Ian pressed closer and lowered his voice. “What I said wasn’t a lie. The north doesn’t get the help it needs.”
“You want me to talk to Darren.” It wasn’t a question.
“Don’t you?”
“Ian.” I sighed. “It won’t change anything.” The king was still furious with Darren for the night of the ascension. And preoccupied with negotiations with Pythus. And thanks to me he now hated lowborns a great deal more than usual.
The boy studied the ground. “So you aren’t going to even try?”
“I will, but...” I waited until he looked up to continue. “But I don’t want you to have any expectations.”
“I know what I’m asking.” His eyes were somber. “Thank you, Ryiah.”
Hearing Ian say my full name was a bit unsettling. It was as if he were reminding himself to put a bit of formality to the end of his request. As if he were a subject, and I the sovereign. It pained me to hear that bit of distance, especially after our conversation in the forest, but I understood.
The north was his home, and whether or not I considered myself one of them, I was the Crown.
****
“A week,” I breathed.
Ray echoed my words: “A whole week.”
“Of freedom.”
“Freedom,” he repeated.
“A week.”
“A whole week of it.”
“If you two grow any more slack-jawed,” Lief said, chuckling, “you’ll become a pair of fish.”
“It’s standard for any service in all of the cities,” Ian added.
Paige scoffed. “Not the King’s Regiment.”
I just shook my head in astonishment, still not quite believing we had a full week to ourselves. Three weeks of duty had flown by in the blink of an eye—well, not truly, at the time it had seemed like an eternity, but now…
“What does one do during this…” Ray paused. “Freedom?”
“What did you enjoy doing before the Academy?”
Ray’s eyes were wide. “I don’t remember.”
The head mage’s gaze flitted to me. “What about you, Ry?”
What did I enjoy before the Academy? So many years before… I found myself emitting the same response. “I don’t remember.”
“The novelty will wear off.” Lief set his packs on his bunk with a groan. “By the second month we’ll find the two of you in the taverns with the rest of our lot. Ferren might be known for its blacksmiths, but the true secret is Tijan’s ale. Strongest brew around. Well, that and our women.” His gaze fell to Paige.
My knight scowled in distaste. “Hhmphf. You must not have a very good selection.”
I bit my lip. Tijan was tempting—not for the ale, but my brother. Now that I had seven days to myself, the world was full of possibility. And the best one: Derrick. I hadn’t seen him in months, and now we were only a couple hours apart.
But there was also the Candidacy.
Ray was already throwing a pair of fresh clothes into his satchel. “When can we leave?”
“As soon as you are ready.” Ian grinned and looked to me. “You coming?”
“I don’t think so.” My enthusiasm had already started to ebb. I couldn’t visit Derrick, not with my dream looming so close on the horizon. “I think I’m going to stay behind.”
“You serve the north,” Lief said, “don’t forget to live, Ryiah. We don’t get paid near enough to risk our lives without a bit of fun from time to time.”
“I know.” I frowned. “It’s not that… I just… I need to train.”
“Train? For what? The apprenticeship is over. You already train every day in service.” His tone was incredulous.
“For the Candidacy,” I mumbled.
Ian and Lief exchanged knowing looks and Ray spoke: “Ry, it’s months away. You can take a day off.”
I looked down at my hands. “Not if I want to win.”
“You really think you can beat him, don’t you?”
I didn’t ask who he was; it was obvious.
“Darren’s not a god.” I crossed my arms defiantly. “His potential isn’t infinite.”
“Master Byron ranked him first.”
“For now.”
Ray held up his hands in surrender. “Remind me to never challenge you to a duel. You are a bloodthirsty savage.”
I just grinned in reply.
Lief grabbed Ray and Ian by the shoulders. “Are you two ready to head out?”
They nodded in unison and gave me a parting wave.
Lief tossed me his extra water skin in passing. “You better get training, Ryiah. We can’t have our savage go soft.”
****
Harsh crunching and then the ground gave a quivering sigh. The mountain of rubble rose into the air, twice the size of the boulder in the mountains. Thick granite hovered in the sky as I lifted my hand, higher and higher, watching my magic mirror its movement with the rock.
The rubble rose. Shakily, with small bits of dirt trailing down like a shower of rain.
My whole body trembled with the effort. I held steady, digging my boots into the soil as perspiration dripped down my eyes, blinding me with the beating rays of the sun.
Still, I held steady. And the rubble kept rising.
Then, it stopped.