The Traitor Queen (The Traitor Spy Trilogy #3)(148)
“A message arrived. The king has summoned the Higher Magicians to the palace.”
She swung her legs down to the floor and stood up. “When?”
“Not so soon that I haven’t time for this.” He drew her close and kissed her.
“Hmm.” She slipped her arms around him as he began to pull away again. “Time enough for anything more?”
“Not now. The king did me a favour. I shouldn’t repay him by making you late.” He pushed her towards the clothes cupboard, then got back into the bed.
Sonea dressed quickly, and gulped a few more mouthfuls of raka before slipping out of Regin’s rooms. Moving in with him had been her way of stopping the rumours that she and Regin were lovers. It wasn’t a rumour any more when it was an obvious fact. She was sure Lilia was enjoying having rooms all to herself. Anyi visited now and then with Jonna’s help, disguised as a servant. The Guild had finally removed the problem of the underground tunnels by having them filled in. Though she checked on Lilia regularly and monitored her progress, it was more out of concern that Lilia wasn’t completely recovered from everything that had happened to her.
After all, she killed someone with black magic. That isn’t as easy to live with as most would think, even when your victim was a bad person.
A door opened further down the corridor. Recognising Lady Indria, Lord Telano’s replacement, Sonea waited for the woman to catch up.
“Any idea what this is about?” Indria asked.
“Not yet.” Sonea smiled. “How are you settling in to your new role?”
Indria shrugged. “It’s both harder and easier than I expected. I’ve been teaching for years, so I understand teachers’ complaints and needs. But there are so many records I didn’t have to deal with before.”
Sonea chuckled. “Yes. The only advice I can give is that you get yourself an assistant or three.”
“I will.” As they stepped out of the Magicians’ Quarters, Indria glanced around. “It doesn’t help that Telano left everything in such a mess,” she added in a low voice. “I guess he stopped caring. Have you got any closer to finding a cure for roet?”
Sonea shook her head. “No.”
Indria sighed. “These things take time. How are the hospices?”
“Full of addicts in withdrawal. Some responding to Healing, some not. Thankfully, those magicians resistant to roet have automatically healed, so we only have to deal with the forty or so who can’t.”
They discussed the ongoing roet problem as they walked through the garden. Reaching the front of the University, they saw Osen, Balkan and Kallen standing beside a carriage, and another carriage waiting behind. Osen looked up, saw them and beckoned.
“There’s room for you in here Lady Indria,” Osen said. “The rest have gone ahead. We’ll take the other.”
As Indria climbed inside, Osen led the way to the second carriage. Once they were all inside and the carriage began moving, Sonea looked at Osen and raised her eyebrows. He met her gaze and shook his head.
“No, I don’t know exactly what this is about, but the King’s Adviser assured me there is no invasion and Lorkin is fine.”
Sonea smiled. They’re afraid I’ll go rushing back to Sachaka at the slightest sign of trouble. Still, it is good to know this isn’t anything to do with him.
“Have you read Dannyl’s research notes yet?” Kallen asked the Administrator.
“I’m halfway through.” Osen’s eyebrows rose. “They’re actually rather fascinating, especially the Duna’s stories. I’m looking forward to reading the whole book, once he finishes and prints it.”
“He’ll have to write a new chapter on the Sachakan Civil War and magical gemstones first,” Kallen said.
“And I have a feeling there’ll be another chapter to add after that,” Balkan added.
Osen’s eyes narrowed at the High Lord. “Are you still worried about minestrike and that contraption the king’s spy says they have in Igra?”
“The ballshooter.” Balkan nodded. “Dargin thinks it is what enabled the Igrese priests to conquer all their neighbouring lands.”
“More likely the Igrese magicians weren’t very powerful or skilled,” Osen replied. “I can’t see how a ball sent through a tube can threaten a magician, if he or she is shielding well enough.”
“I suspect it works much like Lilia’s innovative idea of stabbing with magic rather than using a knife when performing black magic. A focused force sent quickly enough will overcome all but the strongest shield.”
“The spy said there’s little chance an Igrese army would survive a desert crossing,” Kallen reminded him. “And we know they do not have black magic or gemstones.”
As Balkan shook his head, Osen turned to the window and rolled his eyes. “It’s not the Igrese I’m worried about,” Balkan said. “The minefire the Thief Cery used was unlike the usual—”
“We’ll have to leave that argument to another time,” Osen said, turning back from the window. “We’ve arrived.”
The carriage slowed to a stop, and the door opened. Osen gave a little sigh of relief as Balkan stepped out. He, Kallen and Sonea followed. They were in a small courtyard within the palace where magicians were taken when the king wanted to avoid the delay of formal greetings. The other carriage was pulling away and the occupants had already disappeared inside.