Her attention was drawn away then as, one by one, the Warriors surrounding her and Akkarin stepped in to perform the ritual. When they were done, she looked around and discovered that the magicians had formed two lines leading to the Guildhall doors. Behind them stood the novices. She sighed with relief that they hadn’t been included in the ritual. Facing Regin in that situation would have been... interesting.
The Higher Magicians formed a second circle around the Warrior guard, with Lorlen at the front. As the Administrator started walking toward the Guildhall doors, this double escort followed, and proceeded past the two lines of magicians out of the Guildhall to the University doors.
Outside the building was a circle of horses, held in position by grooms. Two horses waited in the center. Akkarin approached the central pair, Sonea following. As he swung up into the saddle of one, she hesitated and looked at the remaining horse dubiously. “Are you doubting your decision?” Sonea turned to find Lord Osen standing beside her, holding the reins of his mount.
Sonea shook her head. “No, it’s just... I’ve never ridden before.” He glanced back at the crowd of magicians pouring out of the doors behind her, then turned his horse so it blocked them from view.
“Put your hand on the front of the saddle, and then put the toe of your left boot in here.” He took hold of her horse’s stirrup and held it still. Sonea did as he said and, following his further instructions, she managed somehow to get into the saddle.
“Don’t worry too much about directing him,” he told her. “He’ll follow the others.”
“Thank you, Lord Osen.”
He looked up at her and nodded once, then turned away and swung up onto his own mount.
From her new vantage point, she could see the crowd of magicians gathered outside the Guild. The Higher Magicians stood in a line along the bottom step of the University, except for Lord Balkan who had joined the guard of Warriors on the horses. Sonea looked for the King, but he was nowhere in sight.
Lorlen stepped forward and slowly approached Akkarin. He looked up and then shook his head.
“You have a second chance of sorts, Akkarin. Use it well.”
Akkarin regarded him for a moment. “And you, my friend, though I fear you will face worse troubles than I do. We will speak again.”
Lorlen smiled crookedly. “I’m sure we will.”
He moved away and returned to his place among the Higher Magicians, then nodded at Balkan. The Warrior nudged his horse into motion and the rest of the escort followed suit.
As her horse began to move, Sonea gripped the pommel of her saddle. She looked at Akkarin, but his eyes were fixed on the Guild Gates. When she had passed through the entrance, she cautiously turned to take one last look at the University, standing tall and graceful among the other Guild buildings.
A pang of sadness and regret caught her by surprise.
I hadn’t realized how much I considered this place home, she thought. Will I survive and return to see it again?
Or, a darker voice added, will I come back only to find it a pile of rubble?
Part Two
19
A Request
Sonea shifted in her saddle and flexed her aching thigh muscles. Though she Healed away the soreness each night, it did not take much riding before her body was hurting again. Lord Osen had told her that she would grow used to the saddle if she didn’t Heal herself, but she couldn’t see the point in toughening up for riding when the horse would soon be taken from her.
She sighed and looked up at the mountains ahead. They had first appeared on the horizon the day before. The shadowy line had slowly grown larger and this morning the sun had revealed slopes of jagged rock and forest ascending to high peaks. The mountains looked savage and impassable, but now that the escort had reached the low hills at the base, Sonea could see a ribbon of white winding between the trees toward a dip between two of the peaks. Somewhere at the end of that road stood the Fort and the entrance to Sachaka.
The slowly changing landscape fascinated her. She had never roamed beyond the edge of the city of Imardin. Travelling was a new experience, and she might have enjoyed it, if not for the circumstances.
At first the road had run alongside fields striped with rows of different plants. The workers digging the soil, planting or harvesting the crops, were men and women, young and old. Both adults and children were seen herding domestic animals of all sizes along the road. Little houses stood alone in great stretches of land. Sonea wondered if their occupants were happy living such an isolated life.
From time to time the road had taken them through clusters of houses. At a few of these villages, Lord Balkan had sent one of his Warriors away to buy food. At midday on each of the previous two days, they had encountered a magician and several local men waiting with fresh horses. They changed mounts to allow the group to continue travelling through each night. The escort did not pause or stop to sleep, and she assumed they were Healing away their weariness. When she had asked Lord Osen why they didn’t refresh the horses with Healing power, he told her that animals didn’t endure the mental fatigue that came with a lack of rest as humans did.
So far, she felt she was coping with the lack of sleep fairly well. The first night had been clear, and their way had been lit by moonlight and starlight. Sonea had dozed as well as could be managed on horseback. Clouds had covered the sky the next night, and they had travelled under a cluster of globe lights.
Looking at the mountains looming so close, Sonea wondered if they would have a third night in Kyralia.
“Halt!”
The beating of hooves on the road changed to a shuffling as the escort slowed to a stop. Her horse moved forward to stand next to Akkarin’s. Sonea felt a spark of hope as Akkarin turned to regard her. He hadn’t spoken to her, or anyone, since leaving Imardin.
But he said nothing and turned away to watch Lord Balkan.
The Head of Warriors handed something to one of his magicians. Money to buy food at the next village, Sonea guessed. She looked around and realized that they were standing at a meeting of roads. One continued toward the mountains; the other, smaller track descended into a small, sparsely forested valley, where a group of houses huddled close together beside a narrow river.
“Lord Balkan,” Akkarin said.
All heads immediately turned to face him. Sonea resisted an urge to smile at the escorts’ expressions of alarm and surprise. So he’s finally decided to speak.
Balkan regarded Akkarin warily. “Yes?”
“If we enter Sachaka in these robes we will be recognized. Will you allow us to change into ordinary clothing?”
Balkan’s gaze shifted to Sonea, then back to Akkarin. He nodded and turned back to the waiting Warrior.
“Clothes as well, then. Nothing fancy or bright.”
The magician nodded, then gave Akkarin and Sonea a measuring look before riding away.
Sonea felt the knot in her stomach tighten. Did this mean they were close to the pass? Would they reach the border today? She looked up at the mountains and shivered.
She had hoped many times to hear a mental call from Lorlen, ordering them back, yet she did not believe it would come. The manner of their departure from Imardin had made it clear to all that she and Akkarin were not welcome in Kyralia any more.
She grimaced as she remembered. Balkan had chosen a winding route through the city that took them through every Quarter. At each major intersection of streets they had stopped, halting all activity as Balkan announced her and Akkarin’s crimes, and the Guild’s punishment. Akkarin’s expression had darkened with anger. He had called the magicians fools, and had refused to speak since.
The procession had attracted large crowds, and by the time the escort had reached the North Gates an expectant throng of slum dwellers had gathered. As stones flew toward Sonea, she had hastily created a shield.