The High Lord

Rothen and Sonea were the only other people who knew. Sonea had remained silent, and Rothen had agreed to keep Lorlen's involvement to himself so long as it brought no further harm. In return, Lorlen had allowed the magician to visit Sonea.

At a polite knock on the door, all looked up. Lorlen willed the door open and Captain Barran stepped inside, Lord Osen following. The guard bowed and addressed them formally, then turned to face Lorlen.

'I have visited the shop the witness works at,' he said. 'Her employers say she did not appear this morning. We checked her home address, and her family told us she did not return home last night.'

The Heads of Disciplines exchanged glances.

'Thank you, Captain,' Lorlen said. 'Is there anything else?'

The young man shook his head. 'No. I will return tomorrow morning, as you requested, unless further information comes my way.'

'Thank you. You may go.'

As the door closed, Vinara sighed. 'No doubt the guard will find her body in the next few days. He was certainly busy last night.'

Balkan shook his head. 'But it doesn't make sense. How did he know about her? If he'd detected her watching, he would have ensured she didn't reach the Guard House.'

Sarrin shrugged. 'Unless he was unable to catch up with her. Then, when she left the Guard House, he made sure she'd be unable to give any more evidence against him.'

Balkan sighed. 'It's not behavior I would expect of a black magician. If he cared about hiding evidence, why be so careless earlier in the night? Why not disguise himself? Why—'

He stopped at another knock on the door. Lorlen sighed and willed it open. To his surprise, Dannyl stepped inside the office. Dark shadows lay under the Ambassador's eyes.

'Administrator,' Dannyl said. 'Might I have a word with you? In private?'

Lorlen frowned in annoyance. 'Is this about the rogue, Ambassador?'

'Partly.' Dannyl glanced at the others and appeared to choose his words carefully. 'But not solely. I would not come to you if I did not feel I had urgent matters to discuss.'

Vinara rose. 'I am heartily sick of speculation, anyway,' she declared. She gave Sarrin and Balkan direct and meaningful looks. 'If you need us, Administrator, just call.'

Dannyl stepped aside and inclined his head politely as the three magicians left the room. When the door closed, Lorlen moved to his desk and sat down.

'What urgent matter do you speak of?'

Dannyl approached the desk. 'I'm not sure where to start, Administrator. I am in an awkward situation. Two awkward situations, if that is possible.' He paused. 'Though you said my help was no longer needed, I continued researching ancient magic out of my own interest. The High Lord, when he learned of this, encouraged me to continue, but by then there was little left to discover in Elyne. Or so I thought.'

Lorlen frowned. Akkarin had encouraged Dannyl to continue?

'Then, when my assistant and I were gaining the rebels' trust, we discovered a book in Dem Marane's possession.' Dannyl reached into his robes and drew out an old book. He placed it on Lorlen's desk. 'It answered many questions we had about ancient magic. It seems the form of ancient magic known as higher magic is actually black magic. This book contains instructions on its use.'

Lorlen stared at the book. Was this a coincidence, or had Akkarin known the rebels had the book? Or had he been working with the rebels? He drew in a quick breath. Was this how he learned black magic?

If so, then why turn them in?

'So you see,' Dannyl said. 'I am in an awkward position. Some might consider that I have researched black magic with the High Lord's permission, and that Akkarin's orders to capture the rebels were an attempt to gather more knowledge.' He grimaced. 'In truth, I have read part of that book, which means I have broken the law against learning about black magic. But I didn't know what it contained until I began reading.'

Lorlen shook his head. No wonder Dannyl was worried. 'I understand your concern. You could not have known what the research would lead to. I didn't know what the research would lead to. If anyone thought to suspect you, they would have to suspect me as well.'

'Should I explain all this at the Hearing?'

'I'll discuss it with the Higher Magicians, but I don't think it will be necessary,' Lorlen replied.

Dannyl looked relieved. 'There is one other matter,' he added quietly.

More? Lorlen stifled a groan. 'Yes?'

Dannyl looked at the floor. 'When the High Lord requested that I find the rebels, he suggested that my assistant and I cause them to know something that could be used to blackmail us into cooperating. Akkarin said he would ensure the Guild knew that this information was merely a deception created to gain the rebels' trust.' Dannyl looked up. 'But obviously Akkarin is no longer in a position to do that.'

Abruptly, Lorlen remembered a conversation with Akkarin beside the Arena, while they were watching Sonea fighting.

'The Guild will lose interest in the murderer once Ambassador Dannyl arrives with the rogue, Lorlen.'

Had he been referring to more than the existence of the rebels? What was this information that Dannyl had created to gain the rebels' trust?

He looked at Dannyl; the man glanced away, clearly embarrassed. Slowly Lorlen began to piece together scraps of gossip he'd heard, until he had guessed what Dannyl had let the rebels believe.

Interesting, he thought. And a bold move, considering the troubles Dannyl faced as a novice.

What should he do? Lorlen rubbed his temples. Akkarin had been so much better at this sort of thing.

'So you fear that nobody will believe what Akkarin says about you, because his integrity is in question.'

'Yes.'

'Is the integrity of these rebels any stronger?' Lorlen shook his head. 'I doubt it. If you are worried that nobody will believe Akkarin, then let people believe it was your own idea.'

Dannyl's eyes widened. He straightened and nodded. 'Of course. Thank you, Administrator.'

Lorlen shrugged, then looked at Dannyl a little closer. 'You look as if you haven't slept for a week.'

'I haven't. I didn't want someone to undo all the hard work I'd done in saving Farand's life.'

Lorlen frowned. 'Then you had best go back to your rooms and rest. We may need you tomorrow.'

The young magician managed a tired smile. He nodded at the book on Lorlen's desk. 'Now that I've got that off my hands, sleep shouldn't be a problem anymore. Thank you again, Administrator.'

As he left, Lorlen sighed. At least someone is going to get some sleep.

16 The Hearing

Sonea's first thought as she began to wake was that Viola hadn't come to wake her, and she was going to be late for classes. She blinked away the fuzziness of sleep. Then she felt sand between her fingers and saw the faintly illuminated stone wall of the Dome around her, and she remembered.

That she had slept at all amazed her. The last she could recall of the previous night was lying in darkness, thoughts of the day to come running in circles through her mind. It had taken all her will to resist calling out to Akkarin mentally, to ask him if she should tell the Guild anything yet, or simply to know where he was, if he was being treated well... or if he was still alive.

In her worst moments of doubt, she could not shake the thought that the Guild might have passed judgment on him already, without telling her. The Guild of the past had been frighteningly thorough in its efforts to rid the Allied Lands of black magic. Those long-dead magicians would have executed Akkarin without delay.