The Black Mage: Apprentice (9 page)

I sighed and put my arm through his. "Then
you most definitely have the pleas-" I froze mid-sentence as I
noticed the couple descending the steps below us. Lynn, looking
delicate and lovely, was being escorted by a certain curly-haired
third-year with laughing hazel-green eyes.
Ian
.

My heart caught in my throat. I didn't
realize I had stopped moving until Alex was waving his hand in my
face.

"Ry?" My brother tilted his head to peer at
me quizzically. "What's wrong? You look as if you've swallowed a
bug."

I faked a smile. "No, I just spotted Lynn…
and Ian." I tried to say it casually but I was pretty sure my voice
squeaked near the end.

"Oh right." Alex nodded. "The third-years
from your faction. Do you want us to go catch up to them? It's a
long walk to the regiment's ceremonial hall, it'd be nice to have
some company."

I started to protest but my brother was
already off, dragging me in his wake.

As soon she spotted me my mentor waved and
pulled on Ian's arm to wait for us. "Ryiah," she said cheerfully,
"I am so happy to see you are feeling better! I wanted to let you
know there are no hard feelings for what happened on the
battlefield…"

I could not look at Ian.

"…You've got to do whatever is necessary to
win." She giggled. "I guess I should be happy it happened to me in
the beginning. Ian told me he got pounded pretty badly in those
caves, can you imagine?"

My face was aflame and I felt like vomiting.
I was holding onto Alex's arm to steady myself.

I forced myself to look at the curly-haired
third-year who hadn't spoken a word yet. "How are you feeling,
Ian?"

Indifferent green eyes met my own gray-blue
ones. "Fine."

An awkward silence followed and Alex finally
broke it – only to make things worse.

"Say, Ian, I don't think I've met your
enchanting lady this evening? Who might she be, and is she
taken?"

Ian's eyes fell away from me and he smiled at
my brother. "Lynn is Ryiah's mentor. And she is taken." He reached
down to take the third-year's hand in his own and brought it to his
lips with a light kiss. "After suffering three years of my charm,
Lynn has finally allowed me to court her."

My twin gave a dramatic sigh. "What a shame.
The good ones are always taken."

A huge wave of jealousy had reared its ugly
head and was raging inside my throat. Ian and Lynn?
Ian
and
Lynn
?
What about Ian and I?
I remained unable to
speak for the rest of our walk to the hall, and as soon as we
reached it I immediately parted ways with the third-year couple,
citing some made-up excuse about finding my seat at the grand
table.

I was so consumed with avoiding Ian and Lynn
that I didn't even notice Darren and Priscilla standing right
nearby.

"Ryiah." The second-year girl stopped me
coldly in my tracks. "Ryiah's brother."

Alex gave the girl an incredulous look. "Well
hello to you, too. And Darren." His lip curled. He didn't like
Priscilla but he loathed the prince. The two of them had clashed
last year over a misunderstanding between Darren and I.

The non-heir ignored my brother and met my
eyes instead, smiling. "Hello Ryiah, are you ready to be the center
of the masters' toasts tonight?"

I should have smiled back, or said something
witty, but as I looked to Darren all I could see was Ian in the
caves. Ian touching my face – about to say… Something. He had
looked at me so tenderly. For a moment I had thought he'd been
about to tell me… It didn't matter now. He hated me. I could tell
from the way he looked at me.

It was Darren's fault. And it was mine for
listening to him… but I wasn't in the mood to acknowledge
that
.

I didn't answer and Darren's brow furrowed.
Good
. Beside him Priscilla looked pleased by my reaction.
I didn't do that for you
, I thought sourly. The couple
departed.

For just a moment Darren turned his head back
around to stare at me but I avoided looking at him as I took my
seat beside Alex.

****

"Tonight we celebrate the incredible prowess
of our mentees. This is the first time in a decade that we have had
the second - and fourth-year apprentices win one of our mock
battles. I take this as a sign of great potential to come – and I
hope all of you will keep Ishir Outpost in mind after you have
taken up your mage's robes." Commander Ama looked out at the crowd,
beaming.

"That said, there are two apprentices that
stood out in particular for their performance. Never have two
second-years been able to single-handedly accomplish what it
usually takes a whole team to do… They both practiced advanced
levels of pain casting with enough control to save their squad. I
would like to toast Apprentice Ryiah for this huge victory, and
Prince Darren even more so for his excellent command. May great
things come of you both."

I held my glass up and accepted the toast
bitterly. My victory had come at the cost of a friendship. I swore
I would never make the same mistake twice.

****

"He always did like her best." The
good-humored remark came from Alex to no one in particular as I
shrieked, dismounting from my saddle to race across the Academy
field to a thirteen-year-old boy with blonde curls and lively blue
eyes.

"Derrick!"

"Ry!" My younger brother dropped the shield
he had been holding and ran at me - the two of us colliding in a
hard embrace. I immediately started crying: I hadn't seen him in
months and before that it had been a whole year apart.

"I can't believe you're here!" Derrick
wheezed. "This place is so much harder than I thought!" He snapped
his finger to show me how he cast and I only cried harder. The last
time I had seen him he hadn't even known he had magic.

I blinked. Was it just me, or had Derrick's
hands gotten a lot larger? And what about his arms? Was he taller
too? "You're huge!" I crowed. "How did you go from looking like me
to Alex in a couple months?" It was no secret Alex put on muscle a
lot easier than I – even if I was in Combat and trained my body a
whole lot harder.

"First-year! What are you doing? You heard
Master Barclae:
no talking to the apprentices!
"

Derrick cringed. "I hate Sir Piers," he
muttered, only low enough for me to hear.

I wiped my tears away, laughing. "I'll find
you later – meet me by the stables after your dinner?"

My young brother eagerly nodded and I left
the field, giving Sir Piers a gallant wave. The commander squinted
into the distance and as soon as he recognized me he grinned.

"Welcome back,
apprentice
!"

****

They showed us to our chambers and I couldn't
stop staring. After the end-of-year trials we had departed almost
immediately with the apprentices to Ishir Outpost… Now, we had two
months to reside at the Academy, only instead of the overcrowded
barracks we had paradise.

As an apprentice we were given all the
accommodations a lowly first-year lacked. Private rooms with the
softest sheets, personal fires, a maid, and even an overhanging
balcony with a view of the Sjeka coastline: jagged cliffs and the
white, foaming waters below. The bedposts were carved from rich
cherry wood and the cold marble floor was covered in silky furs
from the white snow cats of the north.

As I wandered about my chambers I found an
interconnected alcove with a tub for bathing and a basin for my
hands. In each drawer of a well-made cabinet were freshly pressed
cloths for drying and additional blankets for cold winter nights.
There was already a small shelf with several books for study and a
large chaise for lounging.

"Try not to look so lowborn, Ryiah."
Priscilla's cutting remark broke through my reverie.

She and one of the fourth-year girls stood in
the hallway peering into my quarters and watching me with ill
humor. The two of them had been nothing short of miserable the
entire ten-day journey here.

"It must really bother you," I snapped, "that
I am no longer lowborn."

Priscilla sniffed. "You may be an apprentice
but you will never be one of us."

Ella appeared abruptly and shoved her way
past the cold-hearted girl and her friend. "You ready to see our
new training rooms?" she asked, ignoring the others.

I grinned and slammed my clothes quickly into
the trunk at my bed. "You don't have to ask me twice!"

****

"We did not return to the Academy for two
months to listen to you romance your factionmates, Apprentice Ian!
If you can't pay attention to your studies then you clearly have
too much time on your hands. I want you mucking the stables until
we depart next month." Master Byron's irritated voice cut through
the slow murmur of the rest of our class.

I felt a twinge of satisfaction as the
curly-haired third-year returned to his table with Darren at the
corner of the room. It had been hard to ignore the way Ian kept
touching Lynn's hand, or the way she blushed whenever he did. The
two had been carrying on a shy romance for weeks now and since she
was my mentor there had been no escape. It was much worse because I
kept wondering if that could have been me, and then I spent the
rest of the time hating myself.

Each mentor-mentee was supposed to be
plotting strategy for the Master of Combat's current problem. We
were given thirty minutes each time to trade suggestions and
research using the books the Academy servants had provided. Then we
presented our findings to the class going around in a circle. Each
time Master Byron chose a winning approach, citing a group's merits
and weaknesses for desert combat.

Lynn gave me an embarrassed smile. "I'm
sorry, Ryiah, I know I shouldn't be talking to him. I just can't
help myself!"

The sweet apology should have made me smile,
but instead it just sent stabbing pains down my spine. I felt an
unnecessary irritation at my mentor and I knew it wasn't sourced by
logic. "I understand," I heard myself say coldly.
Be nice!
I
swallowed and forced myself to say with more warmth, "What do you
think about a flash flood casting?"

"It's perfect!"

We finished the exercise and then watched as
Master Byron tore apart everyone's solution but Darren's. The
prince's plan wasn't always the best, but even if it wasn't you
would never know from the way the master praised his "insightful
thoughts." It was a group effort but it was clear the man had
nothing to say about the non-heir's partner.

And, of course, the man had even less to say
about the girls. Whenever one of us was up Byron would immediately
look bored, and then he would spend the next twenty minutes picking
away at our strategy.

"Why does he hate women so much?" I
complained to Ella and Lynn later that evening. I had avoided
looking over at Ian the whole meal.

"You really don't know?" Loren slid into his
seat beside Ella, grinning. From the way his eyes danced I knew he
had a story to tell.

"Byron grew up in one of those old families
that didn't think women belonged in battle. His great grandfather
was actually the Council of Magic's biggest adversary when they
decided to change their ruling to let them in… Anyway, fifteen
years ago Byron was one of the top contenders in the last
Candidacy. He made it into the top three but when he dueled Kara,
one of the best Combat mages in the Crown's Army, he lost. Marius
won, of course, but Byron was so upset over losing to a woman that
he left his wife… There are rumors that he still harasses the
Council to this day exclude women from mage studies."

"But he trains women every day! How did he
end up a master?"

"Because whether or not he's fair, he's good
at what he does. The local regiments all praise the apprentices
that have come from his term – male
or
female."

I made a face.

Ella managed to say exactly what I was
thinking. "Well at least he's not the Black Mage. I don't think
Ryiah or I would even be here right now if he had been on the
Council."

A half-hour later I was depositing my tray
when Darren approached me.

I started to push past but he caught my
sleeve.

I stared at him. "What do you want?"

"Did I do something wrong?" Darren was
studying my face. "You haven't said one word to me since that night
in Ishir."

Was
I
the one bothering
him
?
"I have nothing to say to you." I made way to
leave.

"Ryiah." Darren reached down to grab my
wrist. The second his hand made contact my skin tingled. My heart
began to race, slamming against my chest.

I swallowed and hated myself for liking it.
Like Ian, the prince was off-limits. I was tired of my traitorous
heart wanting things that were taken.

Or, more importantly, people that I didn't
want
to want.

"What did I do?" Darren's words were quiet,
desperate even.

I opened my mouth-

"Excuse me."

I jumped as Ian squeezed past us, avoiding my
gaze as he did.

Shame squeezed at my lungs.

Darren watched me. A slow anger was spreading
along his jaw. "This is about
him
?"

My silence was gone. "And why shouldn't it
be?" I countered. "You made me betray him."

"If you had challenged him outright we would
never had have enough magic to take on Caine afterward."

"A friend would never have done what I
did."

"You are Combat, Ryiah. You can't blame
yourself for using every possible advantage to get us that
victory."

I glared at him. "You are right. I don't
blame myself. I blame
you
for talking me into it! You really
are the coldest person I've ever met!"