Non-Heir (The Black Mage 0.5)(7)

“So I have to take lessons with the rest of them.” She raised her hand and made a sweeping motion around the room. “Not everyone is serious like us,” she added. “Half just want to be mages.”

“Mages.” The boy scoffed. “Won’t they be in for a surprise when their magic never shows.”

“I know.” She made a face. “They should be training to be soldiers or knights like us.”

“Who would ever want to be a soldier?” His tone was dry.

She just gave him a long look. “Darren.” She’d grown more comfortable with his humor, too.

The prince rolled his eyes. “If they are highborn, they have no excuse. Lowborns, well, they aren’t really that keen, are they? I doubt they’d know a staff from a stick.” He had conveniently forgotten he once hadn’t either.

“My father is lowborn.”

Darren’s confidence faltered. “But Sir Audric is a knight…”

“Yes.” She stood abruptly, her food untouched. Her lips were pursed. “Perhaps you should think about Sir Audric the next time you make fun of those less fortunate than you. No one likes a braggart, especially one that isn’t really that clever.”

Darren stared at the girl as she got up and exited the hall, a fist curling into his side. How dare she! Who did she think she was? His whole face burned in indignation. He had come to think of her as a… friend.

What a fool was he.

For a moment, he was tempted to seek out his father. The price... It would serve her right for insulting him—a prince. She should know she couldn’t talk to someone like him in such a condescending manner.

But…

Darren hesitated.

But that would make him lose the only confidant he had, and then she would keep the words inside and pretend to smile like the rest of his father’s court. At least when she spoke now, he knew the words were honest.

Nice? No. But honest.

Did he want another parrot? Another smiling, meaningless lie?

The truth was better.

Honesty, even if he didn’t like it, was better than the false platitudes of the others. She was the only one he could trust.

The most dangerous ones, the boy decided, are the ones that tell me what I want to hear. At least Eve was honest.



Darren found Eve later that night practicing her drills in front of the palace barracks. A small flare of anger rose up as he remembered her earlier words.

But he shook his head in resignation. He didn’t want to lose the only friend he had. So he pulled out his blade instead.

The girl watched him start up his drills out of the corner of her eyes. They narrowed after a couple moments of silence. “Did you tattle?”

“I have better things to do than run to my father."

“Do you?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” Her lip tugged up. “Because I don’t like being friends with a coward.”

“We aren’t friends.” His pride was too hurt to let her know he believed otherwise.

“We are. You just prefer to sulk.” Eve drew her own weapon in return. “If we weren’t, you would have gotten me in trouble.”

“I told you, I didn’t have time.”

“Humph.”

She didn’t bring it up again. They spent the rest of the evening practicing until dusk. But when he finally left that night, it was with the barest hint of a smile.

She’d let him win for the first time. He knew Eve had cheated, but he didn’t call her out. It was her apology, just as his apology was keeping her earlier words to himself.

Yes, he decided, a stubborn girl was twice the worth of a simpering lie. Maybe more.



A week later, Darren was on his way back from training when he noticed a figure duck behind the stables. Naturally suspicious, he’d waited for it to emerge. He knew some of the servants’ children were still waiting to avenge his bullying from the past. It was only a matter of time before they made their assault.

Let them try. He had his sword, and Sir Audric couldn’t very well blame him for defending himself.

A minute later, it reemerged.

When it did, he was surprised to find his brother.

“What were you doing back there?”

The heir smiled without blinking an eye. “Thought I saw something, but it must have been a bird.”

“A bird?”

Blayne gave an irritated sigh. “Yes, little brother, a bird. A thing that pecks and preens and flies around in the sky.” He scowled in irritation. “And what were you doing following me?”

“I wasn’t.”

“Well, you might as well now. Father will be expecting us at dinner in an hour.”

Darren shook his head. “Sir Audric wants me to practice a bit more in the evenings, says it’ll improve my aim.”

“Sir Audric sure asks a lot of you.” The prince’s mood swung dark. “You chose to obey a doddering old fool over your own brother?”

“He wants me to be the best.” The boy bristled. He liked the man, and the knight was far too young to be the cripple his brother claimed. “Don’t you?”

Blayne looked at his hands, picking out little flecks of dirt that had gotten caught underneath his fingernails. “I suppose.” He sighed rather loudly. “Just don’t stay out too late, little brother.”