Disclaimer: I do not own BMT world – it belongs to Trudi Canavan

A Puzzle

The High Lord poured two generous glasses of Kendil white and passed one to Vinara. She accepted it gratefully. Wine seems to make these sorts of discussions go better, she thought, although I much prefer red wine, but as this is the High Lord's favourite, it just might keep him in a good mood.

Balkan sipped his wine and sat back with a satisfied sigh. "You can't beat a good Kendil white," he said. "You can keep all those full-bodied, fruity reds, give me a cool, crisp white any day. Right, what do you have to tell me, Vinara?"

The Healer contemplated her glass of wine for a moment, then looked up and said, "I've examined the baby, or Lady Karine, I should say! She is a healthy child and considering how long her mother was in labour, she seems to have suffered no ill effects. Sonea has also recovered very well from the birth and is now back to full health."

"Yes, yes, but what about her magic? That's the important thing here." Balkan sounded impatient. He had no children, and had never been a man very much interested in anyone before they turned sixteen.

"I tested Karine for magic as you requested. I don't have very much experience of testing one so young, but as far as I can tell, she looks as if she will be strong in magic like her mother. However, there is a long way to go before I can be definite about her strength. A lot can happen as a child grows."

Balkan took another sip, "So the increase in Sonea's strength cannot be simply down to the child, as we thought?"

"No, that's the puzzling thing, Sonea's magic is as strong now as before the child was born, in fact, her magic continues to increase in strength. I can't explain it; I have never experienced anything like it before. It's almost as if Sonea is accessing another source of magic and adding it to her own."

Balkan was silent, a frown creasing his brow as he took in Vinara's comments. As High Lord, he was responsible for all the magicians in the Guild, and the way they used their magic. There were accepted tasks which the Guild carried out, in return for the power to regulate its own affairs under the King's Law. That was why the Guild was happy to supply Healers to outlying communities, why Warriors would act to protect a village from attack by brigands and the Alchemists would provide the results of their experiments to help ordinary citizens, where appropriate. He was not sure about the position of black magic. To hear confirmation that Black Magician Sonea continued to be the strongest magician in the Guild, and with no signs that her power had reached its peak, was a considerable worry to him.

"Have you spoken to Sonea about all this, Vinara?"

"No, High Lord, I did what you asked, so only you and I know of the situation. Do you think we should discuss it with her?"

Balkan poured himself another glass. "I'm reluctant to raise the matter. My worry is that it may be a thing of forbidden magic. What if she discovered something in all that study with Akkarin and then in the books she has been reviewing which allows her to access power from another source, beyond the usual black magic practice of cutting and draining?"

Vinara sucked in her breath sharply, she had not considered a black magic angle. "I see, High Lord, why you might be concerned to mention it, but if it is a thing of black magic, she is the only one who can answer our questions. I wonder if it may be appropriate to see her and perhaps bring it into the conversation in some way?"

"Perhaps you are right." Balkan rang a small bell on his desk and when the servant answered, he sent him to find Sonea and discreetly ask her to come to the Residence straight away.

"I could have called her myself, but I'd rather not alert our fellows," he explained.

It wasn't too long before the servant showed Sonea into the room. She was carrying Karine and said, "I hope you don't mind, High Lord, but my nursemaid has gone into the city and I had no one to leave Karine with."

"No, of course, I understand," the High Lord said. Almost at the same time, Vinara said, "I would have been glad to get a Healer to keep an eye on the baby, Sonea, if only you had said."

The servant fetched Sonea some tea and she sat down with the baby on her lap, slowly sipping her tea and gazing at the two magicians. "What do you want to see me about?"

Vinara talked about her examination of the baby and how healthy she seemed. She went on, "The High Lord also asked me to assess her magical potential and, although she is very young, it seems she is likely to be strong like her parents."

Sonea seemed surprised that Karine had been tested, but said nothing. She continued sipping her tea in silence. Vinara asked one or two questions about her health and how well she was sleeping and whether or not Karine was a good sleeper and so on. Sonea answered them all patiently, but it was obvious that she was growing increasingly suspicious about the questions and why she had been called to the Residence.

Balkan cleared his throat, "There is one other matter you may be able to help us with Sonea," he said. "During her examinations while you were pregnant, Vinara noticed that your power was growing. It continued to grow and at first, she thought that perhaps the baby was particularly strong, but that doesn't seem to be the case. The baby has magic and most likely will be a strong magician, but her power is nowhere near strong enough to account for what happened to you. Since the child has been born, your power has continued to grow and neither Vinara nor myself understand why this is. Do you?"

While the High Lord had been speaking, Sonea had gone very still and her face grew very pale. You do know something, thought Vinara, but will you tell us what it is?

Sonea said firmly, "You have known this about my power for all these months and said nothing to me? I find that very unusual. What could possibly have been your reasons?"

Vinara snorted, You always manage to make us sound like the villains here and yourself the innocent! she thought disapprovingly.

Vinara said in a reassuring tone, "It's quite common for things to be kept from a mother-to-be, Sonea, especially if she'd had a difficult time during the pregnancy. You were faced with the loss of Akkarin and all the worry about guardianship of the child, so I thought it would be better to wait until you were stronger."

That seemed to be the right approach, because Sonea relaxed a little and she nodded. "Yes, I'm sorry, I can see why you might have not wanted to upset me."

"So can you think of any reason why your power should be getting stronger? Has it anything to do with your black magic studies?" the High Lord asked.

"I have not practised black magic since the fighting, High Lord, as I don't have permission. I will need to ask soon, though, because my students are nearly at the point where they are ready to take the next step. However, in relation to your question, I cannot think of any black magic procedures I might have carried out in the past, which would result in permanent and growing increase in my power. As you know, the techniques that High Lord Akkarin and I used involved a temporary increase only."

Vinara narrowed her eyes at Sonea's reply. She couldn't rid herself of the feeling that Sonea knew more about this than she was letting on. But how to prove it? she thought. Over the next few minutes, Vinara and Balkan discussed the mystery of Sonea's power increase but without getting any answers. In the end Sonea agreed to look at the black magic texts to see if there were any clues there.

"I would ask you not to discuss this with any other magicians, apart from Vinara and myself, for obvious reasons," Balkan fixed Sonea with a hard stare. "I don't want unnecessary concerns raised in the Guild."

After she had gone, Balkan said, "Well, we'll have to see if she can explain it. I'll try to see her in a week or two, to see what she has discovered, if anything. It's quite a puzzle and one I'd like solved as soon as possible!"

Sonea hurried back to her rooms, set the locks and went into her bedchamber. She settled her daughter into the cot and sat down in the armchair.

Akkarin? Did you hear what they said?

Yes, I've been thinking about it and there is only one thing it can be – somehow you are registering both your own power and mine. Anyone testing you would simply see it as a steady increase in your strength.

What can I do about it, Akkarin?

As a temporary measure, you can discharge the excess power into the Arena. Your students are still working on their Warrior training aren't they? Well no one would think anything of it if you went to see them perform and strengthened the Arena as part of the process.

That won't solve the basic problem. I'll need to do something else! Sonea sounded upset. She didn't want to give Vinara or anyone else an excuse to start messing around with her power, or worse still, reading her mind.

Don't worry, I'll work on it. There's a couple of days until you come to me, so I have plenty of time to give it a lot of careful thought. I'm sure there is an answer, it's just finding it. She sensed a flow of calming thoughts from Akkarin. Try not to let it upset you.

Sonea smiled gratefully, I am so glad I have you to talk to, I'd go mad here otherwise. There's absolutely no one else I can turn to!

Akkarin's mental presence registered strong amusement, Of course, I weren't here, you wouldn't have these problems to worry about and no need of anyone to discuss them with!