The Traitor Queen (The Traitor Spy Trilogy #3)(48)

“No.” He shook his head in emphatic, exaggerated agreement, his eyes bright with humour. She felt a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth, until she recalled that he was right: there was another reason for their journey. She felt a brief but powerful urge to tell him about the meeting with the Traitors.

Not yet.

She sighed and finished her glass of wine. “Then I hope you don’t snore, because I’m used to working night shifts and wake up easily. If I don’t get a full night’s sleep I’m going to be cranky.”

He rose and started toward the bed on the other side of the screen. “Ah, Sonea. You ask for the one thing I can’t promise.”

Later that night she did find herself awake and listening to the sound of his breathing. It was not loud, but it was strange to be hearing someone else sleeping nearby.

And unexpectedly soothing, she realised.

Ever since the first time she had climbed down the hidden chimney between the panelling of Sonea’s main room and the outer wall of the Magicians’ Quarters, Lilia had wondered what its original purpose had been. All of the rooms had them, though she suspected none of the occupants knew of their existence. Bricks protruded at regular intervals up the narrow space, too convenient not to be intended as a kind of ladder.

Cery’s guesses included garbage chutes and latrine outlets. Fortunately, there was no sign that the gap had been used for either purpose for a long time, if ever. Lilia thought of them as chimneys, despite there being no sign of soot on the bricks or mortar.

Reaching the top, she peered through the spy hole Cery had drilled long ago. Sonea’s main room was unoccupied.

Where is Jonna?

Perhaps the servant had gone into one of the other rooms. Perhaps she had been called away. Lilia reached out to the latch, then hesitated. It was still possible that Jonna was in one of the bedrooms with a visitor, though Lilia could not think of any good reason a stranger would be in there with her … except a few scandalous ones that Lilia could not imagine Jonna indulging in.

She tapped on the panelling lightly, in a random pattern that anyone who didn’t know there was gap behind the wood might think was a bug scuttling across the surface. A moment later, Jonna hurried into the room, her eyes focusing on the hatch. Though she couldn’t see Lilia, she nodded and beckoned with one hand.

The latch slid open without a sound, then the door swung inward silently. Jonna stepped forward to help Lilia out. The hatch was slightly higher in the wall than was comfortable to step down from, not helped by the fact that she had to fold double to get through it.

“How are they all?” Jonna asked.

“Fine,” Lilia told her. “Grateful for your help. Is Black Magician Kallen back yet?”

“Yes, about ten minutes ago.”

Lilia headed for her bedroom to change back into her robes. “I’d better hurry up, then, or I’ll catch him in his bedclothes.”

Jonna made a small noise of amusement. “That would be an odd sight.”

Lilia grinned. “It sure would be.”

The simple trousers and shirt Jonna had found for her to wear when visiting Cery and Anyi were much easier to climb in, and she felt a wave of gratitude as she saw the scuffs and stains she’d gained that night. Better she spoil these than her robes.

Changing quickly, she returned to the main room.

“Thanks for waiting for me,” she said to Jonna. “You don’t have to hang around now. I’ll come straight back after talking to Kallen.”

Jonna shrugged. “I don’t mind staying.” She straightened and placed her hands on her hips. “I promised Sonea I’d keep an eye on you, and I won’t sleep right unless I know you’re back here in your bed at a decent hour.”

Lilia rolled her eyes and sighed. “Nobody ever worried about that when I was staying in the Novices’ Quarters.” But she didn’t mind. It was nice that someone cared enough to look out for her. I don’t want to take any longer with Kallen than I need to, anyway.

Slipping out of the main door into the corridor, she walked to Kallen’s rooms and knocked. A short pause later the door swung inward. At once she smelled the faint scent of roet smoke, but it was stale and faded as if emanating from the furnishings. Kallen was sitting in a large chair, a book in his hand and a look of mild surprise on his face.

“Lady Lilia,” he said. “Come in.”

She stepped inside, pushed the door closed and bowed. “Black Magician Kallen.”

“How can I help you?” he asked.

He had the patient expression of a teacher interrupted at a bad time by a novice. She resisted a smile. She was acting as messenger, not a novice, and the content was far more important than mere lessons.

“You know I occasionally meet Anyi, my friend and bodyguard of the Thief Cery,” she began, sitting down on another chair. “Without leaving Guild grounds,” she added quickly.

He nodded. “Yes.”

“I’ve already told you that Cery is in hiding, and can’t maintain his …” She waved a hand, searching for the right term. “Business arrangements and … contacts.”

“Everyone in the city thinks he is dead.”

“It’s likely Skellin won’t believe Cery is dead unless he sees a body.”

Kallen nodded. “Or sufficient time passes.”