The Draykon Series (1-3)

Lokant: Chapter Twenty-One

'I thought this tower belonged to someone else,' he said a little later, sitting uncomfortably in Andraly's workroom at the top of the building. She sat easily in a rocking chair on the other side of the room, keeping her pale eyes fixed on him. He'd had no luck guessing her age or anything about her. Her face was neither young nor wrinkled; her eyes gave nothing away.

'Oh? Upon whom did you obligingly bestow ownership of my home?'

He winced. 'Look, I know the circumstances of my arrival weren't ideal, but I didn't mean any harm. Could we drop the acidity?'

She smirked. 'You were planning to break in.'

'I didn't know it was your house! I thought it belonged to an Ullarni sorcerer I've reason to dislike.'

Her eyes opened a little wider at that. 'Ullarni? Why would you think that?'

'Because it's practically on the doorstep of a recurring rogue gate that opens into Orstwych, right on the Ullarn border. I followed the sorc down here and I thought that this must be something to do with him. Especially when we found an istore ring in here.' He flicked a hand at the floor not far from his chair, pointing out where the object had lain.

'We?' Andraly prompted.

'I was with Lady Evastany Glostrum at the time.'

Her face cleared. 'Ah. That's interesting.'

'Is it?'

She shifted in her chair. 'Were you also the person who turned all my belongings upside down?'

It was fair to note that the place was a lot tidier than it had been last time he'd visited. 'Um, no. It was a mess when we got here.'

Andraly rolled her eyes. 'I really need to work on my security. That ring wasn't mine, by the way. I've never had such a thing in here. I suppose my first uninvited guest made himself at home here - I found a number of objects that didn't belong to me - and then my second intruder stole from both of us.'

Tren sighed. Her repeated use of words like "stealing" and "intruder" and "thief" was making him nervous. 'Look. Griel killed one of my friends. He was also responsible for the death of one of Lady Glostrum's friends. We felt we had reason to do as necessary to catch up with him.'

'Griel?' Her brows lifted.

'The sorc.'

'Hmm. A bad character to get tangled up with. Poor judgement.'

Tren sat forward, electrified. 'Oh? What do you know about him? We've hardly been able to find out anything.'

She shook her head. 'Nor would you; his kind tend to be well camouflaged. Well, I suppose I must forgive you for your thievery, even though I did have to travel an awfully long way to get my book back.'

'That's true. How did you know where to find it?'

She gave him a withering look. 'There are ways, book thief. I'm not foolish enough to leave my life's work lying around without any means of tracking it should it happen to wander off.'

Tren was silenced.

Andraly resettled herself, crossing her legs. 'So. About Llandry Sanfaer. How are you mixed up in her business?'

'I don't know about that,' Tren said. 'It's my turn to ask some questions. Who are you? If you wrote those memoirs - all of them - why do they span such an impossibly long period of time? And what's your interest in Llandry?'

She smiled. 'That's asking far too much. Pick one.'

He shook his head. 'All or nothing.'

'You do realise I have you at a disadvantage, yes? You're locked in my tower without obvious means of escape.'