The Storm Apprentice

Chapter 2

"Are you ready for the assessment?"

Narira turned at the sound of her sister's voice, then held up her rapier with a frown. "Of course, Alessa," she said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "I'm just over here polishing this for no reason whatsoever."

"You're nervous," Alessa acknowledged.

"Yes, and my hair is red. What else is obvious?" Narira snapped.

"And irritable," Alessa added, smiling at Narira's angry look. "But you're amazing at dueling! I know you'll pass."

Narira turned her head back to her work, determined to ignore her sister. After a few moments, however, her moment of silence was ruined when her father called them for dinner.

"Coming!" Narira shouted. She placed her rapier down delicately, then wound her way around her and Alessa's shared bed and out into the hall. Their house was a peasant's dwelling, but they had lived in far worse, and it succeeded in keeping the family warm.

She was greeted with the smell of sweet bread as she entered the middle room of the three rooms of the house. This one held a hearth opposite the door, and a table for eating. Narira saw with astonishment that there was a loaf of noble's white bread heating over the fire.

"It's good luck for your assessment," her mother explained when she saw her daughter's look of confusion.

"Thanks!" Narira said warmly. "How much did it cost?"

"I don't want you to worry about it."

"Just tell me," Narira demanded.

"14 chargens."

Narira winced. "That's a lot for one loaf of bread!"

"You'll win it back in tournaments," her father told her with a smile.

"If I pass my assessment."

"You will."

Narira didn't bother to argue that they were meant to be difficult to pass. She accepted her serving of stew and slice of white bread, then sat at the table and began to eat silently.

When night came, she retreated to her bed and tried to sleep, but her mind held her in the realm of wakefulness as she went over everything she might possibly need to do. Morning came after what seemed like days of worrying, and her tired state only worried her more.

All too soon, she was walking through the city and toward the arena. Luckily, spectators weren't allowed, so she had some time to think before she arrived rather than talking with her family. Cecota was a tight city, and without her lifetime of practice navigating it she would have been helpless. At this point, however, she found herself wishing that she could get lost and have to reschedule her assessment. Unfortunately, she found her way easily. Outside the arena, she moved into her place in the line of waiting students, all looking nervous.

"It's Narira, right?" the boy behind her asked. She recognized him from one sparring match in the Dueling Academy she had seen a few weeks before.

She nodded. "And you?"

"I'm Keddian. Are you Ilatran or something?" he asked curiously, nodding to her bright red hair.

"I may have some Ilatra blood, but I'm mostly Malynrian," she replied with a shake of her head. "I think I had a grandmother who was Ilatran or something, but honestly I don't know why my hair looks Ilatran."

He shrugged. "Fair enough." Then he pointed to his head of white hair. "I'm nothing special. I'm about as Malynrian as you can get!"

Narira didn't respond, her mind already refocusing on the assessment. What if I really can't do it? she fretted. Without realizing it, she began fidgeting with her hair, twisting and untwisting it in a subconscious attempt to calm down.

"You seem really scared!" Keddian remarked.

"Well, I just... I can't afford to fail the assessment. Then I would have to finish another four months of training with the Dueling Academy before getting a Training Master. And since training with an official trainer is a requirement to be eligible for tournaments, I couldn't do those for four months either. And my family needs the money the tournaments could give me."

He nodded gravely. "Well, best of luck."

Narira turned away in silence. She leaned her rapier gently against the cool stones of the arena's outer wall, then sat down.

She tilted her head up so her face was to the sky. The morning scents still lingered, the smell of rain and wet grass floating on the air. It was misty, for the usually dry city of Cecota, and the moisture clung to her face. The clouds seemed to flow in over the city, rather than lingering in wispy pieces over the fields of peasant farmers.

A man sporting the Malynri messenger seal strode out to the waiting students. "Come inside, all of you," he told them in a droning voice before turning to go back inside.

Keddian glanced at Narira, then shrugged and started toward the arena entrance. As they walked, he commented, "It's odd to see a royal messenger here!"

"It's an important event," Narira guessed. "Training the potential soldiers of the kingdom."

She glanced up as they passed beneath the thick stone archway, the cold stone giving her a sense of foreboding that only added to the adrenaline coursing through her.

Then the tunnel opened into an expansive field surrounded by massive walls. There was no room for spectators, of course, so the walls jutted up as sheer faces that would have turned the place into a prison-like pit had it not been for the sunlight. As it was, they cast shadows that ran deep into the grassy field, cooling sections.

On one of the walls, the one opposite the archway, a cutout hosting four judges had been hollowed out of the stone. An announcer stood next to them. "Students of the Cecota Dueling Academy," he called in a clear, loud voice. His Malynri accent was thick, and he had the characteristic pale blond hair that marked him as almost pure Malynrian. "Today, you will be assessed in your dueling skill. You will be asked to duel with a previous student who has completed their assessment and now works with a trainer. You don't have to win to pass your assessment, and winning does not guarantee a pass. Rather, you will be judged by your technique, fluency and reaction."

Narira turned to Keddian with a worried look, and saw him return it. What do these judges like to see? she wondered. She knew everyone had a different style, and liked different form.

"Please line up outside the arena. A messenger will bring you in one at a time."

The whole thing suddenly felt horribly real. The students paraded out and reformed their previous line, and Narira noticed that she was toward the back of the line. Plenty of time to rest and overthink, she thought grimly.