She had checked her room thoroughly, and even slipped back into the University to check the classroom late in the night. All the time she had searched, she had known she wouldn’t find the notes, at least not in one piece or before today’s tests.
As she entered the classroom her suspicions were confirmed by Regin’s smug expression. Refusing to show any drop in her composure, she bowed to Lady Kinla and moved to her usual seat beside Poril.
Lady Kinla was a tall, middle-aged Healer. Women Healers always wore their hair bound back in a knot at the nape of their neck, and on Lady Kinla this fashion gave her thin face a permanently severe expression. As Sonea sat down the Healer cleared her throat and looked at each of the novices intently.
“Today I will test you on the lessons we have covered in the last three months. You may consult your notes.” She lifted a few sheets of paper, her eyes flitting across the page. “Firstly, Benon...”
Sonea felt her heart skip as the testing began. Lady Kinla wandered up and down the classroom, threading her way past the novices as she threw questions at them. When Sonea heard her name she felt her heart skip, but, to her relief, the question was easy and she could answer it from memory.
Slowly, however, the questions became more difficult. As other novices began to hesitate and consult their notes before answering, Sonea grew anxious. The air stirred beside her as Kinla walked past her chair.
Then the Healer stopped and turned to stare at Sonea. She took a few steps forward until she towered over Sonea’s desk.
“Sonea,” she placed a fingertip on the table. “Where are your notes?”
Sonea swallowed. For a second she considered pretending that she had forgotten them. But making up such a story would give Regin even more satisfaction, and another excuse came to mind...
“You said this lesson would be a test, my lady,” she said. “I didn’t think I would need to take any notes.”
Lady Kinla’s eyebrows rose, and she regarded Sonea speculatively. From somewhere behind them came a smothered chuckle of anticipation.
“I see.” The teacher’s tone was dangerous. “Name twenty bones of the body, starting from the smallest.”
Sonea cursed silently. Her answer had angered the Healer, who obviously didn’t expect Sonea to be able to remember so much.
But she had to try. Slowly, then with more confidence, Sonea drew the names from memory, counting them on her fingers as she spoke. When she had finished Lady Kinla stared at her in silence, lips pressed into a thin line.
“You are correct,” the Healer said grudgingly.
With a quiet sigh of relief, Sonea watched the teacher turn and continue her meandering among the novices’ desks. Glancing at the class, she found Regin staring at her, his eyes narrowed to slits.
She looked away. Thankfully, she had helped Poril with his notes and could copy them out again for herself. She doubted she’d see her own again now.
A few days after their arrival, the Splendid Temple priests replied to Dannyl’s request to see the collection of scrolls. He was relieved at this break from his ambassadorial duties. Already, the squabbling of the Lonmar Council of Elders was trying his patience.
Lorlen’s reasons for sending a foreign Guild Ambassador to Lonmar were annoyingly valid. One of the Greater Clans had fallen out of favor and fortune, no longer able to support its novices and magicians. The other clans were required to take on the responsibility.
Studying the agreements between the Guild and other lands had been part of Dannyl’s preparations for his role. While the Kyralian King apportioned part of his tax revenue to pay for the needs of Kyralian magicians, and left the selection of entrants to chance, other lands had different approaches. The Elyne King offered a number of places each year and chose applicants with a mind to future political implications. The Vindo sent as many entrants as they could find and afford, which was not many since they had little magical ability in their bloodlines.
The Lonmars were ruled by a Council of Elders made up of representatives from the Greater Clans. Each Clan funded the training of its own magicians. The centuries-old agreement made between the Lonmars and the Kyralian King stated that, if a clan should be unable to finance its magicians, the other clans must equally share the cost of supporting them. The Guild did not want magicians falling on hard times, and turning to unethical uses of magic to survive.
Not surprisingly, several clans were protesting. From what Ambassador Vaulen had told Dannyl, however, they only needed to be gently and firmly reminded of the disadvantages of having the agreement annulled, their magicians sent home, and access to Guild training withheld, and they would cooperate. Vaulen played the role of gentle Elyne persuader, Dannyl was to be the firm, immovable Kyralian.
But not today.
Hearing that Dannyl’s request to the Temple had been successful, Ambassador Vaulen had immediately ordered servants to prepare the Guild carriage.
“Today is a day of rest,” he said. “Which means the Elders will be visiting each other and debating what to do. You may as well do some sightseeing.” He offered them dried fruit softened with honeyed water as they waited.
“Is there anything I should know about the priests before I go?” Dannyl asked.
Vaulen considered. “According to Mahga doctrine, all men find a balance between joy and pain in their lives. While magicians are considered to have been gifted with magic, they are barred from the priesthood. Only a few exceptions have been made.”
“Really?” Dannyl straightened. “In what circumstances?”
“In the past, a few were judged to have suffered greatly and could seek balance by joining the priesthood, but only if they gave up their powers - though they were still barred from the higher ranks.”
“I hope this doesn’t mean that they’ll cause me pain to balance my own gifts.”
Vaulen smiled. “You are an unbeliever. That is balance enough.”
“What can you tell me of High Priest Kassyk?”
“He respects the Guild, and speaks highly of the High Lord.”
“Why Akkarin in particular?”
“Akkarin visited the Temple over ten years ago, and it seems he impressed the High Priest greatly.”
“He has a way of doing that.” Dannyl looked at Tayend, but the scholar was absorbed in eating. Tayend, to his surprise, had returned from the tailor the day after their arrival dressed in typically colorless Lonmar clothes. “They’re very comfortable,” the scholar had explained. “And I fancied owning some as a souvenir of our visit.” Shaking his head, Dannyl had replied: “Only you could turn a statement of humility into an object of indulgence.”
“Your carriage is here,” Vaulen said, rising.
Hearing hoofbeats and the creak of springs outside, Dannyl moved to the door. Tayend followed, wiping the sticky residue from the dried fruit off his fingers with a damp cloth.
“Give my regards to the High Priest,” Vaulen said.
“I will.” Dannyl stepped out of the building. At once he was bathed in the heat radiating from a sunlit wall on the other side of the street. Dust raised by the carriage tickled his throat.
A servant opened the carriage door. Climbing in, Dannyl winced as he entered the suffocatingly hot cabin. Tayend followed, settling onto the opposite seat with a grimace. The servant handed them two bottles of water, then signalled the driver to leave.
Opening the carriage windows in the hope of catching a breeze, Dannyl endured the dust that billowed in, washing it from his throat with mouthfuls of water. The streets were narrow, which kept them as shaded as possible, but the clutter of pedestrians slowed the carriage. Some streets were covered by wooden roofs, forming dark tunnels.
After a few brief conversations, they fell silent. Talking only filled their mouths with dust. The carriage moved slowly, plodding through the endless city. It was not long before Dannyl tired of seeing people and houses that all looked the same. He slumped against the side of the carriage and dozed.
The new sound of pavement under the horses’ hooves roused him. Looking out of the window, he saw smooth walls passing on either side. After a hundred paces or so the corridor ended and the carriage entered a
