Guild Mage: Apprentice

47. Duel at North Beach I

When Beatrice left with her father, it was with a promise to return the next morning, after breakfast. Basil delivered two notes to Liv, while Thora was brushing her hair out before bed. One was from Sidonie Corbett, promising to arrive around the tenth bell the next day, and to stay through lunch. The other was from Cade Talbot, asking Liv's permission to attend her duel. She couldn't decide what to write back, so she set it aside on her desk and climbed into bed.

Liv wished for a cat, to cuddle up against her purring and help her go to sleep. She was fairly certain there were a few mousers in residence at Acton House, but she hadn't managed to befriend any of them yet. Instead, she hugged Rosie, her old rag doll, who had been packed at the very bottom of her trunk.

The other times she'd risked her life, there hadn't been nearly as much advanced warning. Tomorrow, a girl Liv barely knew was going to try to kill her, and not even because of anything she'd done herself - just because of who she was associated with. It was not a thought that lent itself well to a good night's rest, and she found herself tossing and turning, drifting in and out of anxious dream fragments. She was up in the morning before Thora.

The bed-chamber was too unfamiliar, still, to be comforting. There was no point in trying to go back to sleep, so Liv stripped off her stockings and padded down the stairs and out to the garden barefoot, in her shift. When she got to the beach, she ran across the sand and splashed into the waves, letting the cool sea water close over her head. It wasn't the same as a mountain lake, or the fast-moving Aspen River, but it was something. She let herself float under the water until her lungs were about to burst, and then finally stood up.

The waves lapped about her waist, and the salt water stung her eyes, but somehow Liv felt better. She tossed her head back to get her hair out of the way, rubbed most of the sea water out of her eyes, and then jumped when she saw Cade Talbot waiting on the shore.

"I thought you might come down here this morning," the dark-haired boy called to her.

Liv was suddenly aware of how very alone she was, with a boy she hardly knew, and wearing nothing but a shift that was soaked through. "I needed to get some air," she said, then sunk down in the water up to her neck. The waves lifted her hair, splaying strands out around her head like seaweed.

"That doesn't surprise me," Cade said. "I won't keep you, Liv. I just wanted to tell you again that I'm sorry for how that happened; it wasn't the way I intended it to be. If you'll let me, I'd like to come and support you at the duel."

Liv bit her lip, and considered. "You can come," she said. "I could use as many friendly faces as I can get, I think. But it doesn't mean I've agreed to anything, yet."

"Thank you," Cade said. "And I understand. I'll head back, now; I don't want to cause you any scandal." True to his word, he turned and headed back down the beach. Liv waited until he was out of sight before wading out of the ocean and scampering back up the stairs to the house.

☙

After breakfast, Liv brought all of her books to the library, and stacked them up on the nicely polished wooden desk at one end of the room. She brought three quills and a pot of ink, as well, and Lady Julianne gave her five pieces of parchment to work with. Baron Henry, Lady Julianne, and Master Grenfell set up by the fire, after the court mage had dropped another half dozen books on the desk. Matthew was conspicuous by his absence, but Liv knew that he didn't have much of a head for magic anyway and didn't hold it against him.

When Beatrice Crosbie and Sidonie Corbett arrived, Basil showed them up, and they joined Liv at the desk. "Thank you for having me over," Sidonie said, with a shy grin. "What are we doing?"

"Planning how to give Princess Milly a kick right up her pompous ass," Triss said.

"Oh!" Sidonie blushed at the swear, and Liv found herself relieved not to be the youngest person in the room. Not that Triss was actually older than her, being human, but she certainly looked like it.

"Have you thought about where to begin?" Lady Julianne asked, from her seat by the fire.

"Yes," Liv said. "The first thing, of course, is that I can't allow myself to be hit. If she manages to strike me with lightning, it's over. I don't feel comfortable just hoping that I can get an incantation before she can; that seems like a good way to lose. I don't want to leave anything to chance."

"So, she's going to open up with an attack," Triss said. "Lightning down from the sky. We know your ice can take at least one hit, but we don't know what direction she's going to strike from, do we?"

The three girls looked to Lady Julianne. "Lightning forms in the clouds," she explained. "The stormwand will let her skip having to gather a storm, but it still wants to get to the ground as quickly as it can. Luc can be used to create it, and guide its path. Essentially, she can convince the lightning that you represent its best route to the ground. It will come from above."

"Which means using the shape of a wall is no good," Liv said. "I need something that will surround me on all sides."

"How are you going to make sure your spell is finished before hers?" Sidonie asked.

"I'm going to use the future tense," Liv said, looking over to Master Grenfell to see if he would stop her.

"Oh no," he said. "Don't look at me to stop you. You're fighting for your life, Apprentice. Use every tool you have."

☙

Liv took a breath, and stepped forward, walking in time with the count until the royal court mage reached fifteen.

"Seconds, confirm distance," Arundell called.

"Her legs are too short," Lady Howe said. "Have her take another step."

"Acceptable," Triss called back. They'd discussed this; distance didn't really help or hurt Liv either way. There was no reason to object. Liv took another step.

"Turn!" Liv turned around, holding her staff above the ground still. Thirty paces away, give or take, the princess held her wand in her right hand. Mistress Arundell made her invocation, and a blue circle of light flared up to encompass both girls. Liv was too focused on what was about to happen to bother listening to the words. She kept her eyes locked on Milisant, and tried to remember to breathe.

The court mage retreated from the circle. There was a long moment where the only sound was the surf breaking, and then Genevieve Arundell shouted: "Begin!"

Liv slammed her staff down onto the sand before Princess Milisant could finish the first word of her invocation.

☙

"You need a trigger that's as fast as you can get," Triss had argued that morning. "Everything in this duel is about speed, and she has the advantage. Can you come up with a way to have it start the moment the judge starts the duel?"

Liv looked over to where Master Grenfell sat by the fire, sipping from a cup of tea. "You just said 'begin,' when we practiced. Is that standard?" she asked.

"Fairly standard," her teacher said. "But not required. I've heard variations over the years."

"When's the last time you even fought a duel?" Julianne teased him.

"In college, I suppose," Grenfell admitted.

"Regardless, I don't think you can count on it," Sidonie said. "Control everything you can. Leave nothing to chance. What if you set the spell to trigger at 'begin,' and she says 'start?"

"I agree," Liv said. "So we want a trigger that I can do, that will be faster than speaking. How about when I strike the ground with my staff? Can anyone see a flaw in that?"

"You'll have to make certain you don't accidentally set it off on the walk in," Grenfell said. "But otherwise, good. It's even better, because the guild has plenty of spells targeting staves and wands. We have those words readily available. Now how are you going to shape it?"

"Keep this as simple as possible," Julianne suggested. "Once you're fighting, you can't count on keeping your head. Complex things tend to go out the window. In fact, if you can find a way to combine a defensive intent with an offensive one, that's the best tactic."

"Will she even have defenses?" Sidonie asked. "Lightning doesn't exactly make armor or a shield, does it?"

Liv grinned. "I know what I'm going to do."

☙

On the beach, ice rose up at Liv's feet, in an instant building beneath her shoes and lifting her body up into the air. She swayed, but kept her balance. At the same time she rose, her magic built up layer upon layer in gentle curves, accumulating as fast as water could be poured from a bucket. The barrier reached her knees, and across the sand Liv saw Princess Milisant raise her wand. Somewhere overhead, up in the clouds, she became aware of a great deal of ice: tiny pieces of it, swirling and vibrating amidst a building energy. The word of power coiled at the back of her mind whispered that if she wanted to, she could reach out and take control of it.

The ice wrapped around her, cutting off Liv's view of the princess just before the wand fell. She looked up at the sky, waiting for the ice to surround her completely. There was something freeing about it: either the spell would finish in time, or it would not. Not a thing Liv did now would make a difference.

The ice had almost cut off her view of the night sky, and the stars overhead had been blotted out. The circle of sky above her was only the size of a coin. Almost-

A column of lightning fell from the sky, brilliant and burning. Liv squeezed her eyes shut and waited to see whether she would die.