Disclaimer – I do not own BMT world, it belongs to Trudi Canavan
Hearing
As she was filing into the Hall with the others, Sonea's mind was cast back to her own formal Hearing so many years ago. She remembered she had been frightened, not for herself so much as for what the Guild would do to Akkarin. I must have loved him then, she thought, to have thought only of him and not myself. Yet then, the thought of loving Akkarin would have been shocking to her. Now she couldn't imagine a life without him.
As she found a seat, she was joined, much to her annoyance, by Irun and Neeve, sitting one each side of her. She had not seen the nosy novice since her return, and to find her tagging along with Irun caused Sonea's heart to sink. Irun was bad enough, with her sly remarks, but to have both of them watching her reactions to what was happening during the Hearing was more than she could bear. But it was too late to find another place, so she would just have to make the best of it.
She ignored their conversation as much as possible, but it was hard to overlook comments directly aimed at her.
"So how did it feel to be left behind, Sonea?" Neeve asked.
Sonea had no intention of discussing her feelings, "Lord Akkarin and I work together for the good of our Discipline," she replied.
"Your Discipline?" Neeve responded, her eyes widening in mock surprise. "Oh, yes, I remember, you are in a special group all of your own."
"It is difficult to overlook," Sonea replied tartly, gesturing at her robes, "when the two of us are wearing a colour no one else wears."
"Still, it is good you were here safe, Sonea, and not in danger like the others. It is shocking that the High Lord and the Administrator were killed, but I expect you are pleased Lord Akkarin survived," Irun smiled at Sonea, while she waited for her reply.
Inwardly Sonea was fuming at the idea she was afraid of battling the Ichani, but she didn't allow anything to show in her expression, "As I said, Lord Akkarin and I work together so where each of us is at any time is all part of a plan."
"I wonder what the Hearing will decide," mused Irun. "It is the first time for probably hundreds of years that both the High Lord and the Administrator have been killed in such suspicious circumstances. People are very angry and will want to see the person responsible suffer the harshest punishment."
Sonea's temper snapped, but she managed to keep her voice calm as she asked, "And who do you think is responsible, Irun?"
Irun pretended to think carefully, then she glanced sideways at Sonea, "It will be difficult to ignore the fact that Lord Akkarin was the next highest ranking magician present, and he is known to be strong in magic. It's hard for us who were not there to decide why he did not act to save the High Lord and the Administrator."
"Yes," said Neeve, "you would think that a powerful black magician could defeat a few savages."
"A few savages? The Ichani are skilled in black magic and know how to use it well." Sonea could hear the anger in her voice and regretted that her companions would hear it too. "No doubt the Hearing will discover the truth," she added, putting an end to that particular conversation.
It seemed as if every magician in the Allied Lands was coming to the Hearing, as the Hall filled to bursting point. Sonea noticed that on the level just below the High Lord's seat, three elaborately carved chairs had been placed and just before the King was expected, the Heads of the three traditional Disciplines, Warriors, Healers and Alchemists, took their places. A white-haired magician she couldn't remember seeing before, took the Administrator's seat, a blue sash looped diagonally across his upper body.
"Who is that? Sonea asked Neeve.
"Lord Simean, he is the Administrator's assistant."
Sonea stared at him, he had a warm and friendly face and she wondered how he had got on with Osen. She remembered that Osen, as Lorlen's assistant, had been friendly towards her, but he had changed once in charge and working closely with Balkan.
The higher magicians took their places, but there was no sign of Akkarin. By rights, as a Head of a Discipline, no matter how small, he should have sat with the others, but as he was a key witness to the events which lead to the loss of Balkan and Osen, he could hardly sit in judgement. It was a few minutes before she noticed him sitting quietly with a group of magicians she recognised as having been at Corres Fort.
The trumpets sounded to announce the arrival of the King and there was a rustling of robes as the entire audience rose to their feet, then remained silent until the King had taken his seat. The magicians sat down again and there was a short period of rustling, half-stifled coughing and the clearing of a few throats before the Hall was silent again.
King Merin looked out over the assembly, ensuring that he looked at each section of the audience, before speaking quietly but with authority, emphasising the need to examine the truth of what had happened during the fighting in Corres Town.
"Never before in living memory has the Guild lost two of its most important magicians in a struggle to preserve the integrity of magic in the Allied Lands. We owe it to them to establish the exact sequence of events which led to their deaths so that their deeds will not go unremembered by future generations. We can only be grateful that their sacrifice enabled our enemy to be defeated and the Guild preserved. "
It was now Lord Simean, taking on the role of Administrator, who rose to speak. He outlined the discussions he had had with members of the expedition to Corres Fort and how he had been able to establish who had been where at various important times. He then began to set out the sequence of events as he understood them.
"Lord Akkarin had been correct in his assumption that the Ichani were planning a sea-borne invasion because it was soon after the arrival of the High Lord and his party at the Fort, that several ships began to attack it."
Lord Simean looked down at his notes, before continuing his account, "Warriors manning the Fort's walls, were able to prevent the ships from landing. They were helped in this task by the King's ships based at the Fort."
Simean paused again, this time to take a drink. Sonea wished he would hurry up. His voice had a pace and rhythm which was sending her to sleep and she could imagine his speaking at meetings, boring his audience into accepting all sorts of things simply to bring the meeting to an end. None of the warmth she had detected in his face was evident in his voice which tended to be somewhat of a monotone. He droned on again for several minutes, recounting the situation in the Fort and where various key people were at particular times, before beginning to call the witnesses.
"Lord Thomin will now give his account."
Thomin, Sonea knew, had been the leader of Balkan's Warriors. She had not seen much of him during her time at the Fort but now, as she listened to his version of events, it sounded as if he had been responsible for every single successful defensive tactic which had taken place.
Thomin was followed by several of Balkan's Warriors. One after another, each told their version of events. Most of the events Sonea had witnessed herself, so she knew that their basic story was correct, but it was the interpretation they put on things which made it sound as if Akkarin and his Warriors had played little part in events as they unfolded. According to them, it was Thomin or Balkan who took command of the defence of the Fort, with the occasional help of others. As she listened, Sonea's temper rose; she had to bite her lips to prevent the angry words from escaping.
At last, Simean called Wilden and for the first time, the audience heard of Akkarin's involvement, as he outlined the training regime they had followed which enabled the Warriors to keep up a strong barrage of forcestrikes and stunstrikes which succeeded in driving the Ichani ships back.
"Lord Akkarin was with us on the Warriors' Walk, sending continuous powerful strikes against the enemy. None of us could match his reach and power. I believe it was his strikes alone which sank at least one of the enemy ships and caused damage to several others."
"The other Warriors did not follow Lord Akkarin's particular approach?" the King interrupted.
"No, Your Majesty, it was solely Lord Akkarin's idea which was followed only by those of us who were under his command," Wilden replied.
Sonea watched Merin scribble something down, then he asked another question.
"What was Lord Balkan doing during the attack?"
Wilden was silent for a moment as he thought back, "He was consulting with Lord Osen and others. There was a problem with people from the town trying to get into the Fort from the land side and he was asking for advice."
"Lord Balkan was not involved with the attack against the ships?" Merin's voice was unable to disguise his surprise. There were murmurings in the Hall too as Wilden shook his head.
"No, Your Majesty, he was very concerned about the people hammering at the gates. He didn't want to let them into the Fort in case there were Ichani hiding amongst them."
Merin made more notes, as Simean gestured for Wilden to go back to his seat.
"It's at this point, things become somewhat confused," Simean said, consulting the papers on the desk in front of him. "Some witnesses say that there was a furious argument between the High Lord and Lord Akkarin, although I have found no-one who was near enough to hear what was said.
Again murmurings greeted Simean's words.
"Both the High Lord and Lord Akkarin then left the Warriors' Walk. Lord Benin knows what happened next."
Balkan's friend made his way to the front and began his account. "I met the High Lord coming down from the Warriors' Walk as I was going up. He was furious. I asked him what was wrong, but he just pushed past me, muttering something about Lord Akkarin's plans. I was concerned about him, so I decided to follow him and find out exactly what the problem was."
"When we reached the High Lord's rooms, I poured him some wine and told him to sit down and tell me what was troubling him. It seems that Lord Akkarin had virtually ordered him to stay and protect the Fort while he went into the town to hunt down any Ichani who might have come ashore."
"The High Lord felt his authority had been challenged by Lord Akkarin. He knew that as King's Magician, Lord Akkarin was not answerable to him, but that did not give him the right to tell the High Lord what to do." Benin paused for a moment and stared up at the King. "Lord Balkan felt that Lord Akkarin had the King's confidence, whereas he did not."
Merin was too far away for Sonea to clearly read his expression, but she knew the King would not be pleased at that remark.
"As the High Lord was telling me this, Lord Akkarin came in without asking permission and began to say he was going into the town and that Lord Balkan should return to take command of the Warriors defending the Fort. Lord Balkan could not agree to this so he insisted on accompanying Lord Akkarin. I could see that Lord Akkarin was not pleased, but in the end he agreed. He told the High Lord to take a few of his Warriors with him."
"So Lord Akkarin intended to go into the town alone, and it was the High Lord who insisted on going with him?" Merin asked.
Benin nodded, "It was Lord Balkan's decision to go with Lord Akkarin. It was obvious that Lord Akkarin was not pleased."
"Why do you think the High Lord insisted on going?"
Benin thought for a moment before answering the King's question. "He did not explain his decision. I'm not sure but I think he wondered why Lord Akkarin wanted to leave the security of the Fort. He might have thought that Lord Akkarin wanted to meet someone."
"Meet someone?" the King said sharply, "what do you mean?"
Colour flooded the Warrior's face as the implication of his words sank in and he looked most uncomfortable, "I don't know, Your Majesty, it's just something Lord Balkan might have thought. He didn't say so I can only make a guess at what he might have been thinking."
"Take care that your guesses do not mislead people at this Hearing," the King said crisply. "This is not the place for people's personal assumptions."
While appreciating Merin's defence of Akkarin, Sonea couldn't help wishing he had not spoken so directly to Benin. It only reinforced Benin's earlier statement that Akkarin had the King's confidence while others did not. She could tell that point was not lost on the people listening in the Hall. She could hear a jumble of mental communication, as well as quiet whisperings all around her and most of what she heard was not favourable to Akkarin.
Benin had little to add to his account, and after one or two other questions, he returned to his place. Simean consulted his notes again, but before he could call the next witness, the King intervened.
"I think it would be appropriate to hear from Lord Akkarin at this point, so we can establish why he wished to leave the Fort alone."
Simean looked up at the King, "I had planned to call him later," he began, but seeing Merin start to frown, quickly went on, "but it would seem sensible to examine this particular point now."
Sonea watched Akkarin walk out to the front of the Hall. She could read nothing of his thoughts and his face was set in its usual expressionless lines. He spoke for several minutes, his words eloquent but in reality he added little to what had been already said. He did not give any details of his arguments with Balkan and proffered no opinion as to why Balkan had insisted on accompanying him into the town.
"Why was it so important for you to leave the Fort?" Merin asked, determined to get an answer to this question.
"It was my belief that there were many Ichani in the town and they would have to be prevented from reaching the Fort. I felt that the sea-borne attack was an excellent diversion, and perhaps a greater number of Ichani would attack the Fort directly. There was obviously something causing panic among the town-dwellers because they had rushed to the gates of the Fort, screaming to be let inside."
"I do not understand why you thought it so crucial that the Ichani should not reach the Fort. It is a strong building, constructed by magic, and easy to defend. The Ichani would find it difficult to take it."
"You have stated the reason most clearly, Your Majesty. Corres Fort was indeed constructed by magic. Anyone who has ever seen it and is open to magic can feel the raw power coming from the building. Corres Fort is one of our oldest buildings, constructed at a time when higher magic was used throughout Kyralia. Its magic is powerful and strong. A magician who knows how to do it can obtain almost unlimited power from its stones. The Ichani know how to obtain this magic. Once they reached the Fort and were able to dismantle even a small portion of the building, their power would have been increased to a point where it would be impossible to defeat them."
Akkarin finished his explanation to complete silence. Sonea noted the concern etched on the faces of nearby magicians. All knew that if what Akkarin said was correct, then protection of the actual stones of the Fort was indeed crucial.
"Did you explain this to the High Lord?" Simean asked.
"No."
There was a muffled gasp from some in the audience and the same question was in everyone's mind.
"Why not?" asked Merin.
For the first time, Akkarin looked a little uncertain. There was a pause, as if he were gathering his thoughts, then he looked up at the King.
"The High Lord did not trust me and would have demanded a detailed explanation or a demonstration. There was no time. I had to go into the town to stop the others."
"You wanted to go alone?" asked Simean.
"Yes, I knew what needed to be done. My trained Warriors were dealing with the sea-borne attack and I needed to deal with the others."
"But the High Lord would not let you go alone."
"No, Your Majesty, he would not. So in the end, it was easier to let him come, but I asked him to take some of his Warriors with him, to act as additional protection."
Simean looked down at his notes, "So the High Lord, Lord Osen, Lord Regin, Lord Absil. Lord Jemnon and yourself went into the town?"
"That is correct."
Just as Simean was about to ask another question, the King intervened to suggest that the proceedings were paused for a meal break. Although it was obvious that Simean wished to continue, King Merin's suggestion was difficult to ignore, so he formally declared that there would be a meal break lasting one hour and at the end, everyone should return to the Hall.