Putting down her glass, she reached for a slice of bread, but someone bumped into her shoulder.

  “Sorry,” a male voice said.

  “Oh. That’s okay.” She looked over her shoulder and into a pair of bright blue eyes.

  A boy with pitch-black hair stood there, carrying a load of books in his arms. He smiled apologetically at Ana, and dimples popped in his cheeks.

  At first, she thought he was a student, but then she realized he didn’t have the student’s vest on. He merely wore slacks and a buttoned shirt with its sleeves rolled up.

  “Really, though.” He righted the books in his arms. “Truly sorry.”

  She opened her mouth, not sure what else to add. Which was fine. He was already walking for the dais.

  So he was a teacher? She watched as he put the books down and began conversing with the headmaster. That didn’t seem right, either. He looked too young to be a teacher; barely over eighteen or so.

  Ana went back to her meal. She’d been watching the boy for too long.

  The other three at her table were deep in a conversation, though, talking about where they’d gone to school prior to this. Ana heard “Wren’s Tip” and “Fogleman Academy.”

  “What about you?” the girl asked Ana. “Where are you from?”

  “Um.” Ana swallowed a bite of chicken. “Aershire.”

  The girl’s eyebrows went up in surprise. “Isn’t that in the plains?”

  “Yes.”

  “Wow,” one of the boys said. “And where did you go to school?”

  The other boy, who Ana realized then was the one with glasses who’d ridden next to her in the automobile, cleared his throat.

  “They have work-schools there,” he said, in a low voice that made it seem like he was embarrassed for everyone.

  “Oh.” The first boy studied Ana’s face closely, like he was trying hard to figure her out.

  “I homeschooled,” she supplied.

  “Oh.” He blinked, his face blank.

  The information, apparently, didn’t do anything for them. The conversation moved on to what it might be like to ride a real dragon. Ana mostly listened, content to take a backseat in the talk.

  She didn’t want to sit around imagining what it would be like to do things. She wanted to live them.

  And she would. She had to.

  Her hand slipped up to her locket, and she fingered the smooth metal. Tucked away in there were the wings Cien had given her.

  They seemed a promise, a reminder of how much he and her other friends believed in her. With their support, she could almost believe failure wasn’t possible.

  Chapter 7

  After supper, they were ushered off to their dormitories. The next morning, as Headmaster Whitlock was sure to tell them, would be an early and strenuous one.

  He gave no indication as to whether the strain would be of an intellectual or physical nature, and Ana saw apprehension on many faces. A few kids actually looked green.

  In the dormitory, the girls chattered excitedly, taking turns preparing for bed in the bathrooms beyond the stained glass doors. When they appeared empty, Ana grabbed her nightgown, hairbrush, and toothbrush, and hurried in. What she found there made her nearly trip over her feet.

  The bathroom area was divided into multiple sections. On one end were several standing sinks, near them a powder table with a mirror. On the opposite side of the bathroom, another door led to stalls with toilets. But there was one last door, directly across from the entranceway.

  Opening this door, Ana found several bathtubs with folded screens between them. The screens were wooden and painted with various birds, while the bathtubs were deep, with clawed feet and detachable showerheads.

  It was the most exquisite thing Ana had ever seen. At home, they had a shower, but no bathtub. And if they wanted hot water, they needed to heat that themselves.

  Studying the faucets now, she saw that there were hot and cold handles. She sincerely hoped they would be true to their word.

  Magnificently, they were. Drawing a bath as hot as she could stand it, Ana sank into the delicious waters. There were the sounds of a few people coming and going in the other parts of the bathrooms, but she had the bathing area all to herself.

  When she couldn’t stand the heat anymore, she dried herself with a fluffy towel from one of the shelves, dressed, and went to brush her teeth and hair.

  Her red hair hadn’t been cut in a few years. It now hung nearly to her elbows. With deft fingers, she tied it into a braid that was just neat enough to prevent it from tangling while she slept.

  Feeling as shiny as a diamond, she went into the dormitory...where the feeling didn’t last long at all.

  The girls had been talking in one group when she entered, gathered on two beds and around a window seat. The collective eye swiveled to Ana and she faltered.

  “Er...hello.” She cleared her throat.

  “Is it true you were homeschooled?” one of the girls asked, a blonde that someone had called Rainey earlier.

  Ana licked her dry lips, wishing this didn’t feel like a trap. “Yes.”

  Goodness, word traveled fast around this place.

  Rainey’s eyes went wide, and a couple of the girls whispered to each other.

  “That’s amazing,” one of the girls said. “I’ve never met anyone who was homeschooled. What’s it like? Didn’t you miss going to school with other kids?”

  “It’s sad,” Dove butted in before Ana could answer. “Really unfortunate.”

  Ana felt her eyebrows knit together. She had to repress the urge to chuck her hairbrush at Dove’s face.

  “There’s no way you can pass the exam having homeschooled.” Dove feigned a sympathetic look. “That kind of upbringing is just no comparison to a proper one.”

  Ana lifted her chin. “I’ll do quite well,” she clipped, “but thank you for your concern.”

  Dove sniffed. “Yes. Well. I suppose we shall see, won’t we?”

  “Undoubtedly.” With that, Ana turned her back and busied herself with putting away her things.

  Some time later, after everyone had crawled into bed for the night, she stayed awake staring at the ceiling. Was there truth to Dove’s words?

  The next week would be a crash course of sorts. She and the other students would attend classes where they would be taught basics for the exams. But not all of the information would be crowded into that one week.

  There was still arithmetic. History. All the things that a student learned over many years.

  Her father was a smart man. An educated one -- more so than most people in Aershire. But he hadn’t come from the mountains. The students Ana would be competing against, they were different.

  It killed her to admit it, but it was entirely possible she would fail miserably come exam day. A nearly overwhelming sickness engulfed her at the thought.

  Air. She needed air. To feel the fresh breeze on her face and remember that there was more to the world than this castle and everything that went on inside of it.

  Quietly, so as not to wake anyone, she pulled some pants on over the bottom of her nightgown. Boots in hand, she slipped from the dormitory.

  The possibility of getting caught leaving after curfew passed through Ana’s mind, and her step faltered as she entered the hallway. Right then, though, going back into the dark room where there was nothing but her thoughts seemed a fate worse than most anything else.

  Well, she’d just have to not get caught. Thankfully, she knew a thing or two about moving about undetected, thanks to Mortimer’s years spent teaching her in the woods.

  Pulling on her boots, she began walking both as swiftly and as quietly as possible. She was headed for the roof, though she hadn’t the slightest clue how to get there.

  Down one hallway then another she went. She kept track of the turns she took, so that she wouldn’t get lost trying to find her way back to bed.

  A narrow staircase that wound its way upward seemed promising. Ana counted a hundred steps, with a window placed every ten yards or so and lightbulbs on the stones in between. She was climbing a turret, heading to who-knew-where.

  Finally, the staircase ended and a door led out onto a dark rooftop. Turning the knob, Ana found the door unlocked. Stepping outside, she took a deep breath as a breeze kissed her cheeks.

  This was more like it.

  Softly closing the door behind her just in case someone was nearby, she let her eyes adjust. The staircase, like the rest of the castle, had been lit up with bulbs, and out here there was nothing but the moonlight to go by.

  As her vision came into focus, she saw that she was only about halfway up the castle. Behind her, a wall and the turret climbed to another rooftop, and above and behind that roof there appeared to be yet another.

  Edging forward, she grasped onto the half wall at the edge of the roof. Below, the swimming pool shimmered.

  Ana had never been in a pool before. She knew how to swim, having learned it in summers when the creeks were high. The river winding past Aershire had always been too filthy to even put a toe into. The creeks weren’t exactly clean, but, pumped full of rainwater, they were certainly an improvement.

  Past the pool, to the west, lights glowed in Rocheport. Anna wondered about the people there. She’d seen some of them, all nicely dressed and healthy-looking, but what did they do for work? What were their homelives like?

  Turning, she looked south. Toward home.

  Galfour’s Point was located at the edge of the mountains, a line of tall hills in between it and the plains. There were more lights out there in the dark, but none of them were Aershire. That was too far away to see.

  Still, she liked looking in that direction. Thinking about her father, Ginger, and Aelred. What were they doing right then? Were they awake, thinking about her, missing Cien, having just as much trouble sleeping?

  There was a light thump behind Anna. A footstep.

  Instantly, her hackles rose. Spinning around, her hand went to her belt. Her fingers brushed air, though. Her knife, which she always kept in her belt, wasn’t there! She’d taken it off from around her calf and left it in her suitcase. How silly of her!

  Ana’s heart pounded, and she squinted against the darkness. A figure emerged, its face hidden. She needed to get away from the edge of the roof. Could she make it to the staircase door before...

  “I apologize,” a male voice said.

  The figure lifted two hands, and then a young man stepped out of the turret’s shadow. “I didn’t mean to startle you. I was out here looking at the stars when you came up.”

  Ana blinked. It was the young man that had bumped into her during supper. The one who looked too young to be a teacher and yet had sat at one of the staff tables.

  “Oh.” She swallowed against a lump in her throat. “Hello.”

  So he wasn’t...well, she wasn’t exactly sure who she’d thought was up here, but her mind had automatically jumped to it being someone who meant her harm.

  “I’m Brax. Brax Whitlock.” He lowered his hands. “I saw you earlier. You came in on today’s train.”

  “Right. Ana.” She cleared her throat. Her heart was still pounding from the shock, but it was slowly starting to calm down. “Are you a...a teacher here?”

  He laughed. “What? God, no.”

  “A student?” She frowned.

  “I’m a teacher’s assistant, but yes, I did go to school here. I finished last year.”

  “Really?” That caught her interest. “But you’re not...you’re not working as a dragon rider. Right?”

  He scratched his jaw. “No. I’m not. I chose to take a position here. For the time being anyway.”

  She nodded. That seemed odd to her. Why would anyone want to stay at their school? Even a fancy one like Galfour’s Point.

  “Wait,” she said. “You said your last name is Whitlock?”

  “My father is Headmaster Whitlock.”

  “Oh.”

  And did he have his dragon here? She’d heard that every student was assigned a dragon upon admittance to the school. She wanted to ask, but Brax was already talking.

  “I can leave.” He took a step toward the door to the staircase. “Give you some space.”

  “No, I should go.”

  She was already walking for the door. She’d been gone long enough, and if one of the girls even woke up, noticed she was gone, and decided to report her, she’d been in big trouble. Maybe even sent home on the next train.

  They were both at the door, their hands reaching for the knob. Almost in unison, they paused and withdrew their hands.

  “Um.” Ana bit her lip. “Am I in trouble for being up here?”

  “What?” He pushed his fingers through his dark hair. “No. God, no. I’m not a teacher, remember?”

  “Hm. You’re not a student either, though. But thank you.”

  With that, she opened the door and slipped down the stairs. Hopefully, he’d stay true to his word and not tell on her.

  At the dormitory, she did her best to be quiet as a mouse sneaking back into bed. It wasn’t until she was under the covers, with her head on the pillow, that she finally sighed in relief.

  She’d made it through the night. Next up, tackling tomorrow.

  “What do you think, Cien?” she whispered as her fingers found her locket. “Can I do it?”

  There was no answer, but she prayed that silence meant “yes.”

  Chapter 8

  Ana didn’t have to listen for the ringing of a bell the next morning. She was awake way before dawn, dressed and on her way downstairs while the other girls were still stirring.

  Breakfast was a much different affair than lunch. There was no speech. No servers. Instead, the meal lay out in a spread along the table. Grabbing a croissant and some eggs, Ana took a seat and forced the food down.

  She had no appetite, but she needed the energy. She couldn’t run off of pure adrenaline alone.

  “What do you think today will be?” a boy said as he took the chair next to her.

  “I dunno.” She sipped some coffee. “Ugh.”

  “What is it?” the boy asked.

  “This was made wrong.” She gestured at the coffee. “It’s so strong.”

  He sipped from his own steaming mug. “It’s fine to me. Have you never had espresso?”

  She hadn’t. Back home, it was regular coffee mixed with chicory and sugar. You had to put sugar and spice into it or else it tasted like mud.

  Ana felt her face warm. Her origins were showing again. Apparently even when it came to drinking coffee in the mountain region she stuck out like a sore thumb.

  She pushed the espresso away and opted for water. She was jittery enough as it was anyway.

  It seemed breakfast had barely begun when a man that Ana recognized as one of the teachers from the night before took a stand on the dais. All of Galfour's Point’s current students had left at that point, presumably headed to their classes.

  The man, who had a black beard with white streaks, clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention.

  “All right, then! Everyone, follow me outside. It’s time for your first preparatory lesson. I’m Mr. Ringgold, by the way.”

  Excited whispers filled the mess hall.

  “Outside?”

  “...dragons?”

  “What about math and…”

  Mr. Ringgold, acting like he didn’t hear a word, strode for the door. Quick as a jackrabbit, Ana was out of her chair and scurrying after him.

  Still, she wasn’t the first to the door. Dove held that honor. Close behind her followed the two girls who seemed attached to her elbows. Not far behind them were several boys, all gawking at Dove while they elbowed each other.

  Mr. Ringgold led them through the main hall and into the back of the castle. This was an area Ana hadn’t been down yet, with oil paintings of past headmasters hanging along the walls.

  She thought of Brax, who hadn’t been at breakfast. Who would go to school here and then choose to not become a dragon rider?

  Then again, had he said that was a choice? Perhaps he hadn’t been able to find a position as a dragon rider after school. That was a chilling thought. To go through all this training, to spend the tuition money...and for nothing.

  Hopefully, that didn’t mean all was lost in that situation. Clearly, a different kind of job could still be procured.

  Or was Brax only lucky enough to have a job thanks to his father, the headmaster?

  With a start, she realized they were outside. On the grass behind the castle, to be exact. Here, smooth, tall pieces of wood were on racks.

  “What are those?” a girl asked from somewhere in the back of the group.

  “Bo staffs,” Ana said without thinking.

  “Exactly.” Ringgold removed one of the buffed sticks from a rack. “Everyone pick one.”

  There were a few grumbles, but everyone did as he said. Ana chose a dark staff that was nearly her height. It was light in weight, smooth under her fingers.

  The bo staff her father had made for her a few years ago was rougher, heavier. Ana found her hands missing that one.

  But at least she knew what she was doing with the thing. Judging by the quizzical looks around her, a few of the students were perplexed.

  “You’ll practice a bit first,” Mr. Ringgold was saying, “then pair up into twos and try everything out. Before we go over any techniques, we need to discuss the real basics. Your stance and hold.”

  Nothing Mr. Ringgold had to teach was new, Ana was pleased to find. It felt good knowing she had at least one valuable skill under her belt.

  Before they could choose their own partners, Mr. Ringgold paired them up. Ana ended up with a slight boy with dark hair and brown eyes. The sight of him made Ana’s heart jump.

  Cien. He reminded her of Cien.

  It was the expressive eyes, she realized.

  “Did you hear me?” the boy was asking.

  “Huh?” She blinked and shook her head. “I’m sorry. What was that?”

  “It’s okay.” He frowned at the bo staff in his hands. “I said I have no clue what I’m doing, even after that crash course.”

 

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