“Neither have you.” I stepped back with an embarrassed laugh. His freshly pressed clothes were now damp with my perspiration. I pointed to his tunic. “Sorry, that wasn’t my smartest moment.”
“You couldn’t contain your excitement to see me again.” His eyes danced. “I’ll take that as a compliment. Even if it does smell like an army of men rotting at sea.”
I shoved him away and made a face. “I don’t smell nearly as bad as the men we trained with in Ferren. And I wash regularly. Unlike the others.”
“Well, why don’t you wash up again? And then give me a tour of this palace? It’s your day off, the guards said, no?”
“It is.” I waved at Paige to let her know I was done for the morning. I could make up our practice later on my own. Or maybe Derrick could join me. “When do you start service?”
“Tomorrow.”
****
Everything was better now that Derrick and I had made up from our fight in Montfort. Better even, because Darren was right. I had been suffering from loneliness since our return. I hadn’t grown up highborn. I hadn’t spent endless summers in the palace. I didn’t have friends among the court. I had tried, with some of the regiment’s soldiers, but most of them preferred silence in duty and the nobility were too eager to strike up a friendship with the Crown’s future princess. I’d been wary of all but Paige, and now that Derrick was here I had another to turn to. Someone to confide my own thoughts so I wouldn’t have to burden Darren with my jealousy and resentment.
Someone who—unlike Paige—could share in my opinion. The knight would never dare open her feelings up to the world. Even if she was formerly lowborn and now placed in a position of power. She preferred to stick to the task at hand and that was the end. Derrick was like me. He had chased power, pursued Combat even, and then turned to the Cavalry when his first dream got pushed aside.
“I was jealous of you and Alex,” he admitted, one afternoon while we were drilling in the soldier’s training court outside. “But especially you, because you had it all. The faction, the apprenticeship, you even made a name for yourself with Sir Piers and the Black Mage. You convinced a prince to call off his engagement. Our parents were so proud. They would talk about Alex, but it always came back to you. Every letter.”
I swallowed as I blocked his blade with my own. “I had no idea.”
He shook his head, tufts of blond, curling locks clearing his bright blue eyes. “And I didn’t want you to. I was proud of you… Just, even if I was happy, it hurt. For years. It wasn’t until Commander Nyx promoted me to her keep’s regiment it finally started to fade. Until I started to make a name for myself.”
I fell back and let Derrick take another swipe and kick at my feet. I twisted and parried his cut with ease. Hearing my own brother confess to his own insecurity, his own jealousy… it made it easier to breathe. What I was feeling was normal.
“Did you… did you ever start to believe you were a terrible person?”
“Every day. I would try to stay positive in our letters. It was easy because of the distance, and I really did miss you. But every time we were together and I watched you smile talking about your new life, I hated you. And I hated myself even more for thinking it.”
Our match ended and Derrick sheathed his blade. My own casting vanished. The two of us went to sit against a bench. “I’m so sorry.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for. It wasn’t you, Ryiah. It was me. Something I had to overcome for myself.” His gaze fell to my own and a smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “You wouldn’t happen to have the ring your foolish brother cast away like a dolt?”
I tugged the leather cord from underneath my shirt. The tarnished copper band hung from its center, the letter “R” glinting along its surface. “Does this mean I am your favorite again?” My grin was wide. “Because I will only give it back if I am.”
Derrick snickered. “Poor Alex never had a chance. The two of us are far too evil for the likes of a nice brother like him.”
****
The next month passed by in a blur. My duties became more bearable after my talk with Derrick, and as much as I resented Mage Mira’s obvious distaste where I was concerned, I embraced my role to the fullest. One thing was for certain: the Council chambers would be the most well guarded room in the palace.
And it was. Until the night I was doing a routine patrol down the hall and Darren appeared leaning against the entry with a wicked smile in play.
“Hello, lady mage,” he said, “perhaps you can tell me why this chamber was left unattended for an hour putting our entire kingdom at risk?”
One eyebrow shot up as I fixed the prince with an incredulous expression. “It’s been attended all night. I was the one guarding it.”
He peeled himself off the paneling with an even deeper grin. “I think you are mistaken.”
“And I think you have lost your mind.”
“Then tell me why the inside is a mess.”