The Black Mage: Apprentice (36 page)

Still, it was meant to be an evening of
festivity, not solace. My brother was one of the best in his year,
and he was not a fool. He would be smart about any action he took
and I knew he trusted me to do the same. I forced myself to smile
and enjoy the rest of the night.

By the time I finally said my goodbyes and
saddled my horse, it was easily two hours past midnight. I was
fighting sleep and not looking forward to the three-hour trek back
to Ferren's Keep. But if I missed the morning warm ups with the
regiment, Byron would notice, and then I would be stuck cleaning
the armory for the rest of my apprenticeship. So it was one night
without rest, or ten months of polishing armor. I chose the
former.

I just hoped the next day would carry on much
faster than the first.

****

"You feeling alright, Ryiah?"

I just shook my head and then laid it back on
the table while the others continued their morning meal.

"She didn't get any sleep." Ella patted my
back sympathetically. "I don't think it agreed with her."

"Derrick and his friends kept her that late?
That oaf should have sent her on her way after an hour," Alex
declared.

"I wanted to see him," I mumbled without
raising my head. If I did, the room would start to spin and then
I'd be right back where I started.

"A lot of good that did you."

"I only have to get through the rest of
practice and then I'll get to sleep."

"You forgot the armory," Ella reminded
me.

I groaned.
Why did Byron have to hate me
so much?

After the second bell I followed Ella out of
the dining commons to Combat's training grounds with a quick
departing wave to my twin. Ferren's Keep, like the other three
cities we had trained in, was as different as could be. Which
meant, of course, that our training was different as well – though
how just
how
different, I hadn't expected.

First things first, the keep was actually
inside
a giant fortress built into one of the Iron
Mountains. Like Ishir Outpost, the rock city provided a safe refuge
for its inhabitants, but it had the added bonus of a dense forest
and raging river just south of it.

The fortress was as large as the king's
palace in Devon with a similar wall guarding its face. The fortress
hosted row after row of sentry posts and a high tower to its north.
Add to that an endless supply of lookouts and a guard at every
possible entrance to monitor the people's coming and goings and it
was easy to see why our training focused on defense instead of what
we were used to, the attack.

"The balance of power favors the defender."
That was the first thing Commander Nyx said when we arrived. "This
keep is impenetrable so long as our regiment continues to make it
so."

During our non-magic drills, we spent a good
deal of time running back and forth along the narrow sentry wall,
taking turns with our partner as one attempted to scale it while
the other employed various techniques to hold them off.

Those "techniques" had included longbows and
crossbows – the two favorite weapons of the keep's regiment, whose
main role was servicing the wall as a sentry.

We also trained with knives since they were
easy to carry during a climb.

Then we practiced loading and unloading the
heavy catapults, and then took turns aiming heavy piles of rock at
landmarks below.

The last exercise was the worst, I was quick
to discover. I was already so tired from a lack of sleep and the
morning warm-up. By the time we had started the catapults, my arms
were shaking so badly I dropped two large stones I was carrying.
The second time, one landed on my right foot. I spent the rest of
practice limping through my drills. Byron, of course, had deemed my
injury "not serious enough" to warrant a trip to the infirmary.

At the end of practice I chanced a peek under
my boot to see how "serious" my foot really was and shuddered at
the spotted purple and red bruise in its place.

"Where did you get that little nasty
from?"

I turned my head and realized a woman with
short-cropped blonde hair was staring at me and the foot cradled in
my hands. I immediately dropped it. She had steel gray eyes and a
permanent frown. Which meant only one person: Commander Nyx.

I instantly felt myself go red with
embarrassment. The last thing I wanted was the leader of Ferren's
Keep's regiment to consider me soft.

Especially if I wanted a chance of being
offered a post next year.

The commander stepped forward, still
squinting at me. "It was the catapults, wasn't it?"

I nodded mutely.

"If you have time to swing by my chambers
during lunch, I've got some bruise balm for it. I tend to keep some
on hand whenever the squires or apprentice mages are stationed
here. Someone always manages to drop those rocks at least once a
day for the first week or two."

Was she really this nice, or was it a test to
see if I was weak-willed enough to accept her help? I'd heard
rumors about how Nyx got her post… You had to be a very tough sort
of woman to beat out hundreds of other knights for Jerar's highest
position up north.

I decided I didn't want her aid either way.
Alex had helped me that second year back in Ishir, but that had
been for a broken arm - not a bruise. What was Byron always saying?
"Pain is how we build strength." Well, I could certainly use some
after today.

"I'll be just fine, but thank you for the
kind offer."

The woman cracked a toothy smile. "Wise
choice. I've offered it to two others so far and you are the first
to turn me down. I can't respect anyone who coddles
themselves."

A wave of relief washed over me. I would not
be one of those people she marked off her list for potential
service, at least not yet. "Who were the other two?"

She chuckled. "Check the dining commons.
Byron and I have a little game we play every time he brings his
apprentices to my keep. I give him the name of any apprentices
foolish enough to accept the help I offer and then he orders them a
week without rations to help them build their resistance to pain.
It saves my cook's stores as well, so it's win-win."

I was doubly glad I had refused her offer.
One night without sleep and a throbbing foot was bad enough; I did
not need to withstand a week of starvation as well.

"Be sure to tell Byron I refused your offer,
he doesn't like me much," I told her. It was reckless, but I felt a
lit bit braver now that I hadn't fallen for her hoax.

Commander Nyx's eyes crinkled. "He doesn't
like me much either, but his methods work. Have no fear,
apprentice, I'll make sure to put in a good word… What is your
name?"

"Ryiah."

"Well, Ryiah, welcome to Ferren's Keep."

****

In the next couple of days, three more Combat
apprentices went a week without meals as our training got more
intense and they caved to Nyx and Byron's scheme. I had been
delighted, at first, to find out Radley was one of them. But then
he became more nasty than usual and it was even harder to resist
casting him off the steep forest backdrop behind us. I became so
consumed with fighting off my growing dislike for my mentee that I
almost forgot about Darren.

Until
the afternoon I ran into him and
Priscilla arguing quietly outside the men's barracks. The girl was
clutching a letter in one hand and brandishing her fist with the
other. I heard her shout "Shina" before I turned heel and left. I
didn't want to hear anything else. I didn't need to.

When I ran into Darren later that day I
avoided his gaze. I was sad and upset, and I wasn't sure which one
was worse. Depressed that I still wasn't over him?
Or angry that
I really hadn't known him at all?

For a while last year, I had entertained the
notion that maybe the prince did care. I'd told myself his father
forbade him. Threatened his life even. Poor Darren, he'd had no
choice in the matter. He loved me, but he'd been powerless to stop
his family.

But that dream had not reconciled with his
words at the Academy and the fight on the night of Ian's ascension
ceremony. Darren hadn't been afraid to disobey the king then. No,
he had openly fought for the princess he wanted and tried to make
himself his father's heir. That Darren was fearless, and not the
least influenced by what his vile family said.

Seeing Darren's letter from Princess Shinako
only made the truth that much worse.

Between drills, weekly visits to see Derrick,
the occasional armory chore, and all the extra arm-strengthening
lessons I could manage, I quickly lost all track of time. I didn't
really lose track of Darren, but then again that had never been an
option.

As much as I might wish it were.

"I second Eve."

"Darren."

"I also vote for Eve, she did a great job in
Devon."

"Eve for me."

"I nominate Ryiah."

At that I gave Ella a grateful smile. I knew
our fifth year was critical, I knew what it would say if we lost,
but I really,
really
wanted a chance to try. And this was my
last year to do it.

"I second Ryiah." Ray gave me a rueful smile,
perhaps to make up for voting for Eve the year before.

"Well, I vote for Darren," Priscilla said
shrilly. "I will not follow a lowborn."

"We vote with Priscilla. We want the prince."
Merrick and Radley made no attempt to sound partial.

"Ryiah," Alex and all four of his comrades
spoke at once. I grinned. Restoration's pride wasn't at stake the
way it was for Combat so the fifth-years in his faction were more
open to change.

"Ryiah. Give the poor girl a chance. If she
wants to risk commanding this year, it will be her fate on the line
if we lose. All of us know Byron will blame her anyway." Ruth
winked at me from her circle of Alchemy mentors.

The rest of the class spoke out. Eve made a
bold move and took herself out, voting for me in a pleasant twist
of fate. Darren and I were tied… it came down to a third-year boy
in Alchemy.

I stood tall. "You should vote for me because
everyone deserves a chance. That's how we all became apprentices,
isn't it? We were allowed to try… So you should let me try." I
smiled sweetly and the boy blushed.
Beat that, Darren!

Darren stepped forward and said loudly, "You
shouldn't pick Ryiah because she's lowborn and reckless-"

I made a choking sound.

"-And did you hear why the Academy's armory
had to be rebuilt the year before you started? That was because
Ryiah
made a rash decision that brought the whole thing down
and almost killed herself
and
Ray here. The only reason she
didn't lose was because
he
was able to save them. If she
does that this time, who knows what will happen?"

I broke free of Ella's hold. I didn't even
care that all of the mentors' eyes were upon me. I was done trying
to ignore the prince.

I would not let Darren sabotage another part
of my life.

"You and me," I growled, "duel. Pain casting.
Now. Let's see which one of us has more control
then
."

"You know I would win," Darren shot back,
"and at least
I
didn't resort to petty flirtation to sway
someone's vote!"

"Flirtation is hardly the same as
insult!"

"It's not an insult if it's true."

"You called me lowborn and reckless!" I put
my hands on my hips.

Darren raised a brow. "Well, you
were
born in Demsh'aa and that decision
was
reckless."

"You know exactly what you were implying,
Darren, don't you dare try to-"

"I want Eve."

Both of us turned our heads to face the boy
we had been fighting over. We had forgotten about him.

"I want Eve too," another girl from Alchemy
spoke up. "I want to change my vote."

"Both of you are wasting our time. I vote for
Eve as well."

Before my eyes, I watched as the rest of the
mentors turned against Darren and I with the exception of
Priscilla, Ella, Ray, and Alex, who loyally kept their votes. When
it was all said and done, Eve beat out Darren and I for the second
year in a row.

Eve walked over to the both of us. "I don't
want the two of you distracting everyone else from what needs to be
done. Both of you can scout the grounds below the wall. When you
are done, I want you both to report to me and we will station two
of our third-years as sentries in whatever location you deem best.
This way we'll be warned before the mentees arrive and I won't have
the two of you hindering the rest of our planning."

My face fell. "How will we know what to do
during the battle if we spend the whole time before it
scouting?"

"Yes, Eve, how will I know my role if I'm out
counting trees?" Darren's tone was incredulous. "I'm one of the
most valuable people you have!"

"You should have thought about that before
you decided to stage a fight during the middle of our vote." Eve
frowned. "You two will be stationed next to me during the actual
battle. But until then you scout. Understand?"

****

"Have you heard anything yet?"

I glared at Darren. "I thought you were
keeping track of the bell tower."

"I
was
," he snapped, "but you kept
bringing us further into the forest and I can't see it anymore… I
was hoping we'd be able to hear it but-"

I threw down the charcoal I had been using to
map our location. "But what?"

"I think we are too far out."

"You couldn't have mentioned this sooner? How
many tolls do we have left?"

"Just the ten minute warning bell before it
begins."