Spy's Honor by Amy Raby Page A

refilling his wheelbarrow in the company of three other slaves when a bruised and angry-looking Micah had stalked through the gate not twenty paces away, flanked by two orange-garbed Legaciatti. Janto could not throw a shroud over himself with an audience so near. He’d tried to discreetly slip away, but it hadn’t worked. Micah had spotted him.
    Micah grabbed him by the tunic and hauled him before the Legaciatti. “This is the one. This is the slave who attacked me last night.”
    Sashi, invisible, came running.
I’ll bite him, su-kali!
    Do not,
cautioned Janto.
Stay hidden and stay close
. His ferret, who lived in the moment and lacked the capacity to regret past errors, would not chide him for failing to kill Micah the night before. But Janto had regrets enough for both of them.
    â€œHe’s not on the books?” asked a Legaciattus with a scar on his lip.
    â€œNo. I don’t even know his name.”
    Lip Scar jerked his chin at his uniformed partner. “We’ll take it from here.”
    The Legaciatti led Janto out of the garden and down a long pathway through the courtyard. They entered a small, simply furnished outbuilding with a table and four chairs. Sashi, still invisible, slipped in the door before they closed it and pressed himself into a corner, out of the way.
    Kill them now?
asked Sashi.
    I don’t have a plan yet,
said Janto.
Sit tight.
Killing, unfortunately, was beyond his means. They were armed, and he wasn’t, and one or both of them might be war mages.
    Lip Scar pushed Janto into one of the chairs, cuffed his wrists, and sat down across from him. “Get a mind mage,” he ordered his partner, who nodded and left.
    A mind mage. Janto felt sick with despair. They would use a truth spell on him, and then he would have two choices, either of which would reveal him. He could use his magic to repel the truth spell, but the mind mage would know if he did that, and he would give himself away as a mage. If he didn’t repel it, the mind mage would know when he lied. One way or another, he faced torture and death. Iolo had been right. Unless he could talk his way out of this, the best he could hope for was to take his poison pill.
    â€œTell me,” said Lip Scar, speaking Mosari. “How is it that we have an Imperial Garden slave with no paperwork, who is unknown to the overseer?”
    â€œSir, I believe you need a better overseer.”
    Lip Scar snorted. “Oh?”
    â€œThe overseer spends his time ravishing the slave women. He has no interest in learning the names of the male slaves, or in keeping his paperwork up-to-date.”
    â€œHe says you attacked him.”
    â€œHe assaulted a woman,” said Janto. “It was an unfair fight, so I evened the odds.”
    â€œYou are not to assault your overseer under any circumstances,” said Lip Scar. “But disciplinary matters among slaves are not my concern. We’ll see how your story holds up when the mind mage gets here.” He shuffled through some papers, initialing a couple of them.
    Your tame Kjallan is at the door,
said Sashi.
    Janto blinked.
Tame Kjallan?
    The door opened. “I heard you needed a mind mage.”
    Janto turned and stared. It was Rhianne. The second Legaciattus followed her into the room.
    Lip Scar leapt to his feet. “Your Imperial Highness! I requested a mind mage, but I would never have presumed to trouble
you
.”
    Rhianne flashed him a dazzling smile. “It’s no trouble at all, Bruccian. I ran into your partner outside, and he said you were looking for one, and it happens I’ve no other obligations this morning. What sort of spell do you need?”
    â€œA truth spell,” said Lip Scar. “We’ve reason to believe this man may be a spy. He’s been posing as a slave in the Imperial Garden, but the slave overseer doesn’t know him and says he’s not on the books. He also says this man attacked him last