The Ambassador's Mission: Book One of th - By Trudi Canavan Page 0,106

As he approached, she grabbed his arm and pulled him close. Staring at her in surprise, he realised that in the dim light she looked like the young woman he’d once helped hide from the Guild so many years ago. She wore the same intent, worried expression.

Then he felt himself rising in the air and all thought of the past fled from his mind. He looked down. Though he could feel something beneath his feet, he couldn’t see it. Whatever it was, it was carrying him and Sonea down the staircase.

I guess this means there’s no risk of creaking treads betraying us.

A sparsely furnished room appeared as they neared the floor of the basement. Dazzling light filled the space as a glowing ball appeared above Sonea’s head. Cery looked for the bed, found it, then felt a surge of disappointment. It was unoccupied.

A door opened and they both spun about, then sighed as they saw Regin and Gol enter the room. Both frowned as they saw the rogue was nowhere in sight.

“Search,” Sonea said. “But carefully.”

They each chose a wall, examining the furniture, looking under the bed, opening cupboards.

“This room isn’t being used,” Regin observed. “The clothes in this cupboard are dusty.”

Cery nodded and nudged a basin with soiled cups, bowls and cutlery in it. “And these dishes have been dirty for so long they’re mouldy.”

“Aha!” Gol exclaimed quietly. All turned to see him gesturing at the wall. A section of bricks sat at an angle to the rest, swivelling aside as he pressed on one end. Behind was a dark space. Cery crossed to it and sniffed at the air inside.

“The Thieves’ Road,” he said. “Or a passage to it.”

Sonea chuckled. “Not two entrances after all. I’m surprised you didn’t check for subterranean ones.”

Cery shrugged. “It’s a new street. When the king demolishes the old ones, he makes sure the Road goes too.”

“He wasn’t thorough enough this time,” she said. Coming closer, she ran a hand over the brickwork. “Or perhaps he was. This is new – hardly any dust or cobwebs on it. Should we see where it leads?”

“If you want to explore, go ahead,” Cery told her. “But this isn’t my territory. I can’t enter without permission. If I trespass,” he shrugged, “the Thief Hunter will have one less Thief to do in.”

“Does this passage suggest our rogue is working with the local Thief?” Regin asked.

Sonea looked at Cery. “If she is the Thief Hunter, then I doubt it. But if she’s not, then she’d have skills a Thief would find very useful.”

In other words, she thinks this proves that the rogue isn’t the Thief Hunter, Cery thought.

Regin peered into the tunnel, his expression intent. He looked as if he might move inside, but then he stepped back and straightened.

“I suspect she’s long gone. What do you recommend we do next, Cery?” he asked.

Cery glanced at the magician in surprise. A magician asking him his opinion was not something that happened often. “I agree that you’re unlikely to find her in the tunnels.” He reached out and turned the bricks back into place. “If she doesn’t notice that we invaded her room she might continue using it to access the tunnels. We should make sure everything is exactly how we found it. I’ll put a watch on this place and let you know if she returns.”

“And if she does notice?” Regin asked.

“Then we’ll have to hope another bit of luck leads us to her again.”

Regin nodded, then looked at Sonea. She shrugged. “Not much else we can do for now. If anyone can find her again, Cery will.”

Cery felt a flush of pleasure, followed by a niggling anxiety that she might be wrong. He had spotted the rogue by chance. It might not be so easy to find her again. The four of them moved around the room quickly, making sure everything was in order, then left the way they had come. Sonea relocked the front door with magic. They slipped out the back way. Once in the main street again, they exchanged glances but remained silent. The two magicians raised hands in farewell before they walked away. Cery and Gol returned to the empty shopkeeper’s house.

“Well, that was disappointing,” Gol said.

“Yes,” Cery agreed.

“Do you think the rogue will come back?”

“No. She’ll have had something set up to tell her if anyone came visiting.”

“So what do we do next?”

“Watch and hope I’m wrong.” He looked around the room. “And find out when the owner of this place