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I cleared my throat and found my voice. “No, I mean, yes. I would like to be a Blade. The honor of the invitation startled me, that is all.”
If I was going to be a Blade, I would need to stop lying. Bravery, loyalty, and strength did not go well with deception. But for the moment, I did not want Kann to know that it had been shock and horror that had left me unable to speak. Especially since the disappointment was quickly fading.
Another glance at the empty bed reminded me that I was lucky to have survived and lucky to have been chosen by a school. Considering that no cadets were intended to make it out alive, I should have been dancing in circles that I was a Blade.
Kann’s smile stretched across his face again. “I cannot promise you that the work of becoming a Blade will be easy, but I can promise you that you will emerge one of the fiercest fighters in the entire Drexian military.” He slapped the side of my arm again. “Most of the Inferno Force ships are filled with Blades.”
Inferno Force. I liked the idea of joining the elite Drexian fighting force. Not even my family could scoff at that.
Kann dropped his gaze to the envelope in my hand. “I will see you at our initiation. For the first time in the history of the school, we will be adding human cadets to our ranks.”
Humans? My pride soured. Although I had worked side by side with humans in the maze and even proclaimed that I would go into battle with any of them, the thought of a female in the School of Battle made all my long-held beliefs about humans rush to the surface. “Female Blades?”
Kann wrinkled his nose. “Not females. Two human males were chosen for Blades.”
I let out a loud breath, to Kann’s amusement.
“No desire to spar with a female, cadet?”
I wouldn’t mind sparring between the sheets with one particular female cadet, but that would hardly be allowed at the academy. I tried to stammer out an intelligible answer, but my mind went immediately to one female in particular, the one who’d intrigued me since I’d first met her, the last female I should ever have desired, the one who haunted my thoughts.
Chapter
Two
Jess
Iheld the umber-bronze envelope in my hands, brushing my fingertips over the iridescent paper. My name was written on the front in darker ink, and it was a thrill to see it lettered so elegantly.
The color of the envelope told me which school had chosen me, even if I hadn’t already known from the Drexian who’d delivered it and extended a formal invitation to become an Assassin. I’d been so shellshocked from surviving the maze that I’d barely spoken when the tall warrior had stood outside my door with the envelope in his extended hand. He’d said something about the intelligence and skills I’d displayed in the maze, but I’d only been able to nod along.
Now that he’d gone, and I was alone with the shock and satisfaction, I blew out a breath and allowed my shoulders to sag. Since I’d first heard about the academy and its four schools, the School of Strategy had been the one I’d desired. Planning and strategizing were what I loved to do, and I was thrilled at the thought of an entire division of the academy devoted to just that.
I carefully opened the envelope that contained the official invitation to the Assassin initiation and withdrew the ecru card inside. More scrolling text covered the paper, and I smiled as I realized that the invitation was a riddle.
Day is up and night is down,
But when it falls you know,
Go to where the words are kept,
And knowledge overflows.
That was easy. I was to go to the Stacks at sundown. My pulse quickened at this. What better place to initiate those cadets who loved research and reveled in wisdom?
A knock on my door drew my gaze from the invitation, and I pressed my hand to the panel to open it.
“Well?” Morgan hurried inside waving an envelope the same color as mine. “Did you get one too?”
I held up my invitation and envelope. “Strategy.”
Her face broke into a wide smile. “I knew it.” She wrapped me in a bear hug. “I had a feeling we’d both get in. How could we not? We’re clearly the best cadets when it comes to Assassin type of stuff.”
I laughed at her assessment of the skills needed to be successful in the School of Strategy. “Assassin stuff?”
“You know what I mean.” She pulled back, her expression still elated. “Maps, plans, strategy, patterns. I cannot wait to drop all the sparring nonsense and go deep into battle theory.”
I didn’t disagree with her. The Drexian Academy was heavy on physical challenges, especially during the first term when every cadet had to prepare to be tested in the trials and chosen for a school. Now that we’d survived that, I hoped my time in a sparring ring would be limited.
