Page 104 of Veiled

“What in the world did you do, Ian?” I ask, earning a glare from Healer Sara. Oops, so much for not talking.

“Uh—user error,” he says, cheeks pink. “I was sharpening my dagger and didn’t brace the blade right. It slipped, and I caught it tip-first in my palm. It’s a minor cut, but the metal was spelled, so—” He wiggles the bandaged fingers for emphasis, then immediately winces. “Ow. Yeah. Shouldn’t do that.”

“Since you two seem comfortable, I’ll leave you to change his wraps. Find me when you’re done.” Sara says before stalking away.

“I didn’t mean to get you in trouble,” he says.

“Oh, you didn’t. I was bound to break the no-talking rule at some point; you just helped me get there earlier in the night than I expected.”

I look over his chart to make sure I pull the same wraps he has already been using from the drawer, then clean his wound and rewrap it.

“Am I gonna make it, Doc?” he teases.

“You’ll live,” I tease, “but maybe next time you don’t try to catch it. Just let the blade fall to the ground and pick it back up.”

He snorts. “I swear it jumped at me.”

“So now we have feral weapons roaming the dorms?”

“Absolutely savage creatures,” he deadpans.

“Someone alert the king!” I pretend to shout.

“I’ll say a prayer for whoever has to take them on.”

I smile despite myself. “Alright, I need to go find my keeper. Hang out for a bit and let the meds do their thing…and try not to lose a finger, I don’t hate fighting you in combat class.”

“I’ll do my best,” He says, lifting his uninjured hand in a small salute as I leave his room and become Sara’s silent shadow once more.

When my shift finally ended sometime past midnight last night, I couldn’t shake the feeling I was being followed. Not only was the same eerie feeling of being watched making the hair on the back of my neck stand on end, but I could have sworn I heard twigs snapping from the woods next to my barracks building.

Not wanting to be caught alone in the dark with Lucas and whoever he had hiding with him, waiting to make good on his pig note, I unsheathed my dagger and sprinted to my room. I didn’t stop until I was in my room with the door locked.

After a few calming breaths, I turned around to find Aiden sprawled across my bed, sleeping like the dead…fully clothed, one arm hanging off the side, and his phone in his hand as if he’d tried to stay up until I got done with my shift but had lost the battle.

I didn’t have the heart to wake him, knowing he would immediately go on high alert and not sleep the rest of the night if I told him what happened. Instead, I shot Matt my nightly home safe text so he wouldn’t come banging down my door, put on sleep shorts and a sweatshirt, and collapsed onto the tiny strip of bed Aiden had left unoccupied.

I swear I blinked once, and suddenly it’s morning, and I’m sitting in Strategy class with my notebook open and absolutely no idea how I got here.

The classroom goes quiet the moment Professor Calderon enters.

“Open your maps.” No greeting. No preamble. Same as always.

The room rustles as everyone unfurls the parchment sheets left on our desks. A sketched valley, a river bend, a cluster of buildings labeled Harrow’s Rest—a small town close to the Clowess border.

“Scenario,” he begins, voice clipped. “You’re leading a team tasked with intercepting a Clowessian unit heading North. They will pass by Harrow’s Rest within an hour.” He glances at the map. “Population: three hundred and forty-one. Mostly farmers. No defenses. Limited escape routes.”

His gaze sweeps the room.

“Your objective is to prevent them from passing through and into the valley…without allowing civilian casualties.”

He waits.

“Who can tell me the first priority when preparing for combat near civilian centers?”

A few hands rise, but mine is not one of them.

“Recruit Voss,” Calderon calls on a boy two rows up.