Sunstone - Dishonor's Bane (Book 2) by Guy Antibes

men. That’s not to say there are no female sorcerers. I personally believe that there might be thousands of them among us. As far as the Emperor and Guild are concerned, women have no place in the hierarchy of magic practitioners. It’s all nonsense, of course. The best healers I’ve ever seen were women. But they are persecuted and in some prefectures if women sorcerers are found, they can be put to death. Not many practice openly except in remote villages.”
    That made sense to Shiro, but the ignoring of simple fact by the Guild didn’t. “Is it possible to change the Guild’s minds?”
    Boreko shook his head. “No. The Guild would have to admit women and that would dilute their power. Don’t bring it up. Even thinking such a thing could get you reassigned. A broken bone was all it took for Desiku. Some similar gaffe is all it would take. Would you like to spend the rest of your life as a stableboy in some obscure guild house?”
    Shiro contemplated Boreko’s words. “It doesn’t seem very fair to dismiss someone just for what they believe. Perhaps running a stable might be preferable to being culled.”
    “You speak like a teenager, Shiro. Start thinking like an adult. We live in a structured world and if we don’t like the structure, it is we who will suffer.” Boreko said. The man shivered at his own advice.
    Shiro had to smile. “A teenager, eh? I remember coming here months ago and you thought I was in my thirties.”
    Boreko laughed and then turned serious. “That doesn’t dismiss the fact that you are still convinced that you can rebel against the Guild.”  He rubbed his head and said, “Now let us talk about fragmented focus. It is a little-practiced talent among most sorcerers. I’ll bet there are only a handful in the Guild headquarters who know how to do it. The talent is required for survival in battle. You need to split your mind into pieces. You start doing it on your own, and then you will enhance it with your power. It is openly taught to battle sorcerers as a defensive measure when fighting other sorcerers.”
    “Battling sorcerers? Does that ever happen?”
    Boreko nodded. “In feudal wars between the lords. Sorcerers can attack your mind. If you fragment your focus, then only part of your consciousness will be affected. When you enhance your powers, it increases your focus on what you are doing. That was why your attention was restricted to Desiku’s actions and it took Tishima’s piercing spell to disturb you.”
    “You mean Tishima did it on purpose?”
    “Of course. Desiku wasn’t affected by the call and it was Tishima’s attempt, if you will, to end the fight.”
    Shiro rubbed his wrist. “A painful way to stop the duel.”
    “And so, Desiku paid for it with his banishment.”
    Even his ‘friends’ had toyed with him. Shiro felt anger take over. “I’m not happy.”
    “There is no requirement for you to be happy about it. Desiku and Tishima paid mightily for damaging your wrist. They didn’t want to be accused of favoritism. I’ve told you enough times that we do things we may not like if they have a purpose to keep hostile eyes from looking in our direction.”
    Shiro’s anger transitioned to reflection, now that he knew the entire picture. His misgivings about his four mentors, Mistokko, Boreko, Tishima and Desiku, faded away. They had dragged him into their little cabal for his own protection and, like it or not, he would have to help them as they had offered to help him.
    “Now here are some exercises that I want you to perform. Knowing you, fragmented focus will soon be second nature.”
    Shiro went from moving his eyebrows independently of each other to being able to think in three streams of thought in a few weeks. He couldn’t do much more than channel his thoughts, but he could do it.
    “Excellent, Shiro. Now we will enhance your thoughts so you can expand your mind in an instant. Let me teach you a spell to get you started. With practice you’ll