The voice belonged to a short, round woman, who was walking toward them from the back of the hall. Her words had been spoken in a lofty tone. Savara slowed to meet her.
“Speaker Kalia,” Savara replied. “Have the Table assembled?”
“All but you and I.”
Lorkin felt something nudge his arm. He looked down at Tyvara. She mouthed something, but he could not make it out, so she leaned closer.
“Other faction,” she whispered. “Leader.”
He nodded to show he understood, then gave the woman a closer look. So this is the one who ordered me killed. She was older than Savara, possibly older than his mother, if the roundness of her face was smoothing out the lines a woman her age might normally have. The sharpness of her eyes and the set of her mouth contradicted her soft demeanour. They gave her a mean expression, he decided. But maybe his perception was skewed by the knowledge she’d wanted him dead. Maybe other people found her appealing and motherly.
Kalia’s gaze swept over the other members of Savara’s group and her nose twitched. Lorkin realised that the slave garb he and some of the others wore now looked out of place. Like the costume it is. Savara turned to two of her companions.
“Take Tyvara to her room and guard the doors.”
They nodded, and as they looked to Tyvara she stepped forward to join them. Without glancing at him or saying a word, she strode away. Savara looked at another of her people.
“Find Evana and Nayshia and have them replace Ishiya and Ralana as soon as possible.” She looked at the last two women. “Go. Get some rest and proper food.”
As the women left, Savara turned to Lorkin. “I hope you’re ready to answer a lot of questions.”
He smiled. “I am.”
But as she and Kalia fell into step either side of him, leading him out of the hall and into a wide corridor, he realised he did not feel ready. He knew that there was a queen here, but it was suddenly clear that Tyvara and Chari had neglected to tell him how power was divided below the level of royalty. He knew the women flanking him were Speakers, but he had no idea exactly how they fitted into the hierarchy, and he was feeling a fool for not asking.
Savara asked if a Table had been assembled. I’m guessing they don’t mean furniture. They’re both part of it, so I assume it’s some sort of group like the Higher Magicians. With someone directing the formalities and ceremonies, as Administrator Osen does at Guild meets.
Light in the corridor was subdued, but bright enough to illuminate the way. There was colour to it – colour that shifted and changed. He looked around, seeking the source, and realised that it came from bright points of light embedded into the roof.
Gemstones! Magical gemstones! He tried to make out their shape as he passed, but they were too bright to look at directly. They left spots floating before his vision, so he forced himself to avert his eyes.
The corridor was not long, and Savara and Kalia led him through a wide doorway into a large room. A curved stone table had been set at one end. Four women sat along the length of it, with two empty seats waiting. At the far end of the table sat a grey-haired woman, who had the same tired look about her that Osen always seemed to have.
She’s the Traitors’ version of the Administrator, I’d wager.
At the closer end was another chair, larger and studded with gemstones, and empty. The rest of the room was a large wedge shape, fanning out from the table. The floor had been carved into steps, on which cushions had been neatly spaced. For an audience, though there’s nobody here today.
Savara directed him to stand before the table, then she and Kalia took their seats.
“Welcome, Lorkin of the Magicians’ Guild of Kyralia,” the tired woman said. “I am Riaya, Director of the Table. These are Yvali, Shaiya, Kalia, Lanna, Halana and Savara, Speakers for the Traitors.”
“Thank you for allowing me into your city,” he replied, bending in a slight bow that he directed at them all.
“I understand you have come to Sanctuary willingly,” Riaya said.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Foremost, to speak in defence of Tyvara at her trial.”
“And why else?”
He paused to consider how to begin. “I understand that my father made a promise to your people that he should not have. If I can, I would like to settle that matter.”
The speakers exchanged glances. Some looked sceptical, others hopeful.
“Is that your only other reason?”
Lorkin shook his head. “Though I was only an assistant to the Guild Ambassador to Sachaka, I know that part of the role – part of the reason for having Ambassadors in the first place – is to seek and maintain peaceful links with other peoples. The Traitors are a part of Sachaka, so if we do not seek links with them we are neglecting an important section of the country. Even the little I know about the Traitors tells me that your values are more compatible with those of the Allied Lands. You reject slavery, for instance.” He took a deep breath. “If there is a chance that a beneficial link might be established between us I feel obliged to explore the possibility.”
“What possible benefit would there be for us in such an alliance?” Kalia asked, her tone full of disbelief.
Lorkin smiled. “Trade.”
Kalia gave a sharp, humourless laugh. “We’ve already sought honest trade with your kind, and regretted it.”
“You refer, of course, to my father,” he said. “I was told that Traitors agreed to teach him black magic in exchange for Healing magic? Is that correct?”
The seven women frowned.
“Black magic?” Riaya repeated.
“Higher magic,” Lorkin explained.
“Then that is true,” Riaya said.
Lorkin shook his head. “Only the Higher Magicians of the Guild, with permission from the leaders of the Allied Lands, could have made that decision. It was not my father’s right to offer you such knowledge.”
The women began to exclaim and speak all at once and, though Lorkin could not make out what all of them said, the general opinion was clear. They were angry, yet also puzzled.
“Why would he make the promise? Did he intend to break his word?”
“It’s obvious why he did what he did,” Lorkin said. “He was-”
But Kalia and the woman beside her were still talking, agreeing with each other – from the bits he caught – on how Kyralians weren’t to be trusted.
“Let him speak,” Riaya said, her voice cutting across theirs. The two women quietened. Kalia crossed her arms and looked at him with haughty expectation.
“My father was desperate,” Lorkin reminded them. “He had been a slave for many years. He knew his country was in danger. He probably felt his personal honour did not matter in the face of his country’s safety. And after years of… being a slave, how much dignity would you have left?”
He stopped as he realised he was allowing too much emotion to enter his words. “I have a question for you,” he said.
“You don’t get to ask us questions,” Kalia sneered. “You must wait until-”
“I would like to hear this question,” Savara interrupted. “Would anyone else?”
The rest of the women paused, then nodded.
“Go on, Lorkin,” Riaya urged.
“I was told your people had known my father was a slave for some time before you offered him this trade. Why did you wait until it was of advantage to you to offer that help? Why did you require such a high price for helping him, when you rescue your own people from such tyranny all the time?”
His last words were drowned in protests.
“How dare you question our generosity!” Kalia shouted.
“He was a man and a foreigner!” another exclaimed.
“The queen’s only daughter died because of him!”
“And hundreds more could have been saved if he’d kept his word.”
His gaze slid across their angry faces and he suddenly regretted speaking out. He needed to charm and woo these women, not anger them. But then his eyes met Savara’s. He saw her nod approvingly.