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

Into the Lion's Den

Sonea was thankful that all her defences were in place as she turned her head quickly away from Akkarin and towards the Warrior. "What happened to him?" she asked, making her voice cool and professional.

"He was found like this. There are no obvious injuries and no one knows how long ago he was affected."

"Have you tried to discover what the problem is?" she asked.

Akkarin shook his head, "I thought it best to wait for a Healer, rather than attempt something which might make him worse."

"That is the right thing to do. It is always wise to let a Healer be the first to examine a patient." She realised too late how condescending that sounded and hoped her manner had not annoyed Akkarin. She placed a hand on the Warrior's brow, it was icy cold and faintly clammy. "What is his name?"

"Wilden."

She sent her mind questing for Wilden, but encountered some sort of barrier which prevented her from catching hold of his thoughts. She frowned. This was no simple problem, it seemed very clear that some sort of magic had been used. Wilden? she projected softly, but there was no response.

She glanced up to find Akkarin looking intently at her and what she was doing. She hurriedly looked away again and frantically reviewed her recent lessons, then moved the covers down to expose the Warrior's chest. She slipped her hand inside his loosely fastened robes. His body was as cold and clammy as his forehead. She pushed further against the barrier and was rewarded by a faint trace of something which had seeped into it. She concentrated on it, trying to identify exactly what it was. It was obviously a spell, but what sort? She didn't recognise it, nor were there any indications of who had done this.

By now, some time had passed and Akkarin would expect an answer from her soon. She gathered her thoughts, took a breath, then turned to face him again.

"As you say, there are no signs of injury, but there are strong indications that some sort of magic has been used against him. There is a barrier which is preventing any sort of diagnosis, but I can sense something just below the barrier, already it is pushing against it and traces are beginning to emerge. It's possible that the spell may weaken as time passes and allow more of whatever it is to escape. When that happens, I will be in a better position to know what to do next."

Akkarin glanced at her sharply, "This magic is unknown to you?"

Were Healers expected to be experts in this type of magic? Sonea wondered if she had made a significant blunder. She had no choice, though, but to be honest.

"I'm afraid so, for the moment, but as I explained, as the barrier weakens, I will have a better chance of finding out what it is." She had a sudden panicked thought. What if Akkarin offers to examine the barrier with me? I can't let that happen! She hurriedly went on, "It is not advisable at the moment to keep pushing against the barrier. It's possible that the magic has been constructed in such a way as to increase the risk to Wilden if that happens. Whoever did this would know you are a powerful magician and they might expect you to try. Something could go terribly wrong if it is not handled correctly. It is best if you allow me to monitor his condition, and no one else."

"I see." His voice was calm and she could read nothing into it and she refused to look at him again. "So what do you recommend, Lady…?"

"Jalette," she murmured.

"Ah yes, Lady Jalette," he said in the voice of a man who had just recalled an unimportant fact. "So, what do you recommend?"

"He needs to be kept warm. His body is quite cold, so he should be well covered. He should also be offered water. A trickle or so every half hour should be sufficient. I will wait with him for a time, to see if there are any changes and to assess how important they are. Are there others who share this room who could be asked to help?"

"Wilden is the leader of the Warriors I'm training so he was given a room of his own. I will help you watch him and you can show me what to do when you are not here."

"You!" she exclaimed involuntarily, then tried to cover her reaction. "That is very kind of you, but I expect you are not well versed in Healing. I shall not need much free time, I have no other duties at present and there are other Healers who could help me."

"No," Akkarin said unexpectedly, "I do not want other people to be involved with this. You and I will be able to manage quite well. Besides, I would like to get to know you better."

Sonea couldn't prevent her eyes flying to his face. What does that mean? She found him smiling at her, "That was clumsily put, Lady Jalette, my apologies. What I meant that if we are going to work together, it may be useful to know each other better."

"Oh, yes, I see, Lord Akkarin." Sonea could feel the heat in her cheeks, but ruefully acknowledged if she was to play the part Kelda expected of her, then a blush or two would be an ideal reaction. She had no idea how long Wilden would be affected by the spell, nor how long she would be expected to be close to Akkarin. It was obvious that Kelda or another member of her group would be observing Jalette's progress with the flirtation, so she couldn't just let things drift. She had to make some effort to appear to be flirting if only to satisfy the watchers. Of course, she had no idea how successful she would be. Not successful at all you hope, her mind whispered snidely, or you will have to accept he doesn't love you. As with similar unwelcome thoughts, Sonea pushed it away and thought only about the present.

"I will leave you for a moment while I make some arrangements," Akkarin said as he moved towards the door. "Is there anything I can bring you?"

"I only need some water, for the moment," she replied.

As the door closed behind her lover, she breathed a sigh of relief. Akkarin hadn't recognised her. She was delighted at the success of her strategy to infiltrate some of the plant based power. But what am I going to do if Wilden doesn't wake? At the moment, she had no idea, but there was no point in worrying too much about it. If necessary she could always ask Kelda, she must know what had been done, or at least, who had done it. That might have implications for her cover as a Healer, but she could always think up a reason why the magic was unknown to her.

She pulled up a nearby chair and sat down close to the head of the bed, where she could keep a close watch on Wilden's features. She stared at him, willing some sort of change to occur, but in vain. The Warrior had not moved so much as an eyelash since she had come into the room. She mentally reviewed everything Lorlen had taught her about Healing. There were certain standard treatments she felt fully confident in administering, but dealing with a strong spell which had reduced a fit young man to a still, cold figure simply lying in a bed had not been mentioned. Neither of them had envisaged this sort of situation. Her intention had simply been to provide a reason for being with the High Lord's party, she had never imagined that she would be keeping watch over a sick man, alone, with only Akkarin for company. Not for the first time, her impulsive rush to action had landed her in what could turn out to be a whole lot of trouble.

The door opened quietly and Akkarin placed a pitcher of water and a glass on the chest, next to the bed. He drew up another chair and sat opposite her, on the other side of the bed. She refused to take notice of him sitting there and concentrated on Wilden, checking once again the temperature of his body, rearranging the covers, trickling a few drops of water into his unresponsive mouth. But eventually, she ran out of things to do and was forced to look at Akkarin.

He was looking down at the Warrior, a frown creasing his forehead. She imagined he would be thinking about whoever had done this, especially as the victim chosen was his Warriors' Leader. A distraction indeed, she thought, and with a flirtation as well, Akkarin is much more vulnerable, just as Kelda and her friends planned. Perhaps it's as well he offered to share the care of Wilden. At least he is safe with me.

"You seem lost in thought, Jalette."

Akkarin's voice intruding on her musings, coupled with the use of her name without the honorific, momentarily disorientated Sonea and for a brief period, she was at a loss over what to say. She gave herself a mental shake. This would not do! She must not let her guard drop for an instant, otherwise Akkarin would begin to question her credentials.

She smiled at him, "I am concerned for my patient, Lord Akkarin, it's an unusual condition and I wish to resolve it as soon as possible."

"Have you much experience with this type of problem?" he asked.

Another trap! If she said yes, he would expect her to cure Wilden quickly. If she said no, he would send for someone who could and she would be in trouble with Kelda and her friends. She needed to distract him.

"I have seen similar cases. Can I ask you a question, Lord Akkarin?"

"By all means," he replied and she thought she caught a glimpse of a smile crossing his lips.

"The servant who fetched me asked for me by name. Did someone suggest me for this task?"

Akkarin looked at her for a moment, the frown back on his forehead, "Yes, one of Balkan's Warriors, Regin, I think it was. He suggested I send for you. Do you know him?"

"He is an acquaintance," she replied, "but not someone I know well."

"He seemed to think you were the one to deal with this."

She made no answer, but once again offered Wilden some water. Most of it spilled down the corners of his mouth and on to the bed covers. Whatever the spell was, it was keeping him immobilised. She attempted to enter his mind, but as before, she was prevented by the barrier. As far as she could tell, there had been no further weakening since her last attempt.

"How long?"

She was conscious that Akkarin had spoken, but she couldn't remember what he had said.

"I'm sorry, Lord Akkarin, did you say something?"

"I asked how long you would expect Wilden to be like this?"

"I really can't say at the moment. Is it important?"

He looked at her as if she were a child, "Of course it's important," he said tartly, "Wilden is one of my most valued Warriors. I need to know how long he will be incapacitated."

Mentally cursing herself for asking such a silly question, she said hurriedly, "Of course it's important, I'm sorry. What I meant to say was the spell must take its course. As I said before, it could weaken and then I will be able to deal with it. If I risk meddling now, while the spell is strong, I could do more damage than I cure."

Akkarin didn't respond, but bent his head towards the bed, staring intently at Wilden. She, too, resumed her examination, hoping to see some sort of movement. It seemed they sat in silence for hours, but it was probably less than a single hour. Sonea was conscious of feeling a cramp starting in her left leg and trickled some Healing to stop it. Perhaps it was his awareness that she had used magic that caused Akkarin to raise his head to look at her just at the same moment she glanced over to him, but their eyes met and Sonea felt a sudden thrust of desire deep in her belly. For a split second, she thought she saw a flicker of something deep within his eyes. She looked away quickly in case he could read her reaction.

Akkarin got to his feet and began to pace around the room, "You must be hungry, Jalette. I will stay with him while you have a meal. When you come back, I will go to eat."

"Thank you," she said gratefully, "I could do with something. I won't be long."

She stood up and moved swiftly to the door. She had to get out of the room, being so close to Akkarin was more difficult than she would have believed. It had only been a few days since they had been in intimate circumstances, yet it might just as well have been months. All she could think about was her need to lie down with him, to feel safe within his arms and be able to forget all about her difficulties.

She managed to find her way back to the staircase and a passing servant was able to direct her to the enormous room with the food. She opened the door. There were still a large number of magicians milling about, nibbling at the food, drinking the plentiful wine and chatting. She noticed Balkan was there, holding court, surrounded by his favourites, Regin among them. She moved in the other direction towards the food. As she stood by the table deciding which tempting morsel to try first, Kelda came up to her.

"Well?" she asked, a teasing smile on her face, "What do you think, now you have spent some time with him?"

"He's quite fascinating," Sonea replied with a false happy smile on her face. "I expected him to be rather distant, but he's been quite friendly. I don't think I'll have much trouble."

"Good, I knew we'd picked someone who would interest him. Now, we want you to spend as much time with him as possible. Don't worry about trying to Heal the Warrior, the spell will work its way through in a few days and it will look as if you dealt with it. You never know, perhaps Akkarin will take you on as his personal Healer!"

Sonea tried to look as if that prospect pleased her. After a few minutes more of general conversation, Kelda took herself off. By this time, Sonea had lost her appetite and decided to take a bath instead. She found her way back to her room and picked up soap and a large towel she found in the chest next to her bed. The bathing area was located on the same floor as her room. It was quite different to the baths at the Guild. Here, each bath was separate, inside a small cubicle of its own. Sonea found an empty one and thankfully closed the door and secured it with a magical lock.

She stripped off the green robes with a strong sense of relief and stared at the stranger's face in the mirror. She examined each feature. There was no doubt, Jalette was more beautiful than Sonea could ever hope to be. Her hair was glossy and almost completely straight, falling in attractive waves down to her shoulders. Her heart-shaped face formed a perfect setting for her lovely almond-shaped eyes, straight nose and pretty mouth. She continued to stare at the image until she could bear it no longer. Sonea relaxed the spell and saw her own features slowly appear as Jalette melted away. She sighed. Her own face seemed common place, one you could see over and over again in the city. Her features were nothing special. A pleasant face, she thought, but it could never hope to compete with Jalette's.

She turned away from the reflection and lowered herself into the warm bath. It was a relief to be herself again, not having to worry about keeping the illusion fixed, or whether someone was going to ask her an awkward question Jalette could answer in a flash. But all too soon her time in the bath came to an end. Someone banged on the door and asked how long she would be. Akkarin would be wondering just how long she took to have a meal. She had to resume her charade.