she found a pair of simple trousers, undershirt and a high-collared shirt - much the same as the clothes she had been wearing in the slums but made of soft, expensive materials.
Shrugging out of the leisure coat and night robe, she pulled on the new clothes. Though she now felt decently covered, her skin still felt strangely bare. Looking at her hands, she saw that her fingernails had been clipped and cleaned. She sniffed them and smelt a soapy fragrance.
A shiver of alarm and indignation ran through her. Somebody had washed her while she had slept. She stared at the door. Rothen?
No, she decided, tasks like that would be left to the servants. Running her hands through her hair she discovered that it, too, had been washed.
A few more minutes passed, then a softer knock came from the door. Remembering that the magician was going to send in a servant, Sonea waited for the stranger to enter. The knock came again.
'Lady?' a woman called, her voice muffled by the door. 'May I enter?'
Amused, Sonea sat down on the bed. Nobody had ever called her 'Lady' before.
'If you want,' she answered.
A woman of about thirty years entered the room. She was dressed in a plain gray smock and matching trousers, and was carrying a covered tray.
'Hello,' the woman said, smiling nervously. Her eyes flickered to Sonea's, then quickly away again.
Sonea watched the servant carry the tray to the table and set it down. As the women reached for the cover her hand shook slightly. Sonea frowned. What was the servant afraid of? Surely not a mere slum girl?
The woman adjusted a few items on the tray, then turned and bowed deeply to Sonea before retreating quickly from the room.
For several minutes, Sonea stared at the door. The woman had bowed to her. This was ... strange. Disturbing. She could not work out what it meant.
Then the smell of hot bread and something tantalizingly spicy drew her attention to the tray. A generous bowl of soup and a plate of small, sweet cakes beckoned to her, and she felt her stomach rumble.
She smiled. The magicians were going to find that she could not be bribed into betraying Faren, but they didn't need to know that straightaway. If she played with them a little, they might treat her like this for a very long time.
And she had no qualms about taking advantage of them.
Sonea crept into the guest room with all the watchful nervousness of a wild animal emerging from a cage. Her eyes flicked about, lingering longest on the doors, before settling on Rothen.
'That leads to a small washroom,' Rothen told her, pointing. 'My bedroom is through there, and that door opens to the main corridor of the Magicians' Quarters.'
She stared at the main door, then glanced at him before moving closer to the bookshelves. Rothen smiled, pleased to see her attracted to the books.
'Take down anything that interests you,' he urged. 'I will help you read them, and explain what you do not understand.'
She glanced at him again, her brows rising, and bent closer to the books. She lifted a finger to touch the spine of a volume, but froze as the University gong began to ring.
'That indicates to novices that it is time to return to classes,' he explained. Crossing to one of the windows, he gestured for her to look outside.
Moving to the next window along, she looked out. At once, her face stiffened with tension. Eyes darting about, she watched the magicians and novices making their way back to the University.
'What do the colors mean?'
Rothen frowned. 'Colors?'
'The robes, they are different colors.'
'Ah.' He leaned on the sill of the window and smiled. 'First I should explain about the disciplines. There are three major uses to which magic can be applied: Healing, Alchemy and Warrior Skills.' He pointed to a pair of Healers walking slowly through the gardens. 'The Healers wear green. Healing involves learning more than just the magical methods of curing wounds and disease. It also includes all knowledge of medicine, which makes it a discipline that one must dedicate one's entire life to.'
Glancing at Sonea, he noted the interest in her eyes.
'Warriors wear red,' he told her, 'and study strategy and the ways that magic can be used in battle. Some also practice traditional forms of fighting and swordplay.'
He gestured to his own robes. 'Purple represents Alchemy, which is everything else that can be done with magic. It includes chemistry, mathematics, architecture and many other uses for magic.'
Sonea nodded slowly. 'What about the brown robes?'
'They are novices.' He pointed to a pair of youths. 'Do you see how the robes fall only to the thigh?' Sonea nodded. 'They do not receive full robes until they graduate, by which time they have chosen a discipline to follow.'
'What if they want to learn more than one?'
Rothen chuckled. 'There just isn't enough time for that.'
'How long do they study for?'
'That depends how long they take to learn the required skills. Usually five years.'
'That one.' Sonea pointed. 'He wears a different-colored belt.'
Rothen looked down to see Lord Balkan striding by, his harsh face set in a frown as if he was worrying at a difficult problem.
'Ah, very observant of you.' Rothen smiled approvingly. 'The sash is black. It indicates that the man you are looking at is the Head of his chosen discipline.'
'The Head of the Warriors.' Sonea glanced at Rothen's robes and her eyes narrowed.
'What sort of Alchemy do you study?'
'Chemistry. I also teach it.'
'What is that?'
He paused, considering how best to explain it in terms she would understand. 'We work with substances: liquids, solids and gases. We mix them together, or heat them, or subject them to other influences and see what happens.'
Sonea frowned. 'Why?'
Rothen smiled crookedly. 'To see if we can discover anything useful.'
Sonea's eyebrows rose. 'What useful things have you discovered?'
'Me, or the Chemists of the Guild?'
'You.'
He laughed. 'Not much! I guess you could call me a failed Alchemist, but along the way I did discover one important thing.'
Sonea's brows rose.
'What was that?'
'I'm a very good teacher.' Moving away from the window, he considered the bookshelf. 'If you would allow me, I could help you improve your reading skills. Would you be interested in working on them this afternoon?'
She regarded him for a long time, her expression guarded but thoughtful. Finally, she gave a stiff nod. 'What do you think I should try?'
Approaching the bookcase, Rothen ran his eyes over the volumes. He needed something easy to read, but which would hold her interest. Taking down a book, he flicked through the pages.
She was more cooperative than he had anticipated. Her curiosity was strong, and her ability to read and her interest in his books were unexpected advantages. Both indicated that she might adapt well to a life of study.
He nodded to himself. All he had to do was persuade her that the Guild was not as bad as she thought it was.
Dannyl smiled at his friend. Since joining Yaldin and his wife for the evening, Rothen had been talking without pause. Dannyl hadn't seen Rothen so animated about a potential novice before - though Dannyl rather
