Cedric ducked into the library and closed the door before leaning back against the smooth wooden panel with a sigh. Across the room his master and the lady of the house sat by the fire, crystal goblets of wine catching the light as they turned to regard him.
"Well?"
"I found him," Cedric stated as he straightened. "He'd taken refuge in one of the shielded workrooms after fleeing from Jerome... again."
"What is wrong with your apprentice, Melynda?" the master mage asked, looking to his wife for an explanation. "What does he have against the boy?"
Melynda tilted her head to the side and smirked. "I don't think there's anything wrong with him, dear," she answered. "He just feels strongly that the prince shouldn't expect differential treatment because of his birth."
"The boy came to us when he was six! He was just a child. He still is."
"Rylan, you know as well as I do that six years of coddling and luxury are more than enough to set a child firmly down the wrong path."
Seeing that he wasn't going to get anywhere with this argument, Rylan turned his attention back to Cedric.
"And what is your assessment of this situation, young man?" he asked.
Cedric blinked, surprised to be asked his opinion. "Well... Henry told me that he tries to fend off the attacks when they happen, but that Jerome always seems to be a step ahead of him. To me, that sounds like Henry does not yet have the instinctive control of his shielding when he's under stress, which is something he'll need to perfect before he can take his journeyman test. It worries me that he is so far behind."
"And what would you recommend?" the master mage wanted to know. This question caught Cedric entirely off guard, and his expression must have shown it because Rylan laughed.
"Don't be so shocked," his master admonished. "You'll be a master soon yourself, and you'll need to deal with these sorts of things."
Cedric took a few moments to frame his answer in his mind before replying.
"I would give Jerome his test and promote him," he finally stated. "Once Jerome begins his walkabout, Henry will be free of the distraction of his bully, and will be more likely to be successful. He will need tutoring, however, since if the shielding isn't instinctive by now, it won't be without direct intervention."
"Excellent," Rylan pronounced, turning to face his wife. "Didn't I tell you, Melynda? Cedric has a wonderful head on his shoulders. You can start tomorrow, young man."
"Excuse me?" His master hadn't turned to look back at him, so Cedric wasn't certain that the man was speaking to him.
"You can start tutoring Henry tomorrow. Jerome's test will be the day after tomorrow, and Henry's is only three months away, so you'd better start his tutoring as soon as possible."
"Hold on a moment. What do you mean that Jerome's test is in two days? It takes longer than that to assemble a circle of mages."
"Yes, it does," Rylan agreed. "That is why Melynda began the process a couple of weeks ago."
"But if you were already going to promote Jerome, why did you ask me about what I thought you should do?"
Rylan laughed. "Just because I asked for your thoughts, it doesn't mean that I was planning to act on your advice. You are, after all, still a journeyman, and one with a year of learning left before him. Now off you go, Cedric. Have a good night."
Cedric didn't need to be dismissed twice, but as he closed the door of the room behind him once more, he remembered his master's comment about Henry's test being in three months. They couldn't have scheduled it already, could they? He turned back to ask, but hesitated with his hand on the knob. Neither Rylan nor Melynda took kindly to having their judgement questioned, and so Cedric turned away and made his way up to his own little room. If he only had three months to whip the prince into shape, then he did indeed require a good night's sleep. Tomorrow was going to be the beginning of an exhausting amount of work.