The Traitor Queen Read Online Free PDF Page B

Ashaki stepped past him and stopped on either side of Lorkin. The young magician looked
     resigned and worried, but when he met Dannyl’s eyes he managed a wan smile.
    “I’ll be fine,” he said. Then he let the two men lead him away.
    Dannyl turned back to the king.
    “Take him if you must, your majesty, but do not harm him,” he warned, “or any chance of a peaceful alliance between the Allied
     Lands and Sachaka will be much harder to achieve in the future. That would be a great shame.”
    Amakira’s stare did not waver, but his voice was quieter as he spoke.
    “Go back to the Guild House, Ambassador. This meeting is over.”
    Even before Sonea opened her eyes, she knew it was too soon for her to be waking up. Turning toward the screen over her bedroom
     window, she frowned as she saw early morning light reflected on the wall behind it. The light at this time of day always had
     a quality that distinguished it from the late evening glow, and told her that she had only been asleep for an hour or two.
    A knocking from the main room told her why she was awake.
    Groaning, she threw her arms over her eyes and waited. Every morning, except on Freedays, Black Magician Kallen stopped by
     to escort Lilia to lessons. Most of the time the novice prepared for her day at the University quietly enough not to wake
     Sonea. But it had taken Kallen some time to work out, after Sonea pointedly mentioned several times that sheusually took the night shift at the hospice, that he should knock
softly
.
    He appeared to have forgotten this morning.
    The knocking came again, even louder. Sonea groaned again. Why wasn’t Lilia answering the door? Sighing, she threw off the
     bedclothes and forced herself into a standing position. She ran her hands through her hair to straighten it, grabbed an overrobe
     and threw it on over her bedclothes. Entering the main room, she headed for the door, tossing a little magic out to turn the
     handle.
    As the door swung inward, a frowning Kallen looked up and saw her, and his eyebrows lowered further. His gaze flickered to
     her overrobe and back up to meet her gaze, his expression not changing.
    “Good morning, Black Magician Sonea,” he said. “Sorry to disturb you. Is Lilia here?”
    Sonea looked toward Lilia’s closed bedroom door on the other side of the room, then walked over to it. She knocked quietly,
     then louder, then opened the door. The room was empty. The bed was made, however, so clearly Sonea’s aunt and servant, Jonna,
     had been and gone.
    “No,” she said, returning to the main door. “And no, I don’t know where she is. When I do, I’ll let you know.”
    “Thank you.” Kallen looked decidedly unhappy, but he nodded and stepped away from the door.
    Closing the door, Sonea headed back towards the bedroom, then stopped. It was unusual for Lilia to be absent of a morning.
     It was not in her nature to misbehave or cause trouble, but she still needed watching over because she had proven to be easily
     led astray by others.
    Perhaps not as easily as in the past, though. After all, being trickedinto learning black magic by your closest friend so she could frame you for the murder she committed has got to make you consider
     carefully who you trust
. Not to mention discovering that Lorandra, the rogue magician who had helped Lilia escape from prison, intended to return
     that favour by turning Lilia over to her son, the infamous Thief, Skellin, so that Lilia could teach him black magic.
    While Sonea trusted Lilia not to
willingly
get into serious trouble again, she might unwillingly do so. Sonea was also obliged to look as though she was keeping an
     eye on all other black magicians. Though she wasn’t officially Lilia’s guardian – that was Kallen’s role – letting the girl
     stay in her rooms had given everyone the impression she had taken responsibility for her.
    Looking around the room, Sonea saw the corner of a slip of paper under the water jug on the side table. She