Kerowyn's Ride

His Highness, Prince Darenthallis, third son of the King.

Which explained how he’d gotten Tarma to agree to teach him, and virtually guaranteed that the Shin’a’in would be spending the lion’s share of her time with him.

The privilege of rank. Kero’s resentment trebled. I have to earn my way here, and he walks in and takes over.

But she kept it out of her face and manner; she’d learned to school her expressions long ago. Rathgar took a dim view of resentment and rebellion in his children.

Daren smiled; he looked self-confident and sure of his superiority. Kero’s temper smoldered. Well, we’ll just see how superior you are. Especially once we get into the woods. If you’ve ever had to track anything in your life, my fine young lord, I’d be very much surprised.

She cleared her throat, and made the first move. “I’m Kerowyn,” she said, nodding a little, not holding out her hand; she could have freed one to shake his, but she chose not to.

“Daren,” he said. “Are you one of Lady Kethryveris’ students?”

Ignoring the fact that I’m carrying armor. Assuming I couldn’t possibly be anything other than a nice little ladylike mage.

“I’m her granddaughter,” she replied acidly. “And I’m Kal’enedral Tarma’s student.”

Tarma’s left eyebrow rose a little, but otherwise her face was completely without expression. “Well, now that you’ve met,” she said quietly, “why don’t we get down to business.”

Kero’s resentment continued to simmer over the next several weeks. Daren wasn’t any better than she was, especially not at archery. But he kept acting as if he were, giving her unasked-for advice in a patronizing tone of voice that said What’s a little girl like you doing man’s work, anyway? and made her blood boil.

But she kept her temper, somehow; always turning to Tarma after one of those supercilious little comments, and asking her advice as if she hadn’t heard Daren’s.

Unfortunately, from time to time this backfired. Tarma would occasionally give her a slow, sardonic smile, and reply, “I think Daren hit it dead in the black.” Daren would smirk, and Kero’s ears would burn, and she would have to bite her lip to keep from “accidentally” bringing her shield up into that arrogantly squared chin. And then she’d pull her face-guard down and do her damnedest to give him the trouncing of a lifetime.

At night, before Warrl arrived for her evening lesson in mind-magic, she’d lie back in her bath and seethe. It’s not fair, she’d repeat, like a litany. He’s had the best trainers from the time he was able to walk; I’ve only had Tarma for a few moons! Why should I have to share her? And what makes him so much better than I am that money and power didn’t buy for him?

But that was the problem, wasn’t it; life wasn’t fair, and power and gold bought whatever they needed to. From people’s skills to people’s lives. And if anyone happened to be in the way, it was too bad. Money had doubtless bought the near-ruin of her family; power was probably keeping the real perpetrator safe. And now both were conspiring to steal her future—

—if she lay down and let it happen.

I won’t, she resolved every night. I’ll make him compete with me for every moment of time. I’ll be so much better than he is that Tarma will see she’s wasting her time with him and concentrate on me again. I’ll do it.

I have to.

It helped that he was as helpless as a baby in the woods, and when he started, he couldn’t even track the most obvious of traces. She would give him advice in the same kind of patronizing tone he used with her—and she laughed inside to see how he bristled.

She was planning on doing just that this morning, as she skipped down the stairs to the stable, humming a little tune under her breath. Today was going to be a daylong stalk-and-trap session, a “hound and rabbit game,” Tarma called it, and Warrl was going to be the “rabbit.”

Daren hadn’t yet figured out that Warrl was anything more than a very large, odd-looking dog, and Kero wasn’t going to tell him. After all, they were supposed to be using their minds and paying attention to things, and if he hadn’t been able to figure out that the kyree was something rather different by now, she didn’t see any reason to enlighten him.

Besides, it would give her an edge. That edge, combined with her tracking skills, should enable her to beat him to the quarry by whole candlemarks.

The meeting point was the stables; Kero reached them ahead of both Daren and her teacher. A brief look out