towns on the other side, not for many days’ ride. Just wasteland.”
“The wasteland from the war?”
“Yes.” He nodded. “You’ve been paying attention to your history lessons, I see.”
She shrugged. “It’s the only interesting part. Everything else - the Alliance and formation of the Guild - is mindlessly boring.”
He laughed, then moved away from the railing. They walked slowly back to the door and entered the little room again. Pausing at the top of the stairs, he placed a hand on her arm.
“So, did you like my surprise?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
“Better than studying?”
“Of course.”
He grinned and stepped sideways. Sonea gasped as he dropped down the stairwell. A moment later he rose into sight again, floating on a disc of magic. She pressed a hand to her chest, feeling her heart pounding.
“You nearly stopped my heart, Dorrien!” she scolded.
He laughed. “Want to learn how to levitate?”
She shook her head.
“Of course you do.”
“I have three more chapters to read.”
His eyes twinkled. “You can read them tonight. Do you want to learn this when the other novices are watching? If I teach you now, nobody but me will see the mistakes you make.”
She chewed her lip. He had a point...
“Go on,” he urged. Throwing his arms out, he spun around in a circle. “I won’t let you out the door downstairs if you refuse.”
Sonea rolled her eyes. “Oh, very well!”
The Guild House in Kiko Town was built on a steep slope. Numerous balconies allowed visitors a view of the sea, the beaches, and the long, spiral road - still filled with celebrants. The sound of rhythmic music drifted up to Dannyl’s ears. In one hand he held a glass of Elyne wine, in the other was the bottle. Taking a sip, he moved from the balcony railing to a chair and sat down, setting the bottle beside him. Stretching his legs out, he let his mind wander.
As always, it wandered straight to Tayend.
The scholar had been awkward and nervous around Dannyl since the mugging. Though Dannyl had tried to behave as if he hadn’t noticed anything unusual, it seemed this hadn’t convinced Tayend that his secret had remained undiscovered. The scholar believed that a magician, when Healing, would find some physical sign to betray his inclinations, and the only way Dannyl could reassure him that this wasn’t true was to tell Tayend he was wrong. That, of course, would reveal that Dannyl had learned the secret anyway.
Tayend feared that Dannyl would reject his friendship. It was a reasonable fear. Though Kyralians didn’t execute men for this “unacceptable” behavior as the Lonmar did, it was still considered wrong and unnatural. Men were punished by the removal of titles and by the man’s family being treated as if they were all tainted by association. If a family discovered one of their own had such unnatural tendencies, they sent him away to manage small estates or family interests.
Dannyl had heard of Guild magicians in the past who had been punished in this way. Though they weren’t expelled, they became outcasts in every other way. He had been told, during the troubles he faced as a novice, that if the rumors proved true he might not be allowed to graduate.
In all the years since, he had been careful to avoid drawing suspicion on himself again. In the past few days he had been struggling with the unsettling thought that, if Tayend’s preferences were well known in Elyne, it was inevitable that the court would be speculating about his own. The rumor from his past would only add fire to the gossip, and while such gossip might not be dangerous in Elyne, once it reached the Guild...
Dannyl shook his head. After spending several months travelling with Tayend, any damage to his reputation had already been done. To regain his reputation he ought to disassociate himself from Tayend as soon as they returned to Elyne. He ought to make it clear he had been appalled to discover his assistant was, as the Elyne put it, a “lad.”
Tayend will understand, a voice in the back of his mind said. Or will he? said another. What if he grows angry and tells Akkarin about Lorlen’s research?
No, the first replied. It would ruin his integrity as a scholar. And perhaps you can end this friendship kindly, without hurting his feelings.
Dannyl scowled down at his wineglass. Why did it always come to this? Tayend was a good companion, a man he liked and valued. Thinking of ending their friendship for fear of gossip reaching the Guild made him feel ashamed and angry. Surely he could enjoy the scholar’s company without endangering his reputation.
But if the Guild heard, and was outraged enough to order him home...
And they won’t, Dannyl told himself. It was clear he would never escape this sort of speculation. So he would have to learn to live with it. Manage it. Perhaps even turn it to his advantage...
“You’re not planning to drink that bottle all by yourself, are you?”
Startled, Dannyl looked up to see Tayend standing at the door to the balcony.
“Of course not,” he replied.
“Good,” Tayend said. “Otherwise I’d look a fool carrying this around.” He held up an empty glass.
As Dannyl poured the wine Tayend stared at him, but looked quickly away as Dannyl met his eyes. The scholar moved to the railing and stared out over the sea.
“We have to talk,” Tayend said suddenly.
“Yes,” Dannyl agreed. He considered his words carefully. “I think I know why you wouldn’t let me Heal you.”
Tayend winced. “You said to me once that you understood how difficult it was for... for men like me.”
“But you said that men like you are accepted in Elyne.”
“They are, and they aren’t.” Tayend looked down at his glass, then drained it. He turned to face Dannyl. “At least we don’t disown people for it,” he said accusingly.
Dannyl grimaced. “As a nation, Kyralia isn’t known for tolerance. You know I’ve experienced that for myself. We aren’t all prejudiced, however.”
A frown creased Tayend’s brow. “I was going to be a magician, once. A cousin of mine tested me and found potential. They were going to send me to the Guild.” Tayend’s eyes misted over, and Dannyl saw longing in the scholar’s face, but then the scholar shook his head and sighed. “Then I heard about you and I realized that it didn’t matter whether the rumors were true or not. It was clear that I could never be a magician. The Guild would work out what I was and send me straight home.”
Dannyl suddenly felt a strange, dull anger. With his impressive memory and sharp intellect, Tayend would have been a fine magician. “So how did you avoid joining the Guild?”
“I told father I didn’t want to.” Tayend shrugged. “He didn’t suspect then. Later, when I began to associate with certain people, he decided he’d worked out my real reason. He believes I turned down the chance because I wanted to indulge myself in ways the Guild wouldn’t allow. He never understood that I wouldn’t be able to hide what I was.” Tayend looked down at his empty glass, then strode forward and picked up the bottle. Refilling his glass, he downed the wine quickly.
“Well,” he said, looking out over the ocean, “if it’s any consolation, I always knew the rumors about you couldn’t be true.”
Dannyl winced. “Why do you say that?”
