The High Lord

paintings of familiar faces and scenes, but she ignored them.

- Open the door to your power.

At once a painting stretched into a door shape and grew a handle. She reached for the handle and twisted. It swung outward and disappeared. An abyss of darkness spread before her, and within it hung the sphere of light that was her power.

- Now, step inside, into your power.

Sonea stilled. Step into the abyss?

- No, step into your power. Step into its center.

- But it's so far away! I can't reach that far.

- Of course you can. It's your power. It is as far away as you wish it to be, and you can step as far as you want to step.

- But what if it burns me?

- It won't. It's your power.

Sonea hovered at the edge of the doorway, then steeled herself and stepped through.

There was a feeling of stretching out, then the white sphere swelled and she felt a thrill rush through her as she entered it. Suddenly she was weightless, floating in a white mist of light. Energy rushed through her.

- See?

- I see. It's wonderful. Why didn't Rothen show me this?

- You will know why soon. I want you to expand yourself. Reach out and feel all of the power that is yours. Visualization is a useful tool, but you need to go beyond it now. You need to know your power with all your senses.

Sonea felt herself obeying before he had finished speaking. It was easy, when surrounded by nothing but whiteness, to stretch her senses out.

As she grew more aware of her power, a sense of her body came with it. At first she worried that becoming conscious of the physical meant she was losing her concentration.

Then the realization came that her power was her body. It didn't exist in some abyss within her mind. It flowed through every limb and bone and vein within her.

- Yes. Now focus on your right hand, and what lies beyond.

She did not see it at first, then something caught her attention. It was a gap, a glimpse of something beyond herself. Focusing on it, she sensed that an otherness lay beyond.

- Concentrate on that otherness, then do this.

He sent her a thought too strange for words. It was as if she stepped into Takan's body, except she was still within her own. She was conscious of both.

- Be aware of the energy within his body. Take some of it into your own.

Abruptly she realized that Takan held a great store of power. He was strong, she realized, almost as strong as she. Yet his mind did not seem to be connected to it, as if he was not conscious of the power within him.

But she was. And through the gap in his skin, she had a connection to it. It was easy to direct it out of his body and into hers. She felt herself grow a little stronger.

Understanding sprang into her mind. She was drawing power.

- Now stop.

She relaxed her will and felt the trickle of energy cease.

- Begin again.

She drew power through the gap, again. Just a slow leaking of magic. She wondered what it would be like to add all of his power to her own, and double her strength. Exhilarating, perhaps.

But what would she do with it? She certainly didn't need to be twice as strong. She didn't even use up her own strength during lessons at the University.

- Stop.

She obeyed. As Akkarin's hands slipped from her temples, she opened her eyes again.

'Good,' he said. 'You can heal Takan now.'

Sonea looked down at Takan's arm, then concentrated. The cut healed quickly, and her awareness of his body and power faded away. The servant grimaced and her heart skipped.

'Are you all right?'

He smiled broadly. 'Yes, Lady Sonea. You are very gentle. It's just that the Healing itches.' He looked up at Akkarin and sobered. 'She will be a worthy ally, master.'

Akkarin didn't reply. Turning, Sonea saw that he had moved away to the cabinet of books and was standing with his arms crossed and a frown creasing his brow. Sensing her gaze, he turned to meet it. His expression was unreadable.

'Congratulations, Sonea,' he said softly. 'You are now a black magician.'

She blinked in surprise. 'That is all? It's that easy?'

He nodded. 'Yes. The knowledge of how to kill in a moment, taught in a moment. From this day, you must never allow another into your mind. It would only take one stray thought for you to reveal this secret to another magician.'

She looked down at the tiny bloodstain on her hand and felt a chill rush over her.

I have just used black magic, she thought. There is no turning back. Not now. Not ever.

Takan was regarding her closely. 'Any regrets, Lady Sonea?'

She drew in a deep breath, then let it out. 'Not as many as I would have if the Guild was destroyed and I could have prevented it. But I... I hope I will never have to use this.' She smiled crookedly and looked at Akkarin. 'That would mean the High Lord had died, and I only recently stopped wishing that that would happen.'

Akkarin's eyebrows rose. Then Takan let out a bark of laughter.

'I like this one, master,' he said. 'You chose well when you took on her guardianship.'

Akkarin snorted quietly and uncrossed his arms. 'You know very well I didn't choose anything, Takan.' He approached the table and regarded the items on it.

'Now, Sonea, I want you to examine each of these living things on the table and consider how the skill I have taught you may be applied to them. Then I have some more books for you to read.'

12 The Price of Keeping Deadly Secrets

Rising from his bed, Rothen slid aside one of his window screens and sighed. A faint light brightened one side of the sky. Dawn was close, and he was wide awake already.

He looked at the High Lord's Residence lurking at the edge of the forest. Soon Sonea would rise and make her way to the Baths.

He had watched her closely over the last week. Though he hadn't seen her with Akkarin again, something in her manner had definitely changed.

There was a new confidence in the way she walked. At midbreak, she would sit in the garden and study, giving him an opportunity to watch her from the University windows. During the last week she had been easily distracted. She would often stop and look around at the Guild with a frown of concern or worry. Occasionally she would stare at nothing, her expression grim. At these times she looked so grown up he barely recognized her.

But it was when she gazed at the High Lord's Residence that she gave him the most reason to fear. There was such a thoughtful look on her face at these times, but it was what was lacking in her expression that scared him most. There was no dislike or fear in it.

He shivered. How could she regard Akkarin's house without showing at least some discomfort? She had before. Why not now?

Rothen drummed his fingers on the windowsill. For a year and a half he had obeyed Akkarin's order to stay away from Sonea. The only times he had spoken to her had been in situations where, because others were