“Ryiah!” Ella cried.
The two of us raced after my brother, calling his name, but he had already shoved his way past Jake and William and grabbed the nonheir by the neck of his tunic.
The entire room went silent, all eyes following Alex as he sent a fist flying into the prince’s face.
Alex had only a split-second of advantage. Moments later my brother was airborne, plummeting into the table behind, as Darren stood brushing himself off angrily.
“You spineless predator!” Alex roared as Jake and William held him down. “All you do is prey on the weak!” He coughed blood as Jake’s fist collided with his nose.
“You think you are the next Black Mage,” Alex continued, as William kicked him hard. “All I see is someone too insecure to let anyone with potential try! You think you can bully everyone into leaving. Well, guess what, my sister Ryiah—”
Darren’s eyes shot to me, startled.
“—is staying and so will anyone else you victimize, if I have anything to do with it!” Alex stared defiantly ahead as Jake prepared to land another punch.
“Stop!”
Jake lowered his hand to glance at the prince.
“That’s enough,” Darren said, walking over to where Alex kneeled, spewing blood across the floor while he tried to balance himself. Darren offered him his hand. Alex spat at it.
Ella thrust herself in front of the prince to help my brother up, glaring at the nonheir and his friends. “Will you hit me too?” she demanded.
I joined my friend, lifting Alex’s other arm.
Darren stared at the three of us for a long moment, anger burning in the dark shadows of his eyes.
Then he turned and left the room, Priscilla, Jake, and William following in his wake.
After that morning, my brother became a bit of a hero.
The hazing had come to a halt. In the weeks that followed, there were no new incidents to report. And while no one had offered up an explanation, none of us had any doubt in our minds who was responsible for the change.
Darren’s group had become altogether complacent, though that didn’t extend to the looks of loathing Priscilla still shot me whenever she had the chance. That would have been expecting too much.
We gained a few new faces to our study group, others who had been upset by the hazing—only they, like the rest of us, had not had the courage to speak out against it. Alex had also acquired a fan base, and unlike his exchanges with Ella, his present flirtations were met with success.
Ella seemed unusually irritable. I couldn’t help but notice. At first she’d been happy that we were no longer the outcasts of our class, but after two weeks she sang a different tune.
“Just look at them fawning over him,” she complained, sawing away at a defenseless piece of cabbage. “They are treating him like he’s a god… They wouldn’t look twice at him a month ago!”
“You sound jealous,” I told her, grinning.
She glowered at me through a mouthful of stew. “I am not jealous. I am disgusted.” She eyed my promiscuous brother, who was now seated a good five spaces ahead, having been crowded out by his newfound admirers.
“It’ll pass,” I told her. “You’ll get your friend back.”
Ella didn’t answer. She was too busy watching Alex to hear me.
I smiled to myself the second she looked away and he glanced our way. Alex hadn’t forgotten Ella. He was just enjoying the chance to make her squirm. Not that I could fault him. She hadn’t given my brother the time of day until he had stopped trying to charm her. Then again, I couldn’t blame her either. She knew his reputation, and the last thing I wanted to do was lose a friend.
It was funny how our minds worked.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Before I knew it, two months had come and gone since the winter break. With the absence of hazing, all focus had returned to study.
Five more had resigned from Combat: two during the period prior to hazing, and three after they had reached the limits of their potential.
There were others whose development had ceased as well, but they refused to acknowledge it. For most of us, we had gone too far to quit.
I was lucky. Even as others’ stamina was fading, my magic was continuing to build. Ella’s too. It could be argued that those of us with the least training had the most opportunity to grow, but I knew that was not the only factor. While I had yet to outdo the more talented first-years of Combat, I was passing others whose limits had started to stall.
I still had a long road ahead, but I was fast approaching the top third of my faction.
Unfortunately, Darren, Priscilla, and Eve were still at the head of our class, alongside Ray, one of the lowborn boys their group had adopted early on. It was frustrating, but none of them had finished building their magical stamina either.