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liquid language of their homeland. Another novice entered the room—a Kyralian boy with dark circles under his eyes. Sitting down, he remained silent, rigidly staring at his desk.
    There was something strange about this one. She could sense an aura of magic about him, too, but it pulsed erratically, sometimes strong, sometimes fading beyond detection. Not wanting to upset him any further by her staring, she looked away. Until the novices had achieved both First and Second Levels of Control, she might sense all kinds of strange things from them.
    A laugh outside the doorway caught her attention before she could start reading again. This time five novices filed into the room, leaving only Regin missing. Without a figure of authority to watch them, the novices lounged around, sitting on their desks and talking in little groups. Her senses buzzed with their magical presences.
    No one approached Sonea. She was both relieved and disappointed. They didn’t know what to expect from her, she reasoned, so they avoided her. She would have to make the first attempt to be friendly. If she didn’t, then they might decide she didn’t want to mix with them.
    The pretty Elyne girl sat nearby, rubbing her temples. Remembering how Control lessons had given Rothen headaches, Sonea wondered if this girl might appreciate a little sympathy. Slowly, trying to look confident, she rose and moved across the room to the girl’s table.
    “It isn’t easy, is it?” Sonea ventured.
    The girl’s eyes lifted to hers in surprise, then she shrugged and looked back down at her table. When no reply came, Sonea began to suspect, with a growing sickness in her stomach, that the girl was ignoring her.
    “I don’t like her,” the girl said suddenly, in a strong Elyne accent.
    Sonea blinked in puzzlement. “Like who?”
    “Lady Kinla,” the girl said irritably. She pronounced the name as “Keenlar.”
    “The one teaching you Control? Hmmm, that
would
make it hard.”
    “It’s not that Lady Kinla’s a bad person,” the girl sighed. “It’s just that I don’t want her in my mind. She’s so…” The girl’s red curls swayed as she shook her head.
    The seat in front of the Elyne girl was empty. Sonea lowered herself into it and turned to face the girl.
    “You don’t want her to see some things in your mind?” Sonea prompted. “Things that aren’t wrong or bad, but things you don’t want just any person seeing?”
    “Yes, that’s it,” the girl looked up, her eyes wide and haunted, “but I have to let her see them, don’t I?”
    Sonea frowned. “No, you don’t have to…well, I don’t know exactly what you want to keep from her, but…well…those things
can
be hidden.”
    The girl was staring at Sonea now.
    “How?”
    “You imagine a kind of doorway and put them behind it,” Sonea explained. “Lady Kinla will probably see what you’ve done but she won’t try to get to them just as Rothen didn’t try to get to mine.”
    The girl’s eyes widened further still. “Lord Rothen taught you Control? He was in your
mind?
” she gasped.
    “Yes.” Sonea nodded.
    “But he’s a
man.
”
    “Well…he taught me. Is that why you have a lady teacher? Do you have to be taught by a woman?”
    “Of
course.
” The girl was staring at her in horror.
    Sonea shook her head slowly. “I didn’t know. I don’t see how it would make any difference being taught by a male or female magician. Perhaps…” She frowned. “If I couldn’t have hidden away all my secret thoughts it would have been better to have a woman teach me.”
    The girl had pulled away from Sonea a little. “It would be wrong for a girl of our age to share her mind with a man.”
    Sonea shrugged. “It’s just minds. It’s like talking, but quicker. There’s nothing wrong with
talking
to a man, is there?”
    “No…”
    “You just don’t talk about certain things.” Sonea gave her a meaningful look.
    A slow smile spread across the girl’s face. “No…except on