Apprentice (The Black Mage, #2)(23)

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.