Chapter 2: The Spring

Yay! I finally thought of something original! I just couldn't be bothered to check the other 200 odd BMT fics, and guessed that this idea was probably very common.

I think I will include Akkarin, but I don't think that he and Sonea will ever meet. (But I'm not sure about this yet).

Lorlen:

Lorlen awoke with a start and stared at the sea of papers before him. Had he fallen asleep? He must have been so tired that he had forgotten to heal away his tiredness. He yawned. Akkarin would have been amused. He was always telling him to take a break… Lorlen shook himself awake. Akkarin wasn't here. He hadn't been here for a very long time. Lorlen found himself thinking, and not for the first time, about what it was that was so important to his friend that he hadn't bothered to keep in contact. At the beginning of his quest for knowledge they had sent each other weekly letters. Lorlen had even made excuses to avoid important work to find time to read and write them. He sighed. Speculating was high on the list of things he should certainly not be doing. As was falling asleep whilst working.

To give him something to do, other than staring at the never-ending pile of paper in despair, Lorlen rose and looked out of the window. The sun had just risen above the Guild, leaving the sky scattered with rose-petal-pink hued clouds. He had remembered dozing off around midnight, and groaned. Today he would be cooped inside his office; working to make up for the time wasted last night.

But the Guild wouldn't begin to rise for about an hour, and Lorlen felt that maybe he did need a break. He wanted to go somewhere private. The roof, maybe. Lorlen headed towards the stairs and began to climb, when he realised that the roof wasn't his only sanctuary. There was another place, somewhere he hadn't been to in years. The spring. He had only ever been there with Akkarin, and hadn't felt the need to for years, but today he felt an unnamed force that seemed to be pulling him towards it.

…

Lorlen sat down on a stone. The spring bubbled in front of him. He fiddled with the board game on his lap, and sighed. He couldn't believe that he been so irresponsible as a novice. Avoiding classes to waste time with his friend by the spring. It was quite amazing that he had earned one of the highest positions in the Guild. It was Akkarin's fault, a small part of his mind voiced its opinion. He was the one who led you astray. Then Lorlen felt ashamed for thinking such things. He had willingly wasted hours of studying time to have fun with his friend.

Sometimes, Lorlen despaired over his life. His novice days had been filled with fun, and, as if to balance it out, his magician days were filled with nothing but work. As Administrator, he was given power and recognition. But was it worth it?

The playing piece Lorlen had been holding splintered under his fingers. Sighing, he reassembled it with magic.

While he worked, he thought. Maybe he should give up his job. But then what? He would have so much time. What would he do with it? Besides, even if it does exhaust me, I'm good at it. And it gives me something to do. I enjoy my job! Lorlen sighed. He had always been terrible at lying, even to himself. He hated being tired; all of his energy was constantly being leeched from him, even when he healed it away. Signing formal documents grew tedious after a while. But whilst he did enjoy his power over the Guild, sometimes he felt that something was amiss…

What would Akkarin say if he was here now? He'd tell me to use my influence to get someone else to do my work so that I could drink wine and relax, and still get the credit. Lorlen smiled. Akkarin had always been a troublemaker.

…

The Guild still seemed to be asleep when Lorlen made his way towards it's grounds, although the sun was peeping through the trees' leafy boughs. Realisation hit Lorlen with a start as he remembered that today was Free Day.

Hmm… maybe I'll head into the city. I can always catch up on work later… And it's high time that I bought Osen something. He is very helpful, after all. He works too hard.

A smile on his face, Lorlen returned to his chambers to claim his wallet.

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