Uneasily, Akkarin groped his finger against the wine glass in his hand as he thought about what he could tell Sonea. He knew he couldn't fool her with the same story he had told Lorlen, but at the same time he was deeply reluctant to reveal his past to her.

"I could use your advice," Akkarin finally turned to the only person who knew his entire story, via his blood jewel.

"She could be a strong ally, Master," came the prompt reply of his servant. Akkarin had already informed Takan on the way home about what had happened.

"She would be an equally dangerous enemy. I cannot simply get her out of my way"

"You said she is intelligent and has a strong sense of justice. Tell her your story, she will understand you best of all the people in the guild, Master".

Akkarin withdrew from the thoughts of his servant when Sonea entered the library. She looked less pale, as she had looked a few minutes earlier, and she had not only washed herself but also put on a fresh robe.

"Sit down", he asked her, still deeply lost in thought. Silently, she did what he asked her to do. Her courage seemed to have disappeared all of a sudden. To gain a little time, Akkarin rose to pour a glass of wine for Sonea as well and handed it to her before he sat down opposite her. Should he follow Takan's advice? Everything in him was reluctant to reveal his faults. To admit his guilt. Silently, Akkarin looked at the girl before him. She did not look like someone who had just killed for the first time. And yet she reminded him a little of himself, kneeling over the body of his master, disgusted and repulsive to himself. How happy he had been to be rid of him. How he had fled instead of continuing to occupy himself with his deeds, because it was the right thing to do.

Determined Akkarin sat down a little straighter. Sonea deserved to know who had attacked her and that she had not killed for pure self-interest. And maybe Takan was right. Maybe he could win her as an ally, just different from what his original plan had intended.

"Well, I think you have some questions. But first I want to explain who this man was and why he was in Imardin. But to do that I must explain to you a little about my past," he began, waiting for her nod before continuing.

"When I travelled to Elyne at the time to explore ancient magic, I found several clues that I followed. The last of these clues eventually led me to Sachaka. There I met a trader who invited me to dinner. I assumed, what could happen to me? I was the strongest magician of my year and one of the strongest of the guild," Akkarin began his story without looking at Sonea any further. If the first words had been difficult for him, his story now gushed out of him. In a certain way it was liberating to finally tell someone about his guilt, about his secret. It was as if someone was taking a burden off his shoulders that he had not even noticed before.

"The merchant turned out to be Ichani, an outcast from society, as I was to learn later. He attacked me and defeated me in the twinkling of an eye. Only when he read my thoughts against my will and was very interested in 'higher magic' and mocked me when he realized that the guild condemned this magic as black magic, I realized that he was a black magician himself. Dakova, that was his name, made me his slave and every night he took my magic and read my thoughts" Akkarin stopped briefly to collect himself. The shame of his helplessness still cut off his throat and evoked the old hatred for his master.

"Dakova was a cruel master. He punished my escape attempts the hardest and when he discovered a feeling for the woman who showed me everything and taught me sachakan, he began to punish her for my offenses. She was his bed slave." He did not know why he told her this, it was none of her business. And yet it was part of his story. "She finally died five years after my capture by Dakova. He fought another outcast and killed his slaves one by one when he ran out of magic. Only I and Takan remained. Dakova fled weakened to his brother with whom he had a contract: If one of the brothers was killed by another Ichani, they would avenge each other. This protected both of them from unwelcome attacks, for both were quite powerful" Akkarin paused again for a moment to collect himself. The grief for his lost love was still as intense as on the first day. Only that he usually avoided thinking about her.

"Shortly after this battle, Dakova learned that his arch-enemy had also fled weakened to an old mine. Instead of listening to his brother, he took me, Takan and some of his brother's slaves with him and pursued his adversary to destroy him. But when we arrived there was nobody left and so Dakova sent us out to explore the mine. I fell into a hole and found myself facing the enemy Ichani. But instead of killing me he offered me a deal: He would teach me black magic and I would kill Dakova for it. At that time I did not have to think long to say yes. After five years as Dakova's slave I had given up my dream of ever reaching the guild alive again. So in this very night I killed the slaves of his brother Kariko and finally him and fled. Takan followed me and against all expectations we made it back to the guild where I tried to forget everything. But then the High Lord died and Lord Balkan nominated me as his successor because the journey had matured me. At first I wanted to refuse, but then I realised that Kariko still wanted revenge and that as High Lord I would be more able to defeat him than as a simple warrior. Shortly afterwards it turned out that I was right, because ever since then Kariko sends former slaves to whom he promises freedom if they kill me. The man who attacked you was one of them"

Silently Sonea stared at him. She hadn't interrupted him once, although she certainly had many questions. "You are a good listener, Sonea," he remarked. Silently, he added that he was glad that she did not condemn him for his past. Her gaze was neutral, seeing at most a glimmer of empathy in it. It relieved him in an unexpected way that she did not seem to judge his story in any way.

"How do I know that this is true?" Sonea asked him to challenge him, after another moment of silence.

"You will have to trust me to tell you the truth"

Sonea was silent again. When Akkarin began to be disturbed by the silence he usually preferred, he sent her to her room. She needed time to understand the events and see them in the right light. He hoped she would draw the right conclusions. If not, he had to prove to her that he had told the truth. Because if she didn't believe him, this could have unpleasant consequences for him and Kyralia.


When Takan told him that Lorlen was waiting for him in the reception room, Akkarin was startled from his thoughts. He was still sitting in the library, trying to figure out how to proceed with Sonea. It was obvious that she still deeply distrusted him and especially black magic. But circumstances required that he taught her even more himself now. To learn some techniques required a direct contact from spirit to spirit, a risk Sonea could not take anymore. He also urgently needed to teach her to give him her strength. He could feel the power emanating from her much too strongly, but he had not wanted to disturb her in her thoughts.

The soft morning light that fell into the room told him that he had failed to sleep again. Tired, he rose from his armchair and magically banished the worst effects of sleep deprivation. He had had some practice at this. Perhaps he could sleep for a few more hours later, after he had intercepted his novice to teach her to hide her magically enhanced aura. Quickly he gave Takan the necessary instructions while he tied his hair neatly on the way to the reception room.

Lorlen stood with her back to him in front of the small cupboard where Akkarin always kept glasses, a few bottles of anurenic dark wine and a wine set, and inspected the objects on top of them as if he didn't know them already.

"Lorlen, my friend. To what do I owe this honour", Akkarin asked. "Please sit down"

"Good morning High Lord", Lorlen greeted him formally and acted upon the request. "I wanted to inquire if you need any help with your problem from last night?"

"Ah, I'm getting along fine with my novice on my own. Even though she seems to have a great talent for getting herself into trouble," he answered the question. Why couldn't Lorlen let it go? Akkarin studied intensively the facial features of the administrator, who could not resist his gaze for long. He looked tired, deep rings adorned his eyes and he was even paler than usual. Lost in thought, Akkarin gave Takan the instructions to bring them fresh Sumi, presumably they both could use it.

"I hope she didn't get herself into too much trouble yesterday," Lorlen tried to find out more.

Akkarin raised one eyebrow while scolding himself for his mistake. If there was one thing you could rely on with Lorlen, it was his curiosity and his unfailing tendency to stick his nose into things that were none of his business. In this case, an extremely annoying habit that Akkarin had challenged. Now he was forced to tell Lorlen a half-truth once again.

"Nothing I couldn't fix," Akkarin explained softly, although he was not so sure. He had thought through some scenarios during the night, trying to consider all eventualities, but no variant was ideal. The fact was that he should never have taught her to use black magic. And even less should he have allowed her to enter the quarters of the huts as long as one of Kariko's men was hanging around there. But it had happened and now he had to make the best of it.

Takan saved him from being cross-examined by Lorlen by bringing the Sumi he wanted and telling him that Sonea was now awake and would wait for him in the library after breakfast.

Lorlen looked at him questioningly as Takan left the room. Instead of giving him an answer to the unspoken question, he cooled his cup to a comfortable temperature and took a sip. Unwillingly, he was forced to remember that as Dakova's slave he had not been able to do so. His master had forbidden him to use his magic and after some very painful punishments he finally did so. Instead of pressuring him, Lorlen kept his mouth shut.

"I must now deal with the chaos my novice left behind," he explained as they both drank up. He twisted the corners of his mouth into a half-smile. "Don't worry Lorlen, I won't hurt her"

Lorlen pressed her lips together angrily. "Of course not", he forced himself to say and then said goodbye stiffly. Concerned, Akkarin watched the administrator. He would certainly not let up to find out what had happened. And he would keep an even closer eye on Sonea than he already did anyway. Not a pleasant prospect for the High Lord.