The Magicians' Guild

'Stay still. Don't break his concentration.'

'But it itches,' he protested.

'It won't for long.'

Catching a movement beside him, Rothen looked down to see that Sonea was rubbing her palm. Darlen drew in a deep breath and opened his eyes. He looked down at the hand and ran his fingers across it. Instead of deep wounds, fine red lines now crossed the boy's palm. Darlen smiled at the boy.

'Your hand is healed now. I want you to bandage it every day. Don't use it for at least two weeks. You don't want to spoil all the work I just did, do you?'

The boy shook his head. He lifted his hand and traced the scars with a finger. Darlen patted his shoulder.

'After two weeks, exercise it gently.' He looked up at the parents. 'There should be no permanent damage. Eventually he'll be able to do everything he could before, including wielding his father's sword.' He leaned down and poked the boy's chest gently. 'But not until he's grown up.'

The boy grinned. Darlen helped him off the bed, smiling as the boy ran to his parents and was enveloped in their arms.

The father looked up at Darlen, his eyes glistening, and opened his mouth to speak. The Healer lifted a hand to stop him, then turned to look at Indria.

She gestured for Rothen and Sonea to follow her. They quickly slipped out of the room. As they began to stroll down the corridor, Rothen could hear the father expressing his thanks.

'Looks easy, doesn't it?' Indria grimaced. 'It's actually very hard.'

'Healing is the most difficult of all the disciplines,' Rothen explained. 'It requires a finer control and many years of practice.'

'Which is why it doesn't appeal to some of the youngsters,' Indria sniffed. 'They're too lazy.'

'I have many novices who are far from lazy,' Rothen told her archly.

Indria grinned. 'But you are such a wonderful teacher, Rothen. How could they not be the most dedicated pupils in the University?'

Rothen laughed. 'I should come to the Healers more often. You're so gratifying.'

'Hmm,' she said. 'We don't usually see you unless it's to grumble about indigestion or the burns you get from your silly experiments.'

'Don't say that,' Rothen put a finger to his lips. 'I'm taking Sonea on a tour of the Alchemy rooms next.'

Indria gave Sonea a sympathetic look. 'Good luck. Try not to fall asleep.'

Rothen straightened and pointed to the stairs. 'Get on with the tour, you insolent girl,' he commanded. 'Only a year since graduation, and already you think you can give cheek to your elders.'

'Yes, my lord.' Grinning, she gave a mocking bow, then started down the corridor.

Sliding aside one of Rothen's windows screens, Sonea looked through the glass at the swirling snow. She rubbed her palm absently. Though feeling had returned hours ago, the memory of numbness was still strong.

She had expected Rothen to show her the Healers at work, and that she would have to resist the desire to be able to do it herself. Despite her determination to remain unaffected, seeing a child healed before her eyes had stirred up unwanted feelings. Though she had known she had the ability to do such things, only at that moment had she understood what she could be capable of.

Which had been Rothen's intention, of course. Sighing, she tapped on the edge of the window screen. As she had expected, he was trying to tempt her into staying by showing her all the wonderful things she could do with her magic.

But surely he hadn't expected her to be impressed by the previous day's Warrior demonstration. Watching novices throw magic at each other was not going to tempt her to stay.

Perhaps he had only intended to show her that the fights were harmless. Guided by strict rules, they were more like games than real battles.

When she considered that, it was no longer difficult to see why they had reacted as they had when she had 'attacked' them in the North Square. They were too used to 'inner shields' and tallying 'hits.' It must have come as quite a shock to see what magic did to an undefended person.

She sighed again. A tour of the Alchemy rooms would probably come next. Against her will, she felt a twinge of curiosity. Of all the disciplines, Alchemy was the one she understood least.

She frowned at a knock on the main door. Tania had bid them goodnight hours ago and Rothen had not been gone long. Her heart skipped as a name raced through her mind.

Fergun.

He would want an answer, and she hadn't decided yet. She reluctantly crossed the room, hoping the visitor was someone else.

'Who is it?'

'Fergun. Let me in, Sonea.'

Taking a deep breath, she grasped the handle. At once, the door swung inward. The red-robed magician slipped gracefully into the room and closed the door behind him.

'How can you open it?' she asked, frowning at the handle. 'I thought it was locked.'

Fergun smiled. 'It was, but it will open when the door handle is turned by someone inside at the same time as someone outside.'

'Is it meant to?'

Fergun nodded. 'It's a precaution. Rothen might not be around to open the door in an emergency. Someone else can if, for instance, you started a fire.'

She grimaced. 'Hopefully that will never be a problem again.' She gestured to the chairs. 'Have a seat, Fergun.'

He glided to the chairs and sat down. As she took the seat opposite, he leaned forward eagerly.

'So, are your Control lessons going well?'

'Yes ... I think.'

'Hmm, tell me what you did today.'

She smiled ruefully. 'I had to lift a box off the floor. That wasn't easy.'

Fergun drew in a sharp breath, his eyes widening, and Sonea felt her heart skip in response. 'What he is teaching you is not a Control exercise. He is showing you how to use your magic. If he is doing that, you must already have Control.'

Sonea felt a thrill of excitement and hope. 'He said he was testing my Control.'

Fergun shook his head gravely. 'All magic is a test of Control. He wouldn't be teaching you to lift objects unless your control was sufficiently established. You're ready, Sonea.'

Leaning back in her chair, Sonea felt a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth. At last! she thought. I can go home!

An unexpected twinge of regret followed the thought. Once gone, she might never see Rothen again ...

'So, are you satisfied that what I told you is true - that Rothen has kept information from you?'

She looked at Fergun and nodded. 'Most of it. Administrator Lorlen explained the blocking of power to me.'

Fergun looked surprised. 'Lorlen himself. Good.'

'He told me it would not be unpleasant, and that I'd never notice it after.'

'If it works properly. The Guild hasn't needed to do it for many, many years.' He grimaced. 'The last time they did, they messed it up a little - but you should not worry about that. Accept my help and you won't have to take the risk.' He smiled. 'Are we going to work together?'

She hesitated. Doubts ran through her mind.

Seeing her expression, he asked: 'Have you decided to stay, then?'

'No.'

'Then are you still undecided?'

'I'm not sure about your plan,' she admitted. 'Parts of it, anyway.'