Suddenly, Eve swung out, and Darren hooked her blade with his off-hand axe while his other hand’s axe struck out, the barest of inches from her neck.
Eve dropped her blade, and Darren lowered his weapons.
The entire class burst into applause. Even the masters.
I kept my hands at my sides, seething with envy. Ella was the only other not to join in.
We were all dismissed then, and as I limped back to the dining commons, I heard snippets of conversation all around me.
“…Definitely not a mistake to let the prince join the Academy…”
“…Might as well announce the apprenticeships already. I think today was indicative enough of who the five for Combat will be.”
“.Probably the best performance I’ve ever seen between two first-years.”
“.That girl, the one with the red hair, I heard her family runs an apothecary.”
“Shame she didn’t choose Alchemy since Combat clearly is not her calling.”
It was too much.
Fighting back unwanted tears, I broke free of the crowd.
“Ry?”
“Don’t follow me.” I spoke sharply so Ella wouldn’t hear the tremors in my voice.
My friend nodded and turned back with Clayton trailing close behind.
I couldn’t face another person after what had happened in class today. I felt as if my entire world had come crashing down, and someone had ripped my dreams away just as fast.
I spotted a thick-trunked oak to the side of the field. Immediately, I sank down to its base, hugging my knees and indulging the wave of selfpity I knew was about to hit.
“You should go back to your friends.”
I looked up, recognizing the voice of the person I least wanted to hear from.
“Leave me alone,” I snapped, shame-faced. I must have missed the non-heir in my tear-induced rage.
The prince stepped away from the side of the tree.
“Everyone has bad days.”
I stared out at the grassy field. “I don’t need your rhetoric right now, Darren.”
He stood his ground and continued to watch me, an odd light in his eyes.
“Please,” I said, conscious that I would not be able to carry on a defense much longer. My eyes were beginning to water again, and I did not want Darren to see me cry. “Please,” I croaked, “just go.”
I shut my eyes against the tears that were about to break.
There was a pause, then the shuffle of movement, followed by silence.
I opened my eyes and found myself completely alone. The tears fell freely then. I let them.
CHAPTER TEN
The next morning I woke with the knowledge that yesterday’s nightmare had not been “just a dream.” I didn’t feel any better in the early morning light, and the feeling stayed with me throughout the day.
When I arrived to Master Narhari’s session and saw we were two first-years short, I felt an increasing sense of unease. The master confirmed it a moment later when he announced that two of our own had resigned.
“I would have thought you’d join them,” Priscilla sneered when she caught up with me after practice that day.
I bit my lip, and Ella shoved her way forward. “Go back to wherever it was you crawled out of, Priscilla!”
Priscilla shot Ella a look of contempt. “I am just advising your friend what she is too stubborn to admit herself.”
“Don’t you have other first-years to torment?” Ella retorted. “Ryiah hasn’t done anything to—”
“Her very presence offends me.” The girl looked me over coldly. “I am tired of being surrounded by lowborn scum, and as a daughter of nobility yourself, Ella, I am alarmed you don’t share my thoughts. Why not have her leave now? It’s not as if she actually stands a chance.” Priscilla called out to someone who had been standing off to the side.
“Darren, weren’t we just saying how silly it is that the lowborns are here in the first place?”
The non-heir’s eyes met mine, and I looked away. He’d had plenty of opportunities to criticize me in the past, so why stop now?
“No.”
My head jerked, and I looked back to the prince.
“But you said—” Priscilla began.
“I said that they were foolish,” Darren said, dark eyes never leaving mine, “but that does not mean they shouldn’t try.” He turned and walked away, leaving Priscilla, Ella, and me in his wake.
Seconds later, Priscilla left, chasing after the prince, while Ella regarded me curiously.
“That was strange.”
I didn’t know how to respond.
“Well,” she went on awkwardly, “that may be the first and only time I ever agree with a prince.”
In the week that followed, three more students withdrew. This time though, Priscilla kept silent.
We were down to thirty-three in Combat, and Alex and Ruth informed me their numbers had dwindled as well. The exact number was revealed during the final day of our fifth month at the Academy.