All: It's been a while since the last chapter. But sometimes real life has to come first. I hope the next chapter won't take me so long again!

Enigma: 1) Thank you so much! I just sat on this scene for so long because I could imagine it so well, but it was so difficult to make it fit. I'm really glad it's going down well.

2) Ah Dorrien with his incorrigible stubbornness. We'll see where it leads him. (But not in this chapter).

3) it was really fun to write the scene. I find that these magic details are just way too short in the original, as if Trudi didn't feel like specifying her magic system. I try to fill in the resulting gaps logically.

Yalishandela: It's possible that the last chapter was one of the longest so far. I don't really pay attention to that. As for Regin - he wouldn't be Regin if he didn't bully Sonea. And Garrel wouldn't be Garrel if he didn't help his nephews. We'll see where that leads. Lorlen's relationship with Akkarin will continue to play a big role and his torn between conscience and friendship.

And as for Sonea and Akkarin - I've always enjoyed these little disagreements between them in the books. And they're incredibly fun to write. Plus, I find them very authentic. So there will be more of them.

Kat: thank you!


Sonea pressed her suitcase against her and crossed the courtyard with quick steps towards the healers' quarters. She was on her way to a lesson in herbology, as Akkarin knew. He had let Sonea give him her timetable so as not to take too much strength from her in the evening when she had war art the next day. The duels in the arena could be fierce and energy-sapping even between novices.

The High Lord thought back a little nostalgically to his own time as a novice, while he followed Sonea with his gaze. How carefree he and Lorlen had been, how much nonsense they had done. It was not exactly rare that they had been given punishment for it. But that hadn't stopped them from playing tricks on their classmates and teachers or even skipping the more boring lessons.

Reluctantly, Akkarin forced his thoughts back to his papers in front of him as his novice disappeared from view. Once again, he had allowed himself to be distracted by the view from his window and finally spotted Sonea among the novices. Yet his reading was not even uninteresting.

With a soft sigh, he returned to the report in his hand and skimmed it to find the passage he had last read. It came from one of his spies at the Elynian court, who mainly told him about the current rumours. Many of them were irrelevant to Akkarin, but every now and then there was something interesting hidden in them. He had learned from that same spy about a group of Elynians who were trying to learn magic on their own. So far they had not succeeded, but the High Lord was keeping an eye on them to be on the safe side.

And this time, too, apart from amusing anecdotes about the Elynian nobility, there was something that piqued Akkarin's interest: someone at the port had asked about the journeys he had made as a young man. In and of itself, nothing that caused the High Lord concern, but it fit into a web of information about Lord Dannyl. The ambassador was dedicated to the same research as Akkarin had been back then, together with Tayend of Tremmlin.

Akkarin only hazily remembered the lively young man who had helped him in the library of Capia. All his memories of his research were overshadowed by the events that followed and so he simply avoided thinking about it. But lately he had been forced to think about it more and more often.

Slowly Akkarin lowered the report and stared out the window in front of him. Ambassador Dannyl was beginning to get difficult.


Lorlen stepped out of the carriage, careful not to step in any of the dark puddles, and then held out a hand to Vinara to help her out of the vehicle. They had gone together to the cottage district to check on the new hospital. The city guard had sent a messenger to the guild in the morning that there had been damage to the newly built hospital and so they had set out to inspect it.

Lorlen felt uncomfortable under the critical gaze of the hutsmen and unconsciously raised a shield before stepping towards the building. Vinara next to him did the same, her lips pressed tightly together. Together they looked at the broken windows and the entrance decorated with rubbish.

"It's annoying, but not as bad as I feared," Lorlen remarked. Vinara nodded in agreement.

"Still, it worries me. Today it's just broken windows, but what if we put it into operation?"

Lorlen thought for a moment about her objection.

"I guess we'll see," he finally replied. He kept Sonea's suggestion to ask the thieves for help to himself. At least the High Lord had claimed it was Sonea's idea. Lorlen had his doubts about that. Since Akkarin had given Dannyl a free hand in his negotiations with those same thieves, the administrator even trusted him to maintain relations with these shady characters himself. It would at least explain why Akkarin himself knew all about what was going on in the huts.

Vinara next to him sighed. "I'd rather know beforehand what our healers are getting into."

Again Lorlen had to think of the memorable conversation with the High Lord. It had given him something to think about in more ways than one.

"Let's hope the need for healing outweighs the distrust," he answered her vaguely.

Akkarin had doubted this, relying on Sonea's assessment of the situation. 'Sonea knows the people there and knows how they think. When she says that their distrust will prevail, I believe her. And I share her assessment,' he had said and then stared thoughtfully into the distance before the corners of his mouth turned up a little in amusement. 'My novice had an interesting approach to solving this problem.'

Lorlen had stared at his friend in disbelief. Involuntarily, the rumours about Sonea and her feelings for the High Lord came back to his mind. He had dismissed them as nonsense by now, having observed the two of them, like everyone else in the guild, over the last few weeks. But now he wondered again if there wasn't a shred of truth in it. He had pushed the thought aside.

'And what does this solution look like?' he had asked seemingly lightly.

'The thieves' Akkarin had announced just as lightly, but the amused twinkle had gone from his eyes. The High Lord was seriously considering this option. In disbelief Lorlen had laughed and shaken his head. They had soon changed the subject, but the conversation just wouldn't leave Lorlen's mind.

Nevertheless, he pushed the thought aside. Together with Lady Vinara, he inspected the construction progress - apart from the vandalism damage, they were both very pleased with it. Soon the hospital would be able to open.


With long strides, Akkarin crossed the courtyard in front of the guild's hospital, so that Sonea could hardly keep up with him. He remained ironically silent, although he would have had a lot to say about the incident.

Regin had ambushed her with some novices and attacked her. Sonea had blinded her attackers. The event had triggered a strange mixture of anger, pride and concern in the High Lord, which he could not quite categorise. But at the moment, anger predominated.

He had just been in the palace when Takan had given him the message from the higher mages. He had had to throw some high-ranking members of the families under the bus to return to the guild, only to save his novice from a truth-reading.

Besides this unpleasantness, Lord Garrel had proved that Lorlen was not wrong in Garrels support for Regin's harassment. He had been willing to cover up for Regin's actions just so that Sonea would be punished.

Last but not least, Sonea's superior strength had come to light in this situation. Lady Vinara had even suggested that Sonea might one day be stronger than the High Lord himself. Akkarin had passed over the remark, but secretly he had to agree with Vinara. Sonea's natural strength would one day exceed his own natural potential. But they were not bound by that limit. What if it went to Sonea's head? What if it went to his head? Power was seductive and easy to abuse.

Akkarin had just come to the realisation that they would have to keep an eye on each other when they reached the residence. There was still an icy silence between them. At his touch, the door opened and he pointed to one of the armchairs in the small room behind.

"Sit down"

Sonea obeyed without asking questions and without looking at him. It was clear that his behaviour intimidated her. Good, thought Akkarin grimly. Maybe it will help her not to provoke trouble all the time.

He stepped in front of her and put his fingers to her temples.

"Show me the fight," he demanded of her. He sensed her unwillingness, but this time she obeyed as well. Again and again he had every detail shown to him before he let go of her. Silence spread between them.

"You chose an interesting tactic," he finally broke the silence. "Regin and the other novices had no shield, you could have taken them out with one blow. Instead you blinded them. Why?"

Sonea stared at her hands. "I could have hurt them".

Involuntarily, Akkarin wondered how he had been able to worry just a few minutes ago that Sonea's power was going to her head. At the same time, he grasped her problem in the arts of war: she was afraid of her own abilities.

He turned his back on her and poured them both a glass of wine. He had the feeling she could use it. Besides, it gave him time to think. Her grades in martial arts had improved with his help, at least in theory. Her practical skills, on the other hand, were still deficient. A deficiency that had to be remedied.

"You will receive additional lessons in the art of war from now on. I will take care of it first thing tomorrow," he announced his decision to her.

For the first time that evening, she looked up at him. The look from her dark eyes was upset, almost hostile. He smiled. Her defiance was as annoying as it was impressive.

"I hardly think it will make any difference now, High Lord. The final exams are in a week's time."

Akkarin raised an eyebrow. "And your training is far from over with that. Besides, I thought you might like to accompany me to the hut quarter at some point. I can't have a half-trained novice with a fear of her abilities there." He gestured towards the way into the cellar. "Now come on. It's time to learn how to make blood jewels."

The flashing anger in her eyes could not dampen her curiosity. Determined, she put the untouched wine glass away and stood up.

"I'm not afraid of my magic," she hissed with her head held high. Without looking at him again, she rushed past him into the cellar.

The High Lord followed her leisurely so that she had time to calm down. As easy as it was to inflame her temper, it cooled down again just as quickly, he had learned in the last few weeks.