The Black Mage: Apprentice (10 page)

Fury flared in the non-heir's eyes. "When you
are ready to apologize," he said tersely, "you can come find
me."

Before I could take one step the prince was
already gone.

The next couple of weeks flew by, though they
certainly weren't without their awkward silences and angry pauses
on the part of my two biggest fans. The prince and his mentor
continued to ignore me during our practices. I quickly got
accustomed to feeling a sense of shame whenever I was in the same
room as them. It was particularly excruciating during our after
dinner practice when we performed our pain castings… but somehow I
managed to shut out that feeling as the days went on.

Instead of letting their cold shoulders get
to me, I was more than happy to spend time with Ella. My friend and
I didn't have a curfew or restrictions now that we were
apprentices, so we spent a lot of time wandering the small village
of Sjeka during our free time. Alex somehow managed to get himself
in trouble with Master Joan, so he wasn't able to join us, but my
younger brother Derrick did. He was
supposed
to obey
first-year conduct, but the chance to spend time with his older
sibling was too tempting to ignore. I would have been lying if I
said I minded.

"I don't think I'm good enough," Derrick
confessed on the last evening before solstice. "I'm afraid I'll
disappoint Mother and Father." He swallowed. "And you and
Alex."

"Derrick." I reached out to take my little –
well, not so little anymore - brother by his shoulders. "You can't
– it's not possible. We love you too much to care if you get an
apprenticeship or not."

"But you and Alex-"

I shook my head. "It doesn't matter."

"My brother didn't get one," Ella added,
scooting closer on our bench. We had picked one overlooking the
Sjeka coast – far enough away from the Academy that no one would
spot Derrick, but close enough that we wouldn't get lost in total
darkness on our return to the Academy. "I still think the world of
him." She snorted. "Or I would, if he didn't hound the card tables.
But I still love him."

"But Combat's my dream!" Derrick moaned. "And
everyone is better than me!"

I gave him a small smile. "That's only in
casting."

"But that's the part that matters!"
Desperation was bright in his eyes and my heart lurched. I had been
in his position one year ago. It hurt me to see him look at me with
the same hopelessness I had felt.

"In Ishir I trained with the regiment," I
pointed out. "Every morning we spent two hours training with the
soldiers and knights, not just the mages. The things those men and
women were able to do – it would make anyone proud to come from the
Cavalry or School of Knighthood… I know it's not what you want to
hear, but you don't need magic to be strong, Derrick."

My brother fidgeted with something in his
hand. The odd glint caught my eye and suddenly I laughed.

"Is that…?"

My brother couldn't help smiling. "Yeah."

Ella peered curiously over his head to see
what I was staring at. In my brother's tanned palm was a simple
copper ring – tarnished in spots and not particularly attractive.
It had a thick band with an "R" embedded on its surface.

I had given Derrick that ring years ago. It
was actually my ring, and Alex had one just like it. Our parents
had given them to us on our seventh birthday. Derrick had only been
four years old at the time, and he hadn't quite gotten used to the
fact that Alex and I were twins. He had thought it meant that I
loved Alex more, and it had upset him to no end that I should share
such a shiny trinket with one brother and not the other. Derrick
had cried until I'd finally caved – and so I'd given him my own
ring, telling him that the two rings now belonged to "both of my
favorite
brothers." I hadn't thought much of the ring since,
and I wasn't sure Alex still even had his, but after all this time
Derrick had held onto mine.

I thought of Darren with his cruel older
brother, Prince Blayne. Those two would never be close. On the
other hand, I had a twin who knew me like the back of his hand, and
a younger brother who could make me laugh or cry with the simplest
gesture.
I
was the lucky one.

****

"This place doesn't change at all." Alex's
amused voice carried into my room as he opened my chamber door
without warning.

"Alex!" Ella shrieked. "Get.
Out
!" She
grabbed the nearest book off my nightstand and lobbed it at my
twin's head.

"What are you…" My brother flushed a very
deep shade of red as he realized he had walked in on us getting
ready for the solstice ball. Though we were already in our
underdress, it was still inappropriate. "I'm-" The book hit his
face with a loud slap and he ducked out of the room.

"He is lucky I didn't cast fire!" she
muttered darkly.

I snickered. "I think he's lucky
regardless."

"Oh you!" Ella punched me lightly in the arm.
"You are not helping at all!"

"Well it
has
been months." I sighed.
"I think it's time the two of you moved past what happened. I don't
like walking on eggshells."

She gave me a look. "You are one to talk. Has
Ian said a full sentence to you since the mock battle?"

I cringed. "Fine. How about we both put the
past in the past tonight? You don't have to accept my brother's
apology – just talk to him."

"And you'll apologize to Ian instead of
moping around like a beaten lamb?"

I raised a brow. "You've been waiting to say
that one, haven't you?"

She grinned. "Perhaps." The girl pointed to
the back of my bodice – which was in a shameless state of disarray.
"You haven't been practicing like I told you."

I looked at the ground, guiltily. Practicing
courtly manners and learning how to dress like a highborn had been
last on my list of things to do.

"One day I won't be able to help you," she
teased. "And then what will you do?"

"Wear my mage's robes?"

"Ha."

****

I had told myself over and over that I would
fulfill my promise to Ella. And I really had intended to keep it.
But that was before I had entered the grand atrium and seen the two
of them dancing. Amidst a sparkling purple glow of the Alchemy
first-years' lights, Lynn looked even more a queen than Priscilla
in her blood red dress. Lynn's hair was done neatly in a simple bun
with two strands falling neatly in front, and she wore a dress of
sparkling green and silver trim that glowed like magic every time
she spun.

Beside her Ian looked every part the
nobleman, and even though I knew he had spent his childhood working
for blacksmith parents, it was hard to believe he had not been
raised at court. He looked so carefree and charming with his sandy
blonde curls just slightly swaying as his laughing green eyes lit
up the room.

I couldn't do it. Not while he looked so
happy. I wouldn't ruin his evening by dredging up the past. He and
Lynn deserved to enjoy their night without an obnoxious, hardheaded
mentee getting in the way.

"Ryiah, come meet my friends!" Derrick came
running up to me and grabbed my arm, dragging me away from the
dance floor and onto one of the benches I had sat with my own group
last year.

The same place I met Ian
. I bit my lip
and focused on the introduction – giving my little brother and his
first-year colleagues the attention they deserved. I had only meant
to stay a few minutes before finding Ella and Alex… but those
first-years were so excited to have an apprentice to answer all
their questions - especially one so infamous as me - that they kept
me long after I had intended to leave.

Before I knew it Constable Barrius was coming
around to send first-years on their way. He caught sight of me and
recognition sputtered on his face. "You." I was the girl the staff
would never forget, and how could they? I had destroyed an entire
building.

I paled as the man's scowl deepened.

"You want to know who got stuck cleaning up
that mess after your trials, girl?"

"I am-"

"Don't apologize, apprentice, the man is
merely jealous he hadn't thought of it sooner."

I whirled around to find a chuckling Sir
Piers. All of the Academy staff had been present for the ball, but
I hadn't had the chance to catch up with any of them, least of all
my favorite teacher.

"Sir Piers!" I wasn't sure whether it was
appropriate to hug the older, dark-skinned commander but I found
myself doing so anyway. Out of all my teachers, he had always been
the nicest – despite his no-nonsense ways and loud demeanor. He
alone had stood up for me against Priscilla when she had bullied me
in class. The man had congratulated me after the naming ceremony
too – but I'd been so busy with my newfound apprenticeship I hadn't
had a chance to thank him.

The two of us exchanged amiable greetings as
the constable left in a huff. Piers asked me how my training was
going as an apprentice and if I liked the desert, and I asked him
about his newest batch of first-years. I found I liked the trainer
even more; now that I was no longer his student he opened up to me
about what it really was like to teach the Academy students and his
life as a former commander of the King's Regiment, the personal
guard to the Crown.

Eventually we were forced to part ways – the
rest of the staff and students had long since departed - and the
man winked at me. "This is your last night of fun, apprentice. I
suggest you grab that troublemaker friend of yours - Ella, I
believe - and the two of you share a good laugh. Once you get back
to that desert the hard part begins."

I thanked him and promised to do just
that.

****

I couldn't find Ella anywhere. She wasn't in
her chambers and she wasn't in any of the training rooms. The
palace bell had just tolled eleven, and after ten minutes I decided
to go find my twin instead. Alex was missing as well.
Well,
I
had
told her to talk to him
…

I considered searching for Lynn and Loren,
but the first would inevitably be found with Ian, and the latter…
well, as friendly as he and I were, it was always around others and
we had never had that much to talk about on our own.

Fine, I'll just go to bed early!
I
shut my door and collapsed on my four-poster bed – dress and all -
and then proceeded to stare at the ceiling.

I wanted to sleep.

But I was too restless.

I tossed and I turned but it was no use. An
hour passed by and it wasn't getting any better. Scouring my
nightstand I found one of the small vials I kept packed in my bag.
A sleeping draught. It wasn't the ideal solution – usually
Alchemy's potions left me queasy - but I did not want to spend the
next day falling off my horse on the long trek to Ishir because I
hadn't gotten enough rest.

I swallowed the bitter liquid in one long
gulp and then lay back down on my bed as I waited for it to take
effect.

Everything became quiet, heavy, rhythmic. My
eyelids fluttered shut and I was only vaguely aware that I was
still wearing my dress…

The loud clatter of a fallen sconce jerked me
awake.

I sat up, suddenly dizzy. Someone in the
hallway outside was cursing.
Had they no respect for the
sleeping?
I tried to lay back down, only to be awaken again by
a second clatter as the person tried to replace the sconce and
dropped it again.

I stumbled out of my room with a purpose. The
chamber door spun as I swung it open and tottered out into the
hallway. The Academy's illustrious blue fire torches lit up the
passage enough to see door panels, but I still had to squint to see
in the darkness.

"Get some decency!" I scolded the shadow.
"Some of us are trying to-" I yawned. "-Sleep in peace."

"Ryiah, is that you?"

"What of it?" I grumbled. The contents of my
stomach came riding up.
Oh no
. I clutched my ribs. I should
have known better than to take a sleeping draught on an empty
stomach.

I quickly sat down. My head was spinning.
Everything was spinning. I did
not
feel good.

"Are you
sick
?" The shadow approached
and I saw hazel-green eyes. It was all I needed. I burst into
hysterical laughter and then immediately regretted it.
Could
this night get any worse?

"Where's Lynn?"

Ian started and then shook his head,
frowning. "You should go to bed, Ryiah."

A wave of nausea hit me and I swallowed hard.
I needed to say something first. "I should have fought you
outright," I croaked. "I'm sorry for that day in the desert."

Ian sighed, and the next thing I knew he was
sitting down next to me on the cold marble floor. There was silence
for a moment - just the sound of quiet hearts beating as we leaned
against the wall, shoulder-to-shoulder in shadows.

"I've been acting like a jealous fool," he
said abruptly. "You have nothing to apologize for Ryiah."

"But I-"

"You did what needed to be done."

Wait. Did he say…?
I turned to face
the third-year. "Did you say jealous?"

The mentor regarded me grimly. "We are Combat
mages, Ry. You wanted to win, and I understand why you did what you
did." He exhaled softly. "When we were in that cave… I guess I just
thought things had changed between us." He played with a button on
his sleeve. "But then I realized it was just a part of your plan,
and that you had let
him
talk you into it. I wasn't mad that
you had done it but…"

The third-year swallowed. My eyes fell
involuntarily to his well-tanned hands, so big and strong. I
remembered when he had reached out to touch my face.