The Black Mage: Apprentice Read Online Free Page A

actions.
    Normally, the mentor-mentee relationship was
a good thing. It gave two apprentices the opportunity to bond over
shared trials and common goals in training. Each pairing lasted a
year before the partners were switched. We would have two years
leading others and two years following them. The varied approach
would give us the chance to be the best and the worst, and the
experience was supposed to make us better for it. Ian undoubtedly
interpreted Darren's extra training as an affront instead of what
it really was: a lifetime of expectation.
    I think there were very few who understood
why Darren acted the way he did. I wasn't an expert by any
means – but the prince had made certain remarks last year that had
led me to believe his role was more demanding than people realized.
Otherwise, how else could one explain why a prince was more
accustomed to injuries than the rest of us? Darren had never once
lost control of his magic in training – and as one of the few
apprentices that could pain cast that was highly unusual. It
led me to two possible conclusions: Darren was perfect, or he had
trained in far worse pain than the rest of us.
    It was hard to accept the latter, but no one
– not even the current Black Mage - had ever had a flawless
apprenticeship. I knew firsthand how hard Darren worked. After all,
his ambition was the reason we had become friends – though it had
taken many misunderstandings to get there.
    "I understand wanting to be best, I do," Ian
continued. "But there is nothing wrong with a little bit of amity.
Would it kill the prince to take a meal with his factionmates?" He
directed the attention to me. "I mean, look at Ryiah. She is just
as stubborn, but she still manages to have a conversation with the
rest of us."
    Ella winked at me conspiratorially. "Oh,
Darren still has 'conversations' with some people."
    I glared at her. She knew very well there was
nothing going on between Darren and I. Maybe there had been at one
point – but it was long gone. His betrothal to Priscilla of Langli,
one of the wealthiest young women in the kingdom – and my personal
nemesis, had made that perfectly evident.
    Ian's eyes met mine. "That's right, Ry. You
and Darren are actually friends ." He pronounced the last
word with mock distaste, grinning. "So how did you do it? What
makes the cold-hearted princeling mortal like the rest of us?"
    I fidgeted in my seat. The last thing I
wanted was for the others to find out about last year's
transgression. Especially Ian. I suspected my feelings for the
curly-haired third-year weren't strictly platonic - and I didn't
want him to think that I was, as Priscilla put it, "pining" for
Darren. Because I wasn't.
    Ella giggled. "Oh I don't think it's
something you would want to attempt yourself, Ian."
    "Why?" Ian raised a brow. "What did she do
that I can't?" He turned to me and gave me his most disarming
smile. "Ry, just tell me whatever you said to convince him to make
him give up that ridiculous pretense."
    "It's not an act." I kept my eyes averted as
I said: "Darren just has a really hard time opening up to people he
thinks are beneath him…"
    Ian gave a fake gasp.
    "…But I'm sure after a couple months he'll
realize you are trying."
    Ian stole a handful of grapes off my plate.
"That, my dear, is the worst explanation I have ever heard." He
added half-serious, "If I didn't know better I would say you were defending him."
    "I'm not," I said quickly. Too quickly.
    "Did something happen between the two
of you?" Ian leaned across the table to look at me.
    I flushed. "No."
    Ella coughed loudly.
    Ian withdrew, grinning. "So that Priscilla
girl was right. You are a terrible liar, Ry."
    I wished I were anywhere other than the
commons. My humiliation could not get any worse.
    "Don't worry," Ella added wickedly, "No one
cares that you kissed the prince."
    I was wrong.

CHAPTER TWO
     
    The second half of my day didn't get much
better.
    I was on my way to the fourth floor to begin
a lesson