"Tonight we celebrate the incredible prowess of our mentees. This is the first time in a decade that we have had the second - and fourth-year apprentices win one of our mock battles. I take this as a sign of great potential to come – and I hope all of you will keep Ishir Outpost in mind after you have taken up your mage's robes." Commander Ama looked out at the crowd, beaming.
"That said, there are two apprentices that stood out in particular for their performance. Never have two second-years been able to single-handedly accomplish what it usually takes a whole team to do… They both practiced advanced levels of pain casting with enough control to save their squad. I would like to toast Apprentice Ryiah for this huge victory, and Prince Darren even more so for his excellent command. May great things come of you both."
I held my glass up and accepted the toast bitterly. My victory had come at the cost of a friendship. I swore I would never make the same mistake twice.
****
"He always did like her best." The good-humored remark came from Alex to no one in particular as I shrieked, dismounting from my saddle to race across the Academy field to a thirteen-year-old boy with blonde curls and lively blue eyes.
"Derrick!"
"Ry!" My younger brother dropped the shield he had been holding and ran at me - the two of us colliding in a hard embrace. I immediately started crying: I hadn't seen him in months and before that it had been a whole year apart.
"I can't believe you're here!" Derrick wheezed. "This place is so much harder than I thought!" He snapped his finger to show me how he cast and I only cried harder. The last time I had seen him he hadn't even known he had magic.
I blinked. Was it just me, or had Derrick's hands gotten a lot larger? And what about his arms? Was he taller too? "You're huge!" I crowed. "How did you go from looking like me to Alex in a couple months?" It was no secret Alex put on muscle a lot easier than I – even if I was in Combat and trained my body a whole lot harder.
"First-year! What are you doing? You heard Master Barclae: no talking to the apprentices!"
Derrick cringed. "I hate Sir Piers," he muttered, only low enough for me to hear.
I wiped my tears away, laughing. "I'll find you later – meet me by the stables after your dinner?"
My young brother eagerly nodded and I left the field, giving Sir Piers a gallant wave. The commander squinted into the distance and as soon as he recognized me he grinned.
"Welcome back, apprentice!"
****
They showed us to our chambers and I couldn't stop staring. After the end-of-year trials we had departed almost immediately with the apprentices to Ishir Outpost… Now, we had two months to reside at the Academy, only instead of the overcrowded barracks we had paradise.
As an apprentice we were given all the accommodations a lowly first-year lacked. Private rooms with the softest sheets, personal fires, a maid, and even an overhanging balcony with a view of the Sjeka coastline: jagged cliffs and the white, foaming waters below. The bedposts were carved from rich cherry wood and the cold marble floor was covered in silky furs from the white snow cats of the north.
As I wandered about my chambers I found an interconnected alcove with a tub for bathing and a basin for my hands. In each drawer of a well-made cabinet were freshly pressed cloths for drying and additional blankets for cold winter nights. There was already a small shelf with several books for study and a large chaise for lounging.
"Try not to look so lowborn, Ryiah." Priscilla's cutting remark broke through my reverie.
She and one of the fourth-year girls stood in the hallway peering into my quarters and watching me with ill humor. The two of them had been nothing short of miserable the entire ten-day journey here.
"It must really bother you," I snapped, "that I am no longer lowborn."
Priscilla sniffed. "You may be an apprentice but you will never be one of us."
Ella appeared abruptly and shoved her way past the cold-hearted girl and her friend. "You ready to see our new training rooms?" she asked, ignoring the others.
I grinned and slammed my clothes quickly into the trunk at my bed. "You don't have to ask me twice!"
****