From behind them came the faint, distant squeak of a door. Akkarin spun about.
"It's her."
"How do you—"
"Morren would have stopped anyone else." He snapped the shutter of the lamp mostly shut and looked quickly around the room. "No other way out," he muttered. He lifted the corner of the sacking covering the alcove. "Can you fit in there?"
She didn't bother replying. Turning, she sat on the edge of the alcove and pushed herself backward. As she folded her legs into the small space, Akkarin let the sacking fall and pressed the boards back into place.
Complete darkness followed. The pounding of her heart was loud in the silence. Then Sonea suddenly found herself staring at lines of bright stars.
"You again," a woman said in a strangely accented voice. "I wondered when you would give me another chance to kill you."
The stars brightened and Sonea felt the vibration of magic. Realizing that the points of light were holes in the mud-soaked sacking, Sonea leaned forward, hoping to see into the room beyond.
"You came prepared," the woman observed.
"Of course," Akkarin said.
"I have, too," she said. "Your dirty city is a bit smaller now. And your Guild will soon be another man less."
In one place, where the dried mud coating the sacking was thin and crumbling, Sonea could see moving shapes illuminated by flashes of light. She scratched at the sacking to unclog more of the cloth's rough weave.
"What will your Guild think when its ruler is found dead? Will they work out what killed him? I think not."
Sonea could make out a figure now. A woman in a dull-colored shirt and trousers stood on one side of the room. Sonea couldn't see Akkarin, however. She continued scratching at the mud coating of the sacking, trying to get a better view. How was she going to learn anything about fighting these spies, if she couldn't see the battle?
"They won't know what's hunting them," the Sachakan continued. "I was thinking of walking in and taking them all at once, but now I think it'll be more fun to lure them out and kill them one by one."
"I recommend the latter," Akkarin replied. "You'll not get far, otherwise."
The woman laughed. "Won't I?" she sneered. "But I know Kariko is right. Your Guild doesn't know higher magic. They are weak and stupid - so stupid that you must hide from them what you know or they would kill you."
The room flared with light as strikes pounded at the woman's shield. The woman responded in kind. A creaking sound came from above. Sonea saw the woman glance up, then step sideways, toward the alcove.
"Just because we do not abuse our knowledge of magic, does not mean we are ignorant," Akkarin said calmly. He moved into sight, maintaining a position opposite the woman.
"But I have seen the truth in the minds of your people," the woman replied. "I know this is why you chase me alone - why you cannot let anyone see us fighting. Let them see this, then."
Suddenly the room filled with the deafening crack of splintering wood. A shower of wooden beams and roofing tiles fell down from the roof, filling the air with dust. The woman laughed and moved closer to the alcove and Sonea.
Then she stopped as another fall sent rubble down blocking her path. The Sachakan was suddenly thrown back against the side wall. Sonea felt the impact of Akkarin's forcestrike through the floor of the alcove, and a shower of dirt pattered onto her back.
The woman pushed herself away from the wall, snarled something, then strode toward the rubble... and through it. Sonea blinked in surprise as she realized it had been an illusion, then her heart skipped as she saw that the woman was walking straight toward her.
Akkarin attacked, forcing the woman to slow. As the woman stopped in front of her hidden store, Sonea found herself facing Akkarin's attack. Disturbed, she hastily put up a strong shield around herself.
The room vibrated as the two magicians struck at each other. More dirt trickled down Sonea's back. Reaching up, she felt the beams holding up the roof of the alcove beginning to split and sag. Alarmed, she expanded her shield to give them support.
A laugh brought her attention back to the room. Peering through the sacking, she saw that Akkarin was backing away. His strikes didn't seem to be as strong. He took a sideways step toward the door.
He's losing strength, she realized suddenly. Her stomach sank as he edged closer to the door.
"You're not getting away from me this time," the woman said.
A barrier filled the doorway. Akkarin's expression darkened. The woman seemed to grow straighter and taller. Instead of advancing, she took a few steps backward and turned toward Sonea.
Watching Akkarin, Sonea saw his expression change to dismay and alarm. The woman reached out toward the alcove, then stopped as he threw a powerful strike at her.
He was faking, Sonea thought suddenly. He was trying to draw her away from me. But instead of following him, the woman had approached the alcove. Why? Does she know I'm here? Or is it something else?
Feeling around, Sonea found the bundle of cloth. Even in the dark she could tell that the material was of good quality.
She created a tiny, faint globe light. Unravelling the bundle, Sonea saw that it was a woman's shawl. As she lifted it, a small object fell out of the folds. A silver ring.
She picked it up. It was a man's ring, the kind that the elders of a House wore to indicate their status. A flat square on one side of it bore the incal of House Saril.
Then the alcove exploded into a storm of dirt and noise.
Sonea felt herself thrown backward. Curling into a ball, she concentrated on holding her shield around her. The weight pushing down on it increased, then became constant.
Then all was still. Opening her eyes, she created another tiny globe light. All about her was earth. Her shield was holding it back, forming a spherical hollow around her. She uncurled, rolled into a crouch and considered her situation.
She was buried. Though she could hold the shield for some time, the air within it would not last long. It would not be hard to push her way out. Once she did, however, she would no longer be hidden.
So I should stay here as long as possible, she decided. I won't get to see any more of the fight, but that can't be helped.
Thinking back on what she'd witnessed, she shook her head. The battle had been nothing like Akkarin had predicted. The woman was stronger than the usual spy. Her attitude was not like that of a slave, and she had referred to the Ichani as "us" not "my masters," as the previous spy had. She was skilled in fighting. The former slaves sent into Kyralia had no time to gain any fighting skills.
If this woman was no slave, then, there was only one other thing she could be.
Ichani.
Sonea's stomach clenched at the realization. Akkarin was fighting an Ichani. She concentrated and found she could feel the vibration of their magic somewhere near. The battle was still raging.
The pressure on her shield began to ease. Looking up, she saw a small hole appear where the soil was falling away from her shield. As she watched, it enlarged as more dirt slipped away.
A view of the room began to emerge. She straightened, and caught her breath in horror. The Sachakan woman was standing only a few steps away.
Alarmed, Sonea reduced the size of her shield, but this only sent the dirt cascading down faster. As it did, Akkarin came into view. His eyes flickered to hers once, but his expression did not change. He started to move forward.
Sonea crouched within her shield, helplessly watching the Sachakan woman's back as the dirt continued to fall away. She dared not move in case the woman heard something and turned around. The Sachakan took a step backward as Akkarin drew closer. Her body was stiff with concentration.
Sonea felt Akkarin's magic brush her shield as he encircled the woman with a barrier and tried to drag her forward. But the woman broke his hold and took another step back. As her shield drew closer, Sonea pulled her own inward to avoid contact. The woman's shield now buzzed within a hand's span of Sonea. Another step, and
the woman would discover her.
If she detects me, Sonea thought. If I stop shielding, her shield might slide over me without her noticing.
The woman's shield was a globe, which was the easiest shape to hold. A globe-shaped shield protected a magician's feet by dipping under the ground a little, but for a shield to be strong enough to hold back a subterranean attack, it couldn't move through the ground. All novices learned to weaken the part of their shield that overlapped an obstacle or the ground as they moved, then strengthen it as soon as they were still again.
If this woman had the same habit, she might allow her shield to slide over Sonea - thinking Sonea was merely an obstacle - when she moved back again.
But she will notice. She will sense my presence.
Sonea caught her breath. But I'll be inside her shield! For a moment, before she realizes what has happened, she'll be defenseless. I just need something to...
Sonea's eyes slid to the ground. A sliver of wood from the alcove lay half buried nearby. As she contemplated what she intended to do, her heart raced even faster. She drew in a deep, quiet breath and waited for the woman to step backward again. She did not have to wait long.
As the shield passed over her, Sonea grabbed the piece of wood, stood up and slashed it across the back of the woman's neck. The woman began to turn, but Sonea had anticipated that. She pressed her other hand against the wound and focused all her will into drawing energy into herself as fast as she could.
The woman's eyes widened in horrified realization. Her shield disappeared and her knees buckled. Sonea nearly lost her grip, and quickly wound her free arm around the woman's waist. The Sachakan was too heavy, however, and Sonea let the woman sink to the ground.
Power rushed into Sonea, then abruptly stopped. She drew her hand away and the woman fell onto her back. The Sachakan's eyes stared blankly at nothing.
Dead. A wave of relief washed over Sonea. It worked, she thought. It actually worked.
Then she looked at her hand. In the moonlight spilling through the ruined roof the blood covering her palm looked black. A cold horror rushed over her. She staggered to her feet.
I have just killed someone with black magic.
Suddenly dizzy, she stumbled backward. She knew she was breathing too fast, but couldn't seem to stop herself. Hands gripped her shoulders and stopped her falling.
"Sonea," a voice said, "take a deep breath. Hold it. Let it out."
Akkarin. She tried to do as he said. It took a few attempts. From somewhere he produced a cloth and wiped her hand.
"It's not pleasant, is it?"
She shook her head.
"It shouldn't be."
She shook her head again. Her mind spun with contradictory thoughts.
She would have killed me. If I hadn't. She would have killed others. So why does it feel so horrible to know I've done this?
Perhaps because it makes me just that little bit more like them.
What if there are no spies to kill, and Takan isn't enough, and I have to look for other ways to strengthen myself to fight the Ichani? Will I start haunting the streets, killing the odd thug or mugger? Will I use the defense of Kyralia to justify preying on the innocent?
Sonea shook her head at the bewildering mixture of emotions she felt. She had never felt such doubt before.
"Look at me, Sonea."
He turned her around. She reluctantly met his gaze. He reached out and she felt him gently tug something from her hair. A piece of the sacking fell from his hand to the ground.
"It is not an easy choice, the one you've made," he said, "but you will learn to trust yourself." He looked up. Following his gaze, she saw that the full moon hung in the middle of the gap in the roof.
The Eye, Sonea thought. It's open. Either it allowed me to do this because it was not evil, or I'm going to sink into madness.
But I don't believe in silly superstitions, she reminded herself.
"We must get away from here quickly," he said. "The Thieves will take care of the body."
Sonea nodded. As Akkarin moved away she reached up to smooth her hair. Her scalp tingled where he had touched her. Keeping her eyes averted from the body of the dead woman, she followed him out of the room.
14
The Witness
Something was pressing gently against Cery's back. Something warm. A hand.
Savara's hand, he realized.
Her touch brought him back to the present. He realized he had been in a daze. At the moment Sonea had killed the Sachakan woman, the world had tilted and spun around him. Since then he had been aware of nothing but the thought of what she had done.
Well, almost nothing. Savara had said something. He frowned. Something about Akkarin having an apprentice. He turned to look at the woman at his side.
She smiled crookedly. "Aren't you going to thank me?"
He looked down. They were sitting on a section of the roof that was still intact. The top of the Hole had seemed a good place to watch the battle from. The roof was made of scraps of wood and the occasional patch of cracked tiles, leaving plenty of gaps. As long as they kept their weight on the beams, they were fairly safe.
Unfortunately, neither Cery nor Savara had considered the possibility that the combatants might knock their perch out from under them.
As the roof had collapsed, however, something had prevented Cery from falling. Before he could grasp how it was possible that he and Savara could be floating in the air, they had moved to the remaining area of roof, out of sight of the fighters below.
Everything about Savara now suddenly made sense: how she knew when a new murderer arrived, how she knew so much about the people the High Lord was fighting, and why she was so confident she could kill these murderers herself.
"So, when were you going to tell me?" he asked.
She shrugged. "When you trusted me enough. I might have ended up like her if I had told you at the start." She looked down at the corpse Gol and his assistants were dragging away.
"You still might," he said. "It is getting hard to tell the difference between you Sachakans."
Her eyes flashed with anger, but her voice was calm as she replied.
"Not all magicians in my country are like the Ichani, Thief. Our society has many groups... factions..." She shook her head in frustration. "You do not have a word that quite suits. The Ichani are outcasts, sent into the wasteland as punishment. They are the worst of my country. Do not judge us all by them.
"My own people have always feared the Ichani would band together one day, but we have no influence over the King, and cannot persuade him to stop this tradition of banishment to the wastes as punishment. We have watched them for many hundreds of years, and killed those most likely to control others. We have tried to prevent what is happening here, but we must be careful not to show our hand, as many in Sachaka need only a small excuse to attack us."
"What is happening here?"
She hesitated. "I'm not sure how much I may tell you." To Cery's amusement, she began chewing her lip like a child questioned by its parent. At his chuckle, she looked at him and frowned. "What?"
"You don't seem the sort to ask for anyone's say so."
She returned his gaze steadily, then looked down. Following her gaze, Cery saw that Gol and the body were gone.
"You did not expect to see her, did you?" she said softly. "Does it disturb you, to see your lost love kill another?"
He stared at her, suddenly uncomfortable. "How did you know that?"
She smiled. "It is in your face, when you see her or talk of her."
He looked down at the room. An image of Sonea leaping at the woman flashed through his mind. Her face had been set with determination. She really had come a long way from the uncertain girl who had been so dismayed to discover she had magical abilities.
Then he remembered how the expression on her face had changed when Akkarin had brushed something out of her hair.
"It was a childhood crush," he told Savara. "I've known for a lo
ng time that she's not for me."
"No, you have not," she said, setting the roof creaking as she shifted her weight. "You only learned that tonight."
He turned back to face her. "How can you—"
To his surprise, she had edged closer. As he turned to face her she put a hand behind his head, pulled him nearer and kissed him.
Her lips were warm and strong. He felt heat rush through his body. Reaching out, he tried to pull her closer, but the piece of wood he was sitting on slid sideways and he felt himself losing his balance. Their lips parted as he began to fall backward.
Something steadied him. He recognized the touch of magic. Savara smiled mischievously, leaned forward and grabbed his shirt. She dropped her shoulder to the roof and pulled him over her, and the supports creaked alarmingly as they rolled farther away from the damaged area. When they stopped, she was lying on top of him. She smiled - the breathtakingly sensual smile that always set his pulse racing.
"Well," he said. "This is nice."
She laughed quietly, then bent to kiss him again. He hesitated only a moment, as a feeling, like a premonition, touched the edge of his thoughts.
The day Sonea discovered her magic, she belonged somewhere else. Savara has magic, too. And she already belongs somewhere else...
But right now, he didn't care.
Lorlen frowned and blinked open his eyes. His bedroom was mostly dark. The light of the full moon set his window screens glowing faintly, making the gold Guild symbols appear as stark black shapes on the fine paper.
Then he realized why he was awake. Someone was hammering on his door.
What time is it? Sitting up, he massaged his eyes in an attempt to rub away sleepiness. The hammering continued. He sighed, rose and staggered out of his bedroom to the main door of his rooms.
Lord Osen stood outside, looking dishevelled and frantic.
"Administrator," he whispered. "Lord Jolen and his family have been murdered."
Lorlen stared at his assistant. Lord Jolen. One of the Healers. A young man, recently married. Murdered?
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