The next girl I knew a little better. She was tall and slim, with black hair that brushed her shoulders, and her name was Anne. And standing close to her (but not too close) was Luna, my apprentice.
The last person in the room was the teacher. He was just under thirty, well dressed and affluent-looking with short dark hair and olive-tinted skin, and he stopped what he’d been saying as I walked in. Five sets of interested eyes turned in my direction, following the teacher’s gaze.
“Hi, Lyle,” I said. “Didn’t know you’d taken up teaching.”
Lyle hesitated. “Er-”
I waved a hand. “Don’t let me interrupt. Go right ahead.” I found a spot on the wall and leant against it.
“Um,” Lyle looked from me to the students. “Er. The thing-Well, as I-yes.” He floundered, obviously off his groove. Lyle’s never been good with surprises. I watched with eyebrows raised and an expression of mild enquiry. I didn’t feel like making it easy for him.
Lyle was one of the first Light mages I met when Richard Drakh introduced me into magical society. We’d both been teenagers then, but Lyle had a few years of experience on me: His talent had developed earlier than mine and he’d had time to learn the ins and outs of the social game. I’d been a Dark apprentice and there’d never been any question but that Lyle would try for the Council, but all the same we became friends. We were both the type to rely on cleverness rather than strength, and our types of magic complemented each other nicely. Unfortunately, our goals turned out to be less compatible.
At the time I was still feeling my way, unsure of what I wanted to be. Lyle on the other hand knew exactly what he wanted: status, advancement, prestige, a position in the Council bureaucracy from which he could work his way upwards. And when I lost Richard’s favour and with it any standing I might have had, Lyle had to choose between me and his ambitions. Supporting me would have cost him. So when I showed up, alone and desperate, Lyle’s response was to pretend I wasn’t there. Under mage law the master-apprentice relationship is sacred. An apprentice is their master’s responsibility, no one else’s. I’d defied Richard, fled from him, and it was Richard’s right to do with me as he pleased. The Light mages knew that Richard would come to collect his runaway and so they shut me out. . and waited for him to finish things.
But something happened then that the Light and the Dark mages did not expect. When Richard sent Tobruk to kill me-the cruellest and most powerful of his four apprentices-it was Tobruk who died. And in the aftermath, instead of coming to take vengeance Richard vanished, along with his last two apprentices, Rachel and Shireen. I was left alive, safe. . and alone.
Technically, under mage law, I hadn’t done anything wrong. It’s not illegal for an apprentice to successfully defend themselves against their master; it’s just so bloody rare no one’s ever bothered to pass a law against it. But I’d broken tradition older than law. An apprentice is supposed to obey their master for good or ill, and no other mage would take me on-after all, if I’d rebelled against one master, I might rebel against another. Besides, no one was quite sure what had happened to Richard. He might be gone for good-or he might suddenly reappear, in which case nobody wanted to be anywhere near me when he did. So once again, other mages distanced themselves from me and waited.
They waited and waited, and kept waiting so long they forgot all about me, by which time I was glad to let them do it. I started to make a new life for myself. I travelled, had some adventures. As a result of one of them I inherited a shop, a little business in the side streets of Camden Town. I’d been planning to run it only a few months, but as the months turned into years I realised I enjoyed what it brought me. The shop and the flat above it became my residence, then my home. I made new friends. Gradually I began to remember what it was like to be happy again.
And then one day Lyle walked into my shop and brought me back into the mage world with its politics and its alliances and its dangers. This time I was prepared. And this time, to my surprise, I found I liked it.
I snapped out of my reverie. Lyle was talking and seemed to have regained his confidence, though it was obvious that he’d prefer it if I wasn’t here. “-remember that in a duel, you’re representing both your master and the Council,” Lyle was saying. “Now, I know some of you have done this before, but it’s very important that your form is exactly right. Let’s go through the basic greetings one more time. . Yes?”
The one who had raised her hand was Luna. “Um,” Luna said. “Could you explain how these duels work?”
Lyle blinked at her. “What do you mean?”
Luna looked around to see that everyone else was watching her. “Well. .” She seemed to choose her words carefully. “You’ve explained about the selection process. And the rituals and the salutes, and the withdrawal at the end. What about the part in the middle?”
“What part?”
“Um. . the actual duel.”
“Well, it depends, I suppose.” Lyle looked confused. “Styles change and all that. Personally, I find the performance is more important.”
“We’re supposed to be practising for the tournament today,” the Sikh boy said. He sounded unfriendly.
“Oh.” Lyle looked around. “Well, um. . yes, maybe a practice match then.” Lyle glanced quickly over Luna, then pointed to the other two girls. “Natasha and, um, Anne. Why don’t you go first.”
The round-faced girl, Natasha, looked at Anne in anticipation. Anne bowed her head slightly to Lyle. “I’m sorry, but I can’t.”
Natasha made a rude noise and the boy with glasses rolled his eyes. “Oh God, not this again.”
“Er. .” Lyle looked taken aback. “Is there some medical reason-”
“No, she’s fine,” Natasha chipped in. “She just won’t do it.”
“Anne?” Lyle said. “Is there a reason?”
“I’m sorry,” Anne said again. She had a soft, quiet voice. “I don’t mean to cause any trouble.”
“It’s nothing to do with trouble,” Lyle said with a frown. “Unless you or your master can give a good reason, you’re required to participate.”
Anne didn’t answer. “All right then,” Lyle said, gesturing to the centre of the hall. “Off you go.”
No response. “Anne?” Lyle said irritably. “Did you hear me?”
Anne stood silently, looking back at Lyle. “This is an order,” Lyle declared, pointing to the mats. “Get over there and participate.”
Anne still didn’t move and Lyle was left standing with one arm outstretched. He looked vaguely ridiculous and everyone else in the room was watching him. Lyle hesitated, then lowered his arm quickly. “Anne, will you do as you’re told, please?” It was probably supposed to sound authoritative, but it came out more like a pleading.
Anne shook her head mutely. “Oh, this is such crap,” Natasha said angrily. “How come she gets to do this?”
“Just do the duel already,” the other boy said.
“Yes, er. .” Lyle said. “I need to impress upon you the seriousness of this. Refusing a direct order from an authorised teacher is-”
“Why don’t you guys ever do anything about her?” Natasha demanded. “She always does this and you always let her get away with it.”
“Leave her alone,” Luna said.
“You stay out of this.”
“What makes it your business?” Luna said. “You want a duel so badly, try me.”
“I don’t have to-” Natasha started saying angrily. The boy with glasses started to talk over her, and both Luna and the Sikh boy started talking over him, raised voices making a clamour.
“Quiet,” Lyle said. “QUIET!” Gradually, he was obeyed. The five students fell silent, glowering at each other.