Free The Traitor Queen by Trudi Canavan Page B

from Lorandra and the Guild, had said it affected
     people differently.
    I’m just lucky, I guess
. She felt a pang of unexpected sympathy for Kallen.
And he obviously isn’t
.
    “Tell us what you know and you can go free.”
    Lorkin could not hold back a chuckle. The interrogator straightened a little at his reaction, his eyes brightening.
    “Why do you laugh?”
    “I could tell you anything. How would you know it was the truth?”
    The man smiled, but there was no humour in his eyes.
He knows I am right
. Meeting the man’s eyes, Lorkin felt a chill run down his spine. There was a sharpness to them. A patience that suggested
     he would enjoy the hours of interrogation to come. That he was just beginning. This was only the second day of many to come.
    They hadn’t tried to read his mind yet. Something was holding them back.
A reluctance to damage relations with the Allied Lands?
But then why lock him up in the first place?
    They can’t have dismissed the idea entirely
. Eventually they would try it. Once they attempted and failed to read his mind, they would realise they had sacrificed good
     relations with the Allied Lands for no benefit. With restraint for the sake of diplomacy abandoned, nothing would stop them
     torturing him – but they would face the same problem: not knowing if what he said was true.
    Perhaps they would verify his words in other ways. Perhaps they hoped imprisonment, discomfort and fear would drive him to
     give them permission to read his mind.
    He almost wished they’d get it over and done with. He was tempted to offer a willing mind-read, to speed things up. Instead
     he thought of a range of ridiculous lies he could tell the interrogator. It would be fun, at least temporarily, to lead the
     man on for a while.
But not yet
, he told himself.
It’s only the second day. You can hold out for much longer than this
.
    The interrogator’s companion appeared in the doorway carrying a bowl. Glancing at him, the Ashaki questioner smiled, then
     looked back at Lorkin.
    “Tell us something about the Traitors – just one small thing – and we’ll give you something to eat.”
    A delicious smell reached Lorkin’s nose. His stomach clenched then growled with hunger. He’d been given water that morning,
     which he’d sipped cautiously, but still no food since being brought down here. He had resisted using Healing magic to dull
     the growing hunger, not wanting to use the magic that Tyvara had given him. It couldn’t be replaced, and he might need it.
    The smell of the food was strong and set his head spinning. He thought of the lies he’d considered telling them, and felt
     a strong impulse to speak rising within him. Osen had said he should avoid revealing that his mind could not be read for as
     long as possible. Leading the interrogator along a false path might delay that.
    Don’t be ridiculous
, he thought.
It might distract him for a short while, but the more I test that man’s patience the sooner he’ll give up on persuading me
     to speak. Tyvara would expect me to have more willpower than this
.
    She also intended him to use the magic she’d given him to protect himself. It would never get him out of the prison, or stop
     an Ashaki torturing or killing him, but it could help him resist these less direct attacks on his determination to keep silent.
    Closing his eyes, he drew a little magic and sent it out into his body to dull the gnawing in his stomach and stop his head
     from spinning.
    When he opened his eyes, the interrogator was watching him closely. The man stared at Lorkin thoughtfully, then beckoned to
     his assistant. The pair of them, with a great display of relish, began to eat.

CHAPTER 5
SPECULATION AND SECRETS
    T he servant who had answered Sonea’s knock had told her Lord Regin was at a meeting with Black Magician Kallen. She had asked
     him to inform her when Regin returned, then retreated to her rooms for a much-needed cup of raka.
    The wait was excruciating.
    This