Apprentice (The Black Mage, #2)(32)

Ella was right. Ian was right. I needed to make a choice now: the cold, distant prince or the laughing friend. And once I chose I needed to fight for it. I would never win the former, and maybe not even the latter… But I could try.

Picking up the hem of my trailing orange and gold-beaded skirts, I stood, brushing the dust out of my loose red hair as I walked across the sand. I stopped when I was in front of Ian, suddenly nervous and not at all myself.

"Dance with me."

Lynn stopped talking to stare at me. My mentor had confusion and outrage written across her face. I felt horrible. I should stop. She didn't deserve this.

But I had said I would fight. I was tired of wanting something I couldn't have. There was someone I could have, maybe, but in order to know that I would have to try. Even if that meant hurting someone else.

I remained stubbornly still, ignoring Lynn as I smiled down at Ian.

The curly-haired third-year studied me – a question in his eyes. I could see the fear, half-hidden between flecks of gold. A small grin tugged at the side of his mouth. Then the laugh lines took over and he was smiling wide, mumbling an apology to my mentor as he led me to the floor.

"I don't really know how to dance," I muttered as he placed one hand on my waist and lifted my arm with the other.

"Then why did you ask me?" His eyes caught mine and held them.

"Because I never want you to dance with anyone else."

The music started up again. A wonderful tune, full of stomping beats and carefree whirls. Ian abruptly spun me, and the two of us launched into a makeshift dance with the rest of the crowd. I was reminded of that night we met at the Academy ball – the night he had made me feel like flying.

My dress shimmered as I spun, the beads reflecting the light of the fire and creating a heady rush of glitter while I slipped in and out of his arms. I couldn't stop laughing and Ian's eyes were two embers aglow. My cheeks burned with the fervent rush of the dance and I found myself unable to stop, trapped in an endless feeling of right.

Nothing had ever felt as sure as when Ian caught me and slipped, the two of almost falling to the ground in a dizzy rush. He barely pulled us up before we returned to the floor, the two of us unable to keep the silly grins off our faces as we spun around the campfire light.

"Are you really mine?" he whispered. His mouth was close to my ear.

"You were all I ever wanted."

He chuckled and dipped me, spinning me around once more. And again. And again until I was a twirling mess of color and gleam.

Then he caught me.

Two green eyes locked on my own and I was unable to breath.

My heart caught in my ribs, a frantic beating in my chest. I was falling, flying, safe.

It was the best night of my life.





****





The next couple of months passed in the blink of an eye. No sooner had we arrived in Ishir we were called back into the desert. Each time we returned to the outpost we were summoned for another patrol. Thankfully, these ones were a lot less difficult than the first.

Eventually we reached the end of our term and headed out to Devon for the yearly ascension ceremony. It was time for the fifth-year apprentices to become mages.

For Alex and I, this was the first time we would see the capitol and its infamous palace. Everyone always said it was more stunning than the Academy, but I had always found that hard to imagine. Especially after spending two months in its grand chambers as an apprentice.

But the others weren't lying.

"No. There is no way that can be the palace." My jaw dropped as I stared out into the distance.

"Really, Ry, you act like you've never heard anything about it."

"But it's just so huge-"

"I told you that.

"And high-"

"Again, I-"

"And high!"

Ella snickered. "Well now you are just repeating yourself."

Far past the rolling hills and rocky crags below was a towering structure that seemed as tall as the clouds above. The King's Road snaked across the clustered landscape, a large paved path that wove around thatched huts, tiny shops, and lumbering temples. Large hanging jacaranda dotted the landscape, beautiful blue and lilac blossoms sprouting from their branches as lush grass covered the grounds in every which direction.

As the road approached the towering palace the landscape shifted, flowering trees were quickly replaced with majestic mountain foliage and a rugged mountain backdrop. At the base of the palace walls was the town square: cobble streets and the wealthy merchant stalls sporting luxury goods and services.

The palace was enclosed by walls that were as tall as the Academy had been. They spanned thirty feet high and were made of the same dark brick material. Every so often an even taller pillar protruded from its length housing the palace sentries with unlit torches and narrow openings lined strategically across.

I couldn't see much of the palace from the road – the walls were too high to see its base - but the structure still doubled the wall's height, and some of its towers even more so. The palace was made up of gray stone and mortar, a lighter shade than its fortification, but it also housed large, stained glass windows at staggering heights that shimmered under the direct light of the sun.

The roofs were darker than the rest of the palace. They cut rounding peaks into the sky. It was so beautiful I forgot to breathe. This was where Darren lived? Why had he ever bothered to become a mage? I would have never left home.