Disclaimer – I do not own BMT world, it belongs to Trudi Canavan

Re-entering the Guild

Sonea kept her eyes firmly on the leather thong that held Akkarin's hair in place, as she waited behind him, in the antechamber. It helped her to have a focus she could concentrate on. It stopped her thinking about all the things which could go wrong. They had been waiting to make their entrance for some time now and she was anxious to get it all over with. Most of their day so far had been spent waiting; waiting for the time agreed to arrive at the Guild; waiting for the guide to take them to the Hall and now they had been waiting in the antechamber for almost an hour.

She could hear Balkan's voice echo through the great Hall as he told the assembled magicians about the King's surprising decision to appoint his own Magician. The High Lord was listened to in silence, but she could almost taste the suppressed emotions leaking from his audience. The atmosphere was electric and she was aware of her nerves jangling.

As yet, Balkan hadn't revealed the name of the new Higher Magician. Sonea's lips and mouth were dry as she waited for his audience's reaction. She told herself it was silly to feel so much tension. The King had the power and he had acted. There was nothing the High Lord, the Higher Magicians and the rest of the Guild could do about it. Akkarin had been appointed and in a few minutes, he would take the long walk down the central aisle of the Hall towards the place before the High Lord's lofty position and make his formal bow. As agreed, she would follow directly behind him, already having decided she would look only at the leather thong, and not right or left at the assembled magicians.

There was a buzz of anticipation coming now from the assembly. She could hear it rise and fall as Balkan's voice died away. Now it comes, she thought. He's going to reveal the name.

"…Lord Akkarin….' she heard Balkan say. Almost immediately there was a sound like rushing wind through leafy trees, which spread around the Hall before dying quickly away as his name was whispered by hundreds of voices. At the same time, Sonea was assaulted by the noise of countless mental communications, too many to distinguish the individual messages, but a sustained noise nevertheless. She tried in vain to filter them out.

As soon as he heard his name, Akkarin moved forward with his familiar graceful stride and she made haste to follow. They moved at a steady pace down the main aisle. Akkarin's stride was noiseless, as usual, but she could hear the faint slap of her own boots as they hit the stone floor. Now there was absolute silence in the Hall. The noise of the mental communications had died down to a mere whisper. Sonea caught a few words as she passed. Akkarin! Exile! Criminal! Forbidden! but she ignored them, concentrating only on what was directly in front of her. She became aware that Akkarin had come to a halt, as he reached the pre-determined spot. He made his formal bow, "High Lord," he said, his voice ringing out in the old familiar way around the Hall. He stepped to one side and now it was her turn.

Sonea moved into position and bowed, not quite as deeply as Akkarin for she hadn't yet forgiven Balkan. "High Lord," she said quietly as if the softness of her words denied Balkan his official position. Then, like Akkarin, she turned to face the assembled magicians.

She was conscious of being the focus of hundreds of pairs of eyes. She couldn't help but notice that some of the stares were hostile, others wary, and in amongst them, the occasional neutral or even friendly glance. It was impossible to recognise anyone in particular. It had been a long time since she had sat in class with her fellow novices and as it had been a largely unhappy experience, she hadn't bothered to keep their faces in her memory. She did notice some of her former teachers. She looked for, but didn't find, Rothen among the assembly.

The memory of the last time she had faced assembled magicians in this Hall flooded into her mind, especially the tearing of her robes as each magician murmured the ritual words of banishment. What did they feel now? Now that she and Akkarin had returned? Somehow, the reality of being back in the Guild was quite different from her original thoughts. Then she had dreamed of working with Akkarin to heal divisions and make the Guild whole again, but now, she almost wished that Akkarin had decided not to return and they could have gone on living their life in the mountains. At least there, the only thing to worry her was the lack of another child.

"You have heard the High Lord explain the purpose of a King's Magician," She started at the sound of Akkarin's voice as it filled the Hall. "My particular role will be to strengthen the Guild's defences against attack by foreign black magicians. These are my instructions from the King. My former Novice, Lady Sonea, will assist me. We two will be the Guild's only black magicians and our purpose is not to seek others to study this form of magic, but only to prepare the Guild to defeat any potential attack from Sachaka."

Akkarin fell silent but continued to stare ahead at the assembled magicians. Sonea was conscious of increased mental communication as his words were considered. She deliberately tried not to hear particular words, but it was difficult, as some magicians seemed almost to be shouting.

"Thank you, Lord Akkarin," Balkan's voice sounded from above. "This assembly is at an end. Return to your work. You will be contacted if Lord Akkarin requires your assistance."

She heard the sound of the High Lord moving out of his seat and retreating down the stairs behind his box. She looked across at Akkarin, What do we do now? she sent very quietly.

Wait until the Hall is clear, came the response.

So they continued to stand, facing the Hall. As some of the magicians passed in front of them, Sonea caught some of their mental communications quite clearly. She was a little shocked, but not surprised at the words chosen to describe her and her relationship with Akkarin. Thank goodness they don't know about Justen, she thought. It would only confirm their worst suspicions.

"Hello Sonea," said a cheerful voice and she found herself looking at Lorlen in his Healer's green robes, still unfamiliar to her at first glance. "Have they given you quarters yet?"

She nodded, "But we haven't seen them, someone is going to take us there after this is all over."

"Let me know where you will be and I'll come and see you," Lorlen replied. "I might even remember a welcome home gift!"

Once the Hall was empty of magicians, a Warrior came to show them where they would be staying. Sonea didn't recognise him, but Akkarin seemed to know him as they exchanged a few words on the walk to the Magicians' Quarters. There were curious glances from people they passed, but no one made any attempt to speak with them.

Sonea was unfamiliar with the Magicians' Quarters. She had previously lived for a short time in the Novices' Quarters, but most of her time had been spent living at the Residence. The building they now entered was large and spread over four floors.

"I'll conduct Lord Akkarin to his apartment first," the Warrior said. "Wait here."

But Sonea was not going to allow herself to be dismissed that easily, "No I'll come too, I'll need to know where Lord Akkarin will be living in case I need to contact him."

The Warrior shot her a strange look, then, surprisingly, he winked at her, "Of course, Lady Sonea," he said knowingly.

She felt the colour creep up her face, and willed herself to stay impassive. She guessed there would be a lot of similar comments over the next few weeks until everyone got used to them again. For the first time, she thought about Akkarin's offer of marriage. Should I have agreed? But I thought it would damage him to have a dwell for a wife, especially as he could have had a Princess! Immediately that thought entered her mind, she dismissed it. It was your stupid pride, that's what it really was! she thought angrily. All the years of living together and he hadn't mentioned it! It was only after Merin tried to marry him off to his cousin that he even considered it. Almost as if his hand had been forced. I couldn't accept him on those terms!

But, she had to admit to herself, if would have been so much easier if they were married. No separate quarters for a start and she could be with him all day and all night without comment. She sighed, it was all too late and separate quarters would have to be dealt with.

The Warrior took them to the top floor, then marched down a long corridor until they reached the end. There she saw a door and a neat card next to it with Akkarin's name on it. The Warrior opened the door and gestured for them to enter.

Sonea stopped just inside the doorway. She wasn't sure what she had expected, but this wasn't it. She remembered the fine furniture and paintings in the Residence, all belonging to Akkarin, not the Guild, and wondered where they had gone. This apartment was shabbily furnished with a mixture of pieces of different styles and colours. The curtains were drab, the carpet plain and dark, and there were no paintings or anything to relieve the shabbiness.

She was about to speak, when Akkarin sent, Say nothing.

"Thank you," he said to the Warrior, "If you would show Lady Sonea to her quarters now, then we needn't detain you further."

The Warrior nodded and beckoned Sonea. She followed after him down three flights of stairs and then down a long corridor to the opposite end of the building from where Akkarin was. This time, the white card had her name on it. The Warrior pushed open the door and stood back to let her enter. This time there was no surprise. Her apartment was a twin of Akkarin's even down to the muddy brown carpet and drab curtains.

She thanked the Warrior, shut the door and set a lock. She stared at the room, it was of a reasonable size, but it would have to double as a guest area, as well as her own work space, because the bedchamber, when she found it, proved to be very small, with only room for a single bed, and a cupboard for storing clothes. There was a curtained alcove off the bedchamber which held a washstand, a basin and a jug.

She felt the bed. It was hard and covered by worn, but clean sheets and blankets. There was a single pillow which, although thin, appeared reasonably soft. She opened the cupboard and found her spare clothing already stuffed inside. There was nothing else of hers in the rooms.

She slumped down on the bed, more convinced than ever that they had made the wrong decision. There would be nothing from Balkan beyond what he was forced to give by the terms of the agreement with the King. If she wished to visit Akkarin, or he come to her rooms, crowded corridors and stairs would need to be negotiated and she could readily imagine the comments and half-stifled laughter behind their backs. Then there was the Food Hall, that would be another less than pleasant experience to look forward to.

After a few moments of feeling very sorry for herself, Sonea gave a mental shake. This would not do! She had a job to do, supporting Akkarin. There was no time to indulge in the luxury of self-pity. She needed to discuss things with Akkarin now. She got up and tidied herself. A quick glance in the mirror over the washbasin assured her she looked fine.

Once out in the corridor, she set the lock then moved purposefully towards the stairs. She only passed one or two magicians and they decided to ignore her presence. It was a different story on the stairs, though. The first group she ran into included the bane of her existence as a novice, Regin. He was dressed in Warrior's red and had filled out into a tall, muscular man some might have considered good-looking. As soon as he caught sight of her, he stopped dead, a slow smile spreading across his face.

"Well, well," he said in that irritating drawl she remembered, "Look who's moved in. It's that dwell girl with ideas above her station."

He looked round at his friends, feigning confusion, "Now what was her name again?"

His friends tittered, but Sonea found herself growing angry, "I see your manners haven't improved, Regin!" she said tartly, "I'd have thought you'd have grown up a bit by now, but then, they do say that boys take longer to become adults than girls."

The smile faded from his face as he reached out to tightly clasp her wrist, jerking her towards him. Before he could speak again, Sonea said in a loud voice, "I think you are forgetting I am a black magician, Regin." She allowed a cold smile to hover on her lips before continuing, "I can do things you can only dream of. I advise you to take your hands off me and go on your way!"

His face went still and he hastily dropped her wrist. He stared at her for a moment, before turning to his friends and laughing loudly, "Some people just can't take a joke." She watched as he gathered his friends around him and they disappeared from view.

"Oh well done," said a quiet little voice from beside her. She turned and saw a rather pretty Healer smiling at her. "He's always making fun of those of us who live near him. I'm Irun, by the way."

"Sonea," she replied and held out her hand.

"Yes, I know," said Irun. "I heard a lot about you when I was a novice. I came the year after you left but there has always been a lot of speculation over what happened to you and…err…the other one."

Sonea smiled inwardly at Irun's difficulty at speaking Akkarin's name. She was pleased that there was someone in the Magician's Quarters who was not hostile to her. It occurred to her that she could do with a friend. It might allow her to hear what was going on without having to ask direct questions of people.

"Perhaps we could have tea sometime," Sonea said, "I can't stop now, but perhaps in the next day or so."

Irun smiled her agreement, "I'd like that very much," she said softly. "I live on the same corridor as you, about halfway down. Regin is three doors down from me."

Sonea thanked her for the information and turned to continue her long walk to Akkarin's rooms.