The Magicians' Guild

Chapter 18 Away from Prying Eyes

A delicate, faint light had settled on the trees and buildings of the Guild. Cery frowned. Last time he had looked, everything had been shrouded in darkness. He must have dozed off, but he couldn't even remember closing his eyes. Rubbing his face, Cery looked around and considered the long night he had just passed.

It had begun with Faren. Recovered and fed, Cery had asked again if the Thief would help him retrieve Sonea. Faren's refusal had been firm.

'If she had been captured by the Guard, or even imprisoned in the Palace, I would have snatched her back already - and enjoyed proving that I could do it.' Faren had smiled briefly, but then his expression had hardened. 'But this is the Guild, Cery. What you suggest is out of my reach.'

'It's not,' Cery had insisted. 'They don't set guards, or magical barriers. They -'

'No, Cery.' Faren's eyes flashed. 'It is not a matter of guards or barriers. The Guild has never had a good enough reason to get off their backsides and do something about us. If we stole her back from their own grounds, it might give them reason to try. Believe me, Cery, nobody wants to find out whether we could evade them or not.'

'The Thieves are afraid of them?'

'Yes.' Faren's expression had been unusually sober. 'We are. And with good reason.'

'If we made it look as if someone else rescued her ...'

'The Guild may still believe it was us. Listen to me, Cery. I know you well enough to guess that you will try to rescue her on your own. Consider this instead: the others will kill you if they believe you are a threat. They're watching us closely.'

Cery had said nothing to that.

'Do you want to continue working for me?'

Cery had nodded.

'Good. I have another job for you, if you want it.'

Faren's job had taken Cery to the Marina, as far from the Guild as he could get. Afterwards, Cery had made his way across the city, climbed the Guild wall, and settled himself down in the forest to watch.

As activity had dwindled and the night deepened, Cery had seen a movement in one of the windows of the University. A face appeared. A man's face, staring at the magicians' building intently.

The watcher remained at his post for half an hour. Finally, a pale face had appeared in a window of the magicians' building and Cery's heart had leapt. Even from a distance, he recognized her.

Sonea had looked down at the gardens for several minutes, then she had looked up toward the watcher. Seeing him, she had quickly retreated from view.

The watcher had disappeared soon after. Though Cery had stayed all night, he had seen no other movement, either from magicians or Sonea. Now that dawn was close, he knew he should return to Faren. The Thief would not approve of Cery's spying, but Cery had planned for that. An admission that Sonea was too well guarded would be enough to mollify the Thief. Faren had forbidden a rescue attempt, not information gathering, and he must have expected Cery to look for evidence that she was still alive.

Cery rose and stretched. He wouldn't be telling Faren what he had learned from the night's watching, however. Aside from the mysterious watcher, the magicians had set no external guard on the buildings. If Sonea was alone in that room, there was hope for her yet.

Smiling for the first time in days, Cery started through the forest toward the slums.

* * *

Sonea woke with a start to find Rothen's servant staring down at her.

'Excuse me, Lady,' the woman said hastily. 'But when I saw the bed was empty I thought... Why are you sleeping on the floor?'

Rising, Sonea disentangled herself from the blankets.

'The bed,' she said. 'It sinks so much. I feel like I'm going to fall right through it.'

'Sinks?' The woman blinked in surprise. 'You mean it's too soft?' She smiled brightly. 'But you've probably not slept on a reber-wool mattress before. Here.'

She pulled the sheets from the bed to reveal several layers of thick, spongy mattress. Grasping half, she pulled them from the bed.

'Do you think that would be comfortable for you?' she asked, pressing down on the remaining layers.

Sonea hesitated, then pressed on the mattress. The bed was still soft, but she could feel the wooden base underneath. She nodded.

'Wonderful,' the servant cooed. 'Now, I've brought water for you to wash in, and - Oh! You've slept in your clothes. No matter. I've brought fresh ones. Once you've done, come out into the guest room. We'll have some cakes and sumi to start the day.'

Amused, Sonea watched the woman gather up the mattresses and bustle out of the room. When the door had closed, she sat down on the end of the bed and sighed.

I'm still here.

She ran through the previous day in her mind: the conversations with Rothen, her determination to escape, the people she had seen through the window last night. Sighing, she rose and examined the basin of water, soap and towel that the servant had brought. .

With a shrug, she stripped off, washed and changed, then moved to the door. As she reached for the handle she hesitated. No doubt Rothen was waiting beyond the door. She felt a small twinge of anxiety, but no fear.

He was a magician. That ought to scare her more, but he had said he would not harm her, and she had chosen to believe him - for now.

To let him into her mind, however, was not going to be so easy. She had no idea if he could harm her that way. What if he could change the way she thought, and make her love the Guild?

What choice do I have? She was going to have to trust that he couldn't, or wouldn't, mess around with her mind. It was a risk she had to take and worrying about it would not make it any easier.

Straightening her back, she opened the door. The room beyond appeared to be the one Rothen spent most of his time in. A set of chairs was arranged around a low table in the center of the room. Bookshelves and higher tables stood against the walls. Rothen sat in one of the cushioned chairs, his blue eyes darting back and forth over the pages of a book.

He looked up and smiled. 'Good morning, Sonea.'

The servant woman stood beside one of the side tables. Sonea settled into the chair opposite Rothen. Bringing a tray to the table, the servant placed a cup before Rothen and another in front of Sonea.

Rothen lay the book on the table. 'This is Tania,' he said, looking up at the woman. 'My servant.'

Sonea nodded. 'Hello, Tania.'

'Honored to meet you, Lady,' the woman replied, bowing.

Feeling her face warming with embarrassment, Sonea looked away. To her relief, Tania returned to the food table.

Watching the woman arranging cakes on a tray, Sonea wondered if she was supposed to be flattered by the obeisance. Perhaps they hoped she would gain a liking for it, as well as the luxuries, and be more willing to cooperate.

Sensing Sonea's gaze, the woman looked up and smiled nervously.

'Did you sleep well, Sonea?' Rothen asked.

Looking at him, she shrugged. 'A little.'

'Would you like to continue with your reading lessons today?'

She looked at the book that he had been reading and frowned as she realized that it was familiar.

He followed her gaze. 'Ah, Fien's Notes on Magic Usage. I thought I should know what you've been reading. This is an old history book, not a textbook, and the information in it may be outdated.