First Year

by Rachel E. Carter

  A lifetime of fear could not be erased in two hours.

  Eventually, the session ended. We all looked at one another and greedily eyed each other’s failures. No one was stoneless, not even Darren and his cohorts. The pale, blonde-haired girl had only two, and Darren and a couple others had no more than five a piece.

  I had twenty. Alex had even more. Ella, fifteen. We were all failures in comparison to the prince and his following.

  Everyone waited to be dismissed.

  “How many of you have changed your minds about the uselessness of meditation now?” Cedric rasped.

  Several of us cast our eyes down, shame-faced.

  “As you have just witnessed, we are too often allowing sight to dictate our actions. That’s fine in day-to-day living, but it will not get you very far in your magical studies.

  “Most of you were sufficient in the initial stages of your mediation —that is, until you opened your eyes and saw what types of horrors my assistants had cast. Sight is not an understandable reason to lose focus. Sight cannot harm you, and it should not be a cause to waiver in your meditation. Sight can only invoke fear, not pain.

  “Physical pain is an understandable reason to lose focus. Sight is not. The precious seconds between seeing the snake—a harmless act—and its venomous bite could make all the difference in a casting. Focus cannot be rushed—that is true—but in magic, every second counts.

  “If you want to succeed here, you had best master your fears early on because sight is the least of your worries. There are two much more uncontrollable detractors of focus, pain and emotion, which will require much more effort to control.”

  Master Cedric cleared his throat: “As I see it, there are many of you who will fail. The Academy is not meant for everyone. Today’s exercise is usually a strong indicator of how the year will end. Thus, if you did not perform well today, keep in mind you will most likely continue to struggle throughout the rest of your study.”

  As I trailed off to the dining hall with the others, I bitterly acknowledged the reason so many resigned early on. Why waste a year when it was so blatantly obvious how behind I was?

  There was no doubt who the most promising first-years were. Not one member of Darren’s highborn following had been below the top quarter of our class for any of the masters’ lessons. Of course, I shouldn’t have expected anything less. The prince’s contemptuous comments earlier on had made it clear that he would only associate with the best.

  Now, his group of five had expanded to include seven more. Four of the newcomers were not of noble standing from what I could tell either. But all of them had done well, extremely well, in comparison to the rest of our class.

  Apparently, the non-heir would make exceptions to be around “commoners.” But I, like most of the lowborn students present, was not promising enough to be worthy of his time.

  Glancing around the dining commons, I saw more evidence of changes taking place. At the morning meal, students had sat next to friends or others of similar background. Now more emphasis was spent on sitting with those that had performed at one’s own level during training.

  At the far end of the hall, where I had previously sat, were the rejects of our year: those that had not performed well in the first day’s sessions. Toward the front of the room were those that had.

  At the very head of the dining hall was Darren’s table. While the prince had yet to arrive, a small cluster of loud highborns sat waiting for him. Their dreams were shattered moments later when Darren and his company of eleven appeared. One sharp look from the non-heir sent the disgruntled nobles retreating to a less prestigious table. They spent the rest of their meal eyeing the four commoners of the prince’s new crowd jealously.

  Rather than trying to negotiate a spot based on skill, I sat down in the only available open seating, the far end of the reject table. I was pleased to notice Alex and Ella followed. It would have been difficult if my brother and friend had decided they were too proud to sit beside me. It had been a rough first day.

  I spent the entire course of dinner listening to a lively exchange between the two while I pushed gravy-soaked peas across my plate. Alex and Ella seemed to be the only ones that found our entire situation humorous. While everyone else was strategizing or complaining, my brother and friend were more concerned with making me laugh. I felt grateful for their company. I needed more positivity, and while many of their jokes were at the expense of our own mishaps, it was nice to laugh them off.

  “Did you see me during our drills with Sir Piers?” Alex was asking.

  Ella snorted. “I was too busy breathing to notice anyone besides myself.”

  “Well, while you girls were busy attempting to keep up with us men—”

  “Hey!” Ella and I both interrupted. We had both done better than Alex in conditioning. My brother might have brawn, but he had spent the majority of his life indoors.

  “—I was trying to romance a lady that was actually performing well during the drill,” Alex continued on, grinning.

  “And how did that go?” I interjected.

  “Well—”

  “And which damsel in distress would she be?” Ella taunted. “I saw you entertain several before class had even started.” It looked like my dark-skinned friend was not enamored after all.

  “Hardly,” Alex chuckled. “What you may allude to as flirtation, I call harmless conversation.”

  Ella and I exchanged amused looks.

  “So I tried to strike up a conversation with that lovely lady,” he finished, pointing his orange to Priscilla from Darren’s entourage. It was at just that moment the girl raised her eyes to catch the three of us staring. I saw her frown and turn to the rest of her table to whisper something, shooting a disgusted glance in our direction.

  “Seems like a fan,” I remarked casually.

  “Sure it went well, lover boy? That looks more like disdain than admiration,” Ella added.

  Alex tore off a bit of rind from his orange and threw it at us.

  “Well, it started off well enough. I’d caught her eyeing me a couple of times during practice—”

  “Probably in an attempt to avoid you,” Ella laughed.

  “—So I figured I’d try my chance at some conversation. I’d just managed to catch up to her when my foot caught on one of those lovely stairs Piers had us climbing.

  “So, of course, I did what anyone does when they are falling. I grabbed on to the nearest support which just happened to be the lady in question. She left in a hurry after that little incident. Shot me the look of death, that one did. Now all I can think is that not only did the girl outrun me, she also thinks I’m a complete chump.”

  “You poor thing, most of the class can outrun you,” Ella sympathized, patting his shoulder and laughing at the same time. “Can’t believe you thought you had a chance with Priscilla.”

  Alex guffawed but then continued stubbornly, “But why not? I thought status wasn’t supposed to matter here.”

  I choked on my roast, and Ella just rolled her eyes. “It will always matter to some,” I finally managed to say through a mouthful of spinach. Darren’s angry eyes flashed in my mind.

  “Especially,” Ella added, “to those who plan on joining the royal family.” She jerked her head in Priscilla’s direction.

  “Are you sure?” Alex asked reluctantly.

  “I grew up with her,” she replied. “Believe me, that girl has eyes for one thing and one thing only.”

  “So, she’s here for Prince Darren,” Alex surmised.

  “Most definitely.” Ella twisted the water glass in her palm. “Her parents are very well-known courtiers. Social climbers like Priscilla’s family dedicate their lives to building close relations with the Crown. Priscilla is a very pretty girl, and her family has enough standing to make her a very eligible wife. Everyone knows that, as future king, Prince Blayne’s hands are tied with a political marriage, but Darren’s are not. Every power hungry family in court who has a daughter around
his age has been after that title since the day he was born.”

  As I listened to Ella, I found myself watching Priscilla interact with those closest to her. Ella could say she was power hungry, but the girl had still performed very strongly in all of our lessons today.

  “I don’t think she’s just here for the prince,” I remarked, causing both Alex and Ella to start. I continued, “Priscilla’s much too prepared. She might want to secure an engagement, but I think she came here for a robe.”

  Ella just shook her head. “If she wasn’t good, she wouldn’t have a chance at the throne to begin with.”

  “Why?”

  “Because magic is all that prince cares about,” Ella explained dryly. “I thought he’d grow out of it, but since he’s here, I’m quite certain he hasn’t. Priscilla and her parents were undoubtedly smart enough to figure that out. I’m sure as soon as they realized how serious he was about the Academy, they got her the best tutor money could buy.”

  I looked back to the end of the table where Priscilla and Darren and the rest of their following were seated. I’d already started to hear rumors that the prince and his entourage were going to make the apprenticeship.

  Really. On day one. To already have that kind of reputation.

  It isn’t fair.

  Alex noted my stare. “I heard some people have already decided to change their faction.”

  “Huh?”

  “After practice today, some of the others were saying they didn’t want to be second best. Two people said there was no point in hoping for Combat when the odds were so set against them.”

  Master Barclae’s predictions were already coming true. I couldn’t believe it.

  “They might say that now and change their mind later,” Ella pointed out. “Jeff changed his mind three times before the end of his first month.”

  “I can see why,” I remarked slowly, “when you are competing with someone who even Master Cedric and the others are impressed with. They have seen hundreds of first-years. To impress them at this point means you really stand out.”

  Ella folded her arms. “Well, future apprentice or not, no one is going to sway me but me.”

  Once we had finished off our dinner, Alex, Ella, and I headed to the library’s upper study to begin the day’s assignments. Most of the class had gone off to the barracks to wash. Though the three of us were smelly and not particularly attractive at the moment, we knew we would fare better studying without the echo that a hundred or so lowered voices would bring if we cleaned up first like everyone else.

  Entering the room, it was immediately evident that we were not alone. There were a couple other small groups already inside, but they were few in number. They seemed friendly enough so I didn’t mind much. I recognized one girl, Winifred, as someone from back home. Alex recognized another, Clayton, his friend from a nearby village. Before long, we had amassed a small group of our own: Alex, Ella and I, Winifred, Clayton, another boy named Jordan, a girl named Ruth, and Ella’s admirer from the library, shy James.

  It was nice to study in the company of so many. We all had something to contribute to someone else’s work. While Winifred spent most of her time lecturing us on the mathematical equations we were trying to break down, Alex and I helped with the sections on herb lore. Having parents who owned an apothecary was an advantage.

  Ruth and Clayton were able to assist with geography, and Ella, shockingly enough, with history, especially the battles. As she explained to our speechless group, Ella used to follow her father around while he drilled the village soldiers and then practiced later in private. No wonder the girl wanted Combat. She had a warrior mindset I envied. It also explained why she had fared better than most of us in Piers’s conditioning. Ella had been second only to Priscilla and a couple of the boys.

  Even if none of us knew the answer to a problem, eight of us searching different volumes provided much quicker results than trying to do so independently. By the time the rest of our class had arrived, most of the assignments were finished.

  Packing up my work, I felt a lot more confident than hours before. I still had problems to complete, but they were significantly fewer in number. The only thing that detracted from my mood was Ella—or rather, her insistent whispering and pointing as we turned the corner to exit.

  Darren and his entourage had arrived, and in the short time they had done so, they had already taken over the most comfortable lounge in the library. This had left the rest of the ninety students trying to squeeze into the smaller aisles on the second floor. No one looked happy.

  “Injustice at its finest!” Ella hissed when we shut the door behind us. “Treating the Academy like it is just another court back home!”

  Alex glanced at our friend, eyebrow cocked. “You really don’t like the prince, do you?”

  “No!”

  “Why?”

  Several heads turned to glance at Ella, myself included. True, I was no fan of the angry-eyed prince, but Ella had never told me what it was Darren had done to make her hate him so venomously. I had my own reasons for not liking the prince, but Ella’s hatred seemed much more impassioned. Maybe now I would hear the reason behind this loathing.

  Ella set her mouth in a hard line. “It’s none of your concern, Alex.”

  My brother looked disappointed. “I was hoping for a good story.”

  I had to admit, so was I.

  “Well, there’s nothing to tell,” she replied tightly. Her lively brown eyes were unreadable in the candlelight.

  Alex laughed uncomfortably. “Just wanted to know what the poor guy did, so I didn’t repeat his same mistake. I’d hate to have the hatred of such a beautiful lady.”

  Ella smiled slightly, and the tension in the hall left the air. “You are much too charming to make the same mistake,” she told him lightly. Then, she leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek. She had to stand on tippy-toes to reach his sun-tanned face, and by the time she finished, his skin had a deep red tint to it.

  Ella continued down the hall while Alex stood frozen in place, eyes trailing after as the girl turned another corner and disappeared.

  “Don’t you even think about it,” I warned him.

  “I don’t…she…” His face grew redder, and conscious of the amused expressions of our group, he shook his head to clear away the confusion, sandy brown locks flailing wildly in his attempt. “I have to go.”

  Alex took off in the same direction as Ella, though he was headed toward the boy’s housing.

  Clayton snickered. “I think Ella is going to give your brother a run for his reputation.”

  “She’s only interested in older men like Master Barclae,” I replied without thinking.

  “People say a lot of things. That doesn’t mean they are always true,” James piped up, a little too eagerly.

  We all laughed at the truth of his statement and parted ways to our barracks. I spent most of the time making small talk with Ruth and Winifred until we had finished bathing. By the time I entered our sleeping quarters, the rest of the girls had arrived with large piles of parchment, books scattered across the floor in every which direction.

  Out of the corner of my eye I saw Priscilla directing a scrawny girl where to set her load. Meanwhile, Priscilla sat idly brushing her long locks and complaining loudly about how much harder it was going to be for her to rest surrounded by “this lowborn mess.” Somehow, from Priscilla’s tone, I didn’t think she was referring to the books.

  “I think she and the prince will do nicely together,” I remarked quietly to Ella as she sat down on the bunk next to mine. “They are easily the nastiest people here.”

  Ella smiled.

  “Do you still have work left?” I asked her.

  “No, I finished most of mine earlier during the break at lunch.”

  I looked longingly at my pillows. I still had at least an hour of assignments left.

  “I still have a couple problems too,” Ruth offered from a couple bunks down.

  “Wha
t time do they check the lights?” Winifred wondered.

  “I think the constable said eleven, which should be any minute now,” another girl next to Winifred remarked.

  “Do we have any candles or matches?” I needed to finish my work somehow.

  “I don’t think so, but I can conjure light,” Ruth offered quickly. “Do you want to try and finish your work with me after the constable has finished his rounds?”

  I nodded, grateful for her offer and jealous she had a skill I didn’t at the same time.

  We decided to go to the bathing corridor so as not to keep the others up with our studying. Unfortunately, about ten minutes after we thought the constable had finished his rounds, his servant Frederick pounded on the door and demanded we go to bed at once. Fearing the reprimands Barrius had promised, we quickly heeded Frederick’s order. I was a little nervous that I had not finished, but at that point there was nothing I could do until morning came.

  “Please wake me when you are up,” I whispered to Ella as I crawled into my bunk. “I still need to finish my work.”

  “Mmm-hmm.” I hoped she would remember in the morning.

  I wrapped myself in my blankets and shut my eyes. In a matter of moments I had forgotten the day’s events and was fast asleep.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The cruel, harsh light of day was not there to wake me that following morning. Instead, the horrible toll of bells sounded from somewhere outside the Academy and continued to ring across every inch of its campus.

  I groaned and rubbed my eyes. The sun had barely risen, and every muscle in my body was tight in protest.

  “I know. It’s a wonder you were able to sleep through it yesterday,” Ella remarked as she stood up.

  “How much time do we have until breakfast?” I asked.