Page 114 of The Academy of Blood & Shadow

"Who looks at birds?"

"I do." He turns back toward the Wing. "If you only observe what you expect to matter..." His gaze briefly meets mine. "You'll miss what actually does."

The words hang in the cool mountain air. I look back at the tiny nest. Still annoyed. Mostly because he's right.

No one complains after the nest. Not out loud. That does not mean we stop thinking it. Rhyven resumes walking as though discovering hidden bird nests is a perfectly ordinary expectation. The rest of us follow. More slowly now. Every rock. Every tree. Every shadow suddenly feels like a test. Good. At least I am not the only one glancing suspiciously at birds. The path curves away from the cliffs and into a narrow stretch of pine forest.

Unlike the Trial woods, this forest feels alive. Wind moves through the branches. Small animals dart between roots. The damp scent of earth and rain settles around us. Rhyven stops beside an enormous fallen cedar. "Notebooks." Everyone opens them. "Write." Several students look relieved. Finally. An assignment that makes sense. Rhyven waits. Then says, "Everything you've noticed since leaving the training grounds."

Pens immediately begin moving. Mine included. I write quickly. The cracked stone on the eastern path. The missing dragon. The broken railing. Fresh claw marks. Mist changing direction. The nest. The way Mara consistently walks on the uphill side of the trail. Rhyven gives us five full minutes. No interruptions. No hints. Only silence.

When the last pen stops moving, he says, "Trade." Confused murmurs ripple through the Wing. "With someone who saw different things."

I exchange notebooks with Selena. She hands hers over with the same precision she does everything else. I scan the first page. She noticed far more than I expected. Not scenery. People. She recorded which students favored their right leg on uneven ground. Who looked over cliff edges. Who checked behind them before turning corners. Who breathed harder on the incline. She had written exactly three observations about the environment. Twenty-one about us. Interesting. She looks through mine.

"You watch places." She says.

"You watch people." I answer.

"Yes."

Neither of us sounds surprised. Rhyven walks between us while we read. "What did you learn?"

Tessa raises her hand. "I missed a lot." She admits. "Good."

She blinks. "Good?"

"Knowing what you missed is progress." He continues.

Mara stops beside Orin. "What did Selena notice that you didn't?" Orin scans the page. "She knew Elias favored his left shoulder."

Elias looks offended. "I wasn't favoring it." Twenty pairs of eyes turn toward him. He slowly lowers his shoulder. "Maybe a little."

Mara nods. "Observation." No criticism. Just the word.

Rhyven reaches my notebook. He doesn't ask permission before picking it up. I almost object. He flips through the pages. His eyes move quickly. Too quickly. There is no way he's actually reading— He closes it. Hands it back. "What changed in the eastern courtyard this morning?" The question catches me off guard.

"The rain." I answer.