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looked at Lorkin and shrugged. “The task found me,” he said. “I sometimes wish it hadn’t, but then I find some new piece of information and,” he smiled wryly, “I remember how important it is that the past isn’t lost. History has lessons to teach us, and perhaps one day I’ll stumble on some secret that will benefit us.”
    “Like black magic?” Lorkin suggested.
    Dannyl grimaced. “Maybe something that doesn’t involve as much risk and sacrifice.”
    Lorkin felt his heart skip. “Another sort of defensive magic? That would be a great thing to find.”
It would not only free the Guild from having to use black magic, but could either provide a defence against the Sachakans, or persuade the Sachakans to give up black magic and slavery and join the Allied Lands. If I found such a thing … but this is Dannyl’s idea, not mine …
    Dannyl shrugged. “I might find nothing at all. But to find the truth, record and preserve it, is achievement enough, for me.”
    Well … if Dannyl doesn’t care … would he mind if someone else searched for an alternative to black magic? Would he mind if I did?
A tingle of hope ran down Lorkin’s spine.
    Lorkin took a deep breath. “Could … could I look at the work you’ve done so far?”
    The older magician’s eyebrows rose. “Of course. I’ll be interested to hear what you think of it. You might notice something I haven’t.” He looked down the street, then shrugged. “Why don’t you join Tayend and me for dinner? Afterwards I’ll show you my notes and sources, and explain the gaps in history I’m trying to plug.”
    Lorkin found himself nodding. “Thank you.” If he went back to his room in the Guild, he’d only end up alternating between brooding over Beriya and telling himself his life was better without her. “I’m sure it’ll be fascinating.”
    Dannyl gestured toward his house, a grand two-storey building he had rented since retiring from the position of Guild Ambassador to Elyne. Though it was known that Dannyl and Tayend were more than mere friends, little was said about it these days. Dannyl had chosen to live in the city rather than the Guild grounds because, as he said, “it’s an agreement of sorts: the Guild pretends blindness, so we give them nothing to see.”
    “Do you need to return to the Guild first?”
    Lorkin shook his head. “No, but if you need to give Tayend and the servants some warning—”
    “No, they won’t mind. Tayend brings unexpected visitors to the house all the time. Our servants are used to it.”
    He beckoned and started toward his home, and Lorkin fell into step beside him.

CHAPTER 3
SAFE PLACES, DANGEROUS DESTINATIONS
    H is desk is always such a mess,” Tayend told Lorkin. As Dannyl frowned at the scholar, Tayend grinned, the few lines crossing his forehead smoothing out.
Nobody would guess that he’s more than forty years old
, Dannyl thought.
I’m turning into a wrinkly skeleton while Tayend …
Tayend looked better than ever, he noted. He’d put on a little weight, but it suited him.
    “It only
looks
disorganised,” Dannyl said, not for the first time. “
I
know where everything is.”
    Tayend chuckled. “I’m sure it’s just a ploy to ensure nobody can steal his research and ideas.” He grinned at Lorkin. “Now, don’t let him bore you to death. If you feel your mind is starting to shrivel up, come talk to me, and we’ll open another bottle of wine.”
    Lorkin smiled and nodded. “I will.”
    The scholar waved a hand in farewell, then effected a jaunty walk as he left the room. Dannyl resisted rolling his eyes and sighing, and turned back to Sonea’s son. The young man was eyeing the piles of documents and books on Dannyl’s desk doubtfully.
    “There is order to the madness,” Dannyl assured him. “It starts at the back. That first pile contains everything relating to the earliest records of magic. It’s full of descriptions of places like the Tomb of White Tears, and a lot of conjecture