Naki smiled. "You got it? I knew you would. You're too clever." She got up and came closer, leaning on the arm of the chair, reaching out and turning Lilia's hands so she could read the book. "Let's try something else. Let's see if you can sense my magic."

"But ... you'd have to cut yourself for me to be able to do that."

Naki leaned close. Her breath smelled of roet. Her lips curled in an inviting way. "I'll do that for you. I'd do anything for you."

Lilia stared at her friend, feeling her heart warm and expand. "I'd do anything for you you," she replied with feeling.

Naki's smile widened with delight. "Let's do it," she said. She cast about, then danced over to the glass-covered table and reached inside again. Whatever she'd taken was small and hidden in her palm. "It's old, so I don't know if it's sharp enough ... ow! Yes, that worked."

Perching on the chair arm again, Naki held out her hand. A tiny knife lay there, and a small red line seeping little beads of blood marred her skin. Lilia felt a chill that threatened to clear her head.

"Go on. Before it heals up again."

I'd do anything for you. Reluctantly, Lilia took the knife in one hand and clasped Naki's hand in the other. She closed her eyes. Reluctantly, Lilia took the knife in one hand and clasped Naki's hand in the other. She closed her eyes.

It was not hard to return to her new awareness of her magic. Somehow she knew where to send her mind to find her hand. And then she sensed it. The presence of another was faint ... except there there. The cut felt like a slash of light in her mind. It attracted her like the promise of sunlight at the end of a tunnel. When she reached it ... Naki Naki.

The other girl radiated a familiar restless excitement and curiosity, with an undertone of anger old and directed elsewhere, so most likely her lingering anger over her father.

-Have some of my power, Naki's voice said at the edge of Lilia's mind.

A flash of magic leapt from the break in Naki's barrier into Lilia's. At once she understood how easy it would be to reach through and draw that energy within herself. But she didn't want or need to do it. Drawing back from Naki's presence, she opened her eyes.

"I think it worked. Except ... it's too easy." She frowned. "I can't be doing it right."

A finger was tracing a lazy pattern along her arm and hand. She looked down, then up at Naki. The girl's eyes were burning with eagerness. "Let me try." She gave Lilia a meaningful look. "We do this together."

Lilia felt a surge of affection. Picking up the little knife, she clenched her teeth then ran it across the back of her arm. Naki beamed at her, then gently touched the cut. As she closed her eyes, Lilia did the same, wondering how it would feel to be the one whose barrier was damaged.

This time her awareness instantly took the new form. The breach in her defences was easy to locate; it roused a sense of urgency that made her feel edgy. Suddenly she felt Naki's presence again, but this time there was no sense of her emotions.

A strange weakness, like the disconnection from will that roet brought, came over her and she sensed energy flowing out.

But as quickly as it began, it stopped. She felt Naki let go of her arm, and drew her consciousness back to the physical world. Her friend was frowning and shaking her head.

"I don't think it worked."

"No?" Lilia said in surprise. "I'm sure I felt you taking power."

Naki shook her head again. Her lips formed a small pout and she walked over and flopped into her chair. "I couldn't sense anything. Not the breach in your barrier. Not you." She sighed. "All the years I've wanted to try it ... and now that I have someone I trust to try it with it doesn't work ..."

"Well, if it was that easy it would would be possible to learn it from a book. We can try again, if you like," Lilia offered. be possible to learn it from a book. We can try again, if you like," Lilia offered.

Naki shook her head. She looked at the brazier sullenly, then used a little magic to open it and stamp out the burning contents. Getting up, she stowed it away.

"Let's go to bed."

Relieved, since she was starting to get the dizziness and headaches that meant she'd had a little too much roet, Lilia got up and followed her friend out of the library. Naki passed her bedroom and entered the guest room where Lilia slept when she stayed over. She went straight to an elaborately carved chest, dug beneath some bundles and produced a bottle of wine.

"Thirsty?"

Lilia hesitated, then nodded. Though her head was still spinning a little from roet, she was very thirsty. Naki opened the bottle and raised it to her lips. After drinking a mouthful, she grinned and handed it to Lilia, the contents sloshing as she did. "No glasses in here. Father has forbidden wine and roet, but I have friends among the servants."

Lilia gulped awkwardly from the bottle. With a sigh, Naki flopped down onto the bed. She waved the bottle away as Lilia offered it back.

"He's not my real father," she murmured. "Mother married him after my real father died. When she died, Leiden got everything she had, including me. We never liked each other. He'll marry me off as soon as I graduate, to the first person who asks, just to get rid of me." She sighed again.

Setting the bottle aside, Lilia lay down beside her friend. "That's awful." The thought of Naki being married off to a man, who she clearly would never desire, made Lilia's heart ache. If he does it after she graduates ... that's half a year away! If he does it after she graduates ... that's half a year away! Would they still be able to see each other? Could they keep their love secret? Would they still be able to see each other? Could they keep their love secret?

"I wish he was dead," Naki murmured. She turned her head to look at Lilia. "You said you'd do anything for me. Would you kill him, if I asked?"

Lilia smiled and shrugged. The wine was going to her head and she had no energy to form a reply. There must be another way to solve Naki's problems. Murder is a bit extreme. There must be another way to solve Naki's problems. Murder is a bit extreme. But what if there wasn't? But what if there wasn't? Could I use black magic and hide it? Make it look like an accident? Could I use black magic and hide it? Make it look like an accident? Naki was murmuring something, but the words were distant and took too much concentration to understand. Naki was murmuring something, but the words were distant and took too much concentration to understand.

Mind full of dark thoughts, Lilia slipped into strange and vivid dreams where she ridded Naki of all her problems, and they lived a life of love and secrets in a house full of staircases and hidden doors and cabinets filled with frustratingly cryptic books.

CHAPTER 11.

A MISUNDERSTANDING.

As the carriage pulled up in front of the tower, Sonea smiled wryly.

Finding a suitable prison for Lorandra had proven difficult. The city Guard had objected to keeping a magician even one whose powers were blocked in their prison. No prison existed in the Guild grounds and there was no room in the Magicians' Quarters for her even if there had been Sonea doubted the magicians living there would have been happy about having Lorandra as a neighbour. The Servants' Quarters were considered briefly, but they were even more crowded something that ought to be dealt with soon, Osen had commented. Keeping Lorandra in the Dome permanently was only suggested in jest.

The temporary solution was to use the Lookout as a prison. The rebuilding of the tower had begun before the Ichani Invasion, at Akkarin's suggestion. Afterwards, it was completed and for a few short years used by Alchemists to study the weather. Eventually it was loaned out to the Guard for training purposes, with the condition that it was maintained and always occupied.

Though the Guard had made it clear they didn't want Lorandra in their prison, they readily agreed to guarding her at the Lookout, so clearly the knowledge that Lorandra was a magician didn't bother them. In retrospect, Sonea could see that guarding the tower against a rescue mission from Skellin would be easier here than in the city prison. Corruption among the prison guards had led to escapes before. There was less chance of one of them releasing Lorandra if her guards were a smaller group, carefully chosen for their loyalty and trustworthiness.

Or perhaps they know it's more likely the Guild will continue to post a magician to help guard Lorandra here. How long would magicians agree to watch over her, if they had to do it at the dirty, unpleasant city prison?

Stepping down from the carriage, Sonea looked up at the building and felt a small pang of sadness. Would you have been pleased that we finished it, Akkarin? Would you have been pleased that we finished it, Akkarin? she thought. she thought. Or did you mean for it to be a distraction to keep the Guild's attention away from you, as some believe? Or did you mean for it to be a distraction to keep the Guild's attention away from you, as some believe?

It was a plain building, just a round tower twice as tall as the trees surrounding it. The surface was smooth and the windows small, reminding her of the Fort with its magically bonded stone face and tiny windows. Guards were posted around the exterior. One of them, standing beside the heavy wooden door, bowed as she approached, then opened the door for her.

She stepped into a large room lit by several small lamps. Two more guards and their captain rose and bowed. They had been sitting at a table with a young Warrior, who nodded respectfully to Sonea.

The captain stepped forward and bowed again.

"Black Magician Sonea. I am Captain Sotin," he said.

"I'm here to see the prisoner," she told him.

"Follow me."

He led her up a winding staircase and stopped at a wooden door into which a small hatch had been recently cut. Opening the hatch, he gestured for her to look inside. She saw a bed and a desk, and a familiar reddish-skinned old woman sitting in a chair. Lorandra's attention was on something in her hands.

"Black Magician Sonea is here to see you," the captain announced, his voice loud in Sonea's ear.

The woman looked up and stared at the hatch without expression. Her gaze dropped back to her still-moving hands.

"She doesn't say much," the captain said apologetically.

"She never has," Sonea replied. "Unlock the door."

He obeyed, taking a ring of keys from his belt and releasing the locks. Two locks Two locks, Sonea noted. She must really make them nervous. She must really make them nervous. Sonea stepped into the room and heard the door close behind her. Lorandra looked up again, giving Sonea a hard stare before turning her attention back to the object in her hands. Looking closer, Sonea saw that it was some sort of fabric, which the woman was creating with thick thread and a short, bent piece of thick wire. The speed with which the makeshift hook moved through the edge of the fabric and formed looping knots suggested many years of practice. Sonea stepped into the room and heard the door close behind her. Lorandra looked up again, giving Sonea a hard stare before turning her attention back to the object in her hands. Looking closer, Sonea saw that it was some sort of fabric, which the woman was creating with thick thread and a short, bent piece of thick wire. The speed with which the makeshift hook moved through the edge of the fabric and formed looping knots suggested many years of practice.

"What are you doing?" Sonea asked.

Lorandra regarded Sonea with narrowed eyes. "It is called 'binda' and most of the women of my homeland know it."

The fabric shifted in her hands, revealing that it was forming a tube. Surprised and encouraged by Lorandra's willingness to speak, she considered how she could encourage the woman to continue.

"And what are you making?"

Lorandra looked down. "Something to keep me warm."

Sonea nodded. Of course. We are not far off mid-winter so it's only going to get colder. She can't use magic to warm the air any more. There is no fireplace and the guards won't trust her with a brazier. Of course. We are not far off mid-winter so it's only going to get colder. She can't use magic to warm the air any more. There is no fireplace and the guards won't trust her with a brazier. Yet the room wasn't particularly cold. The warmth from the rooms below must go some way toward easing the chill. Yet the room wasn't particularly cold. The warmth from the rooms below must go some way toward easing the chill.

"We usually use a stick with a hook carved into the end, but they think I'll use it to kill myself," Lorandra added.

Sonea couldn't help smiling a little. "Would you?"

The woman shrugged and did not answer. She would not expect me to believe it, so why bother. She would not expect me to believe it, so why bother.

"Are they treating you well?" Sonea asked.

Lorandra shrugged again.

"Anything I can bring you?"

A disbelieving twitch of the mouth. And no answer again.

"Your son, perhaps?" Sonea asked, allowing a little scepticism into her voice. She was not surprised when Lorandra didn't answer. Suppressing a sigh, she moved to the low bed, sat down and returned to the subject the woman seemed willing to talk about. If she could foster a habit of conversation, who knew where it would lead? "So what do the women of your homeland make with binda?"

Lorandra worked on in silence but something about the set of her mouth told Sonea she was considering answering.

"Hats. Gloves. Garments. Blankets. Baskets. Depends on the thread. Softer and finer for gloves. Strong and resilient for baskets."

"Does it take long?"

"Depends what you're making and how thick the thread is. Binda stretches, which is good for some things and not for others. If we want a firm cloth we weave."

"What do you make the thread out of?"

Lorandra's gaze became distant. "Reber wool mostly. There is a type of grass that can be softened and spun for baskets, but I haven't seen it south of the desert, and a fine, soft thread spun from the nests of bird moths that only the rich can afford."

"Moths? Here moths eat clothing, not make thread to weave clothing from." Sonea smiled. "What is the cloth like?"

"Soft but strong. It's usually polished to a shine, and more thread is used to stitch patterns and pictures onto it." Lorandra frowned. "I've heard of women wearing skirts that took years to stitch."

"You've not seen them yourself?"

Lorandra scowled. "Only bird cloth I've seen was worn by the kagar kagar."

Catching a hint of contempt and fear in the woman's eyes and voice, Sonea considered who these "kagar" might be.

"Are they the people who kill anyone possessing magic? Who are magicians themselves?"

Lorandra shot her an unfriendly look. "Yes."

"Why do they kill magicians?"

"Magic is evil."

"But they use it themselves?"

"Their great sacrifice, in order to cleanse our society." There was bitterness in her voice.

"Do you think magic is evil?"

Lorandra shrugged.

"Do you think, with your powers blocked, they'd let you live if you went back?"

The woman turned to regard Sonea.

"Planning to send me back?"

Sonea decided not to answer.

Lorandra sighed. "No. They aim to purge magic from our bloodlines. It wouldn't matter that I'm too old to bear children. I might teach the evil to others."

"It is incredible. They must have no enemies to defend themselves against. What of neighbouring lands? Do they forbid magic, too?"

The woman shook her head. "We have no neighbouring lands. The kagar defeated them all a hundred years ago."

"All of them? How many were there?" of them? How many were there?"

"Hundreds. Most of them small, but together they make your Allied Lands look tiny." Lorandra smiled grimly. "You had best hope they never look across the desert, or Sachaka will be the least of your worries."

Sonea felt her stomach clench, but then she remembered how Lorandra had not known that Kallen would be able to read her mind. Lorandra's people don't have black magic, and they are actively trying to purge the magic from their bloodlines. Lorandra's people don't have black magic, and they are actively trying to purge the magic from their bloodlines. And yet they had conquered all their neighbours. And yet they had conquered all their neighbours.