Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, they belong to Trudi Canavan
Regrets
"I should have done something sooner." Rothen looked as upset as he sounded. "I knew there was something wrong, I just knew it!"
Dannyl put his wine glass down carefully. "Look, there was nothing you could do. Sonea was asked the question and refused the judgement. The Guild had no choice."
"Not then, earlier, when I began to see something different in the way she behaved. I saw the way she looked at him one day. The fear and loathing weren't there any more. She smiled at him….."
The Hearing had finished some time ago and the Guild's judgement was now being carried out. Akkarin and Sonea had been paraded around the city, their crimes broadcast to the people and the sentence made known. Rothen hoped the usual response of the crowds had been prevented. He couldn't bear to think of Sonea pelted with rotting vegetables or stones. At least their powers have not been blocked and they would have been able to shield themselves, he thought.
Rothen took another turn around the room, robes swishing as he became increasingly agitated.
"I kept an eye on her, at least as far as I was able to. She looked so lost and fearful when she first became his novice. Always studying, or working in the library, or sitting in the gardens, doing anything except going home to the Residence. It was like that for months. Then she started going back there as soon as classes were over. I didn't see her alone in the library or in the gardens after that."
Rothen finally stopped pacing and sat down and, for a moment, he was silent. "I tried to speak to her about it, but she wouldn't say much,"
Dannyl poured another glass of wine and pressed it into Rothern's hand.
"There's no point in going over old ground, Rothen," he said. "You couldn't have done anything without risking some sort of reprisal against Sonea. Akkarin had you and Lorlen nicely tied up, unable to make a move against him…..clever….." Dannyl sounded almost admiring.
"You can't make me feel better, my boy. As soon as I noticed she was no longer afraid, I should have forced her to listen to me. I had hopes, once, you know. She seemed fond of Dorrien and he of her." Rothen sighed, there was a glimmer of tears in his pale blue eyes, "Ever since that awful episode with Violetta, I've been hoping Dorrien would find a nice girl to settle down with and Sonea….well, she seemed as if she might be the one. Now she's exiled and Dorrien's moping in his country village…."
"But what if Akkarin is right, Rothen? What if he were telling the truth and Kyralia faces a battle it can't win? I have always thought him trustworthy and honourable – perhaps he did the only thing he could do – fight fire with fire."
Rothen's face darkened, "I will never, never trust Akkarin again! He deceived the Guild, he lied and manipulated the truth. He took Sonea, corrupted her magic and destroyed her future."
Dannyl glanced over at him, He seemed older, somehow, the usual spark, which made him an ideal companion, was missing. He'd been like this ever since the news broke, worrying about Sonea, trying to find some way to protect her, only to be faced with the inevitable, once she refused the judgement.
"Then why do you think Sonea chose to go into exile with Akkarin?" Dannyl took another sip of wine and reached over for a tartlet. "It seems an odd decision. Do you think she and he are…that they…?."
"What!" Rothen sounded aghast. "Lovers, is that what you mean? You really think that Sonea would love a man who was involved in filthy black magic practices? That she would let him touch her knowing that he killed others. That she spent her nights with him in the Residence…No! I won't believe it!" Rothen shuddered.
But Dannyl looked unconvinced; after all, who knew better than he, how easily unlikely pairs of lovers got together if the circumstances were right.
"Think about it, Rothen. You said yourself that the fear she showed at the beginning had faded, that she spent more time at the Residence. Remember what she said at the Hearing – "I made Takan a promise to take care of you. I intend to keep it." Offering to take care of someone facing a dangerous exile is more than politeness – it suggests deep feelings."
Rothen's face turned pale and his shoulders slumped as he considered Dannyl's points. It sounded convincing – a young, impressionable girl thrown together with a mysterious and powerful figure; being drawn into secrets, being made to feel special. Living isolated from others, alone except for him and a few servants. But what about Akkarin in this version of events?
"Akkarin has never been one for the women." Rothen said, slowly. "At one time, there was even a rumour that he might be a lad, but no-one ever saw him with a prospective lover, male or female. His family has been trying to marry him off for years, to no avail."
Dannyl snorted, "Just because no-one saw, doesn't mean there weren't any. After all no-one noticed he had been a Black Magician for several years!"
Rothen, who had started to look more cheerful, grimaced. "Yes, I know."
Both men returned to their own thoughts. The wine level in the bottle fell steadily and the tartlets were soon finished.
"Do you think they will survive, Dannyl? In Sachaka? The Guild would like to see them dead but doesn't want blood in its hands."
Dannyl held up his glass and closely examined its contents, "Akkarin is clever, strong and resourceful. Sonea lived the first part of her life in the slums – a good training ground for survival, I think. If any Kyralian magicians could survive in Sachaka, Akkarin and Sonea would be top of my list."
Rothen smiled gratefully at Dannyl's reassurance. It was true; both of them had skills and qualities which fitted them for survival. But, she should never have gone with him, he thought. I didn't try hard enough to find out what was going on. I failed her. If she dies, it will be my fault.