Disclaimer – I do not own BMT world, it belongs to Trudi Canavan
A Bargain is Made
The interminable meal eventually came to an end. Sonea had drunk more of the wine than she should, but it helped calm the terrible fluttering in her stomach every time she looked up at Anyetta or Akkarin. The King addressed very little to her, seemingly more interested in the conversation between his cousin and his Magician. As the servants began to clear away the now empty plates and dishes, Merin indicated they should move to the guest room.
There they found yet more wine, along with plates of fresh fruit. To her surprise, Merin came to Sonea and asked what she would like to drink. She chose the rich red Anuren Dark and Merin smiled as he handed it to her.
"Akkarin's favourite, as I recall," he murmured. Then staring intently at her, continued, "You are very fond of him, I think," and, with an unconscious echo of her earlier thought, he went on, "You want the best for him, don't you?"
She sipped the wine, "Yes, of course."
"He faces a difficult task if he returns to the Guild," the King said, waving her to a seat and sitting next to her. "There will be people who will not want to see him back. There may be some who still feel he should have paid the ultimate price for studying forbidden magic. I'm not afraid they will be stronger than him in magic, it's the ordinary human mischief I fear - the dagger in the night, the poison slipped into wine – those are the things he will have to guard against. Marriage into my House may give some magicians cause to think carefully about their actions."
Sonea was silent, her thoughts churning around. The King had put into words what she had thought to herself. There was little chance of Akkarin being overcome by magic. He was still the strongest magician in the Allied Lands, and years of fighting the Ichani had honed his skills in using magic as a weapon, but as a man he was vulnerable to assassination. He needed her to guard his back. She looked at Merin, just how much could she bargain with him? She knew he could be stubborn, Akkarin had said as much in the past, but perhaps he could be persuaded.
"I understand," she said carefully. "I would do anything to help protect him from danger. You know of my promise? I am bound by it, that's why I went with him instead of staying in the Guild. If he goes back into the Guild, I want to go with him."
"That may be difficult…" the King started, but she interrupted him. "If you want someone to help guard against assassination, then you need someone who can be trusted, someone who cares about what happens to him." She stared at Merin, "I am the mother of his child, I can be trusted."
Merin looked searchingly at her, "If I can arrange for you to go with him, what will you agree to?"
"I will not stand in the way of his marriage to your cousin."
Now the fatal words had left her mouth, she was faintly surprised not to feel any better. The churning in her stomach had got worse and she could feel what little food she had eaten as a cold solid lump in her gut. But her glance didn't waver as she stared into the King's eyes. She watched him consider her words, trying to find some hidden motive, but she knew he wouldn't find any, for there was none. Akkarin had to be kept safe and if that meant he must marry a beautiful, charming Princess, then that was what she must try to persuade him to do.
Merin nodded, "A bargain, Lady Sonea," he said.
Something in his voice and tone must have carried because Akkarin looked up from where he had been in conversation with the Princess and Sonea found it difficult to meet his gaze. She watched as he excused himself to Anyetta and came over to where she was sitting with Merin.
"Sonea," he said, "Would you like more wine?"
Sonea, what is it? His mental voice, as ever, was soft, so she barely heard it.
Nothing. The King was just talking to me.
"Thank you," she said, smiling and holding out her glass. Akkarin gave her a searching look, but she continued to smile, taking care to keep her surface thoughts calm. Almost reluctantly, he took her glass and turned to refill it. She took it back with a murmured thank you, and inclined her head towards the King to restart their conversation, leaving him little choice but to return to the Princess.
Anyetta had watched this byplay attentively and Sonea was alarmed to see the sharp glance thrown in her direction by the Princess. Those pale blue eyes didn't miss a thing.
Sonea looked away quickly, not wanting to give anything away. She saw out of the corner of her eye Akkarin sit down by Anyetta's side and caught a glimpse of the Princess leaning towards him, as if eager to hang on his every word.
"So, we are agreed then?" Merin said and she dragged her attention back to him.
"Yes," she replied. "How will you arrange for me to accompany Akkarin?"
Merin frowned in thought for a moment, before saying, "There's nothing in the agreement between King and Guild that says the King's Magician cannot be accompanied by his own people. You will be part of the group that goes with him. Yes, you and one or two servants should do. I intend that Akkarin will be officially the King's Black Magician. There's no point trying to hide the fact that he has learned it and can use it. After all, he used it in defence of the Guild and without him, things would have gone badly for it. You, too, will have to be recognised as a black magician. That alone might act as some sort of protection for you."
"Balkan won't like it," she said, remembering her encounter with him after her capture. "He has very strong views about forbidden magic and I'm sure his Warriors will share his opinion. It is forbidden by all the rules and regulations of the Guild." She felt like adding, but didn't, that King Merin himself had upheld those rules when he condemned Akkarin.
"The King's Magician is outside the Disciplines of the Guild. That is clear from the documents. If I decide that my Magician is a Black Magician, the Guild may not like it, but they cannot over-ride me. I have been studying the history of the Guild and how it came into being. Its magicians studied this so-called forbidden magic and used it for a very long time after the Guild was formed. It was only later that they decided it should not be learned. Now, we can see that was a mistake. Our enemies use this form of magic and we must be able to defend ourselves, and if that means changing the rules of the Guild back to what they were in the beginning, so be it."
Sonea was surprised to hear the firmness in Merin's tone. She had formed the impression that he was rather a weak man, unable to be firm, and mostly reliant on the help of others. But the man sitting next to her sounded in control and clear about his objectives. She only hoped that he was right and Akkarin would be accepted as the King's Black Magician, if only on the surface, so that he could get on with the task he had been given. She didn't know enough about Guild politics to judge whether or not the King had a right to insist on there being a black magician associated with it. She had disliked Guild history as a novice, barely paying attention in most classes. Now, of course, she wished she had listened more carefully.
"If Akkarin agrees, and does manage to deal with the Guild's problems, what then?" Sonea asked.
Merin blinked, as if he hadn't expected the question, "That would depend," he said rather vaguely.
"On what?" she asked.
"There are…err…many things to consider….." Merin began, before seeming to come to a decision that the conversation was over. He rose to his feet, indicating she should remain where she was, and turned to Akkarin.
"There's something I need to show you, Akkarin," he said. "Come with me for a moment."
As they left the room, Sonea found herself wondering what she was going to talk about with the Princess. Anyetta didn't seem to be concerned. She refilled her wine glass and came over to where Sonea was sitting and sank gracefully into the seat vacated by the King.
"So, Lady Sonea," she said in her lovely voice, "tell me about life in the Guild."
It sounded like the start of the sort of conversation Sonea supposed royalty might have with someone they were expected to talk to and she was sure Anyetta wasn't really interested in her answer.
"I'm sure there are other things you would rather know about, Princess," she said calmly.
Anyetta smiled warmly, "Of course, I'd really like to know more about Lord Akkarin and you know him well."
Where to start? Sonea thought somewhat hysterically. What did a woman say about her lover to his prospective wife?
"He is extremely learned in the ways of magic and a very powerful magician…" she began, but Anyetta interrupted her impatiently, "I know that. Tell me about him as a man."
"I've known him for many years, and yet I cannot say I know him well," Sonea said. "He keeps many things to himself. What is your impression of him, Princess?"
Anyetta sat back in her chair and stared into space for a moment, "He is handsome enough," she said eventually, "that no woman would be ashamed to be seen in his company at parties and balls. His conversation is adequate; he listens attentively and says all the right things, but nothing of any consequence. He has all the social graces one would expect from a member of a noble House. His face and physique are pleasing enough that lovemaking would not be too much of a burden and I'm sure he would father pretty children."
It took a lot of control for Sonea to keep her expression calm, when what she really wanted to do was stare, open-mouthed at the Princess. Anyetta sounded more like someone discussing the suitability of a horse she wanted for breeding purposes than a young woman talking about a future marriage partner.
But something must have shown in her eyes, because Anyetta gave a tinkling laugh, "You are surprised, Lady Sonea? These things are important, I assure you. Too many of my friends have been married to men whose appearance and conversation have fallen far short of any young woman's dream. Why, only last year, my closest friend was married to someone who was twenty years older, several inches shorter and considerably fatter than she was." Anyetta's lip curled and she pulled a face, "When I think of her marriage night…"
"So you would find it acceptable to marry Lord Akkarin? He is a lot older than you." Sonea asked.
"As I said, he is not unpleasing. I'm told magicians age slowly too, so the age difference is not that important, at least it won't be for many years yet. I expect we will be able to deal well with each other. But what about you, Lady Sonea? You are his lover I believe. What do you think about his marriage?"
For the second time in the conversation, Sonea hung on to her control with some difficulty. Was there nothing this girl didn't know?
"I've shocked you!" Anyetta said with another tinkling laugh. "We of the Houses are used to thinking of marriage as an arrangement for a purpose, rather than a thing of passion. My parents' marriage was arranged when they were in their cradles and the ceremony took place when they were barely in their teens. The purpose was to settle a longstanding disagreement over property. I've always known my own marriage would be to suit the King's purpose rather than mine. I simply asked him to find me a handsome husband and that he has done. What more could I want?"
"I am a dwell, Princess, we see things differently." Sonea couldn't prevent the bitterness in her tone.
"Yes, I'd heard that," Anyetta replied. "When Lord Akkarin and I are married, there will be no opportunities for lovers. You do understand that, Lady Sonea?"
"Why is that Princess, when you obviously do not consider love to be part of your marriage arrangements?"
"I will not be held up to ridicule. I do not want it said that despite his marriage to the King's beautiful cousin, Lord Akkarin continues to have a dwell as a lover. No, from the date of our marriage, you will not so much as touch Lord Akkarin with the tip of your finger ever again. Do I make myself clear?"
What she wanted to do, Sonea discovered, was to put her hands around that delicate throat and squeeze the life out of the beautiful, yet entirely cold unfeeling woman in front of her. Or perhaps use a stunstrike to render her helpless, before stripping the flesh slowly from her bones. Or encase her in a block of ice so thick she would never escape. Or…Stop! This is not about me and what I feel; it's for Akkarin so that he'll be safe.
"Yes, Princess," she said calmly, "you are very clear."