Thank you very much for the nice review I received. It is really cool that someone is reading this and likes it. So here is chapter 2 for you!


Lorlen closed his eyes as he listened to Rector Jerrik's ritual question: "Do you wish to elect a novice, High Lord?

He suppressed the desire to give Sonea a look. He had not seen her since his conversation with the High Lord on the roof, but he knew that Akkarin had visited her and Rothen, so he decided to take her as his novice to ensure her silence and Rothens. Lorlen had insulted him as a heartless bastard when he learned of this. She had just managed to stop being so afraid of the guild, and now he took her hostage. She and Rothen had both looked pale when they entered the Guild Hall for the ceremony this morning, making Lorlen feel guilty about his decision to trust Akkarin.

Well, at least he had been right about one thing: there was a reason for the black magic thing. If Akkarin hadn't told him mind to mind, Lorlen wouldn't have believed his best friend. It was really frightening what he had learned: there were black magicians in Sachaka who sent assassins to test the guild's strength, and Akkarin fought against them. There were so many questions he had about these people, but Akkarin was not willing to tell him more about this matter.

"Yes, Principal Jerrik. I will take Sonea as my novice," Akkarin's deep voice interrupted Lorlen's thoughts. A shiver ran down his spine and he could no longer resist the urge to watch Sonea when he heard the angry murmur that rolled through the hall. The girl's posture was tense, her chin proudly raised. Lorlen felt very sorry for her and noticed the looks she received from her classmates. Her background was enough to make her an outsider, but being the High Lord's favourite would certainly make her lonely. Silently, Lorlen cursed his friend for behaving like that. At the same time he couldn't help blaming himself, after all he had put her in this situation in the first place.

"Poor girl. Did you know about this?" asked Vinara Lorlen. He turned his attention to the Higher Magicians around him, who looked at him with expectant looks.

"Yes, he told me about it," he replied succinctly. He didn't really feel like talking about it, but he couldn't get around it.

"Why her? He hasn't been interested in a novice for the last five years. And he hadn't been interested in her since Lord Rothen had found her," Balkan asked.

"She is quite strong, and he fears that she will not get the education she deserves from her teachers because she is out of the huts," replied Lorlen. He had asked Akkarin what to tell the Higher Magicians about it, but he had only smiled and said that he trusted Lorlen to give the right answer. The administrator hoped he had said the right thing.

"It would have been better if she had refused the offer made to her," Lord Sarrin said, "She did not deserve to be the High Lord's favourite".

"Who deserves or does not deserve his attention is a matter for the High Lord," Vinara snapped back. "Rothen told me that she had decided to stay to become a healer. Perhaps her character is not so bad after all. And now we should give our attention to the ceremony".

Nobody dared to say any more, but Lorlen could clearly see that this would be a matter for later. He sighed. Of course it would be him who would clean up the chaos that Akkarin had left behind. That had always been the case. Well, after all, it was a bit of his own chaos too this time.

The rest of the ceremony went unnoticed by Lorlen, who was again deeply lost in thought, trying to figure out how things would go on from here. It was clear he needed to know more about the Sachaka matter in order to understand it. For the moment he was sure that Akkarin had no intention of harming the guild or hurting innocent people. He had made a vow while their minds were connected, but Lorlen wanted to understand the whole story. Perhaps it was about his journey, he thought. It would make sense. He never believed that he was meditating in the mountains. Something had happened to him and I will find out, he decided, while looking at Akkarin from the corners of his eyes. The High Lord sat there as if the whole thing did not concern him.

When the ceremony finally was over Akkarin disappeared with his novice very fast. Lorlen tried to follow him, but he wasn't as lucky as the High Lord.

"She didn't look very pleased with the honour she was receiving," said someone next to him. "Didn't she, Administrator?" He managed to smile a little. His aunt had never been a nice person and had always judged people easily.

"She does not belong to the houses, the guild was all her life a tool of undeserved punishment. The guild leader must be a really scary man for her," he replied.

"They should have blocked her powers and sent her back to her thieving friends," the woman replied. Lorlen sighed. She wasn't the only one who thought that way, Fergun was the best example.

"It is not for us to question the king's offers," he managed to say in a calm voice. "If you'll excuse me, dear aunt, I have quite a lot to attend to.

"Of course Lorlen," she said, and he took the opportunity to leave the guild hall, this time quickly enough.


Akkarin cursed the circumstances in which he found himself while he silently watched the young woman next to him from the corners of his eyes. Her hair had grown a little, he noticed, and now formed small curls instead of the short hair she had worn when she arrived at the guild grounds six months ago. When he had predicted that she would be a troublemaker, he had not meant it that way. But there she was, his unwanted novice, with a grim expression and open hatred in her dark eyes, walking beside him to her new home. He himself was at least as unhappy that she would now live with him. He didn't need a young woman in his residence skulking around and disturbing him.

Well, in the end, she is strong, intelligent and has her own strong sense of honour, he thought and reached for the front door with his magic. And she really likes to learn, so hopefully I didn't have to worry too much about her studies. Even if he detested himself for it, it had been immensely helpful to read her and Rothen's thoughts. At least for the time being, he could be sure of both their secrecy without having to reveal too much to them unnecessarily. The more people knew about the spies, the more likely it was that the whole guild would find out. It was better to take Sonea as his hostage and leave them both in the dark about his true motives. With Lorlen's complicity, the risk had already risen to unimaginable heights, not to mention the fact that Akkarin was certain that the issue was not yet settled for the administrator.

"Upstairs there is a room for a novice that Takan will show you. You will have your own servant Viola, she will be here in half an hour with your belongings. I expect you to behave like the High Lord's novice and study diligently and behave well and not cause me too much trouble. Tell me if you need anything for your lessons," he finally explained to her and did not expect an answer.

"I understand, High Lord", she managed to say in a low voice. He tried to find out what her undertone was, but he failed.

"You are excused," he sent her away. She bowed stiffly and followed his servant through the left door to the second floor. He concentrated on Takan's blood jewel and watched as his faithful servant showed Sonea her room and politely asked her if she needed anything else. She denied and Takan left her. Akkarin could clearly feel his servant's pity for the girl.
He sighed and poured himself a glass of wine, even though he knew that this would not make things better. But he had the feeling that he needed some wine right now to be able to think properly. There was a lot of work waiting for him in his library, besides, some more murders had happened and he had to make a decision about his future actions against the slaves the Ichani sent him. No, Akkarin really could not use a novice at the moment, but it had been his only possibility.

He waited to be sure she was in her room before he went up the stairs himself and entered his library. There was a large pile of letters there waiting to be read and probably answered by him, and later Lorlen would come by to discuss his choice for the new Ambassador of Elyne.

As he smelled the heavy scent of a floral perfume, he sighed. Perhaps these offers of marriage would stop for a while now, he thought humorously. No noble woman would want to live under the roof with a novice from the huts for the next four or five years. Smiling somewhat at his own thoughts, he began to sort his mail by prioritising it according to its sender. He simply threw those that smelled of perfume into a stone bowl and burned them with his magic. It was quite satisfying after so many years of refusing every marriage proposal. They should have learned by now, he thought, as he saw the flame licking the expensive paper sending black smoke into the air, which collected inside the shield he had created around the bowl. Burnt perfume did not smell very good, he knew from experience.

After his little ritual he took a deep breath and began to concentrate to get through the whole "important pile" before Lorlen would arrive. It was a pretty big pile that day.


It has been a month since the ceremony for the new novices and the guild has become used to the fact their High Lord had taken Sonea as his novice. Lorlen had watched her silently since and he wasn't very pleased with the way her classmates had welcomed her. Every time he had seen her she was all of her own or, if some of her classmates have been with her, she had been bullied by them. He had tried to talk to Akkarin about it, but the High Lord had just looked as aloof as ever, saying that her classmates would grow up soon. Lorlen wasn't sure about this, but he was not her mentor so all he could do was appearing from time to time in the corridors she was using so no one dared to be to cruel to her. He knew there was a way for her escaping Regin but he didn't know how to give her the idea of skipping a class. He had used his right as administrator to watch her progress and he was sure she was clever and skilled enough to do so.

Trying to figure out how to solve the matter he shot the door of his office behind him and set a magical lock at it. There was a meeting with an old friend he had to attend, the guilds carriage must be already waiting for him to bring him to the inner circle of Imardin. Deep in his thoughts he entered the corridor leading to the staircase, not paying his surroundings much attention, so he nearly bumped into a dripping wet novice.

"I'm sorry, Administrator", a familiar voice said.

"What have happened to you Sonea?", he asked, watching her carefully. She looked like she had taken a bath fully clothed. Maybe someone forced her to do so, he thought.

"Just my stupid classmates", she answered and pulled a face. "So I need to go and change my clothes before my next class"

"You could just dry your robe with magic", Lorlen answered. How could she have her Powers released half a year and not thinking of such a simple thing?

"I'm not allowed to use magic out of the classrooms", she answered. Lorlen giggled a bit. That wasn't a rule the novices normally abid.

"Well you are also aloud to use it if some magician told you to. I think I count as one", he answered. She gave him a bright smile.

"In this case", she answered and concentrated on her robes and notes, which started to steam fast, until they were dry again. She gave the curled papers a annoyed look. "I fear in this case no magic will help", she sighed. "But thank you nonetheless Administrator"

Lorlen smiled. Maybe this was his opportunity to give her a hint about skipping a class.

"You are very talented and strong Sonea. Maybe you could catch up with the winter novices, if you put a little effort in your studies" Confusion was written all over her face, making Lorlen smile even brighter. "You know, if you pass the final exam for this semester you could leave your current class behind entering the class above you"

It took her a moment to understand. "So if I do so, I must not see Regin and the others all day again", she mused. Then her facial features darkened. "But maybe this will change nothing. But it is useless, the High Lord surely wont allow me to do so"

Lorlen shook his head. "I'm sure he will help you if you ask him. He isn't that bad after all, you know?", he said, not sure if he was right. It seemed he wasn't knowing his best friend after all, but he wanted to encourage Sonea to make the best out of her conditions.

She gave him a doubtful look. "I will think about it carefully administrator. Thank you, again", she said. "But now I really need to go to class" She bowed and hurried away, not giving him the opportunity to answer.

Finally entering his carriage he thought about this little scene, not sure why he was so worried about this certain novice. What he felt about her was far away from just feeling guilty about getting her into trouble because of some knowledge. He just had the feeling he needed to protect her against everything. Maybe she just made people feel this way 'cause of her small appearance. Also she isn't looking starved anymore, she is a tiny and fragile appearance, he mused. And Rothen must feel it like I do. He asked himself if Akkarin could sense it too, but he just threw the thought away. If it may have been this way, he was pretty good with hiding this.