The Traitor Queen (The Traitor Spy Trilogy #3)(15)

“Next time you won’t get away,” Gol said. “We were lucky this time. I’ve been lying here trying to decide who told Skellin’s people you were at Cadia’s house. Who betrayed us? Did they have any choice? You can’t stop Skellin blackmailing and bribing your own people. He’s got too many allies, too much money. You’ve already …”

“… already lost your own territory,” Cery finished. He felt bitterness rising. But it was an emotion too familiar and worn out to do more than make him feel tired. It had crept in after Selia and the boys had been murdered, and he had grown used to it.

“Let them think you’re dead. Maybe Skellin will get smug, let his guard down. Maybe with nobody else fighting him, other people will try. Maybe they’ll set him up. Betray him to the Guild.”

It was tempting. Very tempting.

“You want to stay here?” Cery asked, pretending disbelief.

“Yes.” Gol looked at Anyi and Lilia. “What do you think?”

Anyi shrugged. “We can block off the entrance to the Guild passages – collapse them if you think it’s safer. There are passages that come out in the forest, so we have escape routes. Well, ones that don’t lead into the Guild buildings, that is.” Anyi glanced at Lilia. “We’ll work out ways to get food and water down here.”

Lilia nodded. “I’m sure Sonea would help.”

“No, we can’t tell her.” Cery paused, surprised at the conviction in his own voice. Why don’t I want Sonea’s help? “She won’t like it. She’ll want to smuggle us out of the city. She’ll tell Kallen.” He didn’t entirely trust Kallen, and it wasn’t only because the man was a roet addict.

“She wouldn’t,” Lilia said, though her voice lacked conviction.

“Cery’s right,” Gol said. “Sonea’s leaving for Sachaka. She’ll either want someone else high up in the Guild to know we’re here, or she’ll move us out.”

“So … if you don’t want Kallen to know either,” Anyi said, “then you won’t be able to work with him any more.”

“No.” Cery turned to Lilia. “But he doesn’t need us to tell him that. We can say it’s safer if we communicate through messages, which Lilia will send.”

“We won’t have anything useful to tell him if we stay here and have no contact with your people,” Anyi pointed out.

“No, but he’ll keep us informed as to what’s going on out there,” Cery replied, “before he gives up on us as a source of information. And hopefully we will find a way to be useful again – which we won’t if Sonea sends us away.”

The four of them exchanged looks, then nodded.

“Well, first Lilia and I need to find solutions for the most basic needs, like food and water,” Anyi said decisively, straightening. “And then to make things safer and more comfortable down here.”

Cery smiled at the determined look on her face. If he let her, she would take charge of them all. “No,” he disagreed. “That’s not what we’ll do first.”

She looked at him, frowning in puzzlement. “No?”

He nodded at the basket. “First we eat.”

If there was a code of etiquette that allowed Sachakans to refuse entry to an unwanted guest, Dannyl wished he knew what it was. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to see the Ashaki who was coming down the entrance passage of the Guild House. He yearned to see the man. But he suspected that the visitor was here in his official capacity, and that was something Dannyl was not looking forward to.

Being friends with the enemy certainly complicates matters.

As Achati entered the room, Dannyl searched the man’s face for some hint of good news, despite knowing the chances were slim. He was surprised when he saw regret and apology there. He’d expected a carefully maintained neutral expression.

“Welcome back to the Guild House, Ashaki Achati,” Dannyl said, falling back on Kyralian manners.

“I wish it were under more amicable circumstances,” Achati replied. “This is an official visit, but I also wish it to be an informal one between friends, if that is still possible.”

Dannyl invited Achati to sit, taking the main chair for himself. “That depends on how the official part goes,” he replied wryly.

“Then let’s get the official part over with first.” Achati paused to regard Dannyl. “King Amakira wants you to persuade Lorkin to answer all questions regarding the Traitors.”

“I doubt I would succeed.”

“Would he refuse if you ordered him to?”

“Yes.”

“And this is acceptable?”

“It isn’t his choice, or mine.”

“But he is your subordinate. He should follow your orders.”

“That depends on the orders.” Dannyl shrugged. “We do not have a … a custom of unquestioning obedience in the Guild, or even outside it. Except in the case of royalty, but even then advisers have the right to advise – to give their opinion and recommendation without reprisal – though they still must obey orders even if they disagree with them.”

“You are also an Ambassador – and not just a Guild Ambassador. Until Ambassador Tayend arrived, you spoke for all the Allied Lands, too. Though you no longer speak for Elyne, you still represent the rest.”