The Ambassador’s Mission by Trudi Canavan

Author:Trudi Canavan [Canavan, Trudi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: thriller

CHAPTER 17 HUNTED

Despite spending several hours in the room, Lorkin’s eyes still smarted. The air was thick with the smell of the urine stored in open vats to one side. Tyvara had told him to breathe shallowly to avoid burning his lungs, and to keep his eyes closed. She had also told him, before she slipped away again, that only slaves would enter the room, and to stay quiet.

Time passes very slowly when your every breath sets your throat burning with sour fumes. It also made fleeing into the night far less of an exciting adventure than it had first promised.

Not that I did it for the thrill of it. I do believe it was my only choice. That I was in danger. And still could be.

Was he a fool to believe Tyvara? The only evidence he had that she was telling the truth was the reaction of the slave woman she’d killed.

“You! But… he has to die. You… You are a traitor to your people.”

From that he knew three things: the slave had recognised Tyvara, believed he should be killed, and thought Tyvara a traitor. What had Tyvara said in reply?

“I told you I would not let you kill him. You should have taken the warning and left.”

From that he could assume Tyvara had known of the woman’s intent and given the slave a chance to abandon her mission. Or she said it in the hope I’d believe that. But what reason might she have to deceive him? Maybe to convince me she had given the woman a chance to leave. That she wasn’t as merciless a killer as she seemed.

One thing was clear. If Tyvara had wanted to kill him, she would have. After all, she knew black magic. She could easily be many times stronger than him, magically.

But what he wasn’t sure about was whether it was necessary for him to flee with her. Surely once Dannyl learned what had happened he’d have arranged better protection for them. But how would he do that? It will take several days for any Guild magicians to get here, and none of them are as strong as most Sachakan magicians. If Mother or Kallen were sent, they would have to strengthen themselves with black magic before they left and that would take more time. As for the Sachakan magicians… would any deign to act as bodyguard to a Guild Ambassador’s assistant? How could we know they hadn’t sent Riva to kill me to begin with?

As for who wanted him dead, his best guess was the families of the Sachakans his parents had killed during the Ichani Invasion. His mother must be right. Their families must still feel obliged to seek revenge for their relations, despite the fact those relations had been outcasts.

The Higher Magicians were sure there was no danger of that. So were Lord Maron and the other Guild Ambassadors who had lived here. Did those families hide their intentions in the hope that Mother or I would one day travel to Sachaka?

He thought of the ring in his pocket.

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