The Magicians' Guild (22 page)

“You won’t be able to climb this one,” he whispered. “But there’s plenty of windows at the ground level.”

Sonea touched the wall. The stone was covered with rivulets and ripples running up and down the surface. She could not see any cracks or seams. It was as if the entire building had been made from one huge block of stone.

Moving behind a tree, Cery linked his fingers together. She rose and placed a foot in his hands. Stepping up, she peered over the window ledge and into the room beyond.

A man in purple robes was writing with sticks of charcoal on a board. The sound of his voice drifted to her ears, but she could not make out what he said. The drawings on the board were as incomprehensible as the speech of the Healer. With a pang of disappointment and frustration she signalled for Cery to let her down.

They crept along the building to the next window. The scene inside was as mysterious as the first. Novices sat rigidly in their seats with their eyes closed. Behind each seated novice stood another who pressed his palms against his fellow’s temples. The teacher, a stern-looking man in red robes, watched them in silence.

Sonea was about to move away when he spoke suddenly.

“Come away now.” His tone was unexpectedly soothing for a man with such a hard visage. The novices opened their eyes. Those who had been standing rubbed their own temples and grimaced.

“As you can see, it is impossible to see into somebody else’s mind without their good will,” the teacher told them. “Well, not
impossible,
as our own High Lord has proven, but far out of the reach of ordinary magicians such as you and I.”

His eyes flicked toward the window. Sonea quickly ducked out of view. Cery let her down, and she crouched under the window ledge, pressing her back against the wall and gesturing to Cery to do the same.

“Were you seen?” Cery whispered.

Sonea pressed a hand to her heart, which was pounding rapidly. “I’m not sure.” Was the magician hurrying through the University now, intending to investigate the gardens? Or was he standing at the window, waiting for them to step out from under the ledge?

She swallowed, her mouth dry. She turned to Cery, ready to suggest they run for the forest, then stopped. Behind her, in the room, the muffled sound of the teacher’s voice had begun again. She closed her eyes and sighed with relief.

Cery leaned forward and cautiously peered up at the window. He looked at her and shrugged.

“Keep going?”

She drew in a deep breath and nodded. Rising, they moved down the building and stopped under the next window. Linking his hands together, Cery lifted Sonea up.

Flashes of movement met her eyes as she peered through the window. She stared at the scene in amazement. Several novices were dodging and ducking about, doing their best to avoid a tiny point of light that flew around the room. Standing on a chair in one corner, a red-robed magician followed the progress of the speck with an outstretched hand. He roared at the novices: “Hold still! Stand your ground!”

Four of the novices were already standing still. When the bright speck came close to them it was propelled away like a swatted fly. Gradually more of the novices followed the others’ example, but the spark was quick. A few of the less skilled youths bore tiny red marks on their arms and faces.

Suddenly the spark vanished. The teacher leapt off the chair and landed lightly. The novices relaxed and grinned at each other. Afraid that they would glance her way, Sonea dropped to the ground.

At the next window she watched a purple-robed magician demonstrating to his class a strange experiment with colored liquids. In another she watched a group of novices working with floating globules of molten glass, shaping the glowing masses into intricate, glowing sculptures. Then in the next, she listened to a gentle-looking man dressed in red robes giving a speech on making fire.

A deep chime suddenly echoed through the Guild. The magician looked up in surprise and the novices began to rise from their seats. Sonea ducked away from the window.

Cery lowered her to the ground. “That bell marks the end of classes,” he told her. “We’ll stay quiet now. The magicians will leave the University and go to their rooms.”

They huddled close to the trunk of a tree. For several minutes all was quiet, then Sonea heard the sound of footsteps beyond the hedge.

“... a long day,” a woman was saying. “We’re stretched very thin with this winter cough taking hold. I hope the search ends soon.”

“Yes,” a second woman agreed. “But the Administrator has been reasonable. He has given most of the work to the Warriors and Alchemists.”

“True,” the first woman replied. “Now tell me, how is Lord Makin’s wife? She must be over eight months now …”

The women’s voices faded away and were replaced by boyish laugher.

“... had you fooled. He practically thrashed you, Kamo!”

“It was just a trick, merely,” a boy with a thick Vin accent replied. “It will not work a second time.”

“Ha!” a third boy retorted. “This
is
the second time!”

The boys burst into laughter but Sonea could hear another set of footsteps approaching from her left. The boys fell silent.

“Lord Sarrin,” they murmured respectfully as the footsteps reached them. When the steps had moved well past them, the boys’ voices rose again as they continued teasing each other. They moved out of her hearing.

Several more groups of magicians passed. Most were silent. Gradually, the activity around the Guild dwindled and then ceased. By the time Cery pushed his head through the hedge to check the path, they had been hidden for almost an hour.

“We’ll head back to the forest now,” he told her. “There won’t be any more classes for you to see.”

She followed as he pushed his way out onto the path and into the next hedge. They travelled through the garden and scampered back across the road into the forest. Crouching under a tree Cery grinned at her, his eyes glittering with excitement.

“That was easy, wasn’t it?”

Sonea looked back at the Guild and felt a smile spread over her face.

“Yes!”

“See. Just think: while the magicians are hunting around out in the slums we’ve been snooping around
their
territory.”

They chuckled quietly, then Sonea drew in a deep breath and sighed.

“I’m glad we’re done,” she admitted. “Can we go back now?”

Cery pursed his lips. “There’s something else I wanted to try, since we’re here.”

Sonea eyed him suspiciously. “What?”

Ignoring her question, he rose and moved away through the trees. She hesitated, then hurried after him. As they travelled farther into the forest, it grew darker and Sonea stumbled several times on hidden roots and branches. Cery turned to the right and, feeling a different surface under her feet, she realized they were crossing the road again.

From there, the ground began to slope upward. After several hundred paces they crossed a narrow path and the slope grew steeper. Cery stopped and pointed.

“Look.”

A long, two-story building was visible through the trunks.

“The novices’ building,” Cery told her. “We’re behind it. Look, you can see inside.”

Through one of the windows she could see part of a room. A plain, sturdy bed stood against one wall, and a narrow table and chair along another. Two brown robes hung from hooks on the wall.

“Not very fancy.”

Cery nodded. “They’re all like that.”

“But they’re rich, aren’t they?”

“I guess they don’t get to choose their own stuff until they become full magicians.”

“What are the magicians’ rooms like?”

“Fancy.” His eyes gleamed. “Want to see?”

Sonea nodded.

“Come on then.”

He moved deeper into the trees and up the slope. When they drew close to the edge of the forest again Sonea saw that several buildings and a wide paved courtyard lay behind the University. One of the structures curved down the slope like a long stairway, glittering softly as if it were made entirely out of molten glass. Another looked like a huge upturned bowl, smooth and white. The whole area was illuminated by two rows of large, round lamps, set high on iron poles.

“What are all these buildings for?” Sonea asked.

Cery stopped. “I’m not sure. I think that glass one is the baths. The others … ?” He shrugged. “I could find out.”

He moved on through into the forest. When they came in sight of the Guild again, they had passed the courtyard and were standing closer to the magicians’ building. Cery crossed his arms and frowned.

“They’ve all got screens over their windows,” he said.

“Hmm, perhaps if we go around the side we’ll see something.”

By the time they returned to the edge of the trees, Sonea’s legs were aching. Though the forest grew closer to the building at the side, she could only see a glimpse of furniture through the open window Cery pointed out. Suddenly more tired than curious, she dropped to the ground.

“I don’t know how I’m going to make it back to the slums,” she moaned. “My legs won’t take me another step.”

Cery grinned and squatted beside her. “You’ve sure got soft these last few years.”

She gave him a withering look. He chuckled and looked down at the Guild.

“Sit down and rest for a while,” he told her, rising to his feet. “There’s something I want to do. I’ll be quick.”

Sonea frowned. “Where are you going?”

“Closer. Don’t worry. I’ll be back soon.” He turned and disappeared into the shadows.

Too tired to be annoyed, she stared at the forest. Between the trunks she could see something flat and gray. She blinked in surprise as she realized she was sitting no more than forty paces from a small, two-story building.

Rising, she moved closer to the structure, wondering why Cery hadn’t pointed this building out to her. Perhaps he hadn’t noticed it. Made of a different, darker stone than the other Guild buildings, it was all but invisible in the shadows of the trees.

Like the University, a hedge ran around the outside. A few steps farther and Sonea felt the hard stone of a path beneath her feet. Dark windows invited her closer.

Glancing back, she wondered how long Cery would be. If she didn’t dally too long, she could take a look through the building’s windows and be back before he returned.

Creeping down the path, she moved behind the hedge and peered through the first window. The room inside was dark and she could see little. Some furniture, nothing more. She moved to the next, and the next, but the view was the same. Disappointed, she turned to go, then froze as she heard footsteps behind her.

Ducking down behind the hedge, she watched a figure step around the side of the building. Though she could make out little more than a silhouette, she could see that the man was not wearing robes. A servant?

The man moved to the side of the house and opened a door. Hearing the latch close behind him Sonea breathed a sigh of relief. She braced her hands to haul herself off the ground, then paused as she heard a tinkling somewhere close by.

Looking around, she saw a small grille set into the wall just above the ground. Dropping to her hands and knees, she bent down to examine it. The tiny air vent was cluttered with dirt, but through it she could see a stairway spiraling down to an open door.

Beyond the doorway was a room lit by the yellow glow of an unseen light. As she watched, a man with long hair and a heavy black cloak strode in sight. A pair of shoulders blocked her view for a moment as another figure entered the stairway and descended to the room. Sonea caught a glimpse of servant’s clothing before the newcomer moved beyond her vision.

She heard a voice, but could not make out the words. The cloaked man nodded.

“It’s done,” he said, plucking at the clasp and pulling the cloak from his shoulders.

Sonea’s breath caught in her throat as she saw what was underneath. The man was wearing the ragged garments of a beggar.

And they were splattered with blood.

The man looked down at himself and an expression of distaste crossed his face.

“Did you bring my robes?”

The servant murmured an answer. Sonea choked back a gasp of surprise and horror. The man was a magician.

He grasped the bloodstained shirt and pulled it over his head, revealing a leather belt strapped to his waist. A large dagger sheath hung from the belt.

Removing the belt, he tossed it and the shirt onto a table, then pulled a large bowl of water and a towel into sight. The magician dipped the towel into the water and quickly scrubbed the red stains from his bare chest. Each time he rinsed the towel, the water turned a darker shade of pink.

Then an arm came into view, holding a bundle of black material. The magician took the cloth and moved out of sight.

Sonea sat back on her haunches. Black robes? She had never seen a black-robed magician before. None of the magicians in the Purge had worn black. His position in the Guild must be unique. Bending down again, she considered the blood-stained clothes. Perhaps he was an assassin.

The magician moved into view again. He was wearing the black robes now and had combed and bound his dark hair into a tail. Reaching for the belt, he unclipped the lid of the dagger pouch.

Sonea drew in a quick breath. The dagger’s handle glittered in the light. Gems set within it sent out glints of red and green. The magician examined the long, curved blade closely, then carefully wiped it on the towel. He looked up at the hidden servant.

“The fight has weakened me,” he said. “I need your strength.”

She heard a murmured reply. The servant’s legs moved into view, then all but his head appeared as he dropped to one knee and held out his arm. The magician grasped the man’s wrist.

Turning it upward, the magician ran the dagger lightly across the man’s skin. Blood welled and the magician pressed his hand over the wound as if he intended to heal it.

Then something began to flutter in her ears. Straightening, Sonea shook her head, thinking that an insect had crawled into her ears, but the buzzing continued. She stopped, then felt a chill steal over her as she realized that the noise was coming from somewhere
inside
her head.