It seemed that no matter how hard I tried, the prince would always be one step ahead.
I’d started waking up and training two hours before the morning bell to improve my weapons skills for Piers. I practiced an extra hour of casting with Ella each evening in hopes of impressing Narhari. I was still up long after the midnight hour studying for Eloise and Cedric… but none of it changed my standing.
I was still behind him.
I wanted to be rewarded for my efforts, and I couldn’t help feeling as if the gods had jilted me. Would it never be enough? After everything I had been through, everything the nonheir had done to make my life a misery, it would have been nice to stand a fighting chance. Because I knew. If I was paired up with Darren, or any of his friends during our end-of-year trials, I would lose.
Well, I wasn’t giving up now. I’d made it this far, the next three months couldn’t get much worse. And if they did, well, I’d already taken part in several nightmares.
“I’m sure all of you have been wondering what the trials are going to be like,” Master Eloise declared loudly as she entered the giant library, bearing a mountain of papers in her wake.
Everyone stopped talking at once. The woman had addressed the very thing we’d been anxiously awaiting for weeks.
The large woman took her place at the podium beside a fidgeting Isaac. “As of this morning, you have officially crossed the two-month threshold…”
I bit my lip apprehensively. Someone was nervously tapping a quill to my right.
“Yes, my dears, two short months remain, and then your lives forever change.” Master Eloise regarded the class grimly: “Some of you might already be familiar with how the process works—perhaps through family or friends who attended our school in the past—but I can assure you that it is a completely different experience when you are the one undergoing the exams instead. Given the proximity of your impending trials, we have decided to enlighten you as to what role your academic learning will play.”
Master Isaac joined his counterpart: “To a contender of Combat, brute strength is everything. I can hardly deny this. You have spent countless hours learning how to fight, and to cast. It is a very hard, very grueling feat to have endured as much as you have. Please keep in mind, however, potential and training are not all that makes up the great faction of Combat, and they will not be all the judges look for in your trials.
“They judges want to see a warrior, not a soldier. Soldiers follow other soldiers into battle—they obey orders, fight valiantly. A warrior can do the same, but he is also a commander, an independent mercenary, and a strategist. The warrior fills many roles, and the capacity to do so requires an intelligence that ordinary soldiers are not trained to possess.
“In the course of your study thus far, Master Eloise and I have been attempting to impart the groundwork that would behoove a warrior’s learned wisdom. You have been introduced to the principles of climate, Crown and Council law, geography, strategic planning, diplomacy… and, most importantly, the history of Jerar.
“Each one of these disciplines will play a pivotal role in an apprenticeship, should you be so fortunate. Because of this there will be two trials for each first-year. The first test will focus on your magical prowess. The second, the application of your studies in this classroom.”
Eloise cleared her throat. “Every student will be given a twenty-minute audience alone with the judges. The panel will be asking questions directly related to your strategies in Combat. They expect to hear citations from Academy lectures, but what they want is to understand how you would make those facts a part of your own approach. The tactics of warfare are ever changing—the more creative your technique is, the more they will take notice. The worst disservice you can possibly do for yourself is quote a plan that is factually-challenged or has been proven flawed by history.”
A couple of students groaned, and I thanked the gods I had made it a point to carry out my nightly studies.
Master Eloise narrowed her eyes at the class. “I take it you feel unprepared. Well, fortunately for you, the next two months will be spent reviewing everything we have covered. Unfortunately, that will not be enough to make a difference for the ones that need it most. Still, I advise you to try because being able to tie everything in, and think in terms of strategy rather than relying on brute force…that will be what separates a novice from an apprentice in your studies here at the Academy.”