side of the road. The sound of drumming hoof beats drew nearer.
'Feel free to gawk, though,' Raven added. 'They'll expect that.'
The spy was sitting up now. Rothen turned and peered under the rim of his hat at the approaching magicians. The first to pass the cart was Lord Yikmo, the Warrior who had been Sonea's special tutor last year. The magician did not even glance at Rothen and Raven as he passed.
The other magicians thundered by, kicking up a dense cloud of dust in their wake. Raven coughed and waved a hand.
'Twenty-two,' he said, climbing onto the seat beside Rothen. 'That'll double what's at the Fort. Is the Guild sending magicians to the South Pass?'
'I don't know.'
'Good.'
Rothen looked at Raven, amused.
'The less you know, the less an Ichani can learn from you,' the spy said.
Rothen nodded. 'I do know that the South Pass is being watched. If the Ichani enter there, the Guild will be alerted. Those at the Fort should have time enough to ride back to Imardin and join the Guild. The distance is about the same, from either pass.'
'Hmmm.' Raven clucked his tongue, as he had a habit of doing when he was thinking hard. 'If I were these Ichani, I would use the South Pass. There are no magicians there, and no Fort, so they can enter without using any power in fighting. That doesn't bode well for us, I'm afraid. Though...' He frowned. 'These Ichani do not know how to fight as one. If the entire Guild faces them, it may be able to kill one or two. If the Guild is split, however, there is no danger of that. The Fort may be the better option.'
Rothen shrugged and turned his attention to guiding the gorin back from the side of the road. Raven spent a little time in thoughtful silence.
'Of course, the Ichani may be an invention of the former High Lord,' he said eventually, 'created simply to convince the Guild to let him live. And your former novice believed him.'
Seeing his companion's sidelong look, Rothen scowled. 'So you keep reminding me.'
'If we are to work effectively together, I need to know what is between you and Sonea, and her companion,' Raven said. His tone was respectful but also determined. 'I know it is not simple loyalty to the Guild that motivated you to volunteer for this mission.'
'No.' Rothen sighed. Raven would keep prying until he was satisfied he had all the information he could get. 'She means more to me than just another novice. I took her from the slums and tried to teach her how to fit in.'
'But she didn't.'
'No.'
'Then Akkarin took her hostage, and you couldn't do anything about it. Now you can.'
'Maybe. It would be nice if I could just slip into Sachaka and take her back.' Rothen glanced at the spy. 'Somehow I don't think it's going to be as easy as that.'
Raven chuckled. 'It never is. Do you think Sonea might be in love with Akkarin?'
Rothen felt a flash of anger. 'No. She hated him.'
'Enough to learn forbidden magic and follow him into exile, to ensure he survived long enough for, as she put it, the Guild to come to its senses?'
Taking a deep breath, Rothen pushed away a nagging fear. 'If she believes these Ichani exist, it would have been easy for him to convince her to do all those things for the sake of the Guild.'
'Why would he, if the Ichani weren't real?'
'So she would follow him. He needs her.'
'What for?'
'Her strength.'
'Why teach her black magic, then? That gained him nothing.'
'I don't know. She said she asked him to. Perhaps he could not refuse without losing her support.'
'So now she's potentially as powerful as he. If she discovered he was lying, why wouldn't she return to Imardin, or at least tell the Guild?'
Rothen closed his eyes. 'Because... just because...'
'I know this is distressing,' Raven said in a low voice, 'but we must examine all the possible motivations and consequences before we meet them.'
'I know.' Rothen considered the question, then grimaced. 'Just because she has learned black magic, doesn't mean she is powerful. Black magicians grow stronger by taking energy from others. If she hasn't had the opportunity to do that, Akkarin may be much more powerful than her. He may also be keeping her weaker by taking all her strength from her each day - and he may have threatened to kill her if she communicates with the Guild.'
'I see.' Raven frowned. 'That doesn't bode well for us either.'
'No.'
'I hate to say it, but I am hoping we find your novice in such a situation. The alternative is much worse, for Kyralia.' He clucked his tongue. 'Now, tell me about your son.'
As Akkarin stopped, Sonea breathed a sigh of relief. Though she had grown used to the long days of walking, every rest was welcome. The morning sun was warm and made her feel sleepy.
Akkarin stood at the top of a short slope, waiting as she trudged up to meet him. Reaching the top, Sonea saw that their way was blocked by another crevasse. This one was broad and shallow. Looking down, she caught her breath.
A ribbon of blue ran down the middle. Water rushed around boulders and cascaded down short drops in the ravine floor before running away toward the wasteland. Trees and other vegetation crowded the banks of this little river, and in places extended out to the rock walls on either side.
'The Krikara River,' Akkarin murmured. 'If we follow it, we will reach the road to the South Pass.'
He looked at the mountains. Sonea followed his gaze and noted how the gap between the peaks on either side of the ravine was much wider than the rest. She felt a twinge of excitement and longing. Kyralia lay beyond that gap.
'How far to the Pass?'
'It is a long day's walk.' He frowned. 'We should get as close as possible to the road, then wait until darkness.' He looked down at the ravine. 'Though Parika must be at least a day's travel behind us now, his slaves will be there, watching it for him.'
He rose, then turned to face her. Guessing what he intended to do, she grasped his hands.
'Let me do it,' she said, smiling.
Drawing magic to her will, she created a disk beneath their feet, then lifted them up and over the lip of the ravine. She lowered them down between the trees and they landed on a patch of grass.
Looking up, she found Akkarin regarding her closely.
'What are you looking at me like that for?'
He smiled. 'No reason.' He turned away and started walking along the river. Sonea shook her head and followed.
After so long walking in the dry slopes of the mountains, the sight of so much clean running water and vegetation lifted her spirits. She imagined rain falling high up, gathering into streamlets and then streams, all joining to form the river that flowed through this ravine. Glancing behind, she wondered where it ended. Did it continue though the dry wasteland below?
The trees and undergrowth made travelling a little harder, however. Akkarin moved to the shadows by one wall, so they could avoid the vegetation as much as possible. After an hour, they encountered a thick forest that seemed to stretch from one side of the ravine to the other, blocking the river from view. In single file, they pushed their way through undergrowth, and as they walked on, the sound of water splashing over stone grew ever louder. When they emerged into the sunlight again, they found their way blocked by a wide pool.
Sonea drew in a breath. Above them stood a rock wall over which the river fell in wide sheets of water to fill the pool below. The sound of it was deafening after the silence of the mountain slopes. She turned to Akkarin.
'Can we stop?' she asked eagerly. 'We can stop, can't we? I haven't had a real bath for
