“What happens when a stone breaks?” he asked.
“It may break into many pieces,” she said, flaring the fingers of both hands. “Or it may crack. If magic is stored, it can go out in many ways. Maybe how the stone meant to send it, maybe unshaped, maybe shaped in another way.”
Dannyl nodded. So either you’d get a warm glow inside or be cut to ribbons and burned up. Nice. Seems to me that these stones could give us as many more ways to do harm as good.
“How much do the Traitors know of making stones?”
Her eyebrows lowered. “All that we know, and more. They once traded with us, but broke our trust by taking the secrets from us.”
He nodded in sympathy. So it was true. He considered what to ask next. He wanted to know how easy or time-consuming the stones were to make, but he figured that would be asking for too much detail. If the stones were difficult to make, that knowledge could be used against the Duna. No, if he was to ask any new questions, he ought to take the opportunity to seek information that might add to his book.
“How do the Duna believe the wasteland was created?”
“Only what you have told us,” she said, shrugging. “Before then we knew only that the Guild made it.”
What else could these people tell him about the history of magic? He’d like to know more about their own origins. Perhaps they could tell him about other ancient peoples who lived in the mountains. Perhaps those who once occupied the ruins of Armje in Elyne.
“I would like to know more about the people you spoke of, who lived in the mountains long ago.”
“What we know are only tales,” she warned him.
“Even so, they are all we have of those times, and tales that last as long as these are usually good ones.”
She smiled. “Very well.” She looked at Yem. “But there are many, many stories. Maybe I tell you another time.”
“After this meeting is done,” Yem agreed. He looked at Dannyl appraisingly. “There is more we wish to tell you,” he said. “Other things than answers to your questions.”
Dannyl looked around at the old men, all of whom were now watching him intently. “Yes?”
“You know that the Traitors stole our secrets. They have grown their knowledge more than we ever have. We are able to make stones that will block a magician from reading a mind. They have stones that can make that magician see thoughts he expects.”
Dannyl’s heart skipped. So that’s how their spies avoid discovery and keep their home hidden! Then a cold sensation flowed over him. If Achati heard this … He would tell his king and then perhaps other Ashaki. All would search their slaves for stones and remove them. They’d kill thousands of slaves – after reading their minds. The Traitor stronghold would be found and destroyed – and Lorkin with it.
Which meant he could not tell Achati. Even if Lorkin was safe, Dannyl could not be responsible for the deaths of so many people. A decision that important is not mine to make, anyway. He felt a guilty wave of relief. It is one for the Guild, and they would most likely defer to the wishes of the Kyralian king, if not all the rulers of the Allied Lands.
If the tribesmen and woman had noticed Dannyl’s surprise and shock, they did not comment on it.
“A half moon cycle ago the Traitors came to our stone caves and broke all the stones,” Yem continued. Dannyl looked up and met the old man’s eyes as he realised what this must mean for the Duna. “We fear they are planning to make war. Maybe to invade Duna. Maybe to fight the Ashaki.”
“Why would they break your stones if they want to start a civil war with the Ashaki?”
“To be sure no magic stones can be used against them.”
“If they invaded Duna the Ashaki would do something about it.”
Yem nodded. “A fight with Duna is a fight with the Ashaki, whether we wish it so or not.”
Dannyl considered the news. Surely the Traitors won’t bother invading Duna before attacking the Ashaki. But perhaps there was a strategic reason for doing so. He’d have to think about that. The Duna people’s motives were clear, however.
“Did you tell me about the mind-read-blocking stones so that I’d warn the Sachakan king?” he asked.
“No,” Yem said firmly. “We seek friendship with Kyralia and the Allied Lands.”
Dannyl looked around the circle in surprise. All stared back at him expectantly.
Yem nodded. “We have long debated this. The Ashaki have learned that invading Duna is costly. The Traitors do not know this. But the Ashaki are more cruel than the Traitors. We know who we prefer as neighbours, but they do not want us.” He smiled grimly. “If Kyralia and Elyne agree, maybe we can help each other.”
Dannyl stared at the old man, who returned his gaze steadily. He thought about all that was being offered and predicted. An alliance. With a people who have stone-making knowledge. He smiled.
“I would be honoured to negotiate such an alliance,” he said. “And it would give me great pleasure if I could forge such a friendship between our peoples.”
The old man’s answering smile was wide and toothy.
And as they began discussing how the two peoples might help each other, Dannyl found that a journey that had been purely for research purposes was suddenly about everything his role as Ambassador entailed.
None of the magicians in the Administrator’s office made a sound when Lilia stopped talking. She looked around quickly. Some of them were staring at her, others looked distant and thoughtful. All were frowning.
Now that she had finished explaining everything that had happened since she had first spoken to Lorandra at the Lookout, she felt utterly drained. Her weariness wasn’t from magical exhaustion, since her powers had mostly recovered from the fight with Naki. It wasn’t physical either, since she had used Healing to combat tiredness from lack of sleep. She felt worn out from all the hope, fear, hurt, guilt, anger, relief and gratitude that had gripped her over the last day.
Her mood now was something between resignation and acceptance. She wasn’t sure whether she simply didn’t care what the Guild did to punish her for escaping from the Lookout and becoming a rogue, or whether she couldn’t bring herself to consider it. She was tired of the secrets, and glad to be rid of them.
Though it occurred to her she could try to hide the fact she’d been able to break the mind block, she suspected Sonea had arrived early enough to see her fighting Naki. What that meant for her future, she couldn’t guess. They could lock her and Naki up, but it wouldn’t be easy to keep them there.
Her mind kept returning to Naki’s betrayal.
“I taught myself before we even met.”
Why had Naki befriended her? Were the rumours about her liking for other women even true, or were her kisses part of the deception? Why did she encourage – perhaps even trick – Lilia into learning black magic? Or had she killed her own father by accident and arranged for Lilia to take the blame?
That didn’t make sense. For a start, Lord Leiden had been alive when Lilia had last seen him, and she’d been with Naki every moment subsequently until after their attempt to learn black magic.
Then she must have planned to kill him and blame me.
Surely Naki must have known that if Lilia didn’t have memor ies of killing Lord Leiden, then there could be no proof she was guilty. Perhaps she hoped that the other evidence – blood on Lilia’s hands – might be enough to convict her.
And how did the blood get onto my hands in the first place?