The antechamber was empty, save for the two Warriors who had escorted them inside. They remained a few steps away; clearly, they had been instructed not to let the High Lord out of their sight. However, they did not protest when Akkarin created a sound shield around himself and Sonea. They could not touch each other, since they were still fully visible, but at least their conversation would remain private.

Akkarin's frown line had reappeared. He looked down at Sonea, dark eyes glinting. "We should take the first course of action – the proximity shield that prevents two magicians, or two objects, from close contact."

Sonea felt like she had had the wind knocked out of her. He's done. He wants to take the way out that's been offered. She tried to swallow, but it felt like there was a pebble stuck in her throat.

"I… I can understand if you don't want to be together anymore," Sonea replied quietly. She tried to prevent her voice from shaking and lifted her chin up, looking into Akkarin's eyes. "But tell me – what has changed your mind?"

Akkarin reached out to grip her upper arms tightly, ignoring the raised eyebrows of one of their Warrior escorts. "I said no such thing," he replied, gently squeezing her arms in emphasis.

Sonea tried to speak through the tightness in her chest. "But you want to take the first option, which will separate us. I don't understand."

"The third option is out of the question, Sonea. Don't you see – if I make you my Official Consort, no one will ever judge your actions on their own merits. When you graduate top of your cohort, which you will, people will think your teachers are seeking to please me. When you become an exceptional Healer, which I've no doubt you will, you'll never be able to hold an influential position in the Guild."

Akkarin stepped close and dropped his voice to a whisper, despite their sound shield. His gaze, for the first time all evening, looked almost vulnerable. "And if I am found out and put on trial for black magic, you will be my accomplice by default. I will be executed, and you, at best, will be confined to the Guild grounds, disgraced and forbidden to teach. That is, if they cannot prove that you know black magic, too."

The tightness in Sonea's chest seemed to loosen. She knew she should be calculating whether what Akkarin said was likely, but all her mind could do in the first instance was revel in the thought that Akkarin did want to be with her.

"You can't know if all that will come to pass," Sonea whispered back, gazing up at him entreatingly. "To me, the choice is simple. The first two are punishments: the third is just a label."

"Labels can punish for a lifetime."

"When Rothen took me in like a daughter, those horrible rumours started. When I moved into the Novice's Quarters to stop the rumours, Regin asked my price in front of the whole corridor. When you became my guardian, the girls of the Houses said I'd ensnared you with potions. No matter what I do or don't do, some refuse to believe I'm here on my own merits," Sonea said bitterly.

Akkarin looked pained at her words.

Sonea continued. "I have no family name to disgrace, no House that will be scandalised. I just want to be with you – whether the High Lord's novice or the High Lord's consort."

Akkarin shook his head. "It may not seem that important now, Sonea, but I cannot take your future away from you. I know Kariko won't let me live if he invades. But I will fight knowing that, at least, you can have a life afterwards, if Kyralia survives. You will not be able to marry well, or ever become Head of Healers, if you've been my mistress."

"Do you think I care about marrying some aristocratic heir…" Sonea protested indignantly, but Akkarin gestured to let him finish.

"You could transform the lives of countless dwells if you hold sway in the Guild. You could influence the King to stop the Purge."

Sonea's brows knitted in frustration as she looked up into Akkarin's dark eyes. "None of this will matter unless we defeat Kariko. That is much more likely together than apart," she said entreatingly.

Akkarin gave their escorts a quick glance. "I have another reason for suggesting the first option," he said, moving his lips as little as possible in case the Warriors looked over. "I have never tested my theory, but I suspect that we may be able to bypass a proximity shield. When the Guild blocks a magician's powers, what they do is cut access to the globe of power visualised in the mind. But practitioners of higher magic have learned to feel their power differently."

Sonea thought about what he was saying, remembering the feeling of her body being the location of her power. Since that day a few months ago, she had never gone back to imagining a ball of light inside her head."Do you think this proximity shield is similar?" she asked.

Akkarin nodded. "I suspect that the shield activates when it senses the closeness of its sister shield. But they may not work if placed only around our mental 'globes' – because you and I no longer store our power in that way."

Sonea frowned. "But this is just a theory. What if the shields still hold?"

Akkarin's looked thoughtful. "I could make you a blood ring so that we can still communicate privately whenever we wish. We would still be able to work together to kill any slaves or Ichani in the city, so long as we don't get too close…"

Sonea shook her head. It was too big a risk. "And how will you continue to draw my power?"

"I survived attacks for years by only drawing from Takan…"

"No," Sonea's voice was firmer now. "We both know that's not enough. Kariko's sending Ichani now, not slaves. We barely defeated the last one together, and you'd been drawing my power for days beforehand."

"While I was held in the Arena overnight, I found a way to draw some of its power," Akkarin said.

"You would only be able to do that on days when the Arena is used for a mock battle. Otherwise a weakening of the barrier would raise suspicion," Sonea protested. "There's only two practice battles per week this term. You wouldn't be able to draw power often enough."

Akkarin's lips thinned in annoyance. His dark eyes grew distracted and calculating. Sonea could tell he was struggling to think of a way around the fact that she was his best power source.

"We could tell them we accept option one on the condition that when you graduate to full magician in a year, the shields are removed," he suggested.

"Do you believe we have a year before Kariko invades?" Sonea asked quietly.

Akkarin heaved a sigh, his eyes burning with anger as his thoughts turned to the brother of the Ichani that had enslaved him. "No. I read the minds of the last two spies. He is almost done with preparations; four months until an attack, if we are lucky."

Sonea looked up into his face steadily, her black eyebrows tense and her eyes unblinking. You know there is only one option, she said inwardly, knowing he could read her surface thoughts. The High Lord finally tore his gaze away from the distance and reluctantly looked down to meet hers.

"We need to accept the third offer. I become your consort. It is the only guarantee we can secretly continue hunting the spies. It will buy us time to come up with a plan before the attack, and since I would get to stay in the residence, you could keep drawing my power every day," Sonea said softly.

"But – "

"I won't have a future reputation to worry about if the Guild does not survive an Ichani invasion. I won't have a future at all. Nor will most of the people in this city."

There was a long silence. Then Akkarin gave her a crooked, bittersweet smile. "Risk the future of the one you love, or the survival of many. It's a cruel choice."

Sonea's breath hitched in her throat. "I love you too." Then she returned his melancholy smile. "And you're forgetting the part where we get to be together for just a little longer, whatever the label."

Akkarin's stern features slowly softened into resignation. "Very well," he replied quietly. "Very well. I hope we won't regret this."

"I think we'll have more regrets if Imardin falls because the Guild weakened its only black magicians," Sonea pointed out, hoping he was finally convinced.

Akkarin allowed himself a low chuckle. "I always thought I rebelled against convention, until I met you, Sonea. You smash through them like a forcestrike."

Sonea grinned. The High Lord stepped closer, resting a hand on her waist. "Since everyone will find out in a moment anyway…" he murmured, tilting his head down as he pulled Sonea in for a kiss. One of the Warriors coughed in surprise, but they ignored him.

Lorlen's mental call suddenly echoed in their minds. – High Lord Akkarin. Sonea. Please return to the Day Room.

Akkarin straightened to his full height, tightening the black ribbon holding his hair. Sonea's heart began beating frantically at what they were about to do. She smoothed down the front of her brown robes and looked up at Akkarin. When he nodded, they began walking side by side towards the double doors of the Day Room.

Sonea noticed Lord Balkan following Akkarin closely with suspicious eyes as they approached the long table in the centre of the room and sat back down on the two chairs they had previously used.

Lorlen gave Osen a brief nod that he should resume taking minutes, then shuffled some papers in front of him. The elderly Lord Sarrin's chin was dropping onto his chest, but Lady Vinara was as alert as ever. The three Heads of Studies were mostly looking at Sonea with curiosity. She had been taught by all of them, but Sonea thought it likely she was about the scandalise even those magicians who had grown to like her.

"You have been offered three courses of action to choose from, each of which are supported by precedents in Guild history," Lorlen began, his voice steady but his eyes anxiously darting between Sonea and Akkarin. "Have you come to a decision?"

"We have, Administrator," Akkarin replied smoothly, his face and posture exuding a confidence that revealed none of the heated discussion that he and Sonea had just had.

"What do you choose?" Lorlen asked.

"Sonea has agreed to become my Official Consort," Akkarin said. The Heads of Studies all looked shocked, and Lady Vinara's lips thinned in displeasure. Lord Balkan scoffed and looked at Lorlen with anger, as if to say, look what you've done now.

Sonea felt her face heat, but she tried to emulate how Akkarin remained aloof. As Lorlen tapped the table with his fingers to bring the reactions to an end, she began to feel a strange calm descend over her. No more pretending; come what may.

"Do you confirm this, Sonea?" Lorlen asked her directly, his eyes pleading with her to say otherwise.

"Yes, of my own free will," Sonea replied firmly.

"On the condition," Akkarin added, his voice deepening in seriousness, "that Sonea be allowed to continue her studies and graduate to full magician in the discipline she chooses."

Lorlen glanced at the three Higher Magicians, who nodded, Balkan last. "Very well," Lorlen said, turning to Osen with a nod, who scribbled furiously.

Then Lorlen's tone then turned formal. "This Guild hereby revokes Sonea's guardianship from High Lord Akkarin of family Delvon, House Velan. This Guild hereby recognises Sonea as Official Consort to the High Lord. Sonea will be permitted to remain a novice of this Guild and choose a discipline upon graduation. She is barred from holding any high office in the Guild, and barred from accompanying the High Lord to court or to meetings with the Higher Magicians. Do you accept these terms?"

"I accept these terms," Sonea replied, feeling the intensity of all the eyes on her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lady Vinara shake her head slightly in disappointment. Sonea felt a pang of guilt – she admired the Head of Healers and had counted on her mentorship for years to come. But you're thinking as if we'll all survive the coming months, she thought with melancholy.

"Does anyone have evidence to contest this decision?" Lorlen asked, turning around to either side of him. Balkan scowled but neither he, nor anyone else, said anything. "I declare this meeting closed," the Administrator said.

Akkarin's lips curled at one corner as he stood up and inclined his head politely at the magicians in the room. Sonea could sense Lorlen was still looking at her, brows furrowed in concern, but she did not meet his gaze. She too stood up and bowed to the Higher Magicians, then turned to find Akkarin extending his arm to her, still wearing his half-smile. Sonea took it, feeling the strangeness of doing so with so many watching. But she knew Akkarin was doing this deliberately, to show the Higher Magicians her new position.

They left the Day Room. It had been a long meeting; the sky was a dusky purple. Sonea was grateful to be able to lean on Akkarin's arm as they walked across the damp grass in the direction of the High Lord's residence: she felt dizzy with emotion. As they approached the familiar building that now felt like home, Sonea got the sinking feeling that this was the last bit of time she and Akkarin had stolen from fate.