That’s for me to figure out.

  Gerenet-shr’s words wandered through Reianna’s brain and nestled in. Why did she feel so bad?

  A ball thunked off her head.

  “Rei? You okay?” Fawna asked.

  Reianna shook her head. “I’m not feeling like training today.”

  Gerenet-Shr had walked off after Banca and her group, giving the others permission to do as they pleased. Since everyone else just kind of stood around, Reianna suggested they train as normal, but her heart wasn’t in it.

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “Not really.” She didn’t even know what to say. I feel bad about what I did to the girl who turned your best friend into a Yani? But at the same time, she didn’t, and Reianna felt guilty about the part of her that didn’t feel guilty.

  A roar from the colosseum resounded through the training grounds.

  “Sounds like they’re done for the day,” Xav said as he and Jan wandered over. “Are we going to hang out here? Or go in until the other classes come back through?”

  They were all looking at Reianna. She shook her head. She didn’t want to make the decision. Her de facto position of class leader was wearing on her.

  More students gathered around. “Maybe we should go in?” Maecy asked.

  “I want to wait,” Medow said. “Emmah, Zophiah, Braelyne, and I are going to the festival tonight.”

  “Meet up with them later,” Miya said. “I don’t feel like being gawked at.”

  Ryleegh’s voice was just above a whisper as she said, “Eoghwin and I are supposed to meet up here.”

  “Ooo,” several kids mocked at once. Ryleegh’s gaze lowered even further, and her cheeks turned bright red.

  “Yeah, some of us boys planned to play a game of dodgeball with Uscar and the noble guys,” Jardan said.

  Taraia crossed her arms. “I’m with Miya. I don’t feel like being a gawking attraction, and after yesterday, floor bouncing saucers.”

  The class broke down further, but no one left. No pod had a consensus. If half a pod wanted to stay, the other half wanted to leave.

  Reianna rubbed her face. They all kept talking in circles, but since they all subscribed to Gerenet-Shr’s command that pods not split up, no one moved.

  Taraia’s comment that the nobles’ eyes would fall out of their heads, they would stare so hard, resonated with Reianna. She already had notoriety, and, after being attacked by Loushee, she knew that even more people would be aware of her presence. She wasn’t ready to deal with it.

  “Sorry, everyone, I want to go inside. Fawna, Xav—”

  “Let’s go,” Malcalm said. “Pod 2! Form up!”

  Fawna stepped in front of Malcam, Taraia took the position next to her, and Xav stood behind Taraia.

  “Pod 2 ready to move!” Malcalm yelled.

  The other remaining pods quickly got into formation as well.

  “Pod 3, ready!” Kamron yelled.

  “Pod 4, ready!” Jan echoed.

  “Pod 5, ready!” Avae said.

  “I was only going to ask my pod,” Reianna said.

  “Pod 3, ready!” Kamron yelled.

  “Pod 4, ready!” Jan echoed.

  “Pod 5, ready!” Avae said.

  Reianna sighed. Off in the distance, she could see people coming out of the colosseum. “Alright, let’s head in.”

  Like a troop of baby ducks following their mother, the other kids followed Reianna back to the dorms. Once they hit their outcropping, the pod formations broke down as kids wandered off to either lounge on the sofas or go back inside the dorm hall.

  Most of the kids who wanted to stay outside and wait for other students took to the lounges, and the others who wanted to go back continued following Reianna into the dorm hall.

  Kolt and Jame’s door was open as Reianna passed by. Kamryn and Cayelyn sat in the room with them.

  “Reianna!” Cayelyn said and jogged out of the room.

  “Caye, what’s up?” Reianna didn’t stop.

  “Are you okay?” Cayelyn fell in step beside her.

  “The fight was shielded.”

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  “I told you I’m fine with you being friends with her. You don’t need to worry about me.” Reianna paused with her hand on the doorknob. “I kind of want to be alone and take a nap.”

  Cayelyn turned and looked at Fawna and Taraia, who were following them.

  “I live here,” Fawna said.

  “I’m visiting her,” Taraia said and pointed her thumb at Fawna.

  Cayelyn nodded and said, “I guess I’ll see you later.”

  Returning the nod, Reianna went into her room. Fawna and Taraia followed.

  Crystal came trotting over, and Reianna gave him some love. His soft fur already wore down on the unease in Reianna’s heart.

  “Do you think I’m a bad person for not forgiving her?” Reianna asked Crystal.

  In response, he licked her face.

  “No,” Fawna said. “There is no world or universe where she is good, and you are bad.”

  “Well put!” Taraia agreed.

  Reianna stood. Just like petting Crystal, their words made her feel a bit better. Even though what they said had more substance to it than the softness of Crystal’s fur, neither fur nor words completely wiped out the feeling of guilt.

  Giving Crystal one more pat, Reianna nudged him in Fawna’s direction. “Go play, boy,” she told him. He obediently trotted over to the other two girls and looked up at them.

  “You guys have fun. I’m going to go bathe and nap for a bit. Festival tonight?”

  “Pig squash!” Taraia said and raised a fist in the air.

  “Sounds good, Rei.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  Reianna headed into her room and closed the door. “Natya?” she asked.

  Her mint-haired maid dissolved out of the wall and bowed. “Welcome back, Miss Reianna. What can I do for you?”

  “I want to take a bath,”

  Natya stood straight so that she could bow again. “Understood, Miss Reianna.”

  She turned to go into the bathroom, but Reianna stopped her. “Wait.”

  “Yes?”

  “You and Yesenia are friends, right?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Do you talk to Banca much?”

  Natya’s face darkened. “She and Yesenia are friends. I…”

  Her gaze fell to the floor. It wasn’t a normal bow, but rather she was averting her eyes.

  “What is it?”

  “I hated her for what she did to you, but…she’s not a bad person.” Natya sank to her knees.

  Reianna took a step forward and held out her hand. “What are you doing?”

  “I’m sorry, Miss Reianna. I have betrayed you. I consider her a friend.” Natya put her forehead to the floor, stood, and scurried off to the servants’ entrance.

  Closing the distance before Natya could flee, Reianna grabbed her arm and stopped her. “What is this? Where are you going?”

  Natya was crying. “I befriended your enemy. I am corruptible. I…I cannot stand beside you. I will speak to Head Maid Sophia and ask her to assign you a new maid.”

  She pulled away to leave, but Reianna kept her grip. “Yani! Can’t I just not like someone without everyone getting involved? So much drama. Natya, you didn’t betray me for befriending her.”

  “Yes, I did! Your safety, your well-being, that is what should be at the forefront of my mind. Getting involved with Banca is…something I shouldn’t have done.”

  Reianna let go of Natya’s arm. “I don’t want another maid. I like you.”

  Natya shook her head.

  “If Banca had asked you to hurt me, would you have?”

  “No! Of course, not! But this shows that I have a weakness. I can be gotten to. This time I can say no, but what does the future hold?”

  “Everyone has weaknesses. Everyone can be gotten to. Stop being so dramatic. I want to take a bath.”

  Natya didn’t say anything, and she kept her face tilted away from Reianna, bowed in regret, not servitude. She nodded once, then scurried off to the bathroom. Reianna walked over to her desk chair and slumped down in it.

  Everything with Banca was exhausting. She was done with it all. She didn’t care anymore. Bad things had happened. The end.

  Not hating Banca didn’t mean they would be friends. They would probably never be friends, but she already knew that. While she consciously understood that, it didn’t mean she could just turn her hatred off. Reianna put her head down on her desk and let her mind wander off. She didn’t want to think about it anymore.

  The next thing she knew, Natya was shaking her awake. “Miss Reianna?”

  “Huh?”

  “Your bath is ready.”

  “Thank you, Natya.”

  “Will you be okay? Do you need me to bathe you?”

  Reianna blushed. “No! I can bathe myself. I’m not that tired.”

  “It would be my pleasure. Most nobles have their servants bathe them.”

  Reianna’s blush deepened. “I’m fine. Thank you.”

  “It would be my pleasure anytime.”

  “Natya!”

  The maid bowed. “Sorry, miss. Please call if you need anything.”

  Reianna went to the bath, and as she washed herself, she wondered if Banca had someone bathe her. She wondered if she made Yesenia or Natya bathe her still.

  She shook her head. That wasn’t fair. Reianna knew Banca wasn’t like that anymore. When Reianna had first met Banca, her aura was black death, but a gold core had existed in it. That core had blossomed, and her aura was more golden than anyone’s other than Fawna’s and Gerenet-Shr’s.

  Natya had prepared a change of clothes for Reianna, along with a towel. After drying off and dressing, Reianna went back into her room and lay down on her bed. Once more, she was soon asleep.

  She didn’t know how long she slept when a knock on her door woke her up. “Yeah?”

  “Umm, Rei, Uscar’s here. He’s got a question for you,” Fawna said.

  Throwing her blanket off her legs, Reianna got up and plodded over to the mirror. She checked her hair. It wasn’t too bad. As she straightened it with her hands, she ran one hand down her braid.

  She let it go. Why was there so much drama in her life?

  Reianna went out into the sitting room. When she entered, Uscar stood. Crystal and Taraia were gone, but Fawna sat on the sofa across from Uscar. “Good Evening, Miss Reianna.”

  “Sit, sit,” Reianna said and waved her hand for him to do so. Since Uscar joined Class E’s morning and evening training sessions, his skills had vastly improved, pretty much like everyone else’s.

  However, he tended to hang out mostly with the boys, and Reianna hardly spoke with him. She wondered why he was coming to her now.

  He sat as directed. “Umm, so, I was talking with some of the guys,” Uscar said, “and asking what everyone is doing over hunting break.”

  “Yeah?”

  Uscar folded his hands together. “Yeah, lots of kids said they didn’t have a plan, but didn’t want to go home.”

  “I can understand that.” Reianna nodded.

  “So, I was thinking, if it’s okay, I can take whoever wants to go. I am the son of a count, and we’ve got room for whoever.” His gaze fell, and his copper hair failed to hide the reddening of his ears.

  “Thanks, but I’m going to go see my parents. That’s really nice of you to offer, though. I think it’s a great idea.”

  “Oh, I uhh…of course, I’d love it if you could go, but I already knew you’re going home.”

  Reianna furrowed her brow. “Then why come to me with this?”

  “To make sure you’re okay with it.”

  Reianna narrowed her eyes. She’d gotten used to people treating her like Class E’s leader, but that didn’t mean she wanted the job. “Next time, just ask Gerenet-Shr.”

  “No!”

  “Why?”

  “He’s scary.”

  “No, he’s not!”

  “And everyone knows he’ll listen to whatever you ask.”

  While she was sick of all the leadership assumptions, thinking that Gerenet-Shr might actually be paying that much attention to her made her feel a little better.

  But still…”Okay, just this once.”

  “Thank you, Miss Reianna!”

  “You’re coming with me, though.”

  His face fell again.

  “Did you really think you could just push it off on me?”

  “No, I…”

  “Yeah. Come on. I’ll go with you, but you do the talking.” She stood up.

  He stood up with her.

  Fawna pulled her legs up onto the couch and grabbed a book from her inventory.

  “Not going?” Reianna asked.

  “No, you two have fun. I’ve got no choice but to go home with Avali.”

  Reianna’s stomach churned. By all rights, Fawna should have been begging to go with Uscar.

  “Are you okay with that?”

  “Not really? But I’m also hoping that if I can get her away from those Yani, my friend might come back. It happened to Banca.”

  “Banca changed because she lost everything, not because she’s hanging around us.”

  “Yeah, but Avali changed because she was hanging out around them. If she hangs out around us, maybe she’ll change back.”

  Reianna frowned. “Just don’t get your hopes up.”

  “I know. I know.”

  Reianna looked at Uscar.

  “What?” he asked. “She’s Class A. The only reason I ever see her is that she’s still obsessed with Karel. Avali or one of her minions will pop down to call him up. I don’t think I’ve spoken a word to her since Karel and I fell out.”

  “See,” Fawna said, as if it proved something.

  Reianna just shook her head. All she could do was hope that Fawna would be safe over the break. “Okay, I’ll be back in a minute.”

  The hallway was busy with kids going back and forth from room to room. Ever since the first festival, festival outings were seen as an exception to the pod rule, meaning they allowed themselves to mix and match and go with friends or crushes from other pods, but still always as a group of four.

  Uscar followed her to Gerenet-Shr’s room and waited behind her as she knocked. A couple of seconds passed before Natt opened the door while putting on an earring.

  “Reianna, Uscar. What brings you here?”

  “Is Gerenet-Shr in?”

  “Yeah, he is getting ready to go out, but come on in.” She opened the door wider, letting the two students enter. “Make yourself comfortable on the sofa. I’ll go get him.”

  Instead of taking the offered sofa, Reianna took one of the chairs, forcing Uscar to sit away from her. It wasn’t that she didn’t like him; she just didn’t want him to get the idea she liked him.

  When Gerenet-Shr came in, his long, black hair hung damp and untied behind his back. “Reianna, Uscar. What is it?”

  “Go on,” Reianna told Uscar.

  “Umm…so, some of the kids didn’t want to go home over break, and I thought I could host them at my house.”

  Gerenet-Shr pulled out a towel and squeezed his hair in it, pulling out the moisture. “Yeah, sure.”

  Uscar blinked. “That’s it?”

  “Well, Reianna’s here, so that means she’s already okayed your idea. That’s fine by me.”

  Reianna’s stomach churned. She wanted his trust, but that was going a bit too far.

  “I will want to meet your dad tonight. Is he here?”

  “Yes, Gerenet-Shr.”

  “Great. I do need to talk with him first.”

  “He already said yes.”

  “I’m sure he did. I still want to meet the man who will be taking responsibility for my class. Can you bring him to me sometime tonight?”

  “Sure,” Uscar said.

  “Alright, well, I’m going to get ready. See you later tonight, Uscar.”

  “Thank you, Gerenet-Shr.”