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“He’s the sort that’ll cooperate with whoever he’s most scared of,” Cery replied. “If he knows she has magic he’ll be more scared of her than us.”
“She sent him out of the room before she opened the safe. That suggests to me he doesn’t know she has magic.”
“Yes, but…”
Gol hissed. Cery looked at the man and found him staring out of the window.
“What?”
“Is that her? In front of Makkin’s shop.”
Cery spun back to the window. A stooped woman had stopped in front of the shop. Her hair was streaked with grey. For a moment Cery was sure Gol was mistaken – so much so that he was about to tease him – then the woman turned her head to survey the street. He felt a shiver of recognition.
He looked at Gol. Gol stared at him. Then they both looked down at the wraps they were wearing.
“I’ll go,” Gol said. “You watch.” He leapt over to the pile of clothes he’d removed and hastily began to dress. Cery turned back to the window and watched as the woman entered the shop.
His heart was hammering. He felt every muscle in his body slowly tense, and counted every breath.
“She still in there?”
“Yes,” Cery replied. “Whatever you do, don’t let her see you’re following her. Even if you have to pay someone to-”
“I know, I know,” Gol said impatiently. Cery heard him open the door. At the same time he saw the door to the shop open and the woman stepped out.
“She’s leaving,” he said.
Gol didn’t reply. Cery turned to find the big man gone and the door swinging open. He looked back down into the street and caught a glimpse of the woman just before she moved out of view. A moment later Gol appeared. Cery breathed a sigh of relief as his friend and bodyguard headed in the same direction, his steps confident.
Take care, old friend, Cery thought.
“Um… sorry for the wait.”
He turned to find the bathhouse girl standing in the doorway. Her eyes shifted from him to the window screen then to the floor. Cery closed the screen and stood up.
“The bath is ready?”
“Yes.”
“Good. My friend had to leave. Take me to the bath.”
Her shoulders drooped at the loss of a customer, then she gestured for him to follow and led him out of the room.
CHAPTER 18 THE TRAITOR
As the slave whimpered, his head squeezed between the large hands of Ashaki Tikako, Da
Tikako gave a gasp of anger and frustration and thrust the slave away. The man fell back onto a shoulder, then scrambled away on all fours as his master shouted at him to leave. The slaves kneeling nearby, waiting their turn to be questioned, hunched as the Ashaki’s attention turned to them.
There weren’t many slaves left. Da
The master’s finger jabbed, and a young woman reluctantly came forward, shuffling on knees reddened from long contact with the rough stone pavement. Tikako grabbed her head before she had even settled before him. Her brows knit together, and Da
After a long pause Tikako stared at her, then with a wordless roar of fury he half lifted, half tossed her away from him. Her eyes flew open as he sent her flying across the room. She crashed into one of the large pottery jugs spaced along the walls, from which pretty, flowering plants spilled. Rising to a sitting position, she blinked slowly, her eyes glazed.
Da
The girl had not risen to her feet. Nor had any of the other slaves moved to help her. As Ashaki Tikako called another slave, Da
“Let me see that,” he said. She passively bowed her head as he examined the back of her skull. It was bleeding and starting to swell. He placed a hand against the wound and concentrated, sending magic to heal the wound. Her eyes widened, and her gaze cleared.
“Better?” he asked, as he finished.
She nodded, then leaned closer to him.
“The ones you seek are gone,” she told him in a quiet voice. “He is dressed as a slave now, his skin dyed to look like us. They are taking a cart to the master’s country estate to the west.”
“Do you mean…?” Da
“Don’t waste your power, Ambassador.” Da
Da
“Without much success, I admit.” Tikako sighed and regarded the last five slaves. He beckoned wearily, his anger now turned to resignation.
As the master began to read their minds, Da
Though it is possible it was a decoy. Da
Whatever the reason, clearly the Sachakan mind-reading method wasn’t as thorough as they thought it was. Ashaki Tikako sent the last slave away and turned to Da
Or perhaps they did know, and he pretended to find nothing to protect his pride and honour – or involvement in the abduction.
Achati seemed satisfied, however. He thanked Tikako and told him his assistance would be rewarded. Soon he and Da
When the vehicle had rolled out through the gates to Tikako’s mansion, Achati turned to Da
“I don’t know where to go next, I have to confess. I-”
“Westward,” Da
Achati stared at him, then smiled. “The slave girl. She told you this?”
“Yes.”
“Your methods of investigation, unlikely as they may be, do appear to be working.” The man’s smile faded. “Hmm. That means… that suggests one of the worst possibilities I have been considering may be the correct one.”