Why, of all places, did they have to send Akkarin to Sachaka?
He knew why. He knew, with a cold certainty, that the King hoped Akkarin would perish in Sachaka. Akkarin had broken one of the most serious Guild laws. No matter how much the King had liked the High Lord, he knew there was nothing more dangerous than a magician who would not obey laws, and was too powerful to control. If the Guild could not execute Akkarin, then they must send him to the only magicians who could: the Ichani.
Of course, the Ichani might not exist. If they didn't, the Guild was about to free a magician who had learned black magic willingly. He might come back, stronger than ever. That couldn't be helped, however.
If the Ichani did exist, it seemed foolish to send to his death the only magician who could tell them about their enemy. Akkarin wasn't the only one, though. There was Sonea.
That was where the King had misjudged the situation badly. He had assumed the ex-slum girl, who'd been guided and manipulated by more than one magician, would be easily swayed. Lorlen smiled wryly as he remembered her angry refusal.
"If you send High Lord Akkarin into exile, you must send me too. Then, when you come to your senses, he might still be alive and able to help you."
The King had been angry at her defiance. What do you expect? Lorlen had wanted to say. Loyalty? From one who once lived among those you drive out of the city during the Purge each year? Eventually the King had concluded that, if she would not accept the judgment of the Guild and her ruler, then perhaps exile was for the best.
Lorlen sighed and began pacing again. In truth, the Guild didn't need Sonea to tell them about the Ichani so long as he had Akkarin's ring... and Akkarin remained alive. But if Lorlen began relaying information from Akkarin to the rest of the Guild, he would eventually have to admit how he was receiving it. The ring was a tool of black magic. How would the Guild react to the news that their Administrator owned and continued to use such a thing?
I should throw it away, he thought. But he knew he wouldn't. He took out the ring and considered it, then slipped it on a finger.
- Akkarin? Are you there?
Nothing.
Lorlen had tried to contact Akkarin through the ring several times. Occasionally he thought he had detected a faint feeling of anger or fear, but had decided this was only his imagination. The silence tortured him. If it wasn't for Osen's mental reports on the journey, Lorlen might have worried that Akkarin was dead.
Lorlen finished his circuit of the room, then stepped behind his desk and collapsed into his chair. He removed the ring and put it back in his pocket. A moment later, there was a sharp knock on the door.
"Come in."
"A message from the King, my lord."
A servant entered, bowed, and placed a wooden cylinder on Lorlen's desk. The King's incal was imprinted on the stopper and the wax was dusted with gold powder.
"Thank you. You may go."
The servant bowed again, then retreated from the room. Lorlen broke the seal and pulled out a rolled sheet of paper.
So the King wants to talk about Sachaka, Lorlen mused as he read the formal script. He let the letter curl back into a roll, returned it to the cylinder and stowed it inside a box he kept for royal messages.
A meeting with the King was unexpectedly appealing. What he had longed for most was just to be able to do something. For too long he had been restrained and helpless to act. He stood up, then froze as he heard his name echo at the edge of his senses.
- Lorlen!
Osen. Lorlen sensed the minds of other magicians, attracted by the call, fade as they turned their attention away.
- Yes, Osen?
- It is done. Sonea and Akkarin are in Sachaka.
Lorlen felt his heart sink.
- Could you ask Fergun and the Captain if anyone in the Fort or surrounding locality has noticed anything unusual going on in Sachaka?
- I will ask and tell you his reply tomorrow. He has requested that some magicians remain here in case Akkarin and Sonea try to return.
- Did you explain that it would make no difference?
- No, I didn't want to make them more nervous than they already are.
Lorlen considered the Captain's request.
- I'll leave that decision to Balkan.
- I'll tell him. There was a pause. I must go. The image of a hall with a large open fire and magicians taking seats at a long dining table reached Lorlen's mind. He smiled.
- Enjoy your meal, Osen. Thank you for informing me.
- Thank you for informing me, another voice replied. Lorlen blinked in surprise.
- Who was that? Osen asked.
- I don't know, Lorlen replied. He thought back over their conversation and shivered. If someone was waiting over the border, ready to ambush visitors, then they now knew Akkarin and Sonea were on their way.
Then he considered what might have been discussed by magicians in the last few days and his heart sank even further. We've been fools, Lorlen thought. Not one of us has really considered what it might mean if Akkarin's story is true.
- Balkan, he called.
- Yes?
- Please tell your men that all mental communication must cease from this moment. I will inform the rest of the Guild.
As Osen and Balkan's presence withdrew, Lorlen drew Akkarin's ring out of his pocket. His hands shook as he slipped it over his finger.
- Akkarin?
But silence was his only reply.
21
A Dangerous Road
Ninth day of the fifth month
We were forced to stop this morning when we encountered a landslip that had blocked the road. The servants have spent the day digging, but I fear we will not move on until tomorrow. I have climbed to the top of a hill. The mountains are now a dark line across the horizon. Looking ahead, I see dusty hills continuing to the north. These wastelands seem endless. Now I understand why Kyralian merchants do not often trade with Sachaka. It is an impossible journey, and Riko tells me it is easier for the Sachakans to trade with lands in the northeast. And, of course, they distrust the Guild...
A knock at the door interrupted Rothen. He sighed, lowered the book and willed the door open. Dannyl stepped into the room, his brow creased with a frown.
"Dannyl," Rothen said, "would you like some sumi?"
Dannyl closed the door, walked to Rothen's chair, and stared down at him. "You volunteered to go to Sachaka?"
"Ah." Rothen closed the book and set it down on the table. "So they told you."
"Yes." Dannyl seemed to struggle for words. "I want to ask why, but I don't have to. You're going to look for Sonea, aren't you?"
Rothen shrugged. "In a way." He gestured to a seat. "Sit down. Even I feel uncomfortable when you're towering over me like that."
Dannyl sat down and stared across the table at Rothen.
"I'm surprised the Higher Magicians agreed. They must have realized finding Sonea might become more important to you than discovering if the Ichani exist."
Rothen smiled. "Yes, they did consider that. I told them that if there was a choice between saving Sonea and completing the mission, I would choose to save Sonea. They accepted that condition because I have a better chance of persuading her to return - and because I am not the only spy."
"Why didn't you tell me about this?"
"I only volunteered this morning."
"But you must have been thinking about it before then."
"Only since last night. After I watched you dealing with Garrel, I came to the conclusion that you don't really need my help." Rothen smiled. "My support, perhaps, but not my help. Sonea, however, does need my help. I've been unable to do anything for her for so long. Now I finally can."
Dannyl nodded, but he did not look happy. "What if Akkarin's story is true? What if you walk into a land ruled by black magicians? He said any Guild magician entering Sachaka would be killed."
Rothen sobered. It was going to be a dangerous mission. He was not a little frightened by the po
ssibility he would encounter the magicians Akkarin had described.
If the Ichani were not real, however, then Akkarin must have had a reason to invent them. Perhaps he'd done so simply to ensure the Guild allowed him to live. Perhaps it had been part of some greater deception. If that were so, he would be anxious to hide the truth. He might be the black magician who killed any Guild magician who entered Sachaka.
But surely he expected the Guild to investigate his claims. By telling them this story, he had ensured they would send spies into Sachaka. Rothen frowned. What if Akkarin had spun the tale so he could hunt down the magicians who entered Sachaka, kill them one by one for their strength?
"Rothen?"
Looking up, Rothen managed a wry smile. "I know it's going to be dangerous, Dannyl. We're not going to blunder into Sachaka wearing robes and flaunting our magical abilities. We'll do everything we can to remain unnoticed." He pointed to the book. "Every record of journeys into Sachaka has been copied for us to study. We'll be questioning merchants and their servants. We're going to be trained by a professional spy, sent by the King, who will teach us to speak and behave like commoners."
A reluctant smile pulled at Dannyl's mouth. "Sonea would find that amusing."
Rothen felt a familiar pang of grief. "Yes. She would have, once." He sighed. "Well then, tell me about your meeting with the Higher Magicians. Did they ask any awkward questions?"
Dannyl blinked at the change of subject. "A few. I don't think they approve of Tayend, but that was no surprise."
"No," Rothen agreed. He considered Dannyl closely. "But you approve of him."
"He is a good friend." Dannyl met Rothen's gaze. There was a hint of defiance in his expression. "Will I be expected to avoid him now?"
Rothen shrugged. "You know what the gossips will say if you don't. But you can't let gossips run your life, and Elyne is Elyne. Everyone knows the social rules are different there."
Dannyl's eyebrows rose slightly. "Yes. What may be considered prudent here would be considered rude there."
"Now, did you want a cup of sumi?"
Dannyl smiled and nodded. "Yes, thank you."
Standing up, Rothen took a step toward the cabinet where the sumi cups and leaves were kept, then froze.
- All magicians, listen to me!
Rothen blinked in surprise at Lorlen's mental voice.
- All mental communication must cease from now on, unless in an emergency. If you are unable to avoid conversing in this way, be mindful of what you reveal. If you hear another magician communicating mentally, please inform him or her of this restriction.
"Well," Dannyl said after a moment. "I hate to say it, considering what you've set out to do, but every day I grow more worried."
"Of what?"
"That what Akkarin told us is the truth."
As Cery refilled Savara's glass, she stiffened and stared into the distance.
"What is it?" he asked.
She blinked. "Your Guild has made its first good decision."
"Oh?"
She smiled. "Orders to stop speaking mind to mind."
Cery topped up his glass. "Will that do them much good?"
"It might have, had they done it a week ago." She shrugged and picked up her glass. "But it is good the Ichani won't learn about the Guild's plans now."
"You won't either."
She shrugged. "No. But that does not matter any more."
Cery considered her. She had found a gloriously well-fitted dress somewhere, made of fine, soft material dyed a rich purple. The color complemented her skin. Her eyes, when she looked at him, seemed to glow with a rich golden warmth.
But those eyes were downcast now, and her expressive mouth set in a thin line.
"Savara—"
"Do not ask me to stay." She looked up and fixed him with a direct stare. "I must go. I must obey my people."
"I just—"
"I cannot stay." She rose and began pacing the room. "I wish I could. Would you leave and go to my land with me, knowing what your country will face? No. You have your own people to protect. I have—"
"Hai! Let me get a word in!"
She stopped and gave him a rueful smile. "I am sorry. Go on, then."
"I was just going to tell you that I get what you're saying. I'd rather you stayed, but I won't stop you going." He smiled wryly. "I'd wager I'd never have a chance of stopping you anyway."
Her eyebrows rose. She gestured to the table. "But you invited me to dinner so you could try to talk me into it."
He shook his head. "I just wanted to thank you for your help - and I had to make up for not giving you the chance to do one of these slaves."
She gave a little pout. "That would take more than a meal."
He chuckled. "Really? Hmmm, we Thieves don't like to break a deal, you know. Would you forgive me if I made up for it another way?"
Her eyes flashed and her smile became sly. "Oh, I will think of something." She walked to him, bent forward and kissed him. "Hmmm, that gives me an idea or two."
He smiled, caught her waist and pulled her down so she was sitting across his knees. "Are you sure I can't talk you into staying?" he asked quietly.
She tilted her head to the side and considered. "Perhaps just one more night."
The road into Sachaka was dark and silent. Akkarin had spoken only once, to caution Sonea against making a light or speaking any louder than a murmur. Since then the only sound had been the echo of their footsteps, and the distant howl of the wind somewhere far above.
She looked down at her boots, the only items left of her novice uniform. Would the Ichani recognize them? She considered asking Akkarin if she should discard them, but the idea of walking without any shoes in this cold and rocky terrain was unappealing.
As her eyes had adjusted to the dark, she had begun to make out more of the road ahead. Two vertical walls of rock hung on either side, curving and folding like heavy drapes. Looking up, she saw that they stretched several hundred paces toward the sky, but were growing steadily shorter.
After several turns, the wall on the left ended abruptly. A great dark expanse came into view. They stopped and stared at the land below.
A black, endless darkness spread from the foot of the mountains to a glow at the horizon. As Sonea watched, the glow began to brighten. A sliver of white appeared and began to swell upward. Light flooded across the land as the moon - no longer quite full - slowly escaped the horizon. Sonea sucked in a breath. The mountains now shone like jagged lumps of silver. Ridges clawed down into the plain below like thick tree roots. Where rock ended, a treeless, desolate land began. In places, water from the mountain had eroded the soil, creating branched and twisted fissures that stretched toward the horizon. Farther away, she could see strange crescent-shaped hills, like the ripples in a pond frozen in time.
This was the wasteland of Sachaka.
She felt a hand grasp her arm. Surprised, she let Akkarin pull her back into the shadow of the wall.
"We might be seen," he murmured. "We must leave the road."
Looking ahead, she could not see how that was possible. The road curved to the right, cut into the face of the mountain. Steep, almost vertical walls of rock rose on either side.
Akkarin's hand was still around her arm. She realized her heart was beating quickly, and not entirely from fear. His attention was on the cliff above, however.
"We can only hope there aren't watchers up there," he said.
He let her go, and strode back up the road. Sonea followed. When they had reached a point where the left-hand wall shadowed most of the right, he spun about and took hold of her shoulders.
Guessing what he was going to do, Sonea braced her legs. Sure enough, they began to rise upward, supported by a disk of magic below their feet. She made herself look away, suddenly too conscious of how close Akkarin was.
He stopped their ascent near the top so he could peer over the lip of the wall. Satisfied that the area was safe, he levitated them over the edge and s
et them down on the stony surface.
Sonea looked around in dismay. The slope was not as precipitous as the rock wall below, but it was still frighteningly steep. Cracks and jagged outcrops broke the surface, and in other places the ground was so smooth she could not see how they could walk across it without sliding off the mountain. How could they navigate this, when all they had to light the way was the moon?
Akkarin started forward and began picking his way across the slope. Sonea drew in a deep breath, then followed. From then on, climbing over or around outcrops, leaping over crevasses and keeping her balance on the treacherous slope occupied her mind. She lost all sense of the time passing. It was easier to just follow Akkarin, and think only of making it past the next obstruction.
The moon had risen much higher in the sky, and she had Healed the weary muscles in her legs several times, when Akkarin finally stopped at the crest of a ridge. She assumed at first that he had encountered a particularly large crevasse or some other difficulty on the other side, but when she looked up at him, he was staring back over her shoulder.
Abruptly, he grabbed her arms and pulled her into a crouch. Her heart skipped.
"Keep low," he said urgently. He glanced behind. "We might be visible against the sky."
She squatted beside him, her pulse racing. He stared back the way they had come, then pointed back across the rugged slope they had crossed. She searched for something new. Finding nothing, she shook her head.
"Where?"
"He's behind that rock shaped like a mullook," he murmured. "Wait a moment... there."
She saw a movement perhaps five or six hundred paces away - a shifting shadow. It leapt and strode along the mountain slope with practiced surety.
"Who is he?"
"One of Kariko's allies, no doubt," Akkarin muttered.
An Ichani, Sonea thought. So soon. We can't face one yet. Akkarin's not strong enough. Her heart was beating too quickly and she felt ill with fear.
"We must move fast now," Akkarin said. "He is an hour behind us. We need to increase that distance."
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