It took a bit for Professor Annora to get Celestria off the field; Arjun ended up going to help, at the healer’s request. Liv was only vaguely aware of what was happening. A few moments after the pressure of her opponent’s word had eased, Liv was still feeling its effects.

She couldn’t stop fidgeting or sit still, and the only thing that seemed to bring even a slight bit of relief was snuggling up against Cade where he sat next to her. In fact, it was all too easy to let her mind wander to the idea of asking him to kiss her again. Liv felt like every inch of her skin was crying out to be touched.

“This is horrible,” she muttered, clenching her fists until her knuckles paled. “I’d rather she’d burned me or something.”

“House Ward is not known for their military prowess,” Sidonie explained. “In fact, from what I’ve read, they’ve got a long tradition of hiring mercenaries when their rift erupts, even before the guild was founded. But they are said to be incredibly dangerous to negotiate with. There’s stories of someone walking into a meeting with their sworn enemy, only to come out begging for a marriage alliance.”

“How do I make it stop?” Liv asked, shivering. Maybe if Cade put his hand on her thigh, that would help. She nearly reached over to grab him and do it herself, but with great effort managed to resist the urge.

“It should fade, eventually,” Sidonie said. “It’s a physical response. The only other way would be to,” she coughed, “treat the symptoms. So to speak.”

“I hate that word,” Liv muttered to herself, repeating it over and over again like a prayer. “I’m never fighting her again. I should have aimed for her head!”

Now that the training field was clear – save for a bit of blood soaked into the earth – Master Jurian walked out again. “Our final duel,” he announced, “to determine the top ranked student of the new class, will be between Arianell Seton and Liv Brodbeck. Students, approach.”

“I don’t have enough mana left to fight,” Seton said, though she still rose and walked across the field toward the professor, the silver bracelets on her wrists softly jangling against each other.

“For the final match, mana will be provided,” Jurian said, extending a hand to his left. “Courtesy of the Archmagus.”

A murmur passed through the students, and the townsfolk who had come to watch, when Caspian Loredan emerged from the crowd, carrying a white pearl easily the size of a grown man’s head. “Take what you need, Miss Seton,” he said, extending his arms to hold the pearl out to her. The girl tossed back her strawberry-blonde hair and set a palm against the pearl. Wisps of golden-blue light began to rise up, then sunk into her skin.

“Apprentice Brodbeck,” the archmagus called, “will you be able to proceed?”

Gritting her teeth in frustration, Liv pushed herself up from the wooden bench. She drew her wand, shoved it in Cade’s general direction, then slipped her guild ring off as well and handed it over. Then, she hurried across the yard. She thrust her left hand out, gripped the pearl, and began to pull in mana. Arianell Seton stepped away around the time Liv was half full, and the longer she stood with her hand pressed to the enormous pearl, the more whispers made their way through the crowd.

When Liv finally removed her hand, she turned to the Archmagus and said, “It wasn’t enough to fill me up.”

Loredan nodded, but had to speak a bit louder to be heard over the crowd. “How many rings would you say you’re holding right now, Apprentice?”

“Twenty,” Liv answered. “Not more than that.”

“Twenty?” Arianell broke in. “And you aren’t full?”

“What was your maximum, when you were last measured?” Master Jurian asked.

“Twenty-three,” Liv said. “But that was before culling the Bald Peak Rift. I can feel that it’s gone up since.”

“Twenty four rings is ridiculous!” Arianell exclaimed. “How am I supposed to fight that? I can only hold eleven!”

“Eleven rings is an exceptional number for a first year student just entering the college,” Loredan assured her. Liv could hear the number ‘twenty-four’ being repeated in various flavors of astonishment, disbelief, and anger throughout the stands.

“It’s an unfair advantage,” Seton protested. “It’s her Eldish blood, isn’t it? Make her put some of that back in the pearl, so we’re even.”

“Allow me to make something explicitly clear,” Archmagus Loredan proclaimed, sweeping his gaze across the crowd. “This college is not concerned with what is fair. We are concerned with training the next generation of mages and nobility to combat the threats that come pouring out of rifts. The reward for exceptional talent is work. The reward for doing the work is more work. We will push you to achieve your potential, whatever that is. If you buckle at the first show of adversity, this is not the place for you.”

“If you’ve never been the little dog in the fight,” Master Jurian broke in, “get used to the idea. Because sooner or later, you will be. Better you learn to deal with it now than when you’re in the shoals of a rift, with the lives of your companions depending on your actions. Seton, you can either submit now, or you can fight.”

“I’ll fight,” Arianell said, but she glared at Liv.

“Good.” Jurian nodded. “Any new enchanted items since your last matches? Where’s your wand, Brodbeck?”

“I’m not using it,” Liv said. “The sigils are inlaid with silver. No ring, either. Just my armor.”

“Very well. Put your backs to each other,” Jurian commanded. Archmagus Loredan, on the other hand, had returned to the edge of the training ground, where he stood next to Professor Annora.

At fifteen paces, Liv spun, facing the girl with the blonde hair across an expanse of earth. A flickering blue ring sprung up around them both. There would be no triggered spells from her wand, this time. She would have to react to what the other girl was doing in the moment. Arianell Seton’s first move, in her other matches, had been to begin by fashioning herself a shield, and then to attack only when she’d weathered whatever her opponents threw at her.

Liv grinned. The other girl was still only casting one spell at a time, and only using spells that did a single thing. It was time to show her what a real spell looked like.

“Begin!” Master Jurian shouted.

“Celent Aiveh Trei Belim,” Liv intoned. Without her wand to help focus her power, she lost a bit of mana - five rings depleted, instead of four. It wouldn’t matter. While Arianell was forming her shield of silver, Liv allowed herself to be swallowed up by a sparkling rosebud of adamant ice, which lifted her off the ground. Vines snaked out across the practice yard, linking her to two additional buds, each angled to be out to the opposite side of her opponent.

Liv breathed in the cold air inside her glittering bud: she’d been careful to build it clear enough that her vision wasn’t blocked. With a second incantation, the thorns growing from the massive vines shot at her opponent from all directions. Without even waiting to see whether the attack hit, Liv opened the other two buds, forming a soldier armed with a spear from one, and one holding a sword from the other. They charged down the petals, advancing on Arianell.

The girl who controlled silver managed to split her shield and angle the two pieces of metal that resulted so that she protected herself from all of the thorns that fired at her. Then, she formed each shield into a pointed lance of metal and flung it at the soldiers that advanced on her.

Unfortunately for Arianell, silver was softer than steel, and certainly than adamant ice.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Her weapons hit, warped under the force of the impact, and clattered off to either side uselessly. Arianell tried to dash forward, away from Liv’s soldiers, and fell to the ground with frozen vines wrapped around her ankles. She called the silver back to her, formed it into a sword, and managed to set aside the first soldier’s sword stroke with an elegant parry. That gave her a moment to hack at the vines holding her legs, and chips of ice flung in every direction.

Before she could free herself, Arianell found herself with the tip of a frozen spear thrust toward her chest. “I surrender!” the girl shrieked, desperately throwing her hands up to ward off the blow.

Liv used the waste heat generated by her succession of spells to melt the soldiers, then the vines that held the other girl down, and finally her own bud. When she stepped out, it was to applause and cheers from her friends, and shocked murmuring from the other students.

“I believe Miss Brodbeck has demonstrated why, alone among your class, she arrived at the college already holding the rank of Apprentice,” Master Jurian said. “Here is the top of your class. Match her, if you can.”

Archmagus Loredan walked out to join the professor of combat in the middle of the training field. “You will find your schedules have been delivered to your rooms,” he announced. “Students, you are at liberty for the remainder of the day. Starting tomorrow, you are expected at your classes precisely on time. No excuses.”

The crowd began to break up, and Liv made her way back over to the stands to reclaim her wand and ring from Cade. Sidonie was practically bouncing with excitement.

“You can do three of those at once, now?” she asked. “That’s the spell we came up with for the duel, isn’t it?”

Liv nodded. “Actually, I think I did five or six buds in the rift. But I couldn’t imagine I would need more than three against her.”

Rosamund laughed. “All that, and you were holding back?”

Tephania was silent, but her eyes were as wide as tea-cups. Cade, grinning, handed over her wand, and Liv slid it into the sheath on her hip. Then, with an answering smile, she held out her left hand, and allowed him to gently slide her guild ring onto her finger. The effect of Celestria Ward’s spell must have been fading, because the feel of his skin meeting hers didn’t drive her out of her mind.

“Livara,” Archmagus Loredan said, appearing out of the crowd as if he’d been crafted from magic. “You received my note this morning, I believe?”

“Yes, Archmagus,” Liv said, turning to face him. Cade dropped her hand and stood, and all of her friends followed his lead.

“Excellent. Why don’t you walk with me to my office now, then?” Loredan offered.

“Of course.” Liv found Thora, at the back and with her eyes lowered. “Thora, could you go into town for me? Find Townsend’s Dry Goods, please, and arrange for shipments to High Hall? Wren, perhaps you could go with her, to make sure she’s safe?”

“Of course, m’lady,” Thora said, making a curtsy. Liv realized she was on her best behavior because the archmagus was present.

“I’ll make sure she doesn’t fall down and roll into the ocean by accident,” Wren said, and took Thora by the arm.

“Perhaps I’ll see the rest of you for dinner?” Liv suggested to the others.

“We could meet in the courtyard at sixth bell,” Cade suggested, and after a general agreement was reached, Liv departed with Caspian Loredan. It was an odd experience to walk beside the man: students and townspeople alike scattered out of their path, clearing the way up the bluff and to the old walls that surrounded the college. They walked in silence until they reached Blackstone Hall, the same building where meals were served. Liv wondered whether the other housing halls had private dining space, like High Hall did, and decided they probably did not.

The archmagus took her up to the second floor, and from there into an office that had probably once been the sitting room of a master bedroom, before the building was turned over to the use of the college. He sat at a large desk of dark, stained oak, and motioned for Liv to be seated in a facing chair. Every wall was lined with shelves upon shelves of books, Liv saw, save for a single hearth and mantle, which she couldn’t imagine was used very often, given the weather of Coral Bay.

“I took the liberty of keeping your schedule here,” Loredan said, placing a piece of paper on the desk facing Liv. “Since I knew you would be coming to speak to me, rather than returning immediately to your rooms. You will note that classes are arranged in alternating days. All students receive market days off, and the normal schedule is set aside for king tides or eruptions.”

Liv leaned forward, scanning the lines of text that spelled out her new routine.

First Days

Morning

9th Bell - Basic Armed Combat - Journeyman Gamel - Training Yard

11th Bell - Advanced Healing - Professor Annora - Infirmary

Evening

1st Bell - Advanced Grammar and Spellcraft - Archmagus Loredan - Blackstone Hall,

Library

Second Days

Morning

9th Bell - Advanced Magical Combat - Professor Jurian - Training Yard

11th Bell - Advanced Beasts - Professor Blackwood - Blackstone Hall, Library (unless

otherwise specified)

Evening

1st Bell - Basic Enchanting - Journeyman Genne - Enchanting Workshop

3rd Bell - Basic Guild Law and History - Journeyman Barnabas - Blackstone Hall,

Ballroom

“You will observe that you have been placed in four advanced classes, and not a single remedial class,” the Archmagus said. “Technically, you should have completed all of those basic classes before earning the title of apprentice. I understand the reasoning behind Jurian’s decision, and it is his right as a master, but it may earn you a bit of resentment from other students. I would recommend you test out of those basic courses as soon as you feel ready to do so, which brings me to my next point: let us set aside the fiction that you will be with us the next four years, Miss Brodbeck.”

Liv blinked. “What?”

“You’ve had more than two decades of tutoring,” Loredan explained. “You could test out of my advanced course tomorrow, if you wanted to, but I don’t recommend you do that until you’re ready to take on the role of a journeyman. I suspect you could test out of the magical combat course, as well, based on your performance this afternoon. You might remain with us for three years, or two, but it will not be four.”

“I hadn’t thought about it like that,” Liv admitted. “I know I have a lot to learn in enchanting –”

“Which I have no doubt you will do. Your weak point is combat without the use of magic, but even there you have a certain amount of training, and we do not expect our students to be prodigies at everything. When you are ready to test out of all your basic classes, that is when you will need to make a final decision on whether to join the guild permanently,” the archmage continued.

Liv nodded. “Because I was a child when Master Jurian took me as his personal apprentice.”

“Correct. If you choose to take your place among us permanently, I will imprint you with your second word,” Loredan told her. “Your course in guild history and law should help you to come to a decision in that regard. Now, if you have no questions regarding your schedule or my expectations, let us discuss Merek Sherard, and the incident that took place yesterday.”

“Master Jurian said you wouldn’t send him home,” Liv said. She did her best to keep it from sounding like an accusation, but it was difficult.

“Not yet,” Caspian Loredan said. “He claims that he did not hear the instruction to stop. I don’t believe him, of course, but his family will raise a fuss if I don’t give him a chance to shape up before sending him on his way. In addition to failing his combat examinations and being placed in remedial courses, I’ve assigned him punishment duty in the infirmary. Since his actions caused an injury, he can make up for them by aiding our healers.”

“And the next time he does something, you’ll kick him out of the college?” Liv asked.

“Correct.”

“This wasn’t supposed to happen,” Liv reminded him. “Duchess Julianne specifically wanted Matthew and I to be safe here. You were there.”

“I recall,” the archmagus said. “Though that negotiation was between the prince and House Summerset, not including House Sherard, technically.”

“Who are allied to the royal family by marriage,” Liv pressed on. “Is there a reason I shouldn’t write back to Duchess Julianne and tell her the agreement isn’t being kept?”

Loredan drummed his fingers on his desk. “You are asking for reparations from House Sherard.”

“Yes,” Liv said.

“I will convey the demand on your behalf,” the archmagus promised. “And when I have a response, I will speak to you. Are you satisfied with this course of action?”

“So long as it's something that hurts them to give,” Liv told him. “They could send a shipment of spices to Whitehill, perhaps? They control the pass to Lendh ka Dakruim, don’t they? I imagine that Triss and Duchess Julianne would enjoy a few bolts of silk.”

“Julianne’s taught you well,” Loredan grumbled. “Very well. Off with you, then. I will see you tomorrow after luncheon.”

Liv stood, curtsied, and left the Archmagus’ office.