The Magicians' Guild

'Yes.'

'I see.' Fergun turned away, Kerrin following. In a quiet voice, pitched loud enough for Dannyl to hear, he added, 'I'm surprised they allow it.'

'What do you mean?' Kerrin asked, his voice growing fainter as the pair walked away.

'Don't you remember all the trouble he got into as a novice?'

'Oh, that!' Kerrin laughed, the sound echoing in the corridor. 'I suppose he might be a bad influence.'

Gritting his teeth, Dannyl turned away and found Rothen standing in the doorway.

'Rothen!' Dannyl exclaimed. 'What are you doing here?'

'I was just visiting the library.' Rothen's gaze remained on Fergun's back. 'It amazes me how long you two have kept this grudge going. Are you ever going to leave the past behind you?'

'It's not a grudge to him,' Dannyl growled. 'It's sport and he enjoys it too much to stop.'

Rothen raised his brows. 'Well, if he behaves like a spiteful novice, people will treat his words accordingly.' He smiled as three novices hurried along the corridor and darted through the classroom door. 'How are my novices doing?'

Dannyl grimaced. 'I don't know how you cope, Rothen. You're not going to abandon me to them for long, are you?'

'I don't know. Weeks. Months, maybe.'

Dannyl groaned. 'Do you think Sonea is ready to begin Control lessons yet?'

Rothen shook his head. 'No.'

'But it's been a week already.'

'Only a week.' Rothen sighed. 'I doubt she'd trust us if we gave her six months to settle in.' He frowned. 'It's not that she dislikes us as individuals, but that she doesn't believe the Guild means well - and she won't until she sees proof. We don't have time for that. When Lorlen visits, he'll expect us to have begun lessons already.'

Dannyl grasped his friend's arm. 'For now all you have to do is teach her Control, and for that she only has to trust you, Rothen. You're a likeable sort. You've got her best interests at heart.' He hesitated. 'If you can't tell her, then show her.'

Rothen frowned, then his eyes widened in understanding. 'Let her see into my mind?'

'Yes. She will know you've been telling her the truth.'

'It's ... it's not necessary when teaching Control, but the circumstances are hardly usual.' Rothen frowned.

'There are some things I'll have to keep her from learning, though...'

'Hide them.' Dannyl smiled. 'Now, I have a classroom of your novices waiting, all eager to try out their latest pranks and teacher-torturing antics on me. Lorlen is nothing, I expect to hear you've made considerable progress when we meet tonight.'

Rothen chuckled. 'Be reasonable to them, and they'll be reasonable to you, Dannyl.'

As his friend turned away, Dannyl uttered a short, humorless laugh. Somewhere above them, a striker rang the University gong. Sighing, Dannyl straightened his shoulders and entered the classroom.

Leaning on the window sill, Sonea watched the last of the magicians and novices hurry out of sight. Not all had responded to the University gong, however. Two distant figures remained standing at the other side of the gardens.

One was a woman in green robes with a black sash - the Head of Healers. So women did have some influence in the Guild, she mused.

The other was a male dressed in blue robes. Thinking back to Rothen's explanation of the robe colors, she could not recall him mentioning blue. The color was uncommon, so perhaps he, too, was a magician of influence.

Rothen had explained how the magicians in high positions were selected by a vote among Guild members. This method of choosing leaders by the agreement of the majority was intriguing. She had expected that the strongest magicians would rule the others.

According to Rothen, the rest of the magicians spent their time teaching, experimenting, or working on public projects. This included work that ranged from the impressive to the ridiculous. She had been surprised to learn that the magicians had built the Marina, and amused to hear how one magician had spent much of his life trying to make stronger and stronger glues.

Drumming her fingers, she looked around the room again. In the last week she had found opportunities to examine everything, even the room Rothen slept in. A careful search of all cupboards, chests, and drawers had revealed clothes and everyday items. The few locks she had encountered succumbed easily to her picking skills, but old documents had been her only reward.

Catching a movement at the edge of her vision, she turned back to the window. The two magicians had parted, and the blue-robed man was now walking along the edge of the garden toward the two-story residence of the High Lord.

Remembering the night she had peeked into that building, she shivered. Rothen had mentioned nothing of assassin magicians, but that was hardly surprising. He was trying to convince her that the Guild was friendly and useful. If the black-robed magician wasn't an assassin, then what else could he be?

A memory of a man in bloodstained clothes flashed into her mind.

'It is done,' the man had said. 'Did you bring my robes?'

She jumped as the main door clicked open behind her. Turning, she let out a breath as Rothen strode into the room in a swirl of purple robes.

'Sorry I took so long.'

He was a magician, and yet he was apologizing to her. Amused, she shrugged in reply.

'I've brought some books from the library.' He straightened and regarded her earnestly. 'But I thought we might start working on some mind exercises. What do you think?'

'Mind exercises?' She frowned, then felt herself go cold as she realized what he was suggesting. Did he think she trusted him after only a week?

Do I?

He was watching her closely. 'We probably won't start Control lessons,' he told her. 'But you should gain a familiarity with mental communication in preparation for the lessons.'

Thinking about the past week, she considered what she had learned of him.

He had spent most of the time teaching her to read. At first she had been suspicious, and had expected to find something in the content of the books that he might use as a lure or bribe. She had been almost disappointed to find herself reading simple adventure stories, with little reference to magic at all.

Unlike Serin, who had been anxious to avoid angering her, Rothen did not hesitate to correct her when she made a mistake. He could be quite stern, but she had found, to her surprise, that he was not at all frightening. She had even caught herself wanting to tease him a little when he was being so serious.

When he was not teaching her, he tried to chat. She knew she wasn't making this easy for him when there were so many subjects she refused to discuss. Though he was always willing to answer her questions, he hadn't tried to trick or force her into revealing anything about herself in return.

Would mental communication be like this? Would she still be able to hide parts of herself?

The only way to find out is to try it, she told herself. Swallowing, she nodded quickly. 'How do we start?'

He gave her a searching look. 'If you don't want to, we can wait a few more days.'

'No.' She shook her head. 'Now is fine.'

He nodded, then gestured to the chairs. 'Sit down. Make sure you're comfortable.'

She lowered herself into a chair, then watched as he pushed the low table aside and moved a chair forward to face hers. He would be sitting close, she noted with dismay.

'I'm going to tell you to close your eyes,' he said. 'Then I'm going to take your hands. While it's not