The Ambassador's Mission

Lorkin sighed. Perhaps he was being too optimistic, thinking that one day the Traitors would ally themselves with the Guild and the Allied Lands, and he would regain his freedom. Maybe it was wishful thinking.

Yet the Traitors were much better people than those that ruled the rest of Sachaka. They hated slavery, for a start. They counted all as equals, men and women, magicians and non-magicians.

They also had an incredible amount of influence over the country through their spies. He had to admit, the possibility of them taking over Sachaka one day was appealing. He had no doubt the first thing they would do is abolish slavery. He doubted they’d give up black magic, though. Still, it would be a big step toward Sachaka becoming one of the Allied Lands.

How can I give up and go back to Arvice, after all I’ve seen there? The slaves, the awful hierarchy based on inheritance and black magic. The Traitors’ society can’t be worse than that.

So many reasons to go to Sanctuary. So few to go back to Arvice.

He hadn’t realised he’d stood up until he found himself on his feet. The feeling of determination and decisiveness was exhilarating. He stepped past dozing women and walked to where Savara leaned against the rock wall, her eyes closed.

“I’ll come to Sanctuary,” he told her, guessing that she wasn’t asleep.

Her eyes flew open and snapped to his. She stared at him, her gaze disconcertingly intelligent. He found himself thinking that she must have been quite a beauty in her youth.

“Good,” she said.

“But you’re going to have to let me deal with Ambassador Dannyl,” he added. “He’s not going to give up. If you’d met my mother you’d understand why. Eventually he’ll either find Sanctuary or you’ll have to kill him. I rather like him, and would appreciate you not killing him. And if you did, there would probably be consequences that would not be good for the Traitors.”

“How will you persuade him to stop following you?”

He smiled grimly. “I know what to say to him. I’ll need to speak to him alone, though.”

“I doubt the Ashaki will let you go, if they see you.”

“We’ll have to lure him away from them.”

She frowned as she considered this. “I think we can arrange that.”

“Thank you.”

“Go sleep. We’ll have to let them catch up with us again, so we may as well get some rest in the meantime.”

He walked back to his mattress and found Tyvara sitting up, glaring at him.

“What?” he asked.

“You had better not be thinking there is more between you and I than there actually is, Kyralian,” she said in a low voice.

He stared at her, feeling doubts starting to creep in. She stared back, then abruptly turned away and lay down with her back to him. He settled onto his mattress, feeling worry starting to eat at him.

Perhaps this is a one-sided thing …

“Don’t worry,” Chari whispered. “She always does this. The more she likes someone the more she pushes them away.”

“Shut up, Chari,” Tyvara hissed.

Lying on the hard ground, Lorkin knew that sleep was going to be impossible. It was going to be a very long day. And he was beginning to wonder if there might be a significant downside to living in a city of women like these.

As Regin related the final stages of the Ichani Invasion, Sonea cursed Cery again and tried not to listen. After leaving the Guild, she and the Healer who had brought the message had hurried to the hospice by carriage.

So many hours have passed since then, it feels like something that happened yesterday.

There had been a delay, she remembered. A Healer new to the hospice had pinned her down with questions about protocol. Sonea had told the man that he could ask such questions of any Healer there, and some of the helpers, but he didn’t seem to trust them. By the time Sonea extracted herself, Regin was there, waiting for her.

He arrived in a covered cart used to transport supplies to his family home. She had felt strangely out of place, riding in the back of an old cart, the both of them using empty crates as seats. But it was a smart move. They would attract too much attention if they arrived in a Guild carriage.

He’d also brought some threadbare old coats to wear over their robes. For that she was immensely grateful, and a little ashamed that she hadn’t considered how they were going to disguise themselves.

Well, I had a lot on my mind. A lot more than Regin knows. And while Cery knows about Lorkin’s abduction, I haven’t had a chance to tell him that Dannyl is in the midst of tracking Lorkin down right now.