The Black Mage: Apprentice (26 page)

And then:
don't you dare tell him! You
know it will be a mistake if you do!

"Yes." My voice cracked. I hated myself for
saying the word aloud.

I heard myself add softly: "But I don't want
to be."

"Why don't-" His eyes met mine and Darren
swore. "I should've known. I should have but I was too proud to
accept it." He laughed shortly, "By the gods, it doesn't surprise
me that the girl I love is too proud to be a mistress." His eyes
became serious. "We are the same, you and I. Both of us are too
mule-headed, too stubborn, too proud-"

I looked away, unable to hold his gaze.

"-And I am just too in love with you to care
anymore." Darren's hand found my trembling one and he said
abruptly, "I'll end it, Ryiah. I will call off the betrothal."

I looked up. Shock – and hope - tore across
my heart in rapid succession. Then: "But what about your duty?"

"I don't care!" His face was inches from mine
and I could see the anger building in his eyes. "I am tired of
following their rules. I deserve one good thing. One good thing for
always doing what they want, being who they want me to be – I…"
Darren's grip on my hand tightened. "I want
you
, Ryiah. Just
say the words and I'll do it. I'll find a way to convince my
father."

I could barely breathe. Every inch of me was
singing and crying out. The words were fighting to rise and I was
hard pressed to stop them. I
didn't
want to stop them.

He doesn't know what he is saying. Both of
you are drunk on emotion. He isn't being rational, you aren't
thinking clearly. Who's to say the king will even let him call off
the engagement?
And most importantly:
Could it be this
easy?

I realized I didn't care.

"I choose you."

"You have to mean it."

I glanced up, startled. "I do!"

Darren had started to smile. "Prove it." His
gaze dropped to my mouth.

All at once I was aware of how close we were
sitting. My poor beating heart almost ripped itself right out of my
chest. I had said yes. I had chosen him. And Darren was looking at
me. He was looking at me and, and…

This time it wasn't a dream.

The sky lit up and I froze.

Lightning.

The ship!

"Get up!" I pulled Darren off the ground and
pointed to the trees just beyond us.

"Ryiah, what are you-"

"They are leaving!" My whole face was
flushed. "Andy cast lightning! We have to get to shore – they might
have already-"

Darren started to run, clutching my hand in
his as he made his way through the forest. I followed, hardly
conscious of the pain in my side. We were two shadows in the night,
racing across the darkness, our hearts beating as one.

The wound in my stomach, the dizziness, none
of the aches from earlier had really subsided – but somehow the
warmth of Darren's fingers in mine gave me strength to continue. I
couldn't remember how close we were to shore. I didn't let myself
think about what would happen if the others were gone. I just kept
running, running knowing that even if they were, I had won:

Darren was alive.

If the gods had chosen to grant one wish, I
was happy it was mine.

"Andy. Cethan. Ryiah. The three of you almost
destroyed an entire mission with your reckless conduct. Never have
I been so disappointed by the amount of insubordination in all my
years of service. I have no choice but to recommend the three of
you for disrobement – well, Ryiah, you don't even have your robes
but make no mistake, I will be suggesting the end of your
apprenticeship as well."

Darren cleared his throat as Flint applied a
new bandage to the wound on the back of his scalp. His interruption
had the desired effect: our leader suddenly paled remembering his
presence.

"That said," Mira amended, "we are all very
pleased to have recovered you, your highness. It was not my
intention to leave you behind, but you were well aware of our
orders…"

Darren gave a false smile. "Just the same,
I'm sure my father will be very pleased to hear how successful this
assignment was. I would be the first to recommend you for promotion
– perhaps a post in the Crown's Army? My father has been looking to
the Council for recommendations, but I am sure I could put in a
good word… assured the others are spared any mention in your
report, of course. Surely you can see how their actions were only
for the welfare of their prince, and who can fault such loyalty to
the Crown?"

Mira's face fell. I watched the woman,
waiting for her response. After what seemed like forever, she
nodded sullenly, and then declared that she was going to check our
course and make sure the winds still had us headed in the correct
direction.

Darren's smile turned genuine as his gaze
fell on the others. Andy and Cethan had done the impossible.
Without them we would never have made it out of Caltoth. When the
first soldier had appeared and Andy had shot out her lightning,
instead of retreat both she and the large man had remained on the
beach, fighting off as many Caltothians as they could in an effort
to buy us time.

There had only been a handful of men – and by
the time Darren and I had burst through the clearing they had just
finished combat with the final one. Of course in Mira's eyes, Andy
and Cethan's actions were a direct violation of her orders.
According to Mira, they should have retreated to the ship the
second they caught sight of the enemy.

"Thanks for that." Andy gripped the prince's
shoulder in passing. Cethan just grunted with a nod in the young
man's direction, following his friend to the front of the deck.

Then it was just the two of us. For the first
time alone since we had boarded the ship the night before.

Darren stepped out to lean against the deck's
railing. I followed him. A moment of awkward silence followed as we
both stared out at the ocean.

"Have your feelings changed?" His voice was
flat, distant. "Now that it's no longer a matter of life and
death?"

He meant to let me down easy.
See Ryiah, I
do care for you – but what I said back there on the beach? I can't.
Princes can't call of engagements because they fancy a lowborn
girl, even one so charming as you.
I glared at the icy cold
waters below. "Just say it already."

"Say what?"

I turned to face him, hands on my hips. "Tell
me you didn't mean what you said before."

Darren continued to stare at the water. He
was quiet for a moment, then: "I still mean it. Every word I said.
" He turned to face me. "Do you, Ryiah?"

My cheeks warmed. "Of course. I-"

I never got to finish the rest of my
explanation – his lips were already on mine, burning, tingling,
scorching. Every part of me was ablaze. I forgot where I was.
Everything was a mist of red. Sparks of brilliant light darted
across my vision as I met his kiss with my own. The only things I
was aware of were his hands on my waist and the heat of his mouth
on mine. He tasted like cinnamon.

Someone coughed behind us, loudly. I started
to break free but Darren held me firmly in place.

The prince didn't look away from me as he
said, "Andy, you are dismissed - I have been waiting a
very
long time to kiss this girl."

I started to laugh but then I caught sight of
his expression. Dark, smoldering garnet held me in place, stealing
my breath.

"You think I'm not serious?" Darren pulled me
closer and then bent low so that his lips brushed my own. "Perhaps
I need to show you then."

This time he didn't bother to hold back.
Hunger took over my senses. Unrelenting and burning so hot that
every part of me seemed to buckle and collapse… until he was left
holding me against the rail, kissing me until I could no longer
breathe.

Until every part of me was a slow, steady
burn.

"Still think I was joking, Ryiah?"

I bit my lip, smiling. "I think you can do
better than that."

"Oh really?" Darren chuckled. "Well, far be
it to me to decline a lady's challenge."

****

"What are you going to say to him?" Darren's
fingers were tracing a path up and down my wrist.

"Hmmm." I couldn't concentrate. Not while he
was touching me, not with a surge of fluttering sparks racing up
and down arm, spreading across every inch of my skin like wildfire.
It had been like this for the past ten days – apprentice duties
during the day and then fire the second the rest of the crew
retreated below deck. Every second I spent in his company was
bringing me higher and higher until my body lit up whenever Darren
was near.

It was getting harder and harder to pull
away. To remind myself that when we returned to Langli it would
have to end. At least for a time.

I didn't want to think about the future. I
just wanted time to stop.

"Ryiah." The non-heir dropped my hand to lean
in close. "You know it's not going to be easy - for either of us…
Not at first."

I swallowed as I read the truth in his eyes.
He was nervous.

Darren was
never
nervous. The
realization hit me like a thick sheet of ice, my throat
constricting against its numbing cold. This was real. There was no
going back.

Tomorrow we would arrive in Port Langli and
everything would change.

"We've planned it as best we could… We just
have to make sure we don't make any mistakes." I wasn't really
speaking to him. Darren was a master at keeping his emotions in
check.
He
would have no problem continuing the charade until
we reached the palace. "I – I will try my best to follow it."

Darren brushed a strand of hair from my eyes.
"I know you will, Ry." He sighed. "I just wish there was an easier
way for both of us." Then he pulled me back to him and held on
tightly. "No matter what happens, Ryiah, I'm not going to give up.
No matter how hard it gets
."

****

When we arrived at the port the sun had
already set and we were greeted by a wave of fog that had just
begun to settle on the beach. Above us I could see forks of
lightning coming from the bluffs, and though we were still too far
away to see them I knew somewhere up there was Master Byron and the
rest of our faction.

Darren's grip on my hand tightened in one
final reassurance and then he released it. The two of us had a long
road ahead of us and it started with Ian.

After I had finished putting away my pack and
taken a long, hot bath to scrub away a month's grime of sea and
sweat I heard the rest of the girls enter the barracks. I had just
finished pulling my shift over my head when Ella found me,
shrieking and screaming that I was back and that I had better tell
her every last detail of my trip.

Chuckling, I told her that I couldn't. Mira
had made it very clear to Darren and I that our mission was never,
ever
to be discussed with anyone unless we had permission
from the king himself. Not even Commander Chen knew exactly what
our assignment had been. Our hostage and her daughter had already
been transported out of the city. Mira and the rest of the crew
were riding to Devon as we spoke.

"Has Ian seen you yet? Of course not, what am
I thinking, he's going to be so excited…" Ella trailed off as she
noticed my expression. Her face fell and then hardened. "You
changed your mind." It wasn't a question.

"Shh!" I pulled Ella to the side. I didn't
want anyone else to hear, especially Priscilla. I took a quick scan
of the barracks and sighed, realizing there was no sign of the
dark-haired beauty. Then I cringed as I realized she was probably
looking for Darren.

Ella studied my expression. "I hope you
aren't making a mistake." Her eyes spoke her thoughts, but she was
too much of a friend to say them aloud.

I raced off in the direction of the men's
barracks, wondering what excuse I would give to find Ian inside,
when I noticed the curly-haired fourth-year outside talking to
Loren. The second he spotted me Ian excused himself and ran over, a
huge smile on his face.

My mouth was instantly dry. There was no
question Ian cared,
loved
me even – and here I was, about to
tell him I'd made a mistake.

"Ryiah!" Ian pulled me in a tight embrace and
bent low to kiss me. I pulled back, shame filling my cheeks with
color as his baffled eyes sought my own. Pain, hurt, and anger took
over golden green so that all I saw was a mix of emotions and then
the impact of my decision.

Ian didn't know that Darren had almost died,
that it had taken losing the prince for me to finally acknowledge
the depth of my feelings. All Ian knew was that I had chosen him,
told him I loved him, and then tossed him aside the moment I was
alone with Darren. After telling Ian multiples times that I didn't
care for Darren, after assuring him that I was his. That I would
never choose the prince.

My words to Ella during our first year of the
apprenticeship came back to me:
I would never hurt Ian
.

I was a liar. "I'm sorry," I whispered,
hating the look in his eyes as he took a faltering step back.

"I thought you were better than this."

I cringed – Ian's quiet anger was worse than
shouting. I was unable to do anything besides blurt out, "I'm
sorry!" again. He didn't need an explanation. There was nothing
that I could say to change the way he was feeling.

"Did he say he's going to leave her?"

I nodded. "When we get to the palace."

"It won't last." Ian drew in a deep
frustrated breath and stared at me. "He's only going to break your
heart, Ryiah. He's a prince – he's never going to choose you! You
are lowborn!"

I opened my mouth and then shut it
instead.