Trudi Canavan - The Magicians' Guild

Hearing the scrape of booted feet, Sonea looked up at the rows of magicians. A familiar figure was making his way down to the floor. As Rothen stopped a few steps from Osen, he looked at her and smiled.

She felt an unexpected pang of fondness and started to smile in return, but then she remembered what she was about to do and she looked down at the floor. He was going to be so disappointed in her ...

Another set of footsteps filled the hall. Looking up, she saw that Fergun had stopped a few paces from Rothen. He, too, smiled at her. She quelled a shudder and looked at the Administrator instead.

“Both Lord Rothen and Lord Fergun have claimed guardianship of Sonea,” Lorlen told the audience. “Both believe they were the first magician to recognize her potential. We must now decide which claim shall be honored. I leave the proceedings of this Hearing to my assistant, Lord Osen.”

The young man who had led her into the room stepped forward. Taking a deep breath, Sonea stared at the floor and tried to steel herself for what she must do.

“Lord Rothen.”

Rothen turned to face Lord Osen.

“Will you please tell us of the events that led you to recognize Sonea as a potential magician.”

Nodding, Rothen cleared his throat. “On the day I recognized Sonea’s powers—the day of the Purge—I was paired with Lord Fergun. We had arrived at the North Square and were assisting in the barrier shield. As always, a group of youths started throwing stones.

“I was facing Lord Fergun at the time. The shield was about three paces from us, on my left. At the edge of my vision I saw a flash of light in the vicinity of the shield, and simultaneously felt the shield waver. I glimpsed a stone flying through the air just before it struck Lord Fergun on the temple, knocking him unconscious.”

Rothen paused, glancing at Fergun. “I caught Lord Fergun as he fell. When he was safely lying on the ground I searched for the one who had thrown the stone. That is when I saw Sonea.”

Osen took a step toward Rothen. “So this was the first time that you saw Sonea?”

“Yes.”

Osen crossed his arms. “At any point in time did you see Sonea performing magic?”

Rothen hesitated. “No, I did not,” he admitted reluctantly. A low murmur began among the magicians seated to his right, but it quickly died away as Lord Osen glanced in that direction.

“How did you know it was she who threw the stone that broke through the shield?”

“I judged the direction from which the stone had come, and guessed that it had to be one of two youths,” Rothen explained. “The closest—a boy—was not even paying attention. Sonea, however, was staring at her hands in surprise. As I watched she looked up at me, and I knew from her expression that she had thrown the stone.”

“And you believe that Lord Fergun could not have seen Sonea before then?”

“No, Lord Fergun could not have seen Sonea at all that day,” Rothen said dryly, “due to the unfortunate nature of his injury.”

A few chuckles and coughs echoed in the hall. Lord Osen nodded, then moved away. He stopped in front of Fergun.

“Lord Fergun,” he said, “will you please tell us of the events of that day as you saw them.”

Fergun inclined his head graciously. “I was assisting with the barrier in the North Square as Rothen has described. A group of youths came forward and began throwing stones at us. I noted that there were about ten of them. One was a young girl.” Fergun glanced at Sonea. “I thought she was behaving strangely, so when I turned away I continued to observe her in the corner of my eye. When she threw her stone I thought nothing of it, naturally, until I beheld a flash of light. I realized she must have done something to break the barrier.” Fergun smiled. “This surprised me so much that, instead of deflecting the stone, my first reaction was to glance at her to confirm that it was, indeed, her.”

“So you realized that Sonea had used magic after the stone broke through the shield, and before it struck you.”

“Yes,” Fergun answered.

The hall echoed with voices as this was discussed. Gritting his teeth, Rothen resisted the urge to stare at Fergun. The Warrior’s story was a lie. Fergun had never glanced toward Sonea. Rothen stole a quick look at her. She stood quietly in the shadows, her shoulders slumped. He hoped she understood how important her account would be in confirming his story.

“Lord Fergun.”

The room fell silent at this new voice. Rothen looked up at Lady Vinara. The Healer was regarding Fergun with her famous, unblinking stare.

“If you were looking at Sonea, how is it that the stone struck your right temple? That would indicate to me that you were looking at Rothen at the time.”

Fergun nodded. “It all happened very quickly, Lady,” he said. “I saw the flash and glanced at Sonea. It was only a fleeting look—and I recall wanting to ask if my companion had seen what this girl had done.”

“You did not even attempt to dodge?” Lord Balkan asked, his tone disbelieving.

Fergun smiled ruefully. “I am not accustomed to having stones thrown at me. I believe surprise overrode the instinct to duck.”

Lord Balkan looked at the magicians beside him and received slight shrugs. Watching them closely, Osen nodded as no more questions came. He turned to regard Rothen.

“Lord Rothen, did you see Fergun glance at Sonea between the time the stone broke through the barrier and when it struck him?”

“No,” Rothen replied, struggling to keep anger from his voice. “He was talking to me. The stone cut him off in the middle of a sentence.”

Osen’s brows rose. He glanced at the Higher Magicians, then looked up at the audience.

“Does anyone have an account that contradicts or adds to what we have heard?”

Silence answered him. Nodding slowly, Osen turned to regard Sonea.

“I call on Sonea as witness to this event.”

Moving from the shadows at the side of the hall, Sonea walked forward to stand a few paces from Fergun. She glanced up at the Higher Magicians, then bowed quickly.

Rothen felt a pang of sympathy for her. A few weeks before, she had been terrified of him and now she faced a hall of magicians, all watching her intently.

Osen gave her a quick smile of encouragement. “Sonea,” he said. “Please tell us your version of the events we are discussing.”

She swallowed and set her gaze on the floor. “I was with the other youths. They were throwing stones. I didn’t usually do that—I usually stayed with my aunt.” She glanced up and blushed, then continued on in a rush.

“I guess I got dragged into things. I didn’t start throwing stones straightaway. I watched the others and the magicians. I remember I was... I was angry, so when I did go to throw a stone I pushed all that anger at the stone. Later I realized I had done something, but at the time everything was so ... confusing.” She stopped and seemed to collect herself.

“When I threw the stone it went through the barrier. Lord Fergun looked at me, then the stone hit him and Ro— Lord Rothen caught him. The rest of the magicians were looking everywhere, then I saw Lord Rothen looking at me. After that, I ran.”

A cold rush of disbelief struck Rothen. He stared at Sonea, but her eyes remained fixed on the floor. Glancing at Fergun, he saw that a sly smile curled the man’s lips. As the Warrior realized he was being watched, the smile vanished.

Helpless, Rothen could only clench his fists as the rest of the Guild voiced their approval.

The half-seen vision of the Guildhall wavered as anger, disbelief and hurt flowed over Dannyl’s mind. He stopped, alarmed.

— What’s wrong, Rothen?