He sobered again. “But there is another reason. The night you observed me drawing power from Takan, you sensed something. I had read that, as with ordinary magic, the use of black magic can be sensed by other magicians, particularly those close by. As with ordinary magic, this effect can be hidden. I did not know I was detectable until I read your mind. Afterward I experimented until I was sure I was undetectable. I will need to teach you this quickly, to reduce the risk of discovery.”
He looked up toward the ceiling. “I will guide you mentally, and we will use Takan as our first source. When he arrives, take care what you speak of. He does not want to learn these things, for reasons too complicated and personal to explain.”
Muffled footsteps came from the stairwell, then the door opened and Takan stepped into the room. He bowed.
“You called, master?”
“It is time to teach Sonea black magic,” Akkarin said.
Takan nodded. He moved to the table and opened the box. Inside, nestled in a bed of fine black cloth, lay the knife Akkarin had used to kill the Sachakan spy. Takan took it carefully, handling it with reverence.
Then, in a smooth, practiced movement, Takan placed the knife across his wrists and approached Sonea, his head bowed. Akkarin’s eyes narrowed.
“Enough of that, Takan—and no kneeling.” Akkarin shook his head. “We are a civilized people. We don’t enslave others.”
A faint smile played at Takan’s mouth. He looked at Akkarin, his eyes bright. Akkarin snorted softly, then nodded at Sonea.
“This is a Sachakan blade, worn only by magicians,” he said. “Their knives are forged and sharpened with magic. It is many centuries old and was passed down from father to son. Its last owner was Dakova. I would have left it behind, but Takan salvaged it and brought it with him. Take the knife, Sonea.”
Sonea accepted the blade gingerly. How many people had been killed with this knife? Hundreds? Thousands? She shivered.
“Takan will be needing that chair, too.”
She rose. Takan took her place, then began rolling up his sleeve.
“Make a shallow cut. Press lightly. It is very sharp.”
She looked down at the servant and felt her mouth go dry. The servant smiled at her and lifted his arm. His skin was crisscrossed with scars. Like Akkarin’s.
“See,” Takan said. “Done this before.”
The blade shook a little as she pressed it against Takan’s skin. Lifting it away, she saw beads of red form along the cut. She swallowed hard. I’m really doing this. She looked up and found Akkarin watching her closely.
“You don’t have to learn this, Sonea,” he said, taking the blade from her.
She took a deep breath. “Yes I do,” she replied. “What next?”
“Place your hand over the wound.”
Takan was still smiling. She gently pressed her palm over the cut. Akkarin reached out and placed his hands on her temples.
— Focus as you once did when you learned Control. Visualization will help, to begin with. Show me the room of your mind.
She closed her eyes and drew up an image of the room and placed herself in it. The walls were covered in paintings of familiar faces and scenes, but she ignored them.
— Open the door to your power.
At once a painting stretched into a door shape and grew a handle. She reached for the handle and twisted. It swung outward and disappeared. An abyss of darkness spread before her, and within it hung the sphere of light that was her power.
— Now, step inside, into your power.
Sonea stilled. Step into the abyss?
— No, step into your power. Step into its center.
— But it’s so far away! I can’t reach that far.
— Of course you can. It’s your power. It is as far away as you wish it to be, and you can step as far as you want to step.
— But what if it burns me?
— It won’t. It’s your power.
Sonea hovered at the edge of the doorway, then steeled herself and stepped through.
There was a feeling of stretching out, then the white sphere swelled and she felt a thrill rush through her as she entered it. Suddenly she was weightless, floating in a white mist of light. Energy rushed through her.
— See?
— I see. It’s wonderful. Why didn’t Rothen show me this?
— You will know why soon. I want you to expand yourself. Reach out and feel all of the power that is yours. Visualization is a useful tool, but you need to go beyond it now. You need to know your power with all your senses.
Sonea felt herself obeying before he had finished speaking. It was easy, when surrounded by nothing but whiteness, to stretch her senses out.
As she grew more aware of her power, a sense of her body came with it. At first she worried that becoming conscious of the physical meant she was losing her concentration.
Then the realization came that her power was her body. It didn’t exist in some abyss within her mind. It flowed through every limb and bone and vein within her.
— Yes. Now focus on your right hand, and what lies beyond.
She did not see it at first, then something caught her attention. It was a gap, a glimpse of something beyond herself. Focusing on it, she sensed that an otherness lay beyond.
— Concentrate on that otherness, then do this.
He sent her a thought too strange for words. It was as if she stepped into Takan’s body, except she was still within her own. She was conscious of both.
— Be aware of the energy within his body. Take some of it into your own.
Abruptly she realized that Takan held a great store of power. He was strong, she realized, almost as strong as she. Yet his mind did not seem to be connected to it, as if he was not conscious of the power within him.
But she was. And through the gap in his skin, she had a connection to it. It was easy to direct it out of his body and into hers. She felt herself grow a little stronger.
Understanding sprang into her mind. She was drawing power.
— Now stop.
She relaxed her will and felt the trickle of energy cease.
— Begin again.
She drew power through the gap, again. Just a slow leaking of magic. She wondered what it would be like to add all of his power to her own, and double her strength. Exhilarating, perhaps.
But what would she do with it? She certainly didn’t need to be twice as strong. She didn’t even use up her own strength during lessons at the University.
— Stop.
She obeyed. As Akkarin’s hands slipped from her temples, she opened her eyes again.
“Good,” he said. “You can heal Takan now.”
Sonea looked down at Takan’s arm, then concentrated. The cut healed quickly, and her awareness of his body and power faded away. The servant grimaced and her heart skipped.
“Are you all right?”
He smiled broadly. “Yes, Lady Sonea. You are very gentle. It’s just that the Healing itches.” He looked up at Akkarin and sobered. “She will be a worthy ally, master.”
Akkarin didn’t reply. Turning, Sonea saw that he had moved away to the cabinet of books and was standing with his arms crossed and a frown creasing his brow. Sensing her gaze, he turned to meet it. His expression was unreadable.
“Congratulations, Sonea,” he said softly. “You are now a black magician.”
She blinked in surprise. “That is all? It’s that easy?”
He nodded. “Yes. The knowledge of how to kill in a moment, taught in a moment. From this day, you must never allow another into your mind. It would only take one stray thought for you to reveal this secret to another magician.”