Page 40 of On Wings of Blood

Just then the bells sounded.

A group of laughing students pushed past us. Visha Vaidya’s violet eyes honed in on me as she strode by. Trailing behind her were Quinn Riley and Coregon Phiri. Only the dark-skinned young man greeted me as he moved past us. Quinn simply ignored me.

Last but not least, a few steps behind for once, sauntered Blake Drakharrow.

He shot me an odd look but for once kept his mouth shut. I didn’t know whether to be grateful or not. Just this once, his input on my situation might have been useful.

But it was too late. I wasn’t about to beg him for help.

Florence and I watched Blake head towards a rack of weapons lined up on one side of the courtyard. He picked up a hefty-looking halberd and started going through practiced motions.

“Those weapons look brutal, Medra,” Florence said, chewing her lip. “At least in Basic Combat you’re learning hand-to-hand techniques. And the scouts use lighter weapons like daggers and bows. Not greatswords and halberds.”

You’re not exactly a novice when it comes to weapons, my dear. Are you going to let your friend in on your little secret?

I gasped and jumped backwards. The woman’s voice was back in my head.

Get the fuck out, I’m trying to think, I hissed furiously.

Florence was looking at me oddly.

“You know what, Florence,” I said slowly. “I’m going to go in. I think the highbloods might be in for a surprise. You might be, too. I’m not a total novice at this. I’ve had a little bit of training. Back home.” I decided to keep it vague.

Florence nodded. “If you’re sure.” She squeezed my arm. “I bet you’ll be great. I’ll see you in the library later.” She grabbed my armful of books before I could stop her. “I’ll put these in your room.”

I shot her a grateful look. “Right. The library. Thanks, Florence.”

I took a deep breath and stepped into the courtyard.

Blake Drakharrow had slung his vicious-looking halberd over his shoulder–rather a cocky thing to do with such a sharp weapon–and was standing addressing the class.

Oh, gods, I thought, suddenly panicked. Please tell me Blake isn’t the fucking instructor.

I walked up and stood at the back of the group of highbloods cautiously, trying to hide myself behind them.

“Professor Sankara is delayed so I’ll be supervising the class for now,” Blake said, his deep voice carrying across the courtyard. He looked around at the students sternly. “No bullshit. I mean it. It’s the first day. Just get started. Everyone knows what to do.”

We did?

Everyone around me was nodding. The group broke up. Some students already had equipped themselves with their weapons of choice. They started pairing up. Others stood alone, solo drilling.

I walked slowly over to the weapons rack and looked at the options.

“Pick it up, bitch.”

I whirled around.

Visha Vaidya was standing behind me, swinging a steel-tipped spear. “I said pick it up.”

She glanced around, then took a step towards me. “You aren’t even supposed to be here, you know that?” Her eyes were lit up gleefully.

“Regan messed with my timetable,” I guessed. “And all of you were in on it.”

Visha smiled nastily. “You made it this far. But it remains to be seen whether you make it out of this courtyard.”

I looked around, wondering if this was what was supposed to happen.

There were no teachers. Blake was on the far side of the courtyard sparring with Coregon. Their halberds flashed in the afternoon sunlight. They moved so quickly I could hardly keep track of who was who. They paused and Blake glanced over at where I stood. He looked back and forth between Visha and I, then turned his back.

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