Trudi Canavan - The Magicians' Guild

Cery sighed. “Don’t be stupid, Sonea. If you were a magician, you could help people. You might be able to do something about stopping the Purge. People would listen to you.”

“But... I belong with Jonna and Ranel. They need me.”

“No they don’t. They’re doing fine. Think how proud they’d be. Their own niece in the Guild.”

Sonea stamped her foot. “It doesn’t matter, Cery. I can’t stay. Fergun said he’ll kill you. I’m not going to abandon a friend just so I can do a few magic tricks.”

A friend. Cery’s shoulders drooped. Closing his eyes, he let out a long sigh. “Sonea. Do you remember the night we spied on the Guild?”

“Of course.” He could hear the smile in her voice.

“I told you that I knew someone, a servant in the Guild. I could have gone back to that man, and asked him to find out what the Guild planned for you, but I didn’t. Do you know why?”

“No.” She sounded puzzled now.

“I didn’t want to find out that the Guild really wanted to help you. You’d just come back and I didn’t want you going away. I didn’t want to lose you again.”

She said nothing. Her silence told him nothing. He swallowed, his mouth dry.

“I’ve had lots of time to think here,” he told her. “I’ve ... well, I’ve told myself to face up to it. There’s nothing between us ’cept friendship, so it’s unfair ...”

A soft gasp escaped her. “Oh, Cery,” she breathed. “You never said anything!”

He felt his face burning, and was grateful for the dark. Holding his breath, he waited for her to speak, hoping she would say something to show she felt the same, or, perhaps, that she would touch him ...

The silence stretched on until he could stand it no longer.

“Well, it doesn’t matter,” he told her. “What matters is that you don’t belong in the slums. Not since you found your magic. Now you might not fit in real well here, either, but you have got to give it a go.”

“No,” she told him firmly. “I’ve got to get you out of here. I don’t know how long Fergun intends to use you to blackmail me, but he can’t keep you down here forever. I’m going to make him bring me messages from you so I know you’re alive. If he doesn’t, I’ll stop cooperating. Remember the story about Hurin the carpenter?”

“Of course.”

“We’ll do what he did. I don’t know how long it will take before he frees you but I—”

She stopped as the door clicked open. The magician’s light fell upon her face and Cery felt his heart twist.

“You’ve been in here long enough,” Fergun snapped.

Sonea turned back to Cery, gave him a quick hug, and stepped away. He swallowed. Somehow the brief encounter hurt more than her earlier silence.

“Stay warm,” she told him. Backing away, she stepped past Fergun into the passage. As the door closed, Cery hurried forward and pressed his ear to the wood.

“Do what I tell you and you’ll see him again,” Fergun said. “Otherwise ...”

“I know, I know,” Sonea replied. “But just you remember what Thieves do to those who break their promises.”

You tell him, Cery thought, smiling grimly.

It was clear from the moment Dannyl entered the Night Room that he was worried about something. Extracting himself from a circle of questioning magicians, Rothen walked across the room to greet his friend.

“What’s wrong?”

“I can’t tell you here,” Dannyl said, his eyes flickering about.

“Outside then?” Rothen suggested.

They walked out into falling snow. White flakes fluttered all around them, hissing as they met Rothen’s shield. Dannyl moved to the fountain and stopped.

“Guess who I saw in the University just now.”

“Who?”

“Fergun and Sonea.”

“Sonea?” Rothen felt a twinge of anxiety, but pushed it away. “He has the right to talk to her now, Dannyl.”

“Talk to her, yes, but take her from your rooms?”

Rothen shrugged. “There is no rule against it.”

“Aren’t you concerned?”

“Yes, but it will do no good to protest, Dannyl. It’s better that Fergun is seen to overstep his welcome, than I protest at his every move. I doubt she would have gone with him if she didn’t want to.”

Dannyl frowned. “Don’t you want to know where he took her?”

“Where?”

A look of vexation crossed Dannyl’s face. “I’m not sure, exactly. I followed them into the University. Fergun took her into the inner passages. After that I lost them. They just disappeared.”

“They vanished before your eyes?”

“No. I could hear Fergun talking, then everything was silent. Too silent. I should have heard footsteps, or a door closing. Something.”

Once again, Rothen pushed away a feeling of unease. “Hmm, I would like to know where he took her. What could he possibly have to show her in the University? I’ll ask her tomorrow.”

“And if she doesn’t tell you?”

Rothen stared at the snow-covered ground, considering. The inner passages of the University led to small, private rooms. Most would be empty, or locked. There was nothing else there ... except...

“I don’t suppose he’s shown her the underground passages,” he murmured.

“Of course!” Dannyl’s eyes brightened, and Rothen instantly regretted his words. “That’s it!”

“It’s highly unlikely, Dannyl. Nobody knows where the entrances are except—”

Dannyl wasn’t listening. “It makes sense now! Why didn’t I think of them?!” He pressed his hands to the side of his head.

“Well, I would suggest strongly that you keep out of them. There are good reasons for the ban against using them. They’re old and unsafe.”

Dannyl’s eyebrows rose. “So what about the rumors that a certain member of the Guild uses them on a regular basis?”

Rothen crossed his arms. “He can do as he pleases, and I’m sure he’s capable of surviving if a passage collapsed. I’m also sure he wouldn’t approve of you snooping around. What will you say if he discovers you in there?”

The light in Dannyl’s eyes faltered as he considered that. “I’d have to time it carefully. Make sure I knew he was elsewhere.”

“Don’t even consider it,” Rothen warned. “You’ll get lost.”

Dannyl snorted. “It can’t be any worse than the slums, can it?”

“You’re not going, Dannyl!”

But Rothen knew that, once Dannyl’s curiosity was roused, nothing would deter his friend but the threat of expulsion. The Guild wasn’t going to cast him out for breaking a minor rule. “Think carefully, Dannyl. You don’t want to ruin your chance to become an ambassador, do you?”

Dannyl shrugged. “If I can get away with negotiating with the Thieves, I doubt a little snooping around under the University will earn me much disapproval.”

Defeated, Rothen turned and started back toward the Night Room. “That may be so, but sometimes it matters whose disapproval you earn.”

“Don’t worry, Sonea,” Tania whispered as they reached the front of the University. “You’ll be fine. The magicians are just a gaggle of old men who’d rather be sipping wine in their rooms than sitting in a drafty old hall. It will all be over before you know it’s started.”

Sonea couldn’t help smiling at Tania’s description of the Guild. Taking a deep breath, she followed Tania up the stairs of the grand building. As they passed through the huge open doors, she caught her breath.

They had entered a room full of staircases. Each was made of melted and fused stone and glass, and looked too frail to support a man’s weight. The stairs spiraled up and down and around each other like an elaborate piece of jewelry.