a rush of realisation, dismay and curiosity.

“It’s a roet brazier!”

“Of course.” Naki rolled her eyes. “You’re so innocent, Lilia. It’s hard to believe you are a daughter of a servant family.”

“My family’s employer didn’t approve of roet.”

Naki shrugged. “Lots of people don’t. They don’t trust new things. Eventually they’ll see that roet isn’t any worse than wine – and in some ways is better. You don’t get hangovers.” She began scooping the air toward herself and breathing deeply. After a few breaths she closed her eyes and sighed with appreciation. Her gaze was dark and seductive as she looked at Lilia, and beckoned. “Come closer. Try it.”

Lilia obeyed. She leaned toward the brazier and breathed deeply. A fragrant smoke filled her lungs. She coughed, and Naki covered her mouth and giggled. Instead of feeling hurt that her friend had laughed at her, Lilia found she didn’t mind. More smoke filled her chest. Her head began to spin.

“I found a great place for this last time,” Naki said, moving to her bed. She hung the brazier on a clothes hanger, pushing the dresses to the other end of the rail. Then she flopped on the bed.

Lilia laughed again. Turning to smile at her, Naki patted the bedcovers. “Come lie down. It’s very relaxing.”

To Lilia’s relief, the prospect of lying on a bed next to Naki roused only a mild, distant echo of the nervousness she would have once felt. She sank onto the mattress beside her friend.

“Still worried about getting into trouble?” Naki asked.

“No. Suddenly I don’t care about anything.”

“That’s what roet does. It stops you caring. Stops you worrying.” She turned her head to regard Lilia. “You seem worried a lot lately.”

“Yes.”

“What about?”

“The girls in my class. The ones that were my friends. They said things about you.”

Naki laughed. “I bet they did. What did they say?”

Why did I say that? Curse it. I can’t tell her … or can I? It would be good to know the truth …
“That … that you like women. Instead of men. I mean …” Lilia took a deep breath and coughed again as the smoke filled her lungs. “I mean you prefer women lovers the way some men prefer male lovers.” She covered her mouth with a hand.
Why did I do that? Why did I just blurt it out? Naki is going to hate me!

But Naki only laughed again. A carefree, mischievous laugh. “I bet that gave them interesting dreams for months.”

Lilia chuckled. She tried to imagine Froje and Madie daydreaming about …
no, don’t think about it.

“You want to know if it’s true.”

Lilia blinked in surprise, then turned her head to look at Naki.

Her friend met her eyes and smiled. “It is. And it is for you, isn’t it? Or … you’re not sure.”

Face burning with sudden heat, Lilia looked away. “I …”

“Go on. You can tell me.”

“Well … I think so … um … any advice about that?”

Naki turned over and pushed herself up into a sitting position. “My advice is to not worry about it.” She reached up and unhooked the brazier. It had stopped smoking. “Women have fallen in love with women for centuries. Men always assumed they were just close friends. Which is the opposite to men, who can’t be close friends for fear others will think they’re really in love.” She giggled, then got off the bed and beckoned. “Girls like us can keep secrets easily because nobody pays us the attention they should. Let’s go to the library.”

Lilia sat up, then paused and closed her eyes as her head began to spin. “The library? Why the library? Why now?”

“Because there’s something I want to show you before Father gets home. I want some more roet.”

“You keep roet in the library?”

“Father does.”

“Your
father
uses roet?”

Naki gave a humourless laugh. “Of course he does.”

She led the way out of her rooms and through corridors and down staircases. Lilia wondered what time it was. Late enough that there were no servants about, it seemed.

“My father’s family have lots of sordid habits,” Naki said. “For my uncle it was girls. I don’t mean he likes women a lot. I mean he likes
little
girls. The servants knew and kept me out of his way whenever he came visiting. Father never believed me when I told him.”

Lilia shuddered. “That’s horrible.”

Naki glanced back and smiled, but her eyes were hard. “Oh, he paid for it in the end.” She turned away and stopped at a door. “Here we are.”

She pushed through the door into an enormous room. Lilia could not restrain a gasp as she took in all the shelves stuffed with books and rolls of paper. She had learned quickly that Naki thought that appearing to be too interested in study was boring, but she couldn’t contain her awe and delight now.

“I thought you’d like it.”

Lilia looked at Naki, who was grinning widely, and pretended to look embarrassed.

Naki laughed. “You’re a terrible actor. Come see something.”

She headed for a glass-topped side table. Lilia saw that the glass covered a drawer-like cavity filled with very old books, scrolls, a few sculptures and some jewellery. Naki ran her hand down the narrow side. There was a soft click.

“Father has the top locked with both key and magic, but he’s not so powerful a magician that he’d waste magic protecting the whole case,” Naki murmured. She reached inside and drew out a small book, then handed it to Lilia.

The cover was soft skin, slightly powdery with age, and the title had worn off. Opening it, Lilia was disturbed by the brittle stiffness of the pages. They felt as if they would shatter if she attempted to bend them. The writing was faded but still readable, and in an old formal style that was not easy to read.

“What is it?”

“A book on how to use magic,” Naki said. “Most of it we know already. Magicians have learned a lot in the last seven hundred years.”

“Seven hundred,” Lilia breathed. “It’s amazing this is still intact.”

“It’s not that old. This is a copy of the original, and has been rebound several times.” Naki looked at Lilia closely. “There is one kind of magic in there that we don’t know. Can you guess what it is?”

Lilia considered. “Seven hundred years? Before the Sachakan War … oh!” She turned to stare at her friend. “You’re not serious!”

“Yes.” A single glint of light lit Naki’s dark eyes. “Black magic.” She took the book from Lilia and put it back in the case. “I told you my father’s family had some dark secrets.”

“They don’t … they don’t
know
black magic, do they?”

“No. Well, I don’t think they do. It wouldn’t be hard to hide, you know. Black Magician Sonea knew it for ages before the Guild found out, and they only found out about her because High Lord Akkarin got caught. And he was only caught because the Sachakans set him up.” She looked at the case. “I reckon you could keep it secret for all your life, and nobody would know. Now this
is
old.”

She reached inside and brought out a ring. It was made of gold and a pale stone was set into it.

“My grandmother on my mother’s side used to wear this. It was passed down to her by her grandmother, down the line of women for centuries. Mother told me that the stone is magical and she would teach me how to use it one day. Of course, she died before she had a chance to, and Father said I couldn’t have it.”

“What is it supposed to do?”

“She said it helped a woman to keep secrets.”

“Not much point unless you have a secret to hide.”

“Or someone to hide it from.”

“Have you tried to discover how it works?”

“Of course. It’s why I found a way to get to it. But I haven’t been able to find a way to test if it works, and the one secret I’m sure it won’t hide is whether it’s been stolen or not, so I have to put it back each time.”

“How could something like that work?”

“Who knows? I think it’s just a silly story my mother told me to keep me entertained.” Smiling wryly, Naki put back the ring and replaced the side of the case.

“Maybe your father doesn’t know black magic. After all, surely he’d wear the ring if it helps hide secrets – if it really does.”

Naki’s nose wrinkled as she thought about it. Then she shook her head. “I don’t think even he would try learning it. He’s not one for taking big risks.”

Lilia nodded in agreement, surprised at how relieved she was to hear Naki say so.

Her friend suddenly looked up and grinned. “Let’s steal more of Father’s roet!” Without waiting for an answer, she skipped away to the other side of the room, and Lilia followed.

Whenever the Higher Magicians met in the Guildhall without the rest of the Guild present, their voices echoed in a way that Sonea always found disturbing. She looked out at the two sets of tiered seating that lined the longer walls of the hall. Between was a long, empty space that was only occupied on the few occasions each year when novices were included in ceremonies. At the far end were two large doors. They were the original doors of the building, still sturdy despite being over six hundred years old and having spent a few hundred exposed to the elements before the University was built around the old hall.

The other end of the hall, known as the Front, was where Sonea and the Higher Magicians were seated. The steeply tiered chairs were reached by narrow staircases. Not only did this arrangement allow a good view of the hall for them all, but it made clear the hierarchy of power among the magicians. The topmost seats were for the king and his advisers. The next row down was for the Guild’s leader, the High Lord, and the two newest Higher Magicians – the black magicians.

I’ve never felt comfortable with the decision to put us up here
, Sonea mused. While she and Kallen had the potential to become stronger than any other magician in the Guild, they had no greater power or influence than any other Higher Magician. They were forbidden to use black magic unless ordered to and, unlike most ordinary magicians, were restricted in where they could go.