The Rogue (33 page)

The men had invited Lorandra inside a house, which turned out to be the home of several members of a gang who hired themselves out to do “strong work”. Listening quietly, Lilia guessed that this officially involved lifting and carrying things, but was generally understood to also mean beating and killing people.

They were surprisingly nice to her, asking if she was hungry and offering her the least worn-out chair in the guest room. Though she followed Lorandra’s lead and said she wasn’t hungry, their leader sent one of the group out to buy hot bread from the local baker for her to eat, and when he pressed a mug of bol into her hands she decided it would not be prudent to decline.

It was sickly sweet and made her sleepy. The late hour didn’t seem to bother Lorandra, who talked and strode about tirelessly. A longer journey followed, Lilia following her guide through a confusing series of rooms and corridors and tunnels, only occasionally emerging into the night air for a few steps. Finally, they stopped in a warm room and when Lorandra gestured to a chair Lilia collapsed into it.

The chair was surprisingly comfortable. It was a lot newer than the houses and buildings they had passed through. Lilia looked up, noting that the room’s decoration and furniture were expensive. She heard her name and realised that the man sitting opposite her, watching her with narrowed eyes, was very well dressed indeed. He smiled, and she forced herself to smile in return.

“The friend of this missing girl,” Lorandra told him.

He nodded, his expression becoming serious as he turned to her. “Then we must find Naki. The sun is well up. It is many hours since you escaped. I have rooms here you can sleep in, if you wish.”

Lorandra hesitated.

The sun is up?
Lilia sat bolt upright. The latter part of their journey had taken them along corridors and through tunnels, and she realised she hadn’t seen the sky in hours. “But we have to get back!” she exclaimed.

“I’m sorry, Lilia,” Lorandra said. “Dawn came and went some time ago. We have missed our chance to go back. I did not think it would take this long to find someone who could help us. Do you wish to return now?”

Lilia stared at the woman.
If we do return now, the Guild will make sure we never escape again. We won’t be able to help Naki.

She should have known this would happen. She’d expected that they’d make enquiries each night, returning to the Lookout before their absence was noticed, until they found and rescued Naki. Even when she’d levitated them both off the top of the Lookout, she’d known escaping would not be an easy thing to repeat. They had been lucky that one of the guards had been mostly asleep on his feet, glancing up at the tower far less often than into the forest. He hadn’t looked up as they’d floated out and away into the tree tops. They might not be that lucky again.

“No,” Lilia said.

Lorandra smiled and nodded approvingly. “Don’t worry. We’ll find Naki. They’ll forgive you for running away when you bring her back to them.”

Lilia managed a smile. “Thank you for helping us.”

Lorandra turned back to the man.
He’s probably a Thief
, Lilia thought.
But then, she is a rogue magician. What fine company I’m keeping. Naki would find it amusing.

Entering Imardin’s underworld in Lorandra’s company had frightened Lilia more than it ever had in that of Naki. But then, brazier houses were probably the safest places to encounter criminals. The trade there was designed to attract, not put off, customers. She and Naki had only really entered the edge of that world. Lorandra had brought Lilia into the middle of it.

She doesn’t
have
to help me. I’ve done my part: got her out of the Lookout. If she’d been untrustworthy she would have just left me somewhere and disappeared. But she’s doing what she promised: helping me find Naki.

Knowing Lorandra was holding to her side of their deal was the only reassuring thing in this unfamiliar, dangerous world. It had been a risk to trust her, but she’d felt it was one worth taking.

How strange it is that the foolish thing Naki got me to try – to learn black magic – has been the thing that got me out of the Lookout and into the company of someone who can save her.

Lorkin opened his eyes, saw that Tyvara was sitting beside the bed, and smiled.

“I thought you weren’t allowed to see me?”

Her eyes widened and snapped to his, and she leaned forward.

“How are you feeling?” she asked.

“Good. Better. Have you been sitting there all the time I was asleep?”

She shrugged and looked around the room. “Not much else to do.” Then she turned back and her lips twitched. “Better than watching a sewer.”

“I’m glad you think so.” He sat up and stretched, remembering just in time that he was naked under the bedcovers. Tyvara’s gaze dropped to his chest and her eyebrows rose.

She stood up and gestured to a chair, where a fresh set of trousers and tunic were draped. “You had better wash and get into those. The judgement of Kalia is about to begin, and you smell as bad as a sewer.”

She slipped out of the room, closing the door behind her. Getting out of bed, Lorkin found a large bowl of water and washing cloths in an alcove and made use of them. His abductors had provided him with a bucket, but had made no attempt to assist him in relieving himself, which had been difficult blindfolded and with hands bound behind his back. He wasn’t surprised that he stank.

He’d had only energy enough after his rescue and some food to peel his clothes off and collapse into the bed before falling asleep. Now he looked around, wondering where he was. The room was small and two chairs were the only other furniture apart from the bed.

Once dressed, he opened the door to the room and blinked in surprise. It opened onto a corridor, which was filled with people. Tyvara was standing beside the door, and hooked a hand under his arm as he emerged.

“Good timing,” she told him, guiding him to the right. People turned to watch him pass. Some looked friendly, others hostile. Kalia’s kidnapping of him was more than a mere scandal and, in the middle of winter with everyone stuck indoors most of the time, it would be attracting attention in a way it might not at other times.

It has probably created more division among the Traitors
, he thought.
I hope that doesn’t lead to worse problems for them, which become yet another thing they’ll blame me for.

Before long he and Tyvara reached the entrance to the Speakers’ Chamber. They passed through and were immediately pulled aside by a magician and asked to stand by the wall to one side of the lower section. Once in place, Lorkin looked around the room.

All of the Speakers were in their seats except for Kalia, who was standing on the opposite side of the room to Tyvara and Lorkin, flanked by two magicians. The rest of the room was crowded with people, all standing up, their voices combining into an intense chatter.

A bell rang out. Heads turned and the sound of voices dropped. Lorkin saw that Director Riaya was holding a bell much smaller than would normally have been needed to produce the sound. Those of the audience standing in the tiered part of the room began to sit down, while the rest retreated to the walls. When nearly all were settled, another person entered the room. At once almost complete silence descended, the last of those standing among the tiers sat down hastily, and the Speakers rose from their seats to greet the queen as she walked stiffly to her chair.

Before sitting down, Zarala turned to face her people. All placed their hands over their hearts. Lorkin followed suit. The queen bent into a nod toward the audience, then toward the Speakers, and then she sat down. The Speakers took their seats.

“We begin the judgement of Speaker Kalia, who is accused of abduction and forcibly reading the mind of a Traitor. I call forward Lorkin.”

All eyes turned to Lorkin as he walked forward and stopped before the Speakers.

“Tell us what happened to you.”

Lorkin told his tale from the point where he was pounced upon in the dark. He described waking to find himself bound, blindfolded and unable to call out mentally. Holding out his arms to show the cuts – Tyvara had told him not to Heal them away – he explained that his captors had kept him weak by draining him of power frequently.

He pushed aside reluctance to describe Kalia reading his mind, recalling how she had extracted knowledge of how to Heal with magic as well as searching through his memories for anything that might be used against him. This roused a muttering among the audience. He went on to tell them of Kalia’s intention to kill him and claim he’d left Sanctuary. This, strangely, caused the room to fall silent. He saw shock on many faces, but disbelief on others. He finished by relating how Tyvara and Savara had found them.

“You did not give or insinuate permission for anyone to take magic from you, or read your mind.”

“No.”

“Were you given food and drink?”

“No.”

“How many magicians watched over and drained you?”

“I don’t know. Two were always there, but I don’t know if they were the same two. They must have been working in shifts, as the draining continued through the nights.”

Riaya gave the Speakers a meaningful look, then turned back to him.

“Will you consent to a mind-read to prove your story?”

He considered the question. While the idea of having another person roaming about his memories sent a chill down his spine, he’d rather endure that than risk that Kalia might remain free and unpunished for her crimes. Every Traitor he let into his mind was another who would gain knowledge of Healing, but that knowledge was already stolen. Had Kalia passed it on? Perhaps she hadn’t had a chance to. But if she allowed a mind-read, the knowledge would be given to another anyway.

He could feel eyes on him.
Gain some time
, he told himself.
Make them try other ways of gaining the truth first.

“I will, but only if there is no other way,” he replied.

Riaya looked at the Speakers again. “Any further questions?”

The women shook their heads. Riaya nodded to Lorkin. “You may go.”

He walked back to stand beside Tyvara. She gave him a nod and a smile.

“I call upon Speaker Savara to tell her part in this.”

Savara stood. As she spoke, Lorkin learned that Evar had alerted her to his disappearance. She had investigated whether he had left Sanctuary and searched for him within it, but also arranged for any person who had been heard speaking against him recently to be followed. This led her to an abandoned cave near an unstable part of the city, where she found Kalia in the process of reading Lorkin’s mind.

The Director told Savara she could be seated, then turned to Kalia.

“Speaker Kalia, step forward and be judged.”

Kalia strode to the centre of the room and turned to face the Table. Her back was straight and her expression haughty.

“Is Lorkin’s account true?” Riaya asked.

Kalia paused and nodded. “Yes.”

“Are you innocent or guilty of abduction of a Traitor, and reading a Traitor’s mind against her or his will?”

“Guilty – if you consider him a Traitor, that is.”

Riaya folded her hands together. “Then there is no need to investigate the matter further.”

“May I address the people?” Kalia asked.

Riaya looked at the Speakers. The six women did not look surprised. They all nodded, some eagerly, some with resignation.

Kalia turned to face the audience. “My people, I felt driven to break our laws for your sakes. I have a duty, as your Carer and Healer, to ensure that when you come to the Care Room no harm is done to you. Recently Lorkin the Kyralian has taken to administering magical Healing, a skill he has refused to teach us. How could I be sure what he was doing was safe? That it would not do more harm than good? He claimed that it has limitations, but how can you or I know if this is true, should his magic ever harm or kill one of us?

“I have taken him in and given him occupation out of kindness to a newcomer. I have offered him all the lore and training that I and my predecessors have always shared. In return he has disobeyed and defied me, using untested magic without guidance or permission.

“If he refuses to follow Traitor custom, is he truly one of us? I say he is not. And if he is not a Traitor, then what I did was not unlawful. It was justified and necessary, in the defence of our people.”

Lorkin saw many thoughtful expressions among the audience. He looked at the Speakers, who were frowning.

“May I speak, Director?”

The voice was Savara’s. Kalia turned to stare at her enemy with narrowed eyes.

“You may, Speaker Savara,” Riaya replied. “Speaker Kalia, please leave the floor.”

Once again, Savara rose. Her mouth was set in a determined line. She waited until Kalia had returned to her former position, then lifted her chin.

“When Lorkin decided he would come to Sanctuary I had my doubts about him,” she began. “Why would a magician from a sophisticated, powerful nation sacrifice the wealth and power that he possessed and accept the restrictions we would put on him? He knew little about us. It was a great risk he took, trusting that we were a fair and good people.

“Why did he do it? To defend a Traitor. To save someone of a nation that was not even his, simply because it was the right thing to do. How many of us would do that?

“The secret of Healing is not his to give. If one of us were in the situation he is in, we would not expect to give away our secrets. We would expect our hosts to respect that, and not demand or steal them.”

Savara’s voice grew loud and stern. “This is not only a crime of an individual against another. This is an unlawful act of one nation against another. Kalia has not only stolen knowledge from Lorkin; the Traitors have stolen secrets from Kyralia, and the lands Kyralia is allied with – one which lies just over the mountains. Lands that are not our enemies, though they would be justified in considering us one after our treatment of Lorkin. Let’s hope that Kalia has not secured us a long future of hiding from lands on all sides, instead of just the rest of Sachaka.”