The Magicians' Guild (3 page)

She caught up with the crowd at the Northern Gate and pushed her way into it. Fighting her way forward, clawing past those in her way, she forced herself deep within the crowd of bodies. Feeling the stones still weighing down her pockets, she clawed them out. Something caught her legs, tripping her over, but she dragged herself to her feet and pushed on.

Hands grabbed her roughly from behind. She struggled and drew a breath to scream, but the hands turned her around and she found herself staring up at the familiar blue eyes of Harrin.

Though he had entered the Guildhall countless times since graduating over thirty years before, Lord Rothen had rarely heard it echo with so many voices.

He regarded the sea of robed men and women before him. Circles of magicians had formed, and he noted the usual cliques and factions. Others roamed about, leaving one circle and joining another. Hands flashed in expressive gestures, and the occasional exclamation or denial rose above the din.

Meets were usually dignified, orderly affairs, but until the Administrator arrived to organize them, the participants usually milled about in the center of the room, talking. As Rothen started toward the crowd, he caught fragments of conversations which seemed to be emanating from the roof. The Guildhall amplified sounds in odd and unexpected ways, particularly when voices were raised.

The effect was not magical, as ungifted visitors often assumed, but an unintended result of the building’s conversion into a hall. The first and oldest Guild construction, it had originally contained rooms to house magicians and their apprentices as well as spaces for lessons and meetings. Four centuries later, faced with a rapidly growing membership, the Guild had constructed several new buildings. Not wanting to demolish their first home, they removed the internal walls and added seating, and since then, all Guild Meets, Acceptance and Graduation ceremonies and Hearings had been held there.

A tall, purple-robed figure stepped out of the crowd and strode toward Rothen. Noting the younger magician’s eager expression, Rothen smiled; Dannyl had complained more than once that nothing particularly exciting happened in the Guild.

“Well, my old friend. How did it go?” Dannyl asked.

Rothen crossed his arms. “Old friend indeed!”

“Old fiend, then.” Dannyl waved a hand dismissively. “What did the Administrator say?”

“Nothing. He just wanted me to describe what happened. It appears I’m the only one who saw her.”

“Lucky for her,” Dannyl replied. “Why did the others try to kill her?”

Rothen shook his head. “I don’t think they meant to.”

A gong rang out above the buzz of voices, and the Guild Administrator’s amplified voice filled the hall.

“Would all magicians take their seats, please.”

Glancing behind, Rothen saw the huge main doors at the back of the hall swing shut. The mass of robes parted as magicians began moving toward seats on either side of the room. Dannyl nodded toward the front.

“We have some rare company today.”

Rothen followed his friend’s gaze. The Higher Magicians were taking their places. To mark their position and authority within the Guild, their seats were arranged in five tiers at the front of the hall. The raised seats were reached by two narrow stairways. At the center of the highest row stood a large chair embellished with gold and embroidered with the King’s incal: a stylized night bird. The chair was empty, but the two seats flanking it were occupied by magicians wearing gold sashes tied about their waists.

“The King’s Advisers,” Rothen murmured. “Interesting.”

“Yes,” Dannyl replied. “I wondered if King Merin would regard this Meet important enough to attend.”

“Not important enough to come himself.”

“Of course not.” Dannyl smiled. “Then we’d behave ourselves.”

Rothen shrugged. “It makes no difference, Dannyl. Even if the advisers weren’t here, none of us would say anything we wouldn’t say in the presence of the King. No, they’re here to make sure we do more than merely talk about the girl.”

Reaching their usual seats, they sat down. Dannyl leaned back in his chair and surveyed the room. “All this for one grubby street urchin.”

Rothen chuckled. “She has caused quite a stir, hasn’t she?”

“Fergun hasn’t joined us,” Dannyl narrowed his eyes at the rows of seats against the opposite wall, “but his followers are here.”

Though Rothen did not approve of his friend expressing dislike of another magician in public, he couldn’t help smiling. Fergun’s officious manner did not endear him to others. “From what I remember of the Healer’s report, the blow caused considerable confusion and agitation. He felt it wise to prescribe Fergun a sedative.”

Dannyl gave a quiet crow of delight. “Fergun’s
asleep!
When he realizes he has missed this meeting he’ll be furious!”

A gong rang out and the room began to quieten.

“And, as you can imagine, Administrator Lorlen was
most
disappointed that Lord Fergun could not give his version of the events,” Rothen added in a murmur.

Dannyl choked back a laugh. Looking across at the Higher Magicians, Rothen saw that all had taken their places. Only Administrator Lorlen remained standing, a gong in one hand, a striker in the other.

Lorlen’s expression was uncharacteristically grave. Rothen sobered as he realized that this crisis was the first the magician had faced since being elected. Lorlen had proven to be well suited to dealing with everyday issues within the Guild, but there must be more than a few magicians wondering how the Administrator would tackle a crisis like this.

“I have called this Meet so that we may discuss the events which occurred in the North Square this morning,” Lorlen began. “We have two matters of the most serious nature to address: the killing of an innocent, and the existence of a magician outside of our control. To begin, we will tackle the first and most serious of these two matters. I call upon Lord Rothen as witness to the event.”

Dannyl looked at Rothen with surprise, then smiled. “Of course. It must be years since you stood down there. Good luck.”

Rising, Rothen gave his friend a withering look. “Thanks for reminding me. I’ll be fine.”

Faces turned as the assembled magicians watched Rothen descend from his seat and cross the hall to stand before the Higher Magicians. He inclined his head to the Administrator. Lorlen nodded in reply.

“Tell us what you witnessed, Lord Rothen.”

Rothen paused to consider his words. When addressing the Guild, a speaker was expected to be concise and avoid elaboration.

“When I arrived at the North Square this morning, I found Lord Fergun already in place,” he began. “I took my position beside him and added my power to the shield. Some of the younger vagrants began throwing stones but, as always, we ignored them.” Looking up at the Higher Magicians, he saw that they were watching him closely. He suppressed a twinge of nervousness. It
had
been a long time since he had addressed the Guild.

“Next, I saw a flash of blue light in the corner of my eye and felt a disturbance in the shield. I caught a glimpse of an object coming toward me, but before I could react it struck Lord Fergun on the temple, rendering him unconscious. I caught him as he fell, lowered him to the ground and made sure his injury was not serious. Then, as others came to assist, I searched for the stone’s thrower.”

Rothen smiled wryly as he remembered. “I saw that, while most of the youths looked confused and surprised, one young woman was staring at her hands with amazement. I lost sight of her as my colleagues arrived, and when they could not locate the stone thrower they called on me to point her out.”

He shook his head. “When I did, they mistakenly believed I was pointing to a youth standing next to her and … and they retaliated.”

Lorlen gestured for Rothen to stop. He looked at the magicians in the row of seats below him, his eyes settling on Lord Balkan, the Head of Warriors.

“Lord Balkan, what have you discovered from questioning those who struck the youth?”

The red-robed magician rose. “All nineteen magicians involved believed that one of the boys in the crowd was the attacker, as they thought it unlikely that a girl would be trained as a rogue magician. Each intended to stun the boy, not harm him. From the description of the strikes from witnesses, I have been convinced that this is, indeed, what happened. I have also concluded from these reports that some of the stun-strikes had combined to form an unfocused firestrike. It was this that killed the boy.”

A memory of a smoldering form flashed into Rothen’s mind. Sickened, he looked down at the floor. Even had the strikes not combined, the battering from nineteen stunstrikes would have shocked the boy’s body excessively. He could not help feeling responsible. If only he had taken action himself, before the others could react…

“This raises difficult questions,” Lorlen said. “It is unlikely that the public will believe us if we tell them we simply made a mistake. An apology is not enough. We must make some attempt at reparation. Shall we compensate the family of the youth?”

Several of the Higher Magicians nodded, and Rothen heard murmurs of approval behind him.

“If they can be found,” one of the Higher Magicians added.

“I fear compensation will not repair the damage we have done to our reputation.” Lorlen frowned. “How can we regain the respect and trust of the people?”

Murmuring followed, then a voice called out: “Compensation is enough.”

“Give it time—people will forget,” said another.

“We’ve done all we can.”

And quieter, to Rothen’s right: “—just a slum boy. Who cares?”

Rothen sighed. Though the words did not surprise him, they roused in him a familiar anger. The Guild existed by law to protect others—and that law made no distinction between rich and poor. He had heard magicians claim that slum dwellers were all thieves and didn’t deserve the Guild’s protection.

“There is little more we can do,” Lord Balkan said. “The higher classes will accept that the boy’s death was an accident. The poor will not, and nothing we do or say will change their minds.”

Administrator Lorlen looked at each of the Higher Magicians in turn. All nodded.

“Very well,” he said. “We will review this matter again during the next Meet, when we have had time to gauge the effects of this tragedy.” He drew in a deep breath, straightened, and swept his eyes around the hall. “Now for the second matter: the rogue magician. Did anyone apart from Lord Rothen see this girl, or witness her throw the stone?”

Silence followed. Lorlen frowned, disappointed. Most discussion in the Guild Meets was dominated by the three Heads of Disciplines: Lady Vinara, Lord Balkan and Lord Sarrin. Lady Vinara, Head of Healers, was a practical and stern woman, but could be surprisingly compassionate. The robust Lord Balkan was observant and careful to explore all sides to an issue, yet was unflinching in the face of difficult or rapid decisions. The oldest of the trio, Lord Sarrin, could be harsh in his judgments but always acknowledged the others’ views as valid.

It was these Higher Magicians that Lorlen considered now. “We must begin by examining those facts that are clear and confirmed by witnesses. There is no doubt that, remarkable as it may sound, a mere stone penetrated a magical shield. Lord Balkan, how is this possible?”

The Warrior shrugged. “The shield used to repel stones in the Purge is a weak one: strong enough to stop missiles, but not magic. It is clear from the blue flash, and the sense of disturbance described by those holding the shield, that magic was used. However, for magic to break through a shield it must be shaped to that purpose. I believe the attacker used a strike—a simple one—sent with the stone.”

“But why use a stone at all?” Lady Vinara asked. “Why not just strike with magic?”

“To conceal the strike?” Lord Sarrin suggested. “If the magicians had seen a strike coming, they may have had time to strengthen the shield.”

“That is possible,” Balkan said, “but the force of the strike was used only to break through the harrier. If the attacker’s intent had been malicious, Lord Fergun would have more than a bruised temple.”

Vinara frowned. “So this attacker did not expect to do much harm? Why do it, then?”

“To demonstrate her power—to defy us, perhaps,” Balkan replied.

Sarrin’s wrinkled face creased into a disapproving frown. Rothen shook his head. Catching the movement, Balkan looked down and smiled. “You do not agree, Lord Rothen?”

“She didn’t expect to do anything at all,” Rothen told him. “By her expression, she was clearly shocked and surprised by what she had done. I believe she is untrained.”

“Impossible.” Sarrin shook his head. “
Someone
must have released her powers.”

“And trained her to control them, we hope,” Vinara added. “Or we have a serious problem of a different kind.”

At once, the hall began to hum with speculation. Lorlen lifted a hand and the voices fell silent.

“When Lord Rothen told me what he witnessed, I called Lord Solend to my room to ask if he, in the course of studying the Guild’s history, had read of magicians whose powers had developed without assistance.” Lorlen’s expression was grave. “It appears that our assumption that a magician’s power can only be released by another magician is wrong.

“It has been recorded that in the early centuries of the Guild’s existence, some of the individuals who sought training were using magic already. Their powers had developed naturally as they physically matured. Since we accept and initiate novices at a young age, natural development of power no longer occurs.” Lorlen gestured to the seats at one side of the hall. “I have asked Lord Solend to gather what he knows of this phenomenon and now call him before us to relate what he has learned.”

An aged figure rose from the rows of robed men and women and started down the stairs. All waited in silence as the old historian reached the floor and shuffled to Rothen’s side. Solend nodded stiffly to the Higher Magicians.

“Until five hundred years ago,” the old man began in a querulous voice, “a man or woman seeking to learn magic would approach individual magicians for apprenticeship. They were tested and chosen according to their strength, and how much they could pay. Because of this tradition, some apprentices were quite mature by the time they began their training, as it could take many years of work, or a generous inheritance, before they were able to pay for the training.