Hope you are all well and enjoy the next chapter
Ignoring Sonea, Akkarin entered his library and went to the shelf with the hidden mechanism. There he kept books that he was not supposed to own and yet he did. Practised, he loosened the lock and took out a small, well-read but nevertheless well-preserved book and locked the mechanism again. Only then did he greet his novice, who stared challengingly at him.
'Sonea'
She bowed stiffly and a little unwillingly. 'High Lord'
'You must learn to conceal your magic. Everyone can sense your power' he got to the point without mincing words. He had no nerve for pleasantries after his sleepless night and his conversation with Lorlen.
Sonea frowned unwillingly. 'I'd rather get rid of this magic than hide it,' she admitted. Surprised, Akkarin raised an eyebrow. He had not expected to receive such an honest answer.
'I can show you how to transfer your power to another mage. Normally you learn that in your second year, but I think we can make an exception,' he agreed. 'Nevertheless, I will show you how to conceal extra magic. Do you remember how you learned to conceal your aura?' She had learned that skill early on, making it difficult to catch her. To Akkarin's satisfaction, his novice nodded. 'Good, then strengthen this magical barrier you created back then.'
She frowned intently, as she always did, and after a moment the aura of power was gone as if it had never existed. Akkarin gave her a thin smile. 'Good. Now give me your hand.'
Staring at him with wide eyes, Akkarin had to suppress an annoyed groan. Apparently she had gone back to fearing him. 'I will not harm you'
The fear gave way to a dark sparkle that impressed Akkarin in a way. That fire had been the reason why he had made her his novice instead of coming up with another solution to the problem. 'I hardly think you can do anything more to me than teach me black magic against my will, force me to kill a man in self-defence and then give me a flimsy story about slave drivers in Sachaka, High Lord,' she hissed. Her eyes narrowed to slits. 'At least now I know how to defeat you'.
'Don't think you stand a chance against me Sonea. You are a rebellious, untrained novice. I have mastered magic for many years and am skilled in defeating black mages. Believe me or don't believe me. It doesn't matter' he instructed her coolly. 'So, either you want to give me the spy's magic or you use it up in class. You are intelligent enough not to show anyone how much power you have right now, I hope'
Sonea gave him another bitter look and seemed to wrestle seriously with herself for a moment, then sighed and held out her small, slender hand to him. Akkarin took it, once again surprised to find that her hands almost disappeared in his. Her touch felt unexpectedly good and that confused him. Nevertheless, he concentrated on his lesson. 'You must send me your power in a steady stream. A little like you want to heal me.'
Seeing her confused look, he used the skin contact to send her a vision of what he meant. At first it was difficult for any novice to understand, but once you got the hang of it, it was the easiest thing in the world. In his time as a slave, Akkarin had found that it felt a lot like having your power taken away from you, except that you were in control of it yourself. Of course, the High Lord could have done without teaching Sonea how to send magic, but he wanted to spare her the feeling of oppression and the resulting resentment that came with using black magic.
With his guidance, Sonea quickly understood what was involved. At first, her magic stream was too strong and erratic, making it difficult for him to store it in his own reserves, but after he pointed it out, she adjusted better. When he felt her exhausting herself, he withdrew his hand from her. 'Enough Sonea, you have given me more than you should'.
Surprised, she looked up at him. All at once she looked exhausted. Her skin was a sickly grey and there were deep shadows under her eyes. Following an impulse, he put a hand on her shoulder and sent her some healing magic to dispel her fatigue. She stiffened under his grip, but she let him.
'Sit down, Sonea. I have informed Lord Elben that I will teach you at first lesson'.
His novice narrowed her eyes and complied with his request. The High Lord sat down too, while he ordered Takan to bring him Sumi and for his novice Raka. They were both in dire need of it.
'First, I want to give you something to read. It is important that this book does not leave the library and that you treat it with care. It is very old and I have not had time to make a copy,' he explained, handing her Lord Loren's diary. Sonea's eyes widened as she recognised the name. 'Lord Loren has discovered how to shape stones. You will learn how in your second year.'
He could see that she was immensely interested but at least equally confused. He pointed to the book in her hands. 'I want you to read this book and report back to me afterwards what you have learned from it'
'Yes, High Lord,' she obediently agreed with him.
'But before I leave you to your book, you must answer me one question. How exactly did you kill the slave, and how did you conceal your thoughts? I thought it impossible until yesterday to conceal one's thoughts in a mind reading'
Sonea stared at the book in her hands for quite a while before answering. 'When we were learning how healing magic worked it occurred to me that you could' she broke off and raised her head to look him in the eye. 'Well, I thought it could be used to kill you'.
For a moment Akkarin was speechless. But before he could reply, Sonea continued. 'I thought of it as a last resort, because I knew that if I did that I would die too. And so far you have not harmed the guild, so why kill you?'
Well, well, thought Akkarin. At least she realised that I might not be as evil as Lorlen and Rothen think. It surprised him that she had come to this realisation and at the same time it pleased him. He nodded. 'And how did you hide your intentions?'
Sonea looked back at the book in her hands. 'I have not hidden it. I merely tried to think of many other things at the same time.'
The pride Akkarin felt at this surprised himself. His novice might be prejudiced, disobedient and annoying. But she was also clever, cunning and strong. Still, he didn't let her sense his feelings. Especially now that she was more powerful than any other guild mage except himself, it was important that she didn't let that power and intelligence go to her head.
'You have saved the guild from a grave fate with this Sonea. I thank you for not giving information to our enemies. Now read, I too have work to do.'
Takan chose that exact moment to enter the library with two steaming mugs and a plate of pastries.
'Thank you Takan, set it down on the table' Akkarin ordered. Next to the food, he could see a pile of letters. Yes, he truly had a lot to do. Without paying any further attention to his novice, he took his cup and his correspondences and with them retreated to his desk at the other end of the room.
With a soft sigh, Lorlen dropped into his chair and dimmed his ball of light to a cosier glow. It had once again been a long, tiring day. On top of his daily duties and the extra work resulting from the new hospital, he hadn't even had time to read Lord Dannyl's latest report.
Lorlen closed his eyes briefly and drove away the rising headache with a little magic before he pulled the letter from the pocket of his robe. Full of suspense, he studied the report and finally let himself sink back in disappointment. Dannyl had found out absolutely nothing useful. Nothing that Lorlen could use to force Akkarin to finally tell him the whole truth.
As much as Lorlen believed what his friend had explained to him via thought-speech, he was sure that Akkarin had also concealed a lot from him. How had Akkarin learned black magic? And where? Lorlen was sure it had to do with his journey, from which he had come back so changed. Since he knew that his best friend was a black magician, he saw the changes he had undergone with completely different eyes. He had not suddenly become mature and grown up because he had become acquainted with many different cultures. Akkarin had always had a certain natural charisma, but since his return he had added something else that he radiated: power. And that made him seem older, more mature.
Would Akkarin have used this power against his novice? Since the incident when Akkarin had simply disappeared, Lorlen had only met Sonea once or twice in the university corridors. Each time she had appeared unnaturally pale and sleepy. He had tried to ask her if everything was all right, but she had never been alone and she also seemed to avoid him.
Meticulously, Lorlen folded the letter again and stowed it in a small box, which he levitated to himself from a corner of his premises and which he then magically sealed. Since Akkarin had found him in his office with one of Dannyl's letters, Lorlen kept the correspondence in his private chambers. The administrator did not want Akkarin to suspect anything about his investigations.
Shaking his head, Lorlen rose and stepped to his window, from which he could see the residence at the edge of the forest. When exactly had he begun to distrust Akkarin so much? Had it been when he had learned of his betrayal? Or had it started earlier? When Akkarin had come back, ragged, haggard and more tight-lipped than a magically secured chest? Lorlen did not know. He only knew that he was torn between friendship and brotherly affection for the High Lord and his abysmal distrust.
Lorlen could see that the light was still lit in Sonea's room. Yet it was late, shouldn't she be asleep by now? Old familiar feelings of guilt arose in him. She shouldn't be in this lonely, dark house with a man who frightened her and held her hostage. She should be with the man who loved her as if she were his daughter and who would have given anything to be allowed to train her.
As always when he thought about it, resentment rose in him. No, it was not his fault that Akkarin had become a ruthless black magician who did not even stop at little, frightened girls. He had thought he was turning to the man who rarely followed rules but had always been fundamentally decent and honest. Instead, he had to realise that his best friend had mutated into a conscienceless monster at some point over the last few years. He clenched his hands into fists, his fingernails digging painfully into his palms.
'No, Akkarin is not a monster,' he said half aloud to himself and then laughed a low, eerie laugh. Now I'm talking to myself already, he thought incredulously and closed his eyes, leaning his forehead against the cool window glass. Yet he was right. If Akkarin were a monster, he would have had the opportunity to make Sonea, him or Rothen disappear or otherwise harm them long ago.
Lorlen realised that in truth he was mostly offended by how little Akkarin trusted him. That he had left him out of it, as with so many things in recent years. Sighing, he turned away from his window and made his way to his bed. He was sure that he would once again spend the whole night brooding over these things without coming to any conclusion, as he had been doing for months.
