"If I wanted to be saddle sore," Alex griped, "I would have joined Combat. Not Restoration."
"Calm down, big brother," Derrick teased, "you'll have plenty of time to grow fat and old after your ascension."
I snickered as Alex glowered at Derrick over his meal. "You might think yourself wise because you've enjoyed two winters in this gods' forsaken place," he said brusquely, "but there is nothing wrong with choosing a comfortable life."
"A shame you fell in love with a Combat mage."
"A shame indeed." Alex looked wistful.
"You know Ella wants to be stationed up here, right? She hates the cold but she still wants the glory." Nothing was more fun than teasing my twin. Especially in the recent months. It was obvious to everyone except him how deep he had fallen. The poor sap didn't stand a chance.
Alex made a face. "I will make it my mission to talk her around."
"You only have a couple more weeks," I replied snidely, "and then we will be in the capital."
"You grow more insolent every day." Alex threw a piece of his toast in my direction. I dodged it easily. "Must be your inflated sense of pride. You and Derrick are one in the same. Nothing but a bunch of overfed peacocks."
Derrick winked at me. "That we are." He turned to Alex with a sly grin on his face. "Well, if your lady love declines to join you south, I would be happy to have her stay up north with Ryiah and I. Ella grows more lovely every time I set eyes on her." Derrick ducked just in time to avoid Alex's fist.
The innkeeper barked at Alex to stop riling his customers.
I shot my embarrassed twin an amused expression. "You know Derrick only teases you because you are so easy to rattle."
"Yes," Derrick declared, "that and I'm afraid I've grown restless. Eight months is far too long to go without fighting any Caltothians." He shrugged. "Those drills my commander puts us through are no use. I'm not accustomed to peace."
"It's not peace," I reminded him tersely, "it's the quiet before the storm." I glanced at Alex. "And you. Even if you two aren't stationed together, she'll wait for you. All you have to do is ask. I, for one, would love to have another girl in this family."
Alex turned a deep shade of red and busied himself with his stew. Derrick, meanwhile, picked up the conversation, steering me toward a much-needed debate on the merits of a two-handed axe. I became so engrossed in conversation I almost missed the tolling of the midnight hour. Alex and I groaned our apologies to Derrick and then retired to the stables for our final night's ride to the keep's barracks.
In a couple short hours we would be back on King's Road, headed for the palace… Only this time we would leave it as mages.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
"I have never been more terrified in my life." Alex was writhing in his best clothes – a silk-lined tunic and fresh-pressed breeches. Ella reached out to straighten his hem and then pushed back his bangs, laughing.
"Master Joan is much less intimidating than Byron," she teased. "It'll be over before you know it. And just think, when it is, you'll emerge looking handsomer than before in a red Restoration robe."
I smirked. "And if not, at least your face will match the rest of you."
Alex paled and Ella gave him a quick kiss in the cheek, wagging her finger at me as she did. "Leave your poor brother alone," she chided. "If he gets any more nervous he'll sweat through his shirt. I hardly think we can find another in time for the ceremony."
I fingered my own outfit and vaguely wished I shared some of my twin's own discomfort. I felt exposed in the dress I was wearing – a soft lilac thing with a bodice that felt much too tight. It didn't seem right to wear something so feminine going into an ascension for Combat, but Ella had assured me that was exactly why I should. "You are a woman," she'd insisted. "We are already a minority in all of the war schools - not just our own faction as mages. It would do good to remind the audience that we can be both."
And so now here I was, unable to breathe – which I must admit was becoming a common occurrence around Ella during important occasions in general - and dreading the rest of the evening. Master Byron's attitude toward me had only grown worse in the last couple of months, and I had no doubt what my standing would be at the end of the ceremony. Even though I had Commander Nyx's offer to hold onto, it did little to sway the deep sense of foreboding that was growing more prevalent by the second. In less than an hour I would have to face the world as a fifth-rank mage.