—Akkarin?
But silence was his only reply.
21
A Dangerous Road
Ninth day of the fifth month
We were forced to stop this morning when we encountered a landslip that had blocked the road. The servants have spent the day digging, but I fear we will not move on until tomorrow. I have climbed to the top of a hill. The mountains are now a dark line across the horizon. Looking ahead, I see dusty hills continuing to the north. These wastelands seem endless. Now I understand why Kyralian merchants do not often trade with Sachaka. It is an impossible journey, and Riko tells me it is easier for the Sachakans to trade with lands in the northeast. And, of course, they distrust the Guild…
A knock at the door interrupted Rothen. He sighed, lowered the book and willed the door open. Dannyl stepped into the room, his brow creased with a frown.
“Dannyl,” Rothen said, “would you like some sumi?”
Dannyl closed the door, walked to Rothen’s chair, and stared down at him. “You volunteered to go to Sachaka?”
“Ah.” Rothen closed the book and set it down on the table. “So they told you.”
“Yes.” Dannyl seemed to struggle for words. “I want to ask why, but I don’t have to. You’re going to look for Sonea, aren’t you?”
Rothen shrugged. “In a way.” He gestured to a seat. “Sit down. Even I feel uncomfortable when you’re towering over me like that.”
Dannyl sat down and stared across the table at Rothen. “I’m surprised the Higher Magicians agreed. They must have realized finding Sonea might become more important to you than discovering if the Ichani exist.”
Rothen smiled. “Yes, they did consider that. I told them that if there was a choice between saving Sonea and completing the mission, I would choose to save Sonea. They accepted that condition because I have a better chance of persuading her to return—and because I am not the only spy.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about this?”
“I only volunteered this morning.”
“But you must have been thinking about it before then.”
“Only since last night. After I watched you dealing with Garrel, I came to the conclusion that you don’t really need my help.” Rothen smiled. “My support, perhaps, but not my help. Sonea, however, does need my help. I’ve been unable to do anything for her for so long. Now I finally can.”
Dannyl nodded, but he did not look happy. “What if Akkarin’s story is true? What if you walk into a land ruled by black magicians? He said any Guild magician entering Sachaka would be killed.”
Rothen sobered. It was going to be a dangerous mission. He was not a little frightened by the possibility he would encounter the magicians Akkarin had described.
If the Ichani were not real, however, then Akkarin must have had a reason to invent them. Perhaps he’d done so simply to ensure the Guild allowed him to live. Perhaps it had been part of some greater deception. If that were so, he would be anxious to hide the truth. He might be the black magician who killed any Guild magician who entered Sachaka.
But surely he expected the Guild to investigate his claims. By telling them this story, he had ensured they would send spies into Sachaka. Rothen frowned. What if Akkarin had spun the tale so he could hunt down the magicians who entered Sachaka, kill them one by one for their strength?
“Rothen?”
Looking up, Rothen managed a wry smile. “I know it’s going to be dangerous, Dannyl. We’re not going to blunder into Sachaka wearing robes and flaunting our magical abilities. We’ll do everything we can to remain unnoticed.” He pointed to the book. “Every record of journeys into Sachaka has been copied for us to study. We’ll be questioning merchants and their servants. We’re going to be trained by a professional spy, sent by the King, who will teach us to speak and behave like commoners.”
A reluctant smile pulled at Dannyl’s mouth. “Sonea would find that amusing.”
Rothen felt a familiar pang of grief. “Yes. She would have, once.” He sighed. “Well then, tell me about your meeting with the Higher Magicians. Did they ask any awkward questions?”
Dannyl blinked at the change of subject. “A few. I don’t think they approve of Tayend, but that was no surprise.”
“No,” Rothen agreed. He considered Dannyl closely. “But you approve of him.”
“He is a good friend.” Dannyl met Rothen’s gaze. There was a hint of defiance in his expression. “Will I be expected to avoid him now?”
Rothen shrugged. “You know what the gossips will say if you don’t. But you can’t let gossips run your life, and Elyne is Elyne. Everyone knows the social rules are different there.”
Dannyl’s eyebrows rose slightly. “Yes. What may be considered prudent here would be considered rude there.”
“Now, did you want a cup of sumi?”
Dannyl smiled and nodded. “Yes, thank you.”
Standing up, Rothen took a step toward the cabinet where the sumi cups and leaves were kept, then froze.
—All magicians, listen to me!
Rothen blinked in surprise at Lorlen’s mental voice.
—All mental communication must cease from now on, unless in an emergency. If you are unable to avoid conversing in this way, be mindful of what you reveal. If you hear another magician communicating mentally, please inform him or her of this restriction.
“Well,” Dannyl said after a moment. “I hate to say it, considering what you’ve set out to do, but every day I grow more worried.”
“Of what?”
“That what Akkarin told us is the truth.”
As Cery refilled Savara’s glass, she stiffened and stared into the distance.
“What is it?” he asked.
She blinked. “Your Guild has made its first good decision.”
“Oh?”
She smiled. “Orders to stop speaking mind to mind.”
Cery topped up his glass. “Will that do them much good?”
“It might have, had they done it a week ago.” She shrugged and picked up her glass. “But it is good the Ichani won’t learn about the Guild’s plans now.”
“You won’t either.”
She shrugged. “No. But that does not matter any more.”
Cery considered her. She had found a gloriously well-fitted dress somewhere, made of fine, soft material dyed a rich purple. The color complemented her skin. Her eyes, when she looked at him, seemed to glow with a rich golden warmth.
But those eyes were downcast now, and her expressive mouth set in a thin line.
“Savara—”
“Do not ask me to stay.” She looked up and fixed him with a direct stare. “I must go. I must obey my people.”
“I just—”
“I cannot stay.” She rose and began pacing the room. “I wish I could. Would you leave and go to my land with me, knowing what your country will face? No. You have your own people to protect. I have—”
“Hai! Let me get a word in!”
She stopped and gave him a rueful smile. “I am sorry. Go on, then.”
“I was just going to tell you that I get what you’re saying. I’d rather you stayed, but I won’t stop you going.” He smiled wryly. “I’d wager I’d never have a chance of stopping you anyway.”
Her eyebrows rose. She gestured to the table. “But you invited me to dinner so you could try to talk me into it.”
He shook his head. “I just wanted to thank you for your help—and I had to make up for not giving you the chance to do one of these slaves.”
She gave a little pout. “That would take more than a meal.”
He chuckled. “Really? Hmmm, we Thieves don’t like to break a deal, you know. Would you forgive me if I made up for it another way?”
Her eyes flashed and her smile became sly. “Oh, I will think of something.” She walked to him, bent forward and kissed him. “Hmmm, that gives me an idea or two.”
He smiled, caught her waist and pulled her down so she was sitting across his knees.
“Are you sure I can’t talk you into staying?” he asked quietly.
She tilted her head to the side and considered. “Perhaps just one more night.”
The road into Sachaka was dark and silent. Akkarin had spoken only once, to caution Sonea against making a light or speaking any louder than a murmur. Since then the only sound had been the echo of their footsteps, and the distant howl of the wind somewhere far above.
She looked down at her boots, the only items left of her novice uniform. Would the Ichani recognize them? She considered asking Akkarin if she should discard them, but the idea of walking without any shoes in this cold and rocky terrain was unappealing.
As her eyes had adjusted to the dark, she had begun to make out more of the road ahead. Two vertical walls of rock hung on either side, curving and folding like heavy drapes. Looking up, she saw that they stretched several hundred paces toward the sky, but were growing steadily shorter.
After several turns, the wall on the left ended abruptly. A great dark expanse came into view. They stopped and stared at the land below.
A black, endless darkness spread from the foot of the mountains to a glow at the horizon. As Sonea watched, the glow began to brighten. A sliver of white appeared and began to swell upward. Light flooded across the land as the moon—no longer quite full—slowly escaped the horizon. Sonea sucked in a breath. The mountains now shone like jagged lumps of silver. Ridges clawed down into the plain below like thick tree roots. Where rock ended, a treeless, desolate land began. In places, water from the mountain had eroded the soil, creating branched and twisted fissures that stretched toward the horizon. Farther away, she could see strange crescent-shaped hills, like the ripples in a pond frozen in time.
This was the wasteland of Sachaka.
She felt a hand grasp her arm. Surprised, she let Akkarin pull her back into the shadow of the wall.
“We might be seen,” he murmured. “We must leave the road.”
Looking ahead, she could not see how that was possible. The road curved to the right, cut into the face of the mountain. Steep, almost vertical walls of rock rose on either side.
Akkarin’s hand was still around her arm. She realized her heart was beating quickly, and not entirely from fear. His attention was on the cliff above, however.
“We can only hope there aren’t watchers up there,” he said.
He let her go, and strode back up the road. Sonea followed. When they had reached a point where the left-hand wall shadowed most of the right, he spun about and took hold of her shoulders.
Guessing what he was going to do, Sonea braced her legs. Sure enough, they began to rise upward, supported by a disk of magic below their feet. She made herself look away, suddenly too conscious of how close Akkarin was.
He stopped their ascent near the top so he could peer over the lip of the wall. Satisfied that the area was safe, he levitated them over the edge and set them down on the stony surface.
Sonea looked around in dismay. The slope was not as precipitous as the rock wall below, but it was still frighteningly steep. Cracks and jagged outcrops broke the surface, and in other places the ground was so smooth she could not see how they could walk across it without sliding off the mountain. How could they navigate this, when all they had to light the way was the moon?
Akkarin started forward and began picking his way across the slope. Sonea drew in a deep breath, then followed. From then on, climbing over or around outcrops, leaping over crevasses and keeping her balance on the treacherous slope occupied her mind. She lost all sense of the time passing. It was easier to just follow Akkarin, and think only of making it past the next obstruction.
The moon had risen much higher in the sky, and she had Healed the weary muscles in her legs several times, when Akkarin finally stopped at the crest of a ridge. She assumed at first that he had encountered a particularly large crevasse or some other difficulty on the other side, but when she looked up at him, he was staring back over her shoulder.
Abruptly, he grabbed her arms and pulled her into a crouch. Her heart skipped.
“Keep low,” he said urgently. He glanced behind. “We might be visible against the sky.”
She squatted beside him, her pulse racing. He stared back the way they had come, then pointed back across the rugged slope they had crossed. She searched for something new. Finding nothing, she shook her head.
“Where?”
“He’s behind that rock shaped like a mullook,” he murmured. “Wait a moment…there.”
She saw a movement perhaps five or six hundred paces away—a shifting shadow. It leapt and strode along the mountain slope with practiced surety.
“Who is he?”
“One of Kariko’s allies, no doubt,” Akkarin muttered.
An Ichani, Sonea thought. So soon. We can’t face one yet. Akkarin’s not strong enough. Her heart was beating too quickly and she felt ill with fear.
“We must move fast now,” Akkarin said. “He is an hour behind us. We need to increase that distance.”
Remaining in the crouch, he moved along the ridge to where a slab of rock overlapped another, leaving a narrow gap. Slipping through, he straightened and all but ran down the other side of the ridge. Sonea hurried after, somehow keeping her balance despite the stones that shifted and rolled under her boots.
It took all her concentration to keep up with him now. He hurried around boulders, jogged across slopes slippery with rubble, and barely paused before leaping over gaps in their path. Every step tested Sonea’s reflexes and balance.
When Akkarin stopped again, in the shadow of an enormous round boulder, she almost stumbled into him. Seeing that he was staring behind again, she turned to search for their pursuer. After a moment, she found him. The man was no farther away, she saw with dismay.
At least he is no closer, she told herself.
“Time to put him off our track,” Akkarin murmured. He walked around the boulder. Sonea caught her breath as she saw the deep crevasse at their feet. It was about twenty strides across where they stood, but widened to form a huge ravine with sheer walls that descended into darkness.
“I will go to the left for about a quarter hour and then to the edge. He’ll assume we descended into the ravine. You levitate to the other side, then make your way parallel to the mountains. Keep in the shadows as much as possible, even if it means slowing down.”
She nodded. He turned away and stalked into the night. For a moment she felt a terrible fear of being left alone, but she took a deep breath and pushed it aside.
Standing up, she created a disk of magic and lifted herself into the air. As she moved over the crevasse, she looked down. It was very deep. She fixed her gaze on the other side and moved across. When her feet met solid ground again, she sighed with relief. She had never been afraid of heights, but the drop into the ravine made the tallest buildings in the city look like the steps of the University.
From there, she concentrated on navigating the craggy mountainside. Keeping to the shadows was remarkably easy. The moon was now directly above, but the slope of the mountain had cracked or eroded to form several giant steps. The nearest seemed to be the obvious one to follow, so she descended to the one below.
Keeping to the shadows meant it was harder to see, however. She nearly stumbled into a hole or crevasse more than once. After an endless stretch of leaping and jogging, she glanced up to see that the moon had nearly reached the peaks above.
She felt a stirring of fear again as she realized how much time had passed since Akkarin had left her. She considered what he had said he would do. A quarter hour down the left side of the ravine plus another quarter back to the boulder meant he was half an hour behind her. What if Akkarin had miscalculated? What if the pursuer had been only half an hour behind them, not an hour? Akkarin might have returned to the crevasse at the same time as the Ichani.
She found she had slowed down, and pushed herself onward again. Akkarin wasn’t dead. If he’d been captured, he would have called to her, to
warn her to keep running.
But what if he’d tricked her into leaving him?
Don’t be ridiculous, she told herself. He wouldn’t abandon you to the Ichani.
Unless…unless he had led the pursuer away, knowing that he would be caught and killed, to save her.
She stopped and looked behind. The terrain curved around the mountain, and she could not see far behind her. Sighing, she forced herself to continue on. Don’t speculate, she thought. Concentrate.
The words repeated themselves in her mind and became a chant. After a while she found herself silently mouthing them. The rhythm carried her on, from one step to the next. Then she charged around an outcrop and found herself stepping out into an abyss.
Throwing her arms out, she managed to grab the outcrop, swing herself against it, and stop herself falling.
Her heart pounded as she pulled herself back from the brink. An enormous ravine blocked her path. Panting with fright and exertion, she stared at the opposite wall and tried to decide what she should do now. She could levitate across, but while she did she would be in plain sight.
The sound of hurried footsteps close behind her was all the warning she had. She started to turn, but something slammed into her back and a hand clamped over her mouth to smother her scream. She fell forward, over the edge of the precipice.
Then magic surrounded her, and she felt her descent slow. At the same time she recognized a familiar scent.
Akkarin.
His arms held her tightly. They turned in the air and began to rise. The creased and cracked wall of the ravine rushed past, then a larger slash of blackness appeared. They moved into it.
Her feet met an uneven floor and, as Akkarin released her, she staggered and threw out her arms. A hand met a wall, and she managed to regain her balance. She felt lightheaded and giddy, and fought a strange urge to laugh.
“Give me your power.”
Akkarin was a shadow in the darkness, and his voice held both urgency and command. She struggled to regain some control of her breathing.
“I—”
“Now!” he said urgently. “The Ichani can sense it. Quickly.”