I want to dedicate this chapter to Rags2Riches, for helping me come up with the idea! Then I would like to apologise to everyone for it. First of all, the beginning is in no way funny, so that I can have the funny bits later on. Second, I need to say beware to all Akkarin and Tayend fans and please don't hate me for the last scene! I hope you like it!
Please R&R, everything is part of the whole, and will continue to the future chapters, so even if you don't like a certain bit, if you don't read It, it may make the future chapters harder to understand. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, and all the support you have given me!
Lady Vinara stared out at the desolate landscape. This was to be her home for the next however long. She felt like crying again, but as she heard footsteps she quickly smothered them. She looked away, not wishing to see her captor, but then she sensed him stop beside her. She fought to control her breathing, and he grabbed her chin roughly, forcing her to look. His mocking expression, those heartless eyes... It was a face she had come to know; Kariko. Talk of a holiday gone wrong! One moment, idle curiosity drew her into the mysterious land of Sachaka, the next; she was being dragged away from the ruins of her carriage, her possessions stolen, and her dignity in tatters. She woke up here, and has been at the mercy of this ruthless man ever since. She looked at him again, tried to shut her eyes, but found she was unable to.
"Stop trying to defy me guild magician. I know all your secrets!" She flinched as his breath swept softly over her face. "I have a job for you to do, but only when I know you are ready." Lady Vinara swallowed a wave of fear. Then she came up with a brilliant plan.
"I don't care anymore," She angled her gaze further down, though still unable to move her head. "There's no way of escaping here is there? I see that, I'm not stupid. If I fight you I will only make it harder on myself." She looked back at him, and found herself unable to read his expression. Traces of surprise flitted through his eyes, but she could see nothing else she recognised.
"Well, a clever one at last!" He sneered, but without the same cruel edge as before. "Of course you know that I still don't trust you, so I must test you. Come with me." He walked off, and Lady Vinara quickly followed, trying to ignore the lingering pain in her badly bruised ankle, and the sharp sting of the badly set bone within it.
Akkarin smiled, staring at the piece of paper he held up. He had no clue as to what it said, but he was pretty sure he could vaguely recognise the incal on the front. He had been invited! His thoughts drifted to his day spent at the library, and to Tayend, his not-quite-as-young-as-before assistant...
"Ow!" Akkarin cried as he walked into something hard. He felt out in the darkness, and touched what felt like wood. "Pesky bookshelf..." Akkarin muttered to himself. He moved around the bookshelf, and saw a faint light appear in the distance, hurrying towards him. He moved behind the bookcase again, and let the light come towards him. A young man who Akkarin vaguely recognised passed him slowly. He glanced in his direction, but didn't appear to notice him. Then he stopped, and turned slowly round. Akkarin noticed the lantern in his hand that was throwing flickering shadows over the young man's face. He bowed.
"High Lord Akkarin! It's been so long, I've missed your company." He smiled at him. Akkarin frowned slightly.
"Are you... Tayned?" He replied, his brow creasing with self-doubt.
"Tayend; how could you forget me?" Tayend looked at Akkarin, an almost betrayed expression flitting across his face, before he looked at his feet to hide his face.
"Ah yes! Tayend!" Akkarin smiled, having not really registered Tayend's facial expressions. "The helper from ages ago, you look... older!" Tayend looked at Akkarin, and could tell that something was not right. The Akkarin he knew would never forget him, never. That, his general speech and the stench of alcohol was a giveaway to what he had been up to.
"Why have you not got a globe light or a lantern?" Tayend asked gesturing to his own. Akkarin suddenly leapt backwards.
"You have fire in a library!" He cried. Tayend went to move forwards, causing Akkarin to brandish a bottle of siyo as a weapon.
"Would you really use that?" Tayend asked, creeping forwards slowly, his hands up to try and calm him down. "Waste all that siyo? You can't get it from anywhere in Elyne; it's only made in Vin." Akkarin was looking less certain of himself, his arm was lowering and the gap between him and Tayend was shrinking. "Come on, only someone silly would waste things like that, and you're not a silly person, are you?" Akkarin slowly shook his head, and Tayend gave a quiet sigh of relief. "Okay, put the bottle away now." Slowly, Akkarin put the bottle back in a hidden pocket in his robe.
"Blow it out!" Akkarin yelped, still keeping his distance. Tayend glanced from him to the lantern and back.
"Blow it out? So we can't see anything?" Tayend asked.
"Do you want to burn all these books?" Akkarin asked; confused.
"No, but this won't..."
"Blow it out!" Akkarin shouted suddenly. Then they were thrown into darkness.
"I think I know my way, follow me. " Tayend's footsteps started to move off, and Akkarin – scared of losing him – hurried into him. "Here," Tayend said, taking Akkarin's hand and placing it on his waist. "Now you can stay with me!" They started off in the direction of their old study.
Tayend had managed to convince Akkarin that they needed light, so he had lit a candle and put it in a glass case. Akkarin however, was crouched in the corner furthest away from it, wincing as Tayend nursed the bump growing on his head with some ice.
"Why won't you move? The sofa would be so much more comfortable..." Tayend said, sidling slightly closer to him.
"So that if it gets out it can't get me!" Akkarin gulped, without taking his eyes off the flickering flame. By now, Tayend's arm was practically around Akkarin's shoulders, as he snuggled up to him and kept pressure on his head. Akkarin didn't seem aware of this.
"Please Akkarin; this is probably a very awkward position for you, squished against the wall like that." He batted his eyelids. "You'd be closer to the door!" Akkarin finally tore his gaze away from the candle to look at Tayend. Slowly, he took out the green bottle of siyo from his robes, and took a large gulp of the potent liquid.
"K..." He slurred, and let Tayend half drag him over to the sofa.
"See, isn't this much better?" Tayend cooed, brushing Akkarin's hair back behind his ear.
"Yeah," Akkarin relaxed slightly into the plush cushions on the generously sized sofa. A mischievous glint appeared in Tayend's eyes.
"It's been so long since you were last here, you should come to Bel Arralade's party with me so you can meet all my friends! It's going to be so fun, and even better if you could join us!" Tayend looked at Akkarin with excitement, knowing he'd accept. The response was even better than he had anticipated.
"Really?" Akkarin gave Tayend a huge grin, before throwing up his arms and practically screaming with joy. Tayend decided to join in, and the sound of their joyous whooping bounced off the walls in the fairly small room. When Tayend paused for breath, he found that Akkarin was still going, so he swivelled so that he was sitting on the Magician's lap before gripping him in a vice like hug. Akkarin took a breath and continued whooping, before throwing his arms violently around Tayend's neck.
"Then you're coming?" Tayend smiled at him. Akkarin resumed his screaming in response. "Yay!" Tayend clapped daintily, and then continued the hug, resting his head on Akkarin's shoulder.
