“Black Magician Sonea, Lord Regin, two women and two children to see you,” he said.
“Send them up.”
The man nodded and hurried away. Anyi and Gol stood and grinned at each other.
“Well, come on. Take your places,” Cery ordered.
They hurried over to stand on either side of his chair. Gol struck a pose that looked more ridiculous than imposing. Anyi flexed her fingers as she always did when nervous. Shaking his head, Cery sighed and waited.
The sound of footsteps grew louder, then the room seemed to fill with magicians’ robes. Sonea’s black ones first, then Regin’s red. Following the pair and looking very plain and meek came Forlie and a younger woman. The latter was carrying a small girl in one arm, and a slightly older boy clung to her other hand.
Anyi and Gol bowed awkwardly, but with enthusiasm.
“Cery,” Sonea said, then she nodded to his daughter and friend. “Anyi and Gol. Thank you for coming to the Guild. I tried to prevent it, but the Guild, when it is investigating something as serious as a rogue magician, tends to be overly thorough.”
“That’s fine,” Cery replied. He turned to Gol. “Bring them some chairs.”
The chunky old chairs that normally sat in the centre of the room had been moved to one side to allow room for training sessions. Gol took a step toward them, but Sonea raised a hand to stop him.
“I’ll do it.”
Anyi, Forlie and the other woman gaped as the heavy chairs rose and floated to the middle of the room, arranging themselves in a square incorporating Cery’s seat. Gol merely grinned in knowing satisfaction. He’d seen plenty of magic back when Cery had been working for the former High Lord.
“We came to tell you the results of our investigation,” Sonea said as she sat down. “And to ask a favour.”
“A favour?” Cery rolled his eyes in mock exasperation. “Here we go again.”
She smiled. “Yes. Can you find Forlie, her daughter and her grandchildren a safe place to hide?”
Cery looked at the women. They smiled back at him tentatively. The younger woman had not let go of either child as she’d sat down. The girl was in her lap, and the boy was sitting on the arm of the chair.
“They’re in danger?”
“Yes. She was set up to take the place of Lorandra – the real rogue.”
“But you have the real rogue… don’t you?”
“We do. And we don’t.” Sonea paused and considered him for a moment. “Lorandra is Skellin’s mother.”
Cery felt a chill rise up from somewhere behind his chair and flow through all his body. His heart began to thump in his chest. Skellin’s mother. That’s why he was annoyed to learn that I’d seen the rogue fairly clearly and hadn’t told him. It would have told him his ploy of setting up Forlie wouldn’t work. Well, it would have failed anyway because he didn’t know that some of the Guild’s magicians can read minds.
“I can’t imagine he’s a very happy man at the moment,” Cery said dryly.
Regin chuckled. “No. Unfortunately for us all, he evaded the magicians sent to capture him, so we now have a rogue on the loose who knows we’re after him.”
Cery stared at him. “Skellin is a magician?”
Sonea nodded. “Which is why we need you to help Forlie. He blackmailed her by taking her daughter and grandchildren and threatening to kill them. We’re hoping he’s too busy hiding himself from us to worry about seeking revenge on her, but we’d rather not take that risk.”
Cery looked at Forlie and shrugged. “Of course I’ll help her.”
“You’ll want to take some extra precautions yourself,” Regin added.
Cery smiled at the man’s understatement. He’s far more likely to seek revenge on me for the capture of his mother than on Forlie. Maybe I should see if another Thief will take care of her for me. Someone who doesn’t like Skellin…
“There’s more,” Sonea said. “Lorandra is – was – the Thief Hunter. Skellin sent her out to kill off his rivals. He had big plans for himself. He wanted to become king of the underworld. Was going to use roet to keep everyone – even the Guild – in line.”
When Cery thought about how powerful Skellin had already become, that did not seem as impossible as it sounded. How many people did he already have control over? I’m going to have to be very careful who I choose to trade with now.
“Do you know if Lorandra killed Cery’s family?” Anyi asked.
Cery felt his heart shrink. He glanced at his daughter, appreciating her asking the question to save him from having to, but dreading the answer.
Sonea grimaced. “I don’t know. I wasn’t the one who read her mind, and I would have to have asked publicly for Kallen to find out.”
Which would have revealed more about me than I’d have liked.
“I’ll try to find out,” she promised. “Even if she didn’t kill them, if her part was only to break into your hideout using magic, she’ll know who did. Or who ordered it.”
“Skellin most likely,” Regin said. “Unless she did occasional work on the side for other customers.”
“At least we know Skellin can’t have been the actual killer,” Gol said. “He was talking with Cery at the time.”
Anyi made a small humming noise. “It doesn’t make sense. Why send someone to kill another Thief’s family at the same time as inviting them to become an ally?”
They all fell silent for a long moment, frowning in thought.
“Maybe Lorandra knows,” Gol suggested.
Cery shook his head, puzzled. “Well, I do know one thing for sure. We’ve got another rogue to catch.”
“If he’s still in Kyralia,” Regin said.
“Oh, he’s still here,” Cery assured them. “He hasn’t spent all that time and effort on his little empire to scamper off somewhere else. No, there are people here, rich and poor, who’ll fall over themselves to help him, some because they have to, many because they’ll benefit from it. He won’t have that anywhere else.”
Sonea nodded. “His influence over the city is already dangerously strong, but I suspect if he’s removed his empire will fall. We have to find him.” She looked at Cery. “Will you help us again?”
He nodded. “Wouldn’t want to miss the fun.”
She smiled, then stood up. Regin followed suit. “We must get back to the Guild. Thank you for taking care of Forlie and her family.”
Cery looked at the woman, who was watching him expectantly. “I’ll find somewhere safe for you all. Where is their father?” Both women scowled so fiercely Cery couldn’t help but laugh. “Never mind about that then.” He turned back to Sonea and ushered her to the door. “I bet you attracted a lot of attention on the way here.”
She laughed ruefully. “Yes. And the customers downstairs will be talking about it for months.”
“Might not be a bad thing,” Regin said, following her out of the door. “It will remind people who might be considering helping Skellin that you have powerful friends.”
“Well, it wouldn’t hurt if they thought you were still here. It will give us time to make plans before we leave. The more private way out goes through the kitchen and the side door.”
“We’ll go that way, then. Thanks for your help,” Sonea said. “And take care of yourselves.”
“I always do,” he called after them, as they strode down the corridor to the stairs. Closing the door, he turned back to regard the remaining occupants of the room. Looking at the children made his heart ache, and he pushed painful memories away. “Gol, take Forlie’s family downstairs and see if they’re hungry.”
“Right,” Gol replied. He beckoned, and they followed him out of the room. Cery returned to his chair and let out a sigh.
He looked at Anyi. She was frowning. It was not a worried frown, but a puzzled one.