Prologue

Questions

"Lady Vinara!"

The Healer turned on the spot and found Lord Rothen half-risen from his chair on the Healers' Quarter's corridor, a place he had not left for two days now. She recalled to have heard that his shoulder had been injured during the war but was unsure if it had been treated yet. It was, however, clear that he was not approaching her for that reason now. She had just left Sonea's room.

"Lord Rothen. Shall we talk somewhere quiet?" she asked and lead him to an unoccupied Treatment Room nearby. She offered him a chair, which he gladly accepted. She remained standing, as this conversation was guaranteed to make her uncomfortable. "I am guessing you want to know about Sonea?"

The Alchemist nodded briefly. Vinara sighed. "Of course. You have seen the last fight, haven't you? Then you know that the energy blast of the dying Ichani threw her against the barrier of the Arena." Another nod. "The impact mostly damaged her left side, fractured three ribs and cracked a fourth, her left hand and leg are broken. It appears that her shield failed under the strike and therefore left her exposed to the raw power. She's also heavily concussed, covered in bruises and burns and has barely a spark of power or energy in her body, I don't know when she'll be physically able to wake up."

Rothen considered her words for a moment. "Will she recover?"

"Her injuries will heal eventually, yes."

He frowned. "But…?"

Vinara sighed again. "We're not sure. The barriers of her mind are weak, almost nonexistent. If she wakes up, we don't know in what condition."

"What are you trying to tell me?" He tried to push himself out of the chair but fell back as he put too much weight on his injured arm. He winced and touched the spot reflexively.

"I am trying to tell you that Sonea has been through a lot, and we do not know how that will affect her. But for now, you should take care of yourself." She gave him a stern look to underline her words. "I have to finish my round but I'll send a Healer to do something about your shoulder. Afterwards, you will go home, have a proper meal and then go to bed. If I see you here before at least midday tomorrow, I will send you straight back. You, too, need rest."

She waited until Rothen agreed, then rushed out of the room to find a free Healer. There were a lot of wounded to attend to, most of them magicians who were unable to heal themselves, either because of lack of skill or power. Only few civilians had been hurt, since the Houses had left Imardin as soon as the oncoming attack became public.

Of course, nobody knew about the people from outside the city. Large parts of the slums had been destroyed in the battle. But there was enough to do as things were, and Vinara tried to keep her thoughts occupied.

Turning around a corner, she instructed a young Healer to have a look at Rothen, then continued to try and get a picture of the situation.

When she took her seat in the Administrator's office a few hours later, Lady Vinara did her best to hide her weariness. Against her own advice, she had barely slept in the days since the Invasion, there had simply been too much work to do in the Healers' Quarters. In her colleagues' faces she saw similar exhaustion, and the dread of the topics they had to discuss today. The future of the Guild would likely be decided in the next hours, and it would not be an easy decision.

But there were only three of them tonight, Lord Balkan, Head of Warrior Skills, Lord Osen and Vinara herself. Sarrin, the former Head of Alchemy, had died in the War. While his death was a great loss to the Higher Magicians, for the time being, he was one of many. The period of mourning was to come later. For now, there were too many issues to be cleared up.

"Good evening, everybody," Lord Osen began finally. Lorlen's assistant had quietly taken over the duties of the Administrator until new elections had been held, but it was commonly assumed that he would remain in this position. The young man, too, seemed to have skipped too much sleep.

"Let us not waste any time, I think all of us will be glad to find some quiet as soon as we are finished here. We have gathered tonight to discuss how the Guild should be lead in the future. But first, I would like to ask Lady Vinara about Sonea's condition?"

Vinara nodded and took a moment to find the right words. "She is stable for now, and we have her injuries under control. But she has lost a lot of energy and blood and we cannot imagine the impact the events must have had on her, she might not be herself anymore. At the moment, all we can do is keep her alive and hope that she will eventually recover."

"When she does, what will we do?", Lord Balkan asked. There was nothing to be done about the fact that Sonea was a convicted criminal who had defied her sentence by returning to Kyralia, even although she had saved all of the Allied Lands from the threatening Ichani rule.

"We certainly cannot send her back to Sachaka. Even if she were in the condition to survive that, she is also our greatest chance against future threats. Besides, she told the truth," Osen added, knowing that Sonea had still practised black magic, which was punishable by death.

"It will be difficult for the people to accept her again. If she stays and takes the position as a black magician, she will have a hard time making it a strong and respected one," Vinara remarked. The two men nodded in agreement. But they could do nothing right now, and they were all too aware of it. For a moment, they sat in silence, then Balkan asked the question they had all expected and dreaded at the same time:

"What about Akkarin?"