"What the hell was that?" Cedric demanded. He didn't care that his tone of voice was disrespectful, and he didn't care that he was still in what could be considered a public place. He was tired of the preferential treatment the prince was receiving, and he just wasn't going to stand here and let this travesty of a test be allowed. He stepped out of the casting circle, and being careful not to step on the prone and unconscious Henry, advanced toward his master.
"No wonder you weren't concerned about his readiness for the test," Cedric observed. "You knew that the test would be... rigged!"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Rylan protested. "I wasn't a part of the casting. I was merely here as an observer."
"Do you really think I'm that stupid?" the journeyman demanded. "Your wife led this casting, and I'm sure that you discussed your desired outcome with her."
Rylan had reached his breaking point. He took a menacing step forward, but Cedric refused to back down.
"Now see here," the master mage said quietly. "There was nothing at all wrong with that test. It met all of the criteria that are considered necessary."
"How?" Cedric wanted to know. "The boy is afraid of failure! When did he confront that fear?"
"He was presented with a difficult situation, one with every possibility of failure."
Cedric laughed. "Being faced with a dragon and being afraid of dying is not being afraid of failing. It's being afraid to die."
"And his feelings of guilt and doubt about the deaths of his men-"
"Are normal for someone trained to rule!" Cedric insisted, cutting the man off. "When he was allowed such an easy way out of his predicament, Henry wasn't given the chance to confront his fear, he was given more fuel for his overwhelming ego. Now, he'll have the impression that he's invincible, and that anything he tries will succeed. We've done far more harm than good, and all for some gold."
During his tirade, Cedric had entirely forgotten that they were not alone. That fact was brought back to his attention when Rylan looked over his shoulder and thanked the other master mages for their help. The others, including Melynda, took that as the dismissal it was, and the four of them quietly left the workroom. Henry groaned softly on the floor.
"Cedric, I admire your conviction, I truly do, but you are trying to simplify a very complicated situation," the master said softly after the door closed behind the mages. "Henry's promotion to the rank of journeyman is not about the money his parents pay toward his schooling here, nor was he unfit or unready to take this test. I ask you how, precisely, do you think we should have tested him and let him confront his fear of failure?"
Cedric took a deep breath to collect his thoughts and rein in his temper, something Master Rylan had taught him during his early years of study.
"I will admit that Henry's fear is not one that is as easy to confront as others," he admitted at last, "but the prince has never known failure, not really. The closest he's come is when he was learning each of his spells the first time, but the pressure of trying to keep pace with the other apprentices is nothing compared to the pressure of saving an entire kingdom. Or of ruling an entire kingdom. I'm just afraid that Henry is... unprepared for what the future holds, having never known any real failure."
His master smiled in a way that made Cedric very nervous.
"Then I task you with teaching our young prince the lessons you feel he so desperately needs," Rylan said, confirming Cedric's fears. "As your final journeyman challenge before your master's test, you will be Henry's mentor on his first journeyman walkabout. You can use your time with him to teach him that failing is not always a bad thing, as long as you learn a lesson from the process."
Cedric sighed. "I've already been working with him for the past three months. Henry barely listens to me as it is."
"Then you will learn valuable lessons about teaching reluctant pupils, won't you?"
Before Cedric could reply to that or protest further, Rylan spun away from him and swept from the room, leaving the older journeyman to wait for the younger to regain consciousness.
Isn't this going to be fun? he asked himself silently as he settled in to wait. I get months alone with the prince to look forward to, and his tenure with me is going to begin with a massive headache on his part. Oh joy!