The Black Mage: Apprentice by Rachel E. Carter Page B

at me with
the same hopelessness I had felt.
    "In Ishir I trained with the regiment," I
pointed out. "Every morning we spent two hours training with the
soldiers and knights, not just the mages. The things those men and
women were able to do – it would make anyone proud to come from the
Cavalry or School of Knighthood… I know it's not what you want to
hear, but you don't need magic to be strong, Derrick."
    My brother fidgeted with something in his
hand. The odd glint caught my eye and suddenly I laughed.
    "Is that…?"
    My brother couldn't help smiling. "Yeah."
    Ella peered curiously over his head to see
what I was staring at. In my brother's tanned palm was a simple
copper ring – tarnished in spots and not particularly attractive.
It had a thick band with an "R" embedded on its surface.
    I had given Derrick that ring years ago. It
was actually my ring, and Alex had one just like it. Our parents
had given them to us on our seventh birthday. Derrick had only been
four years old at the time, and he hadn't quite gotten used to the
fact that Alex and I were twins. He had thought it meant that I
loved Alex more, and it had upset him to no end that I should share
such a shiny trinket with one brother and not the other. Derrick
had cried until I'd finally caved – and so I'd given him my own
ring, telling him that the two rings now belonged to "both of my favorite brothers." I hadn't thought much of the ring since,
and I wasn't sure Alex still even had his, but after all this time
Derrick had held onto mine.
    I thought of Darren with his cruel older
brother, Prince Blayne. Those two would never be close. On the
other hand, I had a twin who knew me like the back of his hand, and
a younger brother who could make me laugh or cry with the simplest
gesture. I was the lucky one.
     
    ****
     
    "This place doesn't change at all." Alex's
amused voice carried into my room as he opened my chamber door
without warning.
    "Alex!" Ella shrieked. "Get. Out !" She
grabbed the nearest book off my nightstand and lobbed it at my
twin's head.
    "What are you…" My brother flushed a very
deep shade of red as he realized he had walked in on us getting
ready for the solstice ball. Though we were already in our
underdress, it was still inappropriate. "I'm-" The book hit his
face with a loud slap and he ducked out of the room.
    "He is lucky I didn't cast fire!" she
muttered darkly.
    I snickered. "I think he's lucky
regardless."
    "Oh you!" Ella punched me lightly in the arm.
"You are not helping at all!"
    "Well it has been months." I sighed.
"I think it's time the two of you moved past what happened. I don't
like walking on eggshells."
    She gave me a look. "You are one to talk. Has
Ian said a full sentence to you since the mock battle?"
    I cringed. "Fine. How about we both put the
past in the past tonight? You don't have to accept my brother's
apology – just talk to him."
    "And you'll apologize to Ian instead of
moping around like a beaten lamb?"
    I raised a brow. "You've been waiting to say
that one, haven't you?"
    She grinned. "Perhaps." The girl pointed to
the back of my bodice – which was in a shameless state of disarray.
"You haven't been practicing like I told you."
    I looked at the ground, guiltily. Practicing
courtly manners and learning how to dress like a highborn had been
last on my list of things to do.
    "One day I won't be able to help you," she
teased. "And then what will you do?"
    "Wear my mage's robes?"
    "Ha."
     
    ****
     
    I had told myself over and over that I would
fulfill my promise to Ella. And I really had intended to keep it.
But that was before I had entered the grand atrium and seen the two
of them dancing. Amidst a sparkling purple glow of the Alchemy
first-years' lights, Lynn looked even more a queen than Priscilla
in her blood red dress. Lynn's hair was done neatly in a simple bun
with two strands falling neatly in front, and she wore a dress of
sparkling green and silver trim that glowed like magic every time
she