“If you want to apply, sign your name on the paper and come along to a trial lesson this Saturday after lunch. Whoever is accepted into the class will join the current students the following Tuesday evening and continue lessons from there. It’s my belief that learning alongside those with more experience will encourage you to excel faster.”
That just sounded nasty. And it reminded Alex of her Combat class, where everyone else had years of experience and she was a complete novice. Not pleasant.
Jordan nudged Alex in the side and she saw that he’d slid her the paper. She noted that so far everyone had signed it, but she immediately passed it straight on.
“You didn’t write your name,” said D.C., as if Alex had forgotten.
“I know,” said Alex. “I think I have enough to worry about without adding more challenges to my life.”
D.C. looked at her with understanding and quickly scribbled her own name before passing the paper on to Bear.
Alex glanced up and was startled to find Hunter’s dark eyes on her. The corner of his mouth quirked slightly before he turned his gaze away.
What was that about? she wondered.
When the paper reached him again, Hunter folded it up and pocketed it in his cloak.
“If you don’t receive a position in my class, you’ll have another chance to try out next year. That said, if you attend Saturday’s trial and you are offered a position, it’s mandatory for you to accept and you’ll be required to participate in classes just like any other subject. All successful candidates will be notified on Sunday evening. If you haven’t heard by then, presume that you didn’t make it this year.”
With those parting words, Hunter turned on his heel and walked away.
“All right, students, that’s all,” Darrius said. “Enjoy the rest of your evening.”
Alex and her classmates rose from their seats.
“Miss Jennings, if I may have a word?” the headmaster called before she could leave with the others.
Alex felt her stomach drop when she realised what she would have to tell him.
D.C. sent her a sympathetic look. “We’ll meet you back in our room.”
Once the court was clear of people, Darrius remained silent, apparently waiting for Alex to speak first.
“What have you heard?” she asked, her voice resigned.
“King Aurileous contacted me to strongly advise that I speak with you about the events of the weekend,” Darrius answered. “Tell me, Alex, what reason could the ruling monarch of Medora possibly have to make such an obscure request?”
Alex shuffled her feet, feeling like a delinquent student.
“I, um, ran into some problems in Tryllin?” Alex said, as if it was a question.
“Did you now? And what might those problems be?”
Alex slumped back down onto one of the chairs, knowing that their conversation would likely not be short. Darrius followed her lead and sat down as well, though much more gracefully.
“To start with, I was accused of being an assassin and locked up in the palace dungeon after I attacked the king and queen during their waltz.” Alex winced at how that sounded, so quickly moved on. “Then after I was released, in the middle of Dix’s party, Marcus Sparker threatened to kidnap me, I think, but there were too many people around. So that was good. But then today I—um—kind of ran into Aven. Actually, ‘ran into’ isn’t really accurate, since he’d apparently been following me to catch me unawares, but… well…”
She trailed off in a shrug, watching him raise a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose between his fingers as if to alleviate stress.
“Seriously, I’m fine,” Alex assured him, hoping it would help.
“Start at the beginning, Alex,” Darrius said tightly. “And don’t leave anything out.”
Five minutes later, Darrius was still pinching his nose. Alex wasn’t sure if she should be concerned or not.
“All right, thank you for telling me,” he said, finally relaxing his hand and dropping it to drum his fingers on the table. “While Aven’s threat is worrying, it’s no less than we expected. We’ll just have to remain vigilant.”
Isn’t that what we’ve already been doing? Alex thought, but she figured it was best to keep her mouth closed.
“I’m not sure how well you’ll receive this, but I can’t help wondering if perhaps you should attempt to visit Meya soon,” he said quietly, as if uncertain of her reaction to his suggestion.
Alex had been looking down at her lap, but his words caused her head to snap up so fast her neck cricked.
“What?” she asked, rubbing at the pain behind her ear. Surely she’d heard wrong. “You can’t be serious?”
“Didn’t the Library say you would be venturing there at some stage?”
Alex regretted not keeping those words to herself. She’d only told Darrius about it over the holidays because she’d wanted him to tell her how crazy the idea was. No one had seen the Lost City for millennia, let alone been there. She had no idea what would happen if she tried to find the right doorway and step through it.
“Yes, that’s what the Library said,” Alex admitted reluctantly. “But Darrius, it’s a Library. It doesn’t know the future.”
“Who says?” Darrius returned, with a knowing twinkle in his silvery eyes.
Alex opened her mouth but no sounds came out. Was it that much of an impossible jump to believe that the Library was omniscient? Uh, yeah. She couldn’t begin to follow that line of thinking in her current state of mind.
“Okay, let’s say I do decide to hop, skip and jump over into Meya,” she said, trying to keep her sarcasm in check. “What then?”
“That’s why I suggest you at least consider the idea,” Darrius said, “because I don’t know the answer. It might be good to get some kind of information about what we’re facing. Or, even better, to see if there’s anyone there who you can warn about Aven. If his family line is still ruling, they’ll need to be made aware of his intentions.”
“You do realise that the last humans to set foot in Meya were murdered in cold blood, right?” Alex asked, somewhat heatedly.
“I know, Alex. Truly, I know,” Darrius said, holding her irritated gaze and returning it with his own soothing expression. “I don’t ask this of you lightly.”
Alex blew out a breath and ran a hand across her face. She knew that Darrius was probably more worried about her than she was.
“Why can’t you go?” she asked, her tone almost pleading.
“For starters, I’m unsure if I’d be able to access the doorway since I’m not Chosen like you are. But even if I could, until the threat of Aven has passed, I must remain on campus to ensure the safety of the students. The academy wards are at their strongest when the headmaster is in residence. I strongly suspect that if Aven decides to, he’ll be able to break through them again. But nevertheless, I’m unwilling to leave and take that chance.”
“But you left over the holidays,” Alex said, and this time she really was pleading; pleading for him to understand that her reluctance stemmed from fear, and pleading for him to offer to go in her place so she wouldn’t have to deal with the challenges the future might bring.
“I only left once, and that was to help relocate your family and assist with the moving of their belongings,” Darrius said. “Even then I didn’t risk staying away for long, nor were there any students on campus at the time. You know that, Alex.”
She tried to think of another argument but nothing came to mind. She knew Darrius would never ask something so dangerous of her without thinking it through. But that didn’t mean she was thrilled by the idea. Quite the contrary, considering the potential death-or-dismemberment scenario she could face on such an expedition. Fun times.
“I’ll think about it,” she agreed finally, not trying to hide her unenthusiastic tone.
“That’s all I ask,” Darrius said, rising to his feet.
Alex rose with him, bid him goodnight, and headed back to her dorm building
, mulling over his words and ignoring what she knew her answer would ultimately have to be. She already had enough to worry about, so as far as she was concerned, her decision about Meya could wait for another day—preferably one in the very distant future.
. 1D;
Five
“Are we all ready for what promises to be a brutal day?” Jordan asked cheerfully at breakfast the next morning.
“Day?” D.C. repeated. “Don’t you mean, week? Have you seen our timetables?”
“Year, more like,” Alex muttered around her toast, thinking about her cruel schedule.
At least they had all been smart enough to get a good night’s sleep in preparation for the unpleasant day ahead. When Alex had returned to her dormitory last night, the four friends had only spent enough time together for Alex to relay her conversation with the headmaster before the boys took off to their own room, leaving the girls to turn in early. Both Jordan and Bear had been bouncing with excitement over the possibility of visiting Meya, but D.C. was a little more guarded, for which Alex was thankful. It made her feel better about her own hesitation.
“Medora to Alex?” Bear said, waving his hand in front of her face.
She blinked, having spaced out for a moment. Then Alex comprehended what he’d said and she chuckled at his phrase. So bizarre.
Her dark-haired friend looked at her strangely. “Are you ready to go? Finn will probably work us near to death today, so we should get down there and stretch before class.”
“Yeah, sure,” she replied, finishing the dregs of her orange juice.
“I have Combat first up,” D.C. said with a grimace as they all stood and walked towards the exit. “But I’ll see you in Archery, Alex.”
“And we’ll see you at lunch, Dix,” Jordan said when they parted ways outside.
D.C. waved her agreement and headed off in the direction of the Arena. Alex wasn’t sure who had it worse—D.C. for having Karter first thing in the morning, or the rest of them for being stuck with Finn. And then she realised that neither of those alternatives came close to her having Finn up first and Karter up last. Her timetable seriously sucked.
“What did you mean about Finn working us hard today?” Alex asked Bear as they walked down to the massive field where their PE class was being held that day. “Doesn’t he always?”
He made a face. “It’s the first day back after the summer holidays. He usually likes to test us to see if we’ve just been lazing around for weeks. If we have, he makes sure we regret it pretty fast.”
“Oh,” Alex said, understanding. She was oddly thankful for the extra Combat lessons she’d been forced to attend over the break, because otherwise she would have been one of the couch potatoes Bear was talking about. And she’d had enough experience with Finn’s psychotic teaching style to know that he wouldn’t go easy on any slackers in his class, not when he was such a staunch advocate for corporal punishment.
But as it turned out, by the time her last class of the day rolled around, Alex would have repeated their nightmarish PE class over and over again if it meant she could avoid having to face her Combat instructor. And that was because, over the course of the day, the academy’s rumour mill had found some juicy gossip.
Gossip that involved Alex.
And Karter.
Together.
Somehow word had leaked out about Alex’s training over the holidays, but the rumours spreading around weren’t anywhere close to the truth. In fact, they implied a much, much raunchier version of what Karter’s ‘one-on-one’ lessons had entailed.
Alex had no idea how the gossip had started, but as the day progressed, it had only worsened. Lunchtime had been awful, filled with gawking eyes, unrestrained laughter, leering sneers and snide remarks. As her first Combat class drew nearer, Alex became more and more certain that she wouldn’t live to see another day, not if Karter had heard so much as a whisper of the insinuations spreading around campus like wildfire.
“I hate today,” Alex grumbled to D.C. as they left the Stable Complex at the end of their Equestrian Skills class.
“You’re going to hate it even more if you don’t stop procrastinating,” D.C. said. “The only thing worse than going to Karter’s class is when you’re late going to Karter’s class. Which you will be, if you don’t get moving.”
“But I don’t want to go,” Alex whined.
“And I don’t want to eat a barbecue sauce and peanut butter sandwich for dinner, but I have to since I lost a stupid bet to Jordan,” D.C. said. “Sometimes we just have to suck it up and do what we have to do.”
“Great words of wisdom, Dix,” Alex said, rolling her eyes.
“I’m here to help,” D.C. chirped. “Now, get moving.”
D.C. actually had to push her to help encourage forward momentum, but once Alex was on her way, she felt a little more confident. After all, it wasn’t her fault people were saying such horrible things. She had absolutely no control over what was happening. Karter had to know that.
… Right?
The closer Alex walked to the Arena, the better she felt. Admittedly, she was still anxious, but not so much because of Karter anymore. She was about to actively participate in her first proper Combat class and that was a nerve-wracking concept, especially when she remembered their gruelling exam at the end of her previous year. Nine weeks of training with Karter over the holidays couldn’t possibly have brought her up to the same skill level as her classmates, but at least she was better prepared this year.
She entered the Arena with her head held high, determined not to reveal her apprehension. Her classmates were already there, and just like last year, there were only five of them— Brendan, Nick, Sebastian, and—to Alex’s relief—Kaiden and Declan. She scanned the area quickly but could see no sign of Karter, and she felt her body relax slightly.
“Hey, Queenie!” Sebastian called, using the nickname she’d been given after tackling the nightmarish obstacle course in their final exam before the summer. “I guess you didn’t get enough of us last year, huh?”
“Are you kidding?” Alex asked with fake incredulity as she walked over to where they were all stretching. “As if I could ever get enough blood and gore. I live for this kind of thing. Death before honour, and all that.”
They laughed raucously, and Nick actually snorted. Alex hadn’t thought her statement was funny enough to warrant such a reaction, but then Declan clue“I think you mean ‘death before dishonour’,” he corrected around his chuckles.
Alex thought back over her words and realised how stupid she’d sounded. “Um, isn’t that what I said?”
It had been worth a try. But they just laughed even harder.
Despite her embarrassment, their casual camaraderie helped lift a weight off her shoulders. Or it did, until Brendan spoke up.
“So, how was your summer?”
It was an innocent enough question. But the moment the question was out of his mouth, everyone paused and looked at her. She felt her face heat up, knowing they must have heard the rumours. None of them were glaring at her with disgust, so that was something. But they were definitely curious.
“Um,” she said. “It was—”
“Jennings!” Karter bellowed, storming into the Arena. He stopped a short distance away and ordered, “Get over here. Now!”
Alex may have actually squeaked with fright. He looked mutinous. His leathery face had taken on a purplish colour, and his icy blue eyes were blazing with fury.
She quickly hurried over to where he stood.
“Sir?” she asked hesitantly, acutely aware of his seething presence.
Without warning, Karter’s fist flew towards her face, and it was only because of her developed reflexes that she managed to duck just in time. He came at her again, and she pivoted around on her foot, avoiding contact once more. He then swept his leg out, trying to trip her, but she jumped into the air and, upon landing, she automatically aimed a roundhouse kick at his torso. He deflected her leg with his burly arms, but
it was enough to unbalance him, and the move gave Alex the chance to regain her bearings. She didn’t have time to wonder why he was attacking her, she just steadied herself, waiting to see what he would do next.
Karter reached a hand over his shoulder and drew a sword from the scabbard strapped to his back. He threw it towards her— with absolutely no regard for occupational health and safety—and unsheathed the blade from his belt, raising it in the air.
“Aw, come on!” Alex cried, hoping Karter didn’t intend to continue the fight. “You can’t blame me for—”
She didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence before he lunged at her.
After spending over two months training with the man, Alex tuned out everything else and fell into a natural rhythm as she deflected his attacks and parried with her own thrusts.
Step left. Deflect. Pivot right. Thrust. Jump back. Duck. Lunge.
Karter was relentless in his attack. Their blades met over and over again and the noise of clashing steel filled the Arena.
They continued fighting for what felt like forever. While Karter had always been hard on her during their training sessions, he’d never focused so intently on destroying her. But he was a man on a mission, and his blows were fuelled by tightly controlled aggression. It took all of Alex’s concentration to stay in the fight, and after a while she only had enough energy to respond defensively.
A loud clang sounded when Alex’s weapon was finally jerked from her hand, landing on the Arena surface with a mocking thump.
She was breathing heavily but she tried to still her body since Karter’s blade was pressed point-first to her windpipe.
“Do you yield?” he demanded.
What do you think? she felt like saying. Instead, she panted out, “I yield.”
He lowered his sword and sheathed it at his waist. Alex bent to pick hers up and she handed it to him without making eye contact. Once it was strapped to his back again, he led the way over to her wide-eyed classmates.
“For any of you who might’ve believed the ridiculous rumours spreading around,” Karter said, “that was your proof that they are exactly that: rumours.” He stared down each of her classmates and continued in a firm voice, “For the record, Jennings was ordered by the headmaster to undertake remedial Combat lessons with me over the summer holidays. You’ve just seen for yourselves that she’s been training her ass off. If I hear anyone—in this class or out of it—speculate otherwise, look out. I will not be lenient.”