“And the fact that he’s associated with a Dark mage?”

“In my opinion, that’s the strongest reason to recommend it. The Keepers are the only arm of the Council who deal with Dark mages on a regular basis. Firsthand knowledge of Dark culture without being a Dark mage would be a selling point to them. If Variam can convince them he’s what he says he is, there’s a good chance they’ll give him the chance to prove himself.”

I thought for a minute. “Did you have someone in mind?”

“I gave Variam the contact details of a Keeper who I think might be a good match. The decision has to be his, of course.”

I turned it over in my mind and shrugged. “Well, I still think it still sounds weird, but I guess it could work. What about Anne?”

“Anne is going to be more difficult.”

“Why?”

“Well for one thing, she’s a life mage.”

I frowned. “Why’s that a problem?”

“Because life mages can do more than heal.”

“They can do the opposite, I know.” I’d seen Anne do it, though only twice. “I don’t see how it matters. Pretty much every mage can kill you one way or another.”

“From your point of view, perhaps,” Dr. Shirland said. “But most mages are rarely threatened, and when they are it’s usually in a way they can understand and deal with. And if they’re an elemental mage, then of course they have their shields. A powerful protection, at least against most things.”

“Life magic goes through shields?”

“As if they weren’t there. I’ve never seen it myself but I’ve spoken to people who have. Just imagine how frightening that would be. Always to have been in a privileged position, safe and powerful, and to have that suddenly taken away. A life mage who can touch another person can do literally anything they want to them.”

“But if you’re looking for an apprentice—” I began, then stopped.

Dr. Shirland nodded. “Typically in a master-apprentice relationship, all the power lies with the master. But with a life apprentice, every time the master comes within arm’s reach he places his life in her hands.”

I thought about it, then shook my head in frustration. “It still doesn’t make sense. Okay, I can see why that would make some mages jumpy, especially the paranoid ones. But they can’t be like that all the time. I mean, mages get life magic treatments, don’t they? They have to let life mages get close sometimes.”

“Ones they trust.”

“And they wouldn’t trust her,” I said with a sigh. Now I saw what she was getting at. “Because of Sagash and Jagadev and the murders last year.”

“Yes,” Dr. Shirland said. “They’d consider her—potentially, at least—touched by darkness.”

I brooded over that for a moment. “Could you change their minds?” I said.

“No.”