Angel of Storms (Millennium's Rule, #2)(105)

“I’m sorry, Hapre. Your role requires you to stay put,” Tyen said. “But… could you explain to Baluka what he needs to know?”

“Of course.” She glanced at Baluka and moved towards the door. “Come with me, Traveller.”

“I will keep watch for the minds of allies arriving in the local area,” Tyen finished.

He waited until they all had left, then peered behind the heavy cloth window covering to the moonlit street beyond. Revellers roamed up and down the pavement. Some carried lamps and staggered, arm in arm and laughing. Some walked with shoulders hunched, silent and hurried. The room was tiny and shabby, but being in the midst of a poorer quarter of a city, plenty of minds, dreaming and awake, provided ample background for the rebels to be lost within. Unfortunately, it also made it difficult for him to spot allies among the thousands. It was possible they, learning from Inekera that he had been in the canal city, were hoping he and other rebels were still here.

Tyen scanned the area for enemy minds, then once satisfied that no allies were nearby, he took a deep breath and slipped a little way out of the world. The noises of the city faded to a muffled clatter.

Vella, he said.

“Tyen.”

Can you see any flaws in our plans?

“Only the risks that you are already aware of.”

Do you know what the Travellers exchanged with the Raen for permission to travel between worlds?

“No. The agreement was made after I was entombed in your world, and I have not touched anyone with that knowledge since you unearthed me.”

I wonder who might know. Aside from the Raen, of course.

“Perhaps one or some of the allies do.”

I can’t leave to chase one of them down and if the rebels defeat another I doubt they’ll let him or her live long enough to be questioned. But perhaps when we’re settled in a new world I could go out and find one.

“That would be dangerous.”

Yes, but I have to do something.

“You want a distraction, so your mind doesn’t keep returning to thoughts of Yira.”

He sighed. I’d have thought I’d be past the grief by now.

“It takes longer than you expect.”

And I suppose I don’t want to be over it. That would be too much like forgetting her.

A faint sound reached him. He returned to the world to hear a tapping from the door. Seeking the mind beyond, he found Hapre hoping to talk to him–and to escape the Travellers’ relentless questions.

“Come in,” he called.

“How is our most recent recruit?” Tyen asked when the door had closed behind her.

She let out a short breath. “I tried to tell him about the attack on Preketai, but he kept interrupting.” But not out of disinterest in her tale, she admitted to herself. He’d asked smart questions about strategy and how much the rebels knew about the Raen. “He wants to know if we know where the Raen lives. Do we?”

“No.”

Hapre clicked her tongue, as she did when mulling over a piece of information. “Are you sure? It’s possible one of us does, but never thought of it while you were around.”

“Possible but unlikely. Something like that would be foremost in their thoughts.”

She clicked her tongue again. “I wonder if the allies even know.”

Tyen opened his mouth to voice his earlier idea of capturing and questioning an ally, then quickly closed it again. He wasn’t supposed to be encouraging the rebels to attack anyone. Sometimes it was too easy to forget that he was a spy, not a rebel.

“If you don’t mind, I’ll start investigating once we’re settled again,” she said.

“I don’t mind. Just be careful,” Tyen replied.

“I will.” She paused. “Can I…?”

Tyen grimaced. “Yes, send him in. I’d like to know his reasons for joining us.”

“Thanks.”

Sitting down in the only chair in the room, he listened to the noises of the city. At the end of the street a woman was laughing hysterically. Groans were coming from somewhere closer, in the direction of the brothel, but he resisted the temptation to seek out the mind behind them. The cause could be good or bad, and both disturbing and distracting either way. Instead he scanned the minds in the local area for signs of the Raen’s allies again.

A knock came from the door. He opened it with magic. A faint light etched the outline of a young man with curly hair, hesitating on the threshold.

“I guess I didn’t even consider there might be a hierarchy,” Baluka was thinking. “I don’t know if I like their… no, don’t think about that.”

“Come in, Baluka,” Tyen said.

The Traveller entered, stopping a few steps inside the door.

“You have some questions,” Tyen said. “And so have I. For a start, I want to know why you sought us out.”

At once a face appeared in the man’s memory. A woman of striking beauty. Tyen almost smiled. He’d learned that, most of the time, the difference between a beautiful and merely good-looking face existed only in the mind of the admirer. The depth of feeling behind a lover’s recollection would make anyone’s face glow with magical enchantment.

But then another, familiar face replaced the woman’s, and Tyen’s amusement evaporated as he realised Baluka had seen the Raen–and recently.