“Of course,” the tall magician replied. “I would love to.”
25
A Change Of Plans
The sun hovered above the distant towers of the Palace like an enormous magician’s globe light, sending long stripes of orange light into the gardens.
As they walked along the path, Sonea was quiet. Brooding. Rothen knew she had guessed the intention behind the excursions he had been taking her on, and was mentally hardening herself until no sight could tempt her to stay in the Guild.
He smiled. Though she might be determined to dismiss everything she saw, Rothen intended to show her as much as he could of the Guild. She needed to see what she was rejecting.
Surprised by her continuing determination to leave, Rothen had found himself pondering his own life. Like all children of the Houses, he had been tested for magical ability at about the age of ten. He remembered how excited his parents had been when potential had been found. They told him he was lucky and special. From that day, he had looked forward to joining the Guild.
Becoming a magician had never been a possibility for Sonea. She had been taught to see them as an enemy to be blamed and hated. In the face of her upbringing, it was easy to see why she considered joining the Guild a betrayal of the people she had grown up with.
But it didn’t have to be. If he could convince her that she could eventually use her powers to help her people, she might decide to stay.
Reaching the end of the University, Rothen turned right. As they passed the gardens on the other side of the building, the gong rang, marking the end of classes. Knowing this was usually followed by novices rushing from the University to their quarters, Rothen had chosen a longer, but quieter, route to the Healers’ Quarters.
He was looking forward to this excursion. Healing was the noblest of the magicians’ skills, and the only magic which Sonea appeared to value. Knowing that the Warrior arts were unlikely to impress her, he had taken her to see them first. However, she had been more unsettled by the demonstration than he had expected. Despite the teacher’s explanation of the rules and protections used, she had flinched away from the combatants as soon as they began their mock battle.
Though Dannyl’s mind-printing experiment had demonstrated one use of Alchemy, it was, in reality, only a hobby. If he was going to impress her, he needed to show her something that was more useful to the city. He hadn’t yet decided what it should be.
As they neared the circular Healer’s Quarters, Rothen glanced at Sonea again. Though her expression was guarded, her eyes were bright with interest. He stopped before the entrance.
“This is the second Healers’ Quarters to be built,” he told Sonea. “The first was quite luxurious. Unfortunately, our predecessors experienced problems with a few wealthy patients who assumed they could buy permanent residency. When the University and the other Guild buildings were constructed, the old Healers’ Quarters was demolished and this replaced it.”
Though the exterior was attractive, the Healers’ building was not as impressive as the University. Moving through the open doors, Rothen led Sonea into a small, undecorated entrance hall. A fresh, medicinal smell permeated the air.
Two Healers, a middle-aged man and a younger woman, looked up as Rothen and Sonea entered. The man regarded Sonea dubiously and turned away, but the young woman smiled and came forward to greet them.
“Greetings, Lord Rothen,” she said.
“Greetings, Lady Indria,” he replied. “This is Sonea.”
Sonea nodded. “Honored to meet you.”
Indria inclined her head. “A pleasure to meet you, too, Sonea.”
“Indria will be giving us a tour of the Healers’ Quarters,” Rothen explained.
The Healer smiled at Sonea. “I hope you find my tour interesting.” She looked at Rothen. “Shall we begin?”
Rothen nodded.
“This way, then.”
Leading them to a pair of doors, Indria willed them open and ushered Rothen and Sonea into a wide, curved corridor. They passed several open doors, and Sonea took the opportunity to glance into the rooms beyond.
“The lower floor of the building is dedicated to treating and housing patients,” Indria told them. “We can’t expect sick people to climb up and down stairs, can we?” She smiled at Sonea, who managed a bemused shrug in reply.
“The upper floor has rooms for lessons and for the Healers who live here. Most of us live in this building rather than in the Magicians’ Quarters. It allows us to respond quickly to an emergency.” She gestured to her left. “The patients’ rooms are those which have nice views of the gardens or the forest.” She waved to the right. “The interior rooms are our Treatment Rooms. Come, I’ll show you one.”
Following the Healer through one of the open doors, Rothen watched as Sonea examined the room. It was small, containing only a bed, a cupboard and several wooden chairs.
“We do minor healing and simple treatments here,” Indria told Sonea. She opened the cupboard to reveal several rows of bottles and boxes. “Any medicines we can prepare quickly or mix beforehand are kept in easy reach. We have other rooms upstairs where more complicated preparations are made.”
Leaving the room again, Indria led them to a passage entrance next to the Treatment Room. She pointed to a door at its end. “At the center of the building are Healing Rooms,” she said. “I’ll just check this one’s empty.”
Hurrying down the passage, she peered through a glass panel on the door. Turning to look back at them, she nodded.
“It’s free,” she told them. “Come in.”
Moving down the passage, Rothen smiled as Indria held the door open for him. The room they stepped into was larger than the first they had seen. A narrow bed stood in the center and the walls were lined with cupboards.
“This is where we perform major Healing and surgery,” Indria told them. “No one is allowed in here during treatment except Healers—and the patient, of course.”
Sonea’s eyes roved around the room. She moved to a gap in the far wall. Indria followed.
“The medicine preparation rooms are right above us,” the Healer explained, pointing up into the alcove. Sonea leaned forward and peered up to the room above. “We have Healers who specialize in making medicines. They lower freshly made mixtures down these chutes as we need them.”
Her curiosity satisfied, Sonea moved back to Rothen’s side. Indria moved to a cupboard. She opened it and took out one of the bottles.
“We have the greatest store of knowledge on medicine in the world here in the Guild,” she said with unconcealed pride. “We don’t just cure people with our Healing power. If we did, we wouldn’t be able to keep up with the demand for our services.” She shrugged. “Not that we do anyway. There just aren’t enough Healers.”
Opening a drawer, she pulled out a small piece of white material. Turning to Sonea, she paused, then looked up at Rothen questioningly. Realizing what she was going to do, he shook his head. Indria bit her lip, looked at Sonea, then down at the objects in her hands.
“Ah, perhaps we’ll skip this part of the tour.”
Sonea eyed the bottle, her eyes afire with curiosity. “What part?”
Indria turned the bottle so Sonea could see the label. “It’s an anesthetic cream,” she explained. “I usually spread a little over a visitor’s palms to demonstrate the potency of our medicine.”
Sonea frowned. “Anesthetic?”
“It makes your skin go numb so you can’t feel anything. The effect wears off after an hour.”
Sonea’s eyebrows rose, then she shrugged and held out her hand. “I’ll try it.”
Catching his breath, Rothen stared at Sonea in surprise. This was remarkable. Where had her distrust of magicians gone? Pleased, he watched as Indria unscrewed the bottle and poured a little of the paste onto the square of material.