Apprentice (The Black Mage, #2)(86)

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN


In the four years since I had walked through the Academy's doors, I had come a long way from the girl who had struggled to cast a tree limb on fire. Unfortunately, my first day in Ferren's Keep did not attest to that… I was too busy counting down the hours until I could see a certain young man with dancing blue eyes and blonde curls that was three years my junior.

"Apprentice Ryiah, if you fancy my lessons pleasant enough to daydream in, then clearly I have been too soft on you. This is the third time today your head has been in the clouds. One week polishing the regiment's armory starting tomorrow - and if I catch you at it again I will not hesitate to triple your time!"

Of course he wouldn't, the old crow.

Ella elbowed me lightly in the stomach and I gave her a helpless shrug as soon as Master Byron's back was turned.

"Pay attention!" she hissed. "You really don't want to spend the next year scrubbing mail, do you?"

Another voice chimed in. "Yes, and I will never forgive you for jeopardizing my training, Ryiah!"

I glared at the sour-faced boy in front of me. Another of Priscilla's bratty cousin Merrick's fourth-year friends. Not once had I been bestowed with a sweet-faced mentee to train.

Byron had undoubtedly chosen this one on purpose.

I made a face. "Your training was already jeopardized long before you met me, Radley."

The rest of the day's lessons finished with much difficulty on my end. My overconfident mentee had a flagrant disregard for all of Byron's cautionary measures and I spent a good amount of time nursing injuries when he went too far in his castings. Especially during the final drill.

Radley still seemed to think the only thing that mattered in pain casting was power. Which meant that he didn't bother to practice any semblance of control.

I had to remind myself that revenge was less important than performance. I needed to spend my final year carefully crafting my own pain castings. I had improved greatly over the last four, but so had Darren and Eve - and I so desperately wanted to excel in something.

I was tired of being third in everything, and I would have been lying if I didn't admit it would be nice to watch the look on the prince's face when he lost. Someone needed to knock Darren off that pedestal - he'd been enjoying its light for far too long. It was time for someone else to shine and I wanted it to be me.

I could have sent my ungrateful mentee flying into the tall pines behind us, but I chose to focus my energies on a carefully exerted force. Stop and start, change direction, send my crackling lightning flying to the side only just in time – all from a small blade's pressure on my forearm.

I glanced to watch Darren with Merrick. He and Ray were sharing the same mentee this year. Another stark clash of light and the familiar smell of burning wood where his bolt landed just inches from mine. Was that deliberate? I stared at the prince and saw a small upturn at the corner of his mouth. He was trying hard not to smirk, but I knew, I just knew, that he had done that last casting on purpose.

I straightened and prepared for a cut that would show that smug non-heir exactly who he was going up against… and then stopped myself. What am I doing? I didn't let Radley's castings get to me so I certainly wasn't going to let Darren's.

Me. This year is about me. I took a deep breath and focused on imitating my last casting, flexing my magic as I pulled back a second sooner. Perfect. Now just ten more minutes and we would be dismissed.

And then I could finally seek out the one person I had been looking forward to.





****





"Is this what my no good brother has become? A soldier who falls asleep at pubs?"

Derrick's head shot up with a start and I laughed as the drink he had been resting beside spilled all over his table. "Ry!" He was out of his stool in a second.

Laughing, I embraced my younger brother, who had grown even taller in my absence. And bigger. He now carried twice as much muscle and my head only went up to his chin. When he released me I stepped back in shock.

"You're huge!"

One of the soldiers who had been sitting next to Derrick choked on his roast. "They feed us well. And this one has an appetite. He won a contest against everyone else in our station."

Just like Alex, I thought wryly. Some things never change.

"Did you just arrive today?" Derrick dragged me over to an empty chair.

"We did." I grinned. "I rode all night to get here."

"By the gods, Ry, Ferren's Keep is a good three hours from Tijan! You are mad! Weren't you riding two straight weeks before this?"

I waved his shock away. "It was worth it to see my favorite brother."

Derrick grinned, dimples forming at the corner of his cheeks. "You are such a bad liar, Ry. You only say that now because Alex is nowhere in sight… Where is that lug anyway? Why isn't he here visiting me with you?"

"He's coming tomorrow. He told me to tell you there was no way he was going to spend another night in the saddle." I snorted. "He had really bad sores from this last ride in the mountains and unlike us, he's not exactly warrior bred."

Derrick snickered. "Trust Alex to become a healer. That's about as dandy as it gets."

I yawned. "We shouldn't mock our poor brother just because he likes to be comfortable. I don't know about you, but there are certainly days I dream of leaving Combat behind and taking up something easier instead."