Raelia

  Alex gaped at her Combat instructor. Had he fought her just to prove a point? If the awed looks on her classmates’ faces were anything to go by, then his tactic had certainly paid off. Alex just wished someone else could have been the guinea pig in his little showdown.

  “With that out of the way,” Karter began again, his entire demeanour relaxing, “welcome to another year of Epsilon Combat.”

  Alex felt an irrational urge to laugh. Thankfully, she managed to smother the impulse before Karter could catch her and demand a rematch for her disrespect.

  “Labinsky, Gibbs and Baxter, you’re all back as first and second year apprentices, so I expect your best performances. James, Stirling and Jennings, since you’re not yet apprentices, I expect even more from you to prove yourselves worthy of me keeping you on over the next few years. Understood?”

  The six of them nodded dutifully, and Karter continued. “Since we’ve already wasted enough time, we’ll get straight into it. Pair up and find a clear space. The rest of the lesson will be spent revising unarmed fighting techniques.”

  As Karter walked away from them, Alex felt her heart begin to race—again. Despite the demonstration she’d just been through with her instructor, she was more nervous now. Better the enemy she knew than the one she didn’t.

  “I call dibs on Alex,” Declan said loudly, much to her surprise.

  “No way, man,” Brendan argued. “I’m the oldest.”

  “And the ugliest,” Nick said with snigger.

  Before the conversation could escalate, Kaiden jumped in. It was the first time Alex had heard him speak since seeing him in Tryllin and she struggled not to lose herself in the memory of seeing him—and dancing with him—that night.

  “Why don’t we let Alex decide?” he suggested.

  Oh, awesome. Just what she needed: to pick favourites. That was one way to guarantee getting her butt kicked by them on a regular basis. Thanks a bunch, Kaiden.

  They were all waiting for her answer, so she said, “Uh, well, fair’s fair. Declan was the first to say he wants me.”

  She groaned inwardly at her wording.

  “I mean, he was the first to say he wants to fight me,” she quickly corrected. “As an opponent.”

  She had officially gone beyond digging a hole to the point where she was actually burying herself alive.

  Kill me now.

  When her classmates had finished laughing—and it took a while—she followed Declan over to the far side of the Arena. Admittedly, she was glad that he was her opponent for the day, since she’d already fought him unarmed twice before. Neither time had worked out wonderfully for Alex, but in her defence, he was built like an armoured vehicle.

  “And we meet again,” Declan said with a grin, no doubt remembering their previous rounds.

  “This time it’ll be you who ends up unconscious,” Alex threatened, trying—and failing—to sound menacing.

  In the end, no one ended up unconscious. Declan came out much less bruised and battered than Alex, but that was hardly surprising. She was pleased that she’d managed to defend against most of his attacks—and she’d even gotten in a few of her own.

  “You’ve improved heaps,” Declan said as they walked back over to their classmates. “I didn’t have to hold back this time.”

  “That’s what happens when you have… what did Karter call it? Remedial Combat lessons,” Alex said. “You either improve, or you end up six feet under. And I wasn’t a huge fan of the latter.”

  “Well, I’m glad you’re still in the land of the living,” Declan said. “You sure put on a good show for the rest of us.”

  Alex sent him a dry look. “My life is complete.”

  They arrived where their classmates were waiting and stood around for zero-point-two seconds before Karter gave his standard, abrupt dismissal.

  Alex followed the boys out of the Arena, overwhelmingly shocked that she’d made it through the day.

  “That was awesome!” Sebastian said as they all walked back up the hill.

  Alex looked up to find everyone staring at her and nodding in agreement.

  “Huh?” she asked, guessing she must have missed something.

  “Seriously, Queenie! I can’t believe you took on Karter!” Sebastian raved.

  Alex frowned. “What are you talking about?”

  Sebastian held his hands out in front of him and karate-chopped the air. “You were like, wham wham, and he was like, bam bam, and then—”

  “All right, Seb,” Kaiden interrupted, patting him on the shoulder. “Calm down, buddy.”

  “Sorry, Queenie,” Sebastian said. “It was just so awesome!”

  “Why?” she asked, confused by his reaction.

  “We hardly ever get to see Karter fight,” Brendan explained. “We know he can, and he’ll often demonstrate things in class, but I can’t remember the last time we actually saw him in a full-on proper duel.”

  Alex snorted. “I’d hardly call what we were doing ‘fighting’. I got my butt kicked, in case you didn’t notice. What you saw was a picture of my life over the summer holidays.”

  Sebastian sighed wistfully. “I’m so jealous.”

  Alex shook her head in bemusement.

  “You’re wrong, you know,” Kaiden said as they reached the food court. “You fought well, regardless of the outcome.”

  She glanced over to find him looking at her with warm eyes.

  “Uh, thanks,” she stammered, annoyed that such a simple comment could fluster her. So not cool.

  His lips curled up at the corners, almost like he could read her thoughts, and she quickly turned back to the others. “I need to clean up, so I guess I’ll see you all later.”

  “See ya, Queenie,” Sebastian said with a final karate-chop.

  “You’re not eating?” Declan asked before she could move away. “Aren’t you hungry?”

  “No, I’m fine,” Alex lied, but her traitorous stomach chose that moment to grumble loudly. All five of her classmates raised their eyebrows at her, and she added, “I’m just going to eat in the Rec Room tonight.”

  She really didn’t want a repeat of her miserable lunchtime experience. Hiding out seemed like a perfect idea to her, at least until the rumour mill died down a little. She knew how these things worked—if she gave it time, people would move on to the next piece of gossip.

  “Snack food isn’t very nutritious,” Brendan said. “And the Rec Room doesn’t provide anything else.”

  Who did he think he was? Her dad? Yeesh.

  “Why don’t you eat with us tonight?” Kaiden offered. “It might be a good idea if we all show a united front.”

  Alex looked at him in confusion, but she noticed some of the others nodding their agreement.

  “Um… Why?” she asked. “Not that I don’t want to eat with you guys, it’s just… I’m not sure why you think that’s a good idea?”

  “Strength in numbers,” Nick said. “People think you and Karter, uh, you know… So, maybe it’ll help dissolve the rumours if they see us all together. It’s pretty obvious we’ve just come from Combat. That can only help. If they see we don’t have a problem, then they might realise there’s no truth to what’s being said.”

  Alex looked at their messy appearances and knew that, if nothing else, the physical evidence would show they’d just come from Karter’s class. But she wasn’t sure about the rest.

  “It can’t hurt to try,” Brendan said.

  “Why do you all want to help me?” Alex blurted out.

  “Did you see the mood Karter was in when he entered the Arena?” Nick said. “Next time he might take that out on all of us, not just you. It’s for our benefit as much as yours.”

  He had a point. And she was starving.

  “Okay, let’s give it a go.”

  Together the six of them entered the food court and were met with the rowdy noises of students fading instantly into silence.

  “Awwwkward,” Sebastian muttered from the corner of his mouth
as they stood in the entryway with most of the academy staring at them.

  Declan leaned closer to Alex and whispered, “This happens every time I walk in here. It’s a consequence of being so devastatingly handsome.”

  She choked back a startled laugh. It was such a Jordan-like comment that she wondered if the two of them had been separated at birth. Either way, his words provided a distraction from the uncomfortable atmosphere.

  “Let’s grab a table,” said Kaiden, gently pressing his hand to the curve of her spine and leading her forward.

  As they walked across the room, Alex glanced over and made eye contact with D.C., Jordan and Bear, who immediately moved to join her and the uncharacteristically protective Combat boys. The moment their small group sat down at a table, the whispers started. But Alex found they didn’t bother her as much this time around. Maybe it was because fewer people were watching her, no one was outright laughing, and the tone of their quiet comments sounded more curious than malicious.

  “I guess you guys were right,” Alex told her Combat classmates when they all had food in front of them.

  “We’re always right, Alex,” Brendan said with an arrogant grin. “You should know that by now.”

  She stuck a chip in her mouth and rolled her eyes at him.

  “What I want to know is, who started the rumours, and why?” Jordan said.

  He’d been in a bad mood all day, sticking to Alex’s side like glue and glaring at anyone who so much as looked at her when he was around. While she’d had the worst first day back imaginable, she was willing to let it go and hope for a better day tomorrow. But Jordan was clearly out for blood.

  “I don’t know who started them, but I think I know why,” Sebastian said.

  All eyes turned to him, but it was Nick who explained, “It’s because you’re a threat now, Alex. They see you as competition. Last year you… well, you kind of sucked at Combat. And we weren’t quiet with our opinions.”

  “I still suck,” she said. “Just less than before.”

  “No, there’s a huge difference,” Declan said. “And last year you were terrible, but as far as we knew, you weren’t trying to get better. We had no idea about the obstacle courses Karter had you working on.”

  Alex shuddered at the memories.

  “Most of the students here can only ever dream of making it into Epsilon Combat,” Brendan jumped in. “They’ll never have what it takes, and because of that, they’ll always be jealous of us. They thought you were one of them since you, uh…”

  “Sucked?” Alex repeated helpfully.

  “Yeah,” he said with a grin. “But now that you’re actually showing your potential, they’re lashing out at you. You used to be part of the hive, now you’re the queen bee. And not all the worker bees are content to stay in middle management for the rest of their honey-making lives. Since there’s nothing they can do about changing their potential, they’re acting irrationally. Consider yourself stung.”

  After a thoughtful moment, Alex said, “That has to be the strangest analogy I’ve ever heard.” She shook her head. “I’m honestly not sure if you’re trying to make me feel better or worse.”

  “Don’t worry too much,” Kaiden said, stealing a chip from her plate. “It’s just the first day back, and people are bored. But they’re also easily distracted. It won’t take long to blow over; they’ll have forgotten all about it soon enough.”

  Alex nodded and finished her meal in silence, unconsciously sliding her uneaten chips onto Kaiden’s plate. She listened to the conversations around her, feeling surreal as she watched her closest friends interact with her Combat classmates. They’d all gone to the academy together for a few years so it made sense that they knew each other. But it was still… weird.

  “I’m beat,” Alex said, standing up. For the first time all day she noticed that people weren’t staring at her. Apparently the academy gossip queens had called it quits and Alex knew she had the Combat boys to thank for that.

  “Me too,” D.C. said, rising beside her. “It’s been a long day.”

  You have no idea, Alex thought.

  Jordan and Bear jumped up from their seats as well, offering to walk the girls back to the dorm.

  “Thanks again for tonight,” Alex said somewhat awkwardly to her Combat classmates.

  “Any time, Queenie,” Sebastian said, speaking for all of them.

  As soon as they were outside, Jordan said, “‘Queenie’?”

  “Don’t ask,” Alex muttered. “Was that as strange for anyone else as it was for me?”

  “Definitely,” D.C. said. “I’m still trying to get used to sitting with you guys for meals, let alone other students. Not to mention, people who know who I really am.”

  She said the last part in a whisper, and they all understood she was referring to Kaiden and Declan. The two boys may have grown up in the same social spheres as her at the palace, but Alex knew D.C. still wasn’t used to hanging around people who were aware of her true identity.

  “It was good of them to do what they did,” Bear said. “I think it helped your case, Alex.”

  “Yeah,” she agreed, surprised anew by her classmates’ kindness. “I think so, too.”

  d her in.

  Six

  After the frustrations of her first day, Alex expected the week to drag on, but it turned out to be the opposite. Her classes whirled by, in some cases too quickly.

  Being back at the academy and seeing the familiar faces of her instructors again was unexpectedly nice. Varin, the odd-looking Viking-like Species Distinction professor, greeted them all boisterously at the start of their first class. The History teacher, Doc, babbled on about places he’d visited over the holidays and things he’d discovered. And Caspar Lennox, the Shadow Walker SOSAC professor, also seemed eager to be back teaching again—even if his mottled-grey skin and blank expression didn’t accurately express his joy.

  Then there were the other classes and teachers who Alex would have been happy to avoid. Professor Luranda, the Medical Science teacher, was ‘kind’ enough to greet them with a pop quiz to see how much they’d retained from the previous year. And their Chemistry teacher, Fitzy—or Professor Fitzwilliam Grey—welcomed the class back by experimenting with two unstable chemicals, which resulted in an evacuation of the entire General Sector—or ‘Gen-Sec’—building. He had a good heart, Fitzy, but his head wasn’t always screwed on right.

  Astrid Marmaduke, their Core Skills professor, opened her first class with a long lecture reminding them about the importance of controlling their gifts. She then proceeded to go around the room asking students to demonstrate how far they had come after having presumably—to her reasoning— practised over the summer holidays. When Mel showed off her elemental ability and accidentally set fire to her desk, Connor used his affinity with the weather to try and put it out by making it rain inside the classroom. But then he panicked when he couldn’t make it stop, so Savannah jumped in to help, freezing the water. This might have worked if the icy result hadn’t fallen towards the students’ heads like daggers of hail. It was only because Sean raised an invisible shield as a protective canopy above them that no one ended up speared by the frozen shards of water.

  Suffice it to say, after that display, Professor Marmaduke had given them theory exercises for the rest of the lesson.

  As for PE, Finn was determined to kill them all with his die-hard boot camp to ‘whip them all back into shape.’ But after Alex’s summer of intense Combat training, she found it refreshing to test her increased stamina, most of which had originated from Finn’s gruelling classes the previous year. Despite his zapping stick and his harsh demands, Alex had begun to appreciate the value of his class, although she staunchly believed his teaching practices were in strong violation of ethical laws.

  In Archery, Alex must have zoned out on her first day, having been too distracted by the circulating gossip. In her second class she learned from Maggie that they would be stepping up their technique over the next
few months, which included a course in survival archery with moving targets, rather than simply shooting at the more and more challenging but still stationary boards.

  That was sure to be interesting.

  By far, Alex was most pleased to be back in her Equestrian Skills class. She hadn’t been able to enjoy her first day back because of the rumours and her dreaded meeting with Karter, but her next two classes under Tayla’s instruction were much more gratifying. And when Tayla mentioned some of the exercises they would be working towards, Alex felt a thrill of anticipation.

  Combat was… well, it was Combat. Karter’s mood was much better when Alex entered the Arena for her second session, which was a relief for her entire class. They continued to practise unarmed combat, with Karter correcting their techniques while pointing out their strengths and weaknesses. Alex apparently had very few strengths and a long list of weaknesses. But she was determined to improve, and the only way she could do that was to continue participating. On Wednesday she was partnered with Sebastian, and on Friday she was against Nick. Both of them crushed her, but she felt a sense of pride at the end of each session when she was able to walk out of the Arena in one piece.

  And as for the rumours about her and Karter, it turned out the Combat boys had been right. The whole thing had mostly blown over by the second day of classes, and Alex only heard the rare snide comment as the week continued. Everything had settled back to normal, just as it should have been to begin with.

  “Alex?”

  “Huh?” she said, pulling herself from her memories of the past week.

  “I asked what you’ll be doing today while we’re at the SAS trial?” Jordan said.

  It was lunchtime on Saturday and there was a definite feeling of anticipation in the air. At least for the fourth years, anyway, as they were soon to experience their first taste of Hunter’s Stealth and Subterfuge class.