The Traitor Queen (The Traitor Spy Trilogy #3)(64)

“This is closer to the Guild buildings. A shorter run to escape, if we need to, and not so far for Lilia to travel to see us. Let’s move our stuff in here,” Gol said.

Sighing, Cery pushed away the memories and his discomfort and nodded. “Yes, but let’s choose another room. This is the first one anyone comes to. We’ll want a little bit more warning when someone is approaching.”

As the last of the food-bearing slaves left the Master’s Room, Tayend looked at Dannyl.

“Now that Lorkin is safely away, what are you going to do with our unwanted guest?”

Dannyl looked at his meal and sighed as his appetite faltered. He drew magic and surrounded himself, Merria and Tayend with a shield to prevent anyone overhearing their conversation.

“What do you suggest?” he asked in reply.

A whole day had passed since the failed abduction. Savi was keeping the spy regularly drained of strength. Since she was the head kitchen slave, none of the other slaves thought it odd that she was the only one allowed to see something in one of the kitchen storerooms.

“I can see only two choices: either he dies or Savi leaves.”

The last of Dannyl’s appetite vanished. “Since the latter isn’t possible, that leaves us only one choice.”

Merria frowned. “But whether the king pretends his spy is a slave or admits he’s not, you’ll be breaking a law.”

Tayend nodded. “Better to be charged for destruction of the king’s property than murder. Perhaps you could make it look like an accident.”

Why must I be the one to do it? Dannyl thought. Because I’m the highest-ranking person in the house. Then he felt a traitorous hope. Does Tayend outrank me, as an Ambassador to a country rather than just the Guild?

“If Savi kills the man using black magic it’ll be clear none of us did it,” Merria suggested.

“But it’ll also be clear there’s a Traitor here somewhere,” Tayend pointed out.

“She can block a mind-read, can’t she?”

“If the king knows no slave has entered or left the House, and is determined to find which is the Traitor, he could have them tortured.”

“Or kill them all,” Tayend added.

A slave appeared. Dannyl realised it was Tav, the door slave. The man dropped to the floor.

“Mind what you say,” Dannyl warned, then let the shield fall.

“What is it, Tav?”

“Someone at the door,” the man gasped.

“Go find out who it is.”

The slave hurried away. The Master’s Room was quiet as they waited for him to return. The rapid, soft thud of footsteps growing louder preceded the slave’s return.

“A message,” he said.

“Bring it here,” Dannyl ordered before the man could abase himself again. The slave quickly padded forward, a scroll held out in both hands. Dannyl took it and waved a hand. “Leave us.”

He unrolled the message. Tayend and Merria leaned in on either side to read it.

“A summons to the palace,” Merria murmured.

“‘Immediately’,” Tayend read.

Dannyl let the scroll snap back into a roll. “Whatever we do, we have to do it now. Kai!”

His personal slave appeared in the corridor.

“Fetch Savi.” As the man disappeared, Dannyl spoke quietly, “Only reasonable to ask her what she’d prefer us to do.”

They did not wait long. The woman entered and threw herself onto the floor as quickly and unselfconsciously as any ordinary slave.

“Is the meal not to your liking, master?” she asked.

Dannyl glanced at the plate in his hands, the food barely touched. He sighed and raised the barrier of silence again.

“I’ve been summoned to the palace,” he told her. “We have to come to a decision about the fate of the king’s spy. What would you have us do?”

She grimaced. “Well … swapping clothes is definitely not going to work this time.”

Tayend straightened abruptly. “Ah!”

All eyes turned to him. “What?” Dannyl asked.

The Elyne raised a hand, palm-outward. “Wait. Give me a moment. I have an idea …” He closed his eyes and his lips moved, then he nodded. He looked around at them, then at Savi. “Tell me if this will work: could you get away with being one of the carriage slaves, despite it not being your usual work, and that you’re a woman?”

She frowned. “If it worked for Ashaki Achati, it might for me.”

“Is there a safe place on the way to the palace that Dannyl could drop you off?”

Her eyes brightened. “Yes.”

Tayend looked at Dannyl. “I think this is our best option. If we can get Savi out of harm’s way, there’s no need to kill the abductor.”

Dannyl nodded, his heart lightening with relief until he remembered that a live abductor was also going to reveal more than that Savi was a Traitor. The king isn’t going to admit publicly the man was his spy, though. Which will be very, very annoying after all we’ve been through. Unless …

“We’ll take him with us,” he decided.

Merria’s eyes widened, but Tayend only chuckled. “You’re going to tell the king everything.”

“Except how Lorkin got away.”