Lorlen took a deep breath and entered the Night Room, which was already full of magicians. A quick scan of robe colours in the crowd confirmed to him that the High Lord was not present. Suppressing a sigh of relief, Lorlen made a beeline for the three higher magicians, who were talking in low voices by the fireplace.
"Lady Vinara. Lord Balkan. Lord Sarrin," he nodded to each in turn, who politely inclined their heads in acknowledgement. "Could we move to the Day Room for a moment to discuss something in private?" Lorlen asked quickly before his nerves could fail him.
Sarrin looked slightly annoyed at having to leave the comfort of the armchair, but all nodded, eyeing Lorlen questioningly. The four of them walked out of the door and towards the brightly lit, pure white room that was adjacent. A hush fell over the Night Room as the crowd of magicians noticed the mysterious exit of the higher magicians, with Lorlen in the lead.
When Lorlen was certain the door of the Day Room was shut, he turned to the Heads of Healers, Warriors and Alchemists stood in front of him.
"Is something the matter, Administrator?" Lady Vinara broke the silence, her sharp gaze discerning Lorlen's anxiety and hesitation.
"I apologise for disturbing you all, but I have… come across some information that I would welcome your counsel on," Lorlen began before he could turn back. You are perfectly within your rights to raise the matter with them, he reminded himself for the millionth time. It would be a failure in responsibility not to, in fact.
There had been no contact from Akkarin's blood ring all day, and in the past few hours, Lorlen could feel no presence from it at all – as if its wearer was utterly distracted. Lorlen knew he had a window of opportunity here that may not come up again. Although he did not have enough to go on to expose Akkarin's black magic, what he did know of Akkarin and Sonea's relationship could be a useful chance to bring Akkarin under the scrutiny of the higher magicians. After taking several days to think, Lorlen had decided that even if they advised no action, it could mean that Vinara, Balkan and Sarrin would watch the High Lord more closely from now on. And Lorlen wouldn't technically be exposing Akkarin's secret – well, his bigger secret – either.
"A few days ago, I observed the High Lord… act in a more intimate manner towards his novice than would be considered appropriate for a guardian," Lorlen said delicately.
Lord Balkan's eyebrows raised. "Where did you see this, Administrator?"
"At the High Lord's residence. I arrived to dine with them, as I often do on Freeday evenings. While waiting in the entrance hall, I saw them… embrace in the basement room before they joined me upstairs." Lorlen inwardly cursed the brightness of the Day Room for how it must be exposing the slight colour in his face.
Lady Vinara's lips were a thin, serious line. "Embrace?"
"Kiss," Lorlen clarified, looking straight ahead and trying to keep his mind clear of images from that night. He couldn't well admit that he had seen them do much more than just that, not without revealing that he had lingered very, unnecessarily, long.
A moment of silence followed. Sarrin frowned and Vinara exchanged a look with Balkan before clearing her throat and addressing Lorlen.
"Did you observe the High Lord… coercing Sonea into this?"
Lorlen panicked a little. He knew this would come up, but now began to wonder if he would need to lie to impress upon them the seriousness of his doubts. But avoiding a mind-read was paramount, and that meant avoiding saying anything that could take this matter to a Hearing.
"I did not," Lorlen replied truthfully.
Vinara nodded. After a stretch of silence, Sarrin's spoke in his thin, wavering voice. "There is no Guild law forbidding relations between a guardian and his novice. Indeed, it used to be a custom in the previous century."
"Yes, but the Guild as it existed before the Sachakan War had many customs we no longer practice," Balkan interjected.
Vinara nodded at Balkan's words. "There is also more to consider, in this particular situation. Sonea's… background makes this suspicious."
Lorlen locked eyes with her. "Lady Vinara, I hope you are not suggesting these are Sonea's advances? I know her low origins have been difficult for some magicians to accept, but – "
"Administrator, I was in no way insinuating anything untoward about Sonea's character," Vinara interrupted sternly. "I work with her closely, as you know. My concern was rather about the power imbalance here. Do you have any cause to suspect that she may be under duress?"
"I… I'm not sure what you mean…"
"I'll be blunt" Vinara said. "Financially, for example? We know she gives much of her allowance to her aunt, and that a string of murders have been taking place in Northside. Do you believe she may be in sudden need of… that the High Lord may be taking advantage of her in exchange for the protection of her family, or for funds to relocate them?"
Lorlen nodded slowly. "I hadn't thought of that, Lady Vinara. I cannot say I saw enough to rule out that possibility."
Balkan inclined his head in acknowledgement of Vinara's point. "If the High Lord is taking advantage of his novice's circumstances, that would constitute a serious violation of the trust we all place in someone of his position. But it would require equally serious evidence to raise this at a Guild meeting. To my understanding, we have nothing but what you witnessed, Administrator?"
Lorlen frowned. "No. But something about the encounter was… tense."
"Be that as it may," Lady Vinara said, spreading her hands, "to accuse the High Lord of the Guild is a lengthy, and public, process. The King would be involved. We cannot proceed based on your feelings of unease, Administrator, however understandable they may be in this case."
Lorlen nodded resignedly. "I agree. Thank you for your counsel, my Lords, Lady."
"Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention," Lady Vinara inclined her head. "For what it's worth, I work with Sonea weekly in our private Healing tutorials, and I will observe her closely."
Lorlen thanked the higher magicians and all filed out of the Day Room: they to the Night Room, and Lorlen back in the direction of his office. Well, that went as well as I could expect, Lorlen thought to himself as he walked out into the night air. And by some stroke of luck, Akkarin's mental presence was still entirely absent from the ring on his finger.
Rothen pressed his back against the wall, his heart pounding. As Vinara, Balkan, Sarrin and Lorlen walked out of the Day Room, he stayed utterly silent and still, out of sight of the door.
He felt the shock of what he had just heard make his hands tremble. But as the antechamber outside the Day Room fell completely dark and silent, with only the distant hum of conversation in the adjacent Night Room still audible, Rothen's heartbeat began to slow.
Just as gradually as his shock subsided, anger began to simmer in its place. How could the higher magicians come to the conclusion to do nothing? To Rothen, it was completely obvious that Akkarin was now satisfying himself in every way imaginable with the power that his blackmail gave him. It hadn't been enough to ensure Sonea's silence by threatening her with Rothen's and her family's safety – Akkarin was now forcing himself on Sonea. Rothen felt sick to his stomach.
It was clear the Administrator and the higher magicians cared more about protocol than about Sonea's safety. Rothen now knew they would not help. Well, I'm not leaving her to a life of misery. She will not have to endure more. At least, not on my behalf, he thought angrily. He would have to act alone. Tonight.
–––––
Cery drained the last of his bol casually, looking to everyone else like just another dwell wiling away the evening drinking alone. But his eyes were clear and sharp; he caught Gol's equally alert glance as he walked in to the bolhouse and up to be served at the bar. He saw him exchange the silver piece that was the coded entry token to the attic of the building. The woman working at the bar looked like she was taking a coin from a paying customer, but she surrepticiously slipped the token back into Gol's palm then disappeared into the storeroom for a moment. She emerged with a set of keys, which Gol slipped into his sleeve so swiftly that even Cery would have missed it had he blinked.
He lazily stood up, pretending to sway with drink, and hobbled up to the bar next to Gol. "Another!" he demanded.
"You better take that one away to cool off," the barmaid said, eyeing Cery.
"He never did listen to his uncle. Come on, you," Gol said gruffly, linking arms with Cery and leading him to the staircase at the back. One or two dwells glanced up, but lost interest immediately, seeing what looked like just another young man who couldn't hold his drink.
Cery leaned against Gol heavily and allowed himself to be led up the creaky staircase, pretending to be unsteady on his feet. When they reached the landing on the first floor, out of sight of all the bolhouse customers, his pace turned agile, light and swift. He and Gol continued quickly and silently up two more sets of dark stairs and reached the door of the attic room. After checking through the keyhole to confirm it was vacant, Gol oiled the hinges and they opened the door silently, locking it again behind them.
"Good evening Ceryni," said a deep voice from the shadows. Cery's hand made for the two daggers on his hips but he relaxed when he recognised the voice. Sure enough, a moment later, his eyes adjusted to the dark and he could make out Akkarin's pale face.
"High Lord," he replied with a nod of his head. "No issues on the way?"
"None." Akkarin stepped out of the shadows and into a pale patch of moonlight streaming in from the skylight of the attic. He was not alone.
"Sonea!" Cery almost gasped aloud her name, but managed to turn it into a surprised whisper at the last moment.
Sonea pulled off the hood of her threadbare cloak and gave him a small smile. "Cery. Glad to know Northside has been in good hands."
Cery realised his mouth was open and took a deep breath to compose himself. "Well, I wouldn't leave my neighbourhood to Faren's pea-brained lot. Not with killer foreign magicians on the loose." Then Cery turned slowly to lock his eyes with Akkarin's, not bothering to hide the anger in his gaze. "Which begs the question: why would the Guild send a novice on a dangerous mission?"
"Cery –" Sonea began entreatingly, but Akkarin's soft, dangerous voice answered him first.
"I do not recall our agreement requires me to consult you on my methods. You were forewarned there would be two of us tonight. Have you not prepared accordingly?" Akkarin asked. Sonea frowned at the touch of challenge in his silky voice.
She placed a hand on Akkarin's forearm to mind-communicate privately. He is simply concerned to see me. He does not know that I have been preparing for this. Let me speak to him, as an old friend, she sent.
Akkarin and Cery were still holding each other's eyes steadily.
– I can read his surface thoughts, Sonea, and they are not merely the concerns of a friend, Akkarin replied, the tension in his mood palpable. Heightened emotions make for an unreliable man.
Sonea felt her cheeks warm, recalling Cery's past feelings for her. Clearly something still lingered, on his part.
– The feeling isn't mutual. And Cery knows we must all work together tonight, she sent back mentally.
– Let us hope so. There is no room for mistakes.
"I am always prepared, High Lord," Cery replied coldly.
Akkarin held his gaze equally coldly for one more breath, then nodded. "Then we proceed," he said curtly. "Sonea, you know what to do," he added under his breath.
Sonea nodded, gave Cery what she hoped was a reassuring smile, and moved back into the shadows. She crouched behind a desk of drawers and created a strong shield around herself.
"He better know what he is doing, too," Cery muttered to Gol under his breath. Akkarin raised an eyebrow at the comment.
"Hold onto one another," he instructed. Cery and Gol clasped hands just as Akkarin created a disc of power beneath their feet and levitated them up into a storage hole between the roof of the building and the wooden ceiling of the attic room. Gol yelped quietly, but Cery remained steady, his face serious. Once they were completely hidden, Akkarin moved towards the door, pressing his back against the wall right next to it. Anyone who entered would not see him when the door swung open.
They all waited in utter silence. Her heart pounding in fear and anticipation, Sonea felt like an entire hour had passed. But observing the pale square of moonlight on the floor, which hadn't much shifted position since they had arrived, she knew it hadn't been that long yet.
Then the faintest of a creak from the floorboards just outside the attic room reached her ears. Her heart began pounding so loudly Sonea feared she would be heard. She added an acoustic layer to her shield the same moment she heard a key being turned. The old door swung open slowly.