Two days after the Ichani Invasion

Rothen was exhausted. They all were. From where he was standing in the hallway of the Healing facilities he could observe dozens of Healers and their patients as they shuffled from one place to the other, all faces pale and wary. These last two days were especially difficult for Vinara's people and Rothen felt sorry for their constant sacrifice. Most of them barely slept, just enough to regain some power to be able to work properly. If it wasn't for their efforts, far more casualties might have been registered.

If it wasn't for them both Sonea and Akkarin might have died then.

Rothen shivered with dread at the thought of loosing the girl, the closest thing he had to a daughter. And even though she promised that it wasn't Akkarin's fault, the older Magician will have to have a word with the ex-High Lord about keeping Sonea from stunts like that in the future.

When Rothen, Balkan and Dorrien made their way down from the roof hastily, he thought that he might cry. When they were leaving their high perch, Rothen glimpsed Sonea flinging herself at Akkarin's body, crying out his name and please for him to not leave her. But as they joined her there, the girl was silent, one hand on Akkarin's forehead, gaze unfocused. She was deathly pale and sweating, Rothen could also see that she was bleeding from a wound on her leg.

Her account of what happened then was a bit unclear. Especially since what she had described during the brief time she had been awake today was practically impossible, at least for normal Magicians.

Sonea confessed that if it wasn't for the pain of her own injury that pulled her back to her senses, she might have completely succumbed to panic and done nothing of what followed the fight. Fortunately she managed to somewhat gather her wits and try the impossible. From her tale the Higher Magicians that gathered in her tiny room then could gather that she had nearly separated her own consciousness from her body and dove into Akkarin's fading mind to ignite a spark of power that could allow him to live. Every one of the Higher Magicians confirmed that it had never been done and is apparently against some very basic rules concerning using one's magic. And yet, somehow, Sonea of the slums managed to pull her lover back to life long enough for Dorrien and then other Healers to barely manage the mortal wound that might have been Akkarin's demise.

There were complications, of course. Sonea had lost consciousness as soon as Dorrien's Healing power begun its work of helping her save Akkarin. She was unconscious for more than a day and, strangely, her power levels were extremely low until today, when Vinara observed slight improvement. They all suspected that it has something to do with her linking consciousness with a dying man.

Akkarin was a different matter completely. The dagger that had been lodged in his chest punctured a lung and nicked the wall of his heart, only metal stopping the organ from bursting. Vinara used every ounce of power she could spare to mend the tissue but was understandably worried – a scar has been formed that might cause him grievance in the future. It certainly did now, as Akkarin's weakened system couldn't cope, causing arrhythmia and respiratory problems. It took hours to stabilize him but finally his body, constantly stroked by Healing powers, took up the job of keeping him alive.

Sonea will be glad, Rothen thought.

He allowed himself to ponder that now, as he stood a way from the door to her room. His worries seemed do be true, it looked like his girl had really fallen for the Black Magician. Even though his motives were now clear to everybody, Rothen still had trouble forgiving the younger man for the years of pain and worry he had caused Sonea, Lorlen and him. What was he supposed to do now? Rothen felt responsible for Sonea but he could not find an answer to this question. They will deal with it in due time, he guessed.

Rothen spotted Lady Vinara approaching him and was about to greet her when he caught movement from the corner of his eye. The door he was just looking at opened and Sonea appeared in the corridor.

"You should be in bed," Rothen heard Vinara's irritated scoff.

"Where is he?" Sonea asked, ignoring the remark.

"He's in his room, resting. As should you."

"I need to see him." There was a stubborn glint in Sonea's eyes and Rothen could hear the agitation in her raised voice. She paid no attention to other people in the corridor, focusing on Vinara.

"You cannot," the Healer answered tersely, taking a step in the girl's direction. "He is unconscious. Besides we haven't decided anything in your case yet. Until the Meet you are to be supervised at all times, you should cooperate."

Sonea looked at her disbelievingly and was about to say something when another door opened not far down the corridor. After a moment a hunched figure stepped shakily from the doorway.

Rothen could see that Akkarin was barely able to stand. He swayed on his feet, even with the wall as a support. His face was deathly pale, the impression only deepened by the dark hair framing it. But his gaze was clear and focused, like always. Momentarily, he zeroed it on Sonea.

There was a moment of uneasy silence in which no one seemed to know what to do. Except for Akkarin, who fixed his grip on the wall, straightened just a bit and spat in the girl's direction:

"Are you out of your mind?!"

All eyes of the silent spectators moved to Sonea, who seemed speechless, clearly not expecting that. It took her a moment to gather her wits but when she did, her voice was angry.

"I was just about to ask the same thing, Lord Got-Stabbed-But-Going-For-A-Walk."

Rothen's eyes bulged as he heard the wry comment. He could hear a small cough from where Vinara was standing and a quick glance confirmed that her natural need to herd her patients back to their beds was battling for control with amused curiosity. No one in the corridor moved, probably afraid of provoking Akkarin wrath. But instead the man ignored the attempted sarcasm completely.

"Do you realize how dangerous that was?" he hissed, seeming oblivious to all the people watching the scene – his attention was completely focused on Sonea. "If I had died your mind would've probably been pulled with me!"

Sonea took a step in his direction and eyed him wearily.

"So I was supposed to let you bleed to death and do nothing?"

"You were supposed to follow the order and avoid danger! You reckless…" at this Sonea bristled and made to interrupt him:

"Who's the reckless one! You impossible…" but Akkarin just kept talking like he wasn't hearing her, his face twisted with anger and pain. They were now throwing insult, somehow orbiting closer and closer, only to stop at an arm's length from each other:

"disobedient…"

"arrogant…"

"impatient…"

"pig-headed…"

"thoughtless…"

"selfish…"

"…infuriating woman!"

"…stubborn mule!"

When they ran out of names to call each other silence took reign in the corridor, only interrupted by Akkarin's ragged gasps. The angry outburst has clearly taken it's toll on his damaged body as he hunched dangerously close to falling, clutching his chest with his free hand. Rothen felt sorry for the younger man, usually so collected and seemingly indestructible.

Before anyone had time to react, Sonea was beside him, gently taking his hand off the wall and throwing it over her shoulder.

"See? That was reckless," she admonished him, allowing Akkarin a moment to catch his breath before turning them both in the direction of his room. "And if you think that I will feel sorry for you, you've got another thing coming. Because that was cheating your way out of an argument."

Even though her voice was still angry, her moves were slow and gentle, careful not to jostle him too much. And for a split moment Rothen glimpsed something in the face of the ex-High Lord that he would never expect to see there – Akkarin looked at Sonea with infinite affection that could not be mistaken for anything else. Sonea seemed completely oblivious to the tender attention, too absorbed by her uninterrupted rant. Rothen stared after the couple as they made their painful way out of view of curious onlookers. Well, that was interesting, he thought.

"Did the girl just call the former High Lord an arrogant, stubborn mule?" he heard somewhere from the side, where one of the Healers joined Vinara. Similar gossip started to spread down the corridor like wildfire.

"I believe it was 'arrogant, pig-headed, stubborn mule," the Higher Magician replied, hiding a smile before following the lovers.