Soon enough, lunchtime arrived on our first rest day. Before heading to the mess hall, Valissa and I changed into our workout uniforms so we could head straight to the athletic center after eating. We met up with the others and had a quick lunch, then walked to the center.

  As we walked, I asked Delroy to explain more about wallball. I had read a bit about it the night before, but I wanted to hear his description in-person.

  “Wallball is pretty straightforward. You play it in a long, thin room with a fairly short ceiling. At least one of the side walls is typically clear, so people can see in. Your goal is to defend one of the smaller walls, ensuring the ball does not hit it. You can bounce the ball off any surface in an attempt to get it past your opponent. Once the ball hits a player’s goal wall, the other player scores points depending on where on the wall they hit. In casual play, you generally pick a point total, and the first to reach it wins.”

  “You use a racquet, right?”

  “Oh, right. Yes, there’s a racquet you hold, and you are only allowed to touch the ball before a serve or if it bounces twice on the floor without touching anything else. In that case, the person who did not hit the ball last gets to serve again. The person scored on also gets to serve after points are scored.”

  He went over a few other minor details, and soon we reached the center. He led us to the appropriate section and towards a specific room. As he said, inside the room, it was divided into two sections by a clear wall. The first section had a few benches and some lockers, while the inner section was the court.

  “Gathrok and I will play the first match, and you girls can decide who will play the winner. We’ll play each match to fifteen points. Remember, the innermost part of the target is worth three points, with the middle ring being two and the rest one.”

  As described, there was a sort of bullseye on the goal walls, with the center a short distance above the floor, around my hip height. This meant that high shots were generally worth less than centered or lower shots.

  After some stretching and a few warm-up rallies, the guys started their match. It started off slow, the two of them seeming to test each other’s reactions and technique, before the speed began to pick up. Soon the ball was flying back and forth at high speed, bouncing off walls and ceilings. I could see how this would be an interesting game, both to watch and to play.

  It didn’t take long for Delroy to score first, though it was only a single point. Gathrok calmly picked the ball back up, though, and served it to start the next rally. Back and forth they went, with Delroy maintaining a small lead, though Gathrok was close behind.

  After a short while, the score reached fourteen to thirteen, with Delroy in the lead. Delroy served the ball, and Gathrok returned it. Back and forth, the ball moved faster and faster, until Delroy got a shot off to bounce off a wall and head to Gathrok’s off-hand. It looked like he would be the victor until Gathrok dove towards the ball, saving it at the last minute and deflecting it back. Unfortunately, despite his efforts, he wasn’t able to recover in time, and Delroy hit the ball straight at the goal, scoring two points and seizing victory.

  The three of us clapped for the boys as they exited the court. Delroy grabbed a drink of water before turning towards us and asking who was next. After a quick visual discussion, Valissa stood up and grabbed a racquet.

  That game was much more lopsided, Valissa clearly being less experienced than Delroy. He ended up winning fifteen to six, but we cheered for Valissa anyway, and she didn’t seem very bothered, though, as usually, it was hard to tell her mood.

  With Valissa’s defeat, I was up next. My only hope was that Delroy would be tired and make mistakes, but I wasn’t optimistic. Nevertheless, it looked fun, so I picked up a racquet and stepped into the court.

  “Go ahead, we can warm you up a bit,” Delroy said as I picked up the ball.

  I tossed the ball in the air before swinging and striking. I may never have played a game like this before, but I was reasonably coordinated and managed to send the ball across the court, bouncing it off a side wall. Delroy returned the serve, and the rally continued. I struggled a bit, but soon got into the hang of it and suggested we start for real.

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  I served again, but this time, Delroy was not going soft. I still managed to return his hit, but my shot was weak, and Delroy had no trouble smashing the ball my way. This repeated a few times before I missed the ball entirely, granting Delroy two points.

  I’d like to have been able to say I turned it around and beat him, but that would be a lie. He trounced me worse than Valissa, winning sixteen to four. I was proud that I had managed to legitimately score three points on him, though, which seemed an achievement given that it was my first time playing anything remotely similar. The fourth point was because he had to sneeze, distracting him at a crucial moment.

  My turn done, only Kolo remained. I was concerned at how well she’d do, given her short stature, but I shouldn’t have been. She dominated the court as soon as play started. Delroy could barely keep up with her shots which seemed to always be in the exact right place. At one point, she leapt more than half her height into the air to block a shot, prompting a cheer from those of us watching. In the end, she won fifteen to ten, though I suspected it would have been a bit closer if Delroy hadn’t already played three matches before that.

  “Wow, Kolo. I didn’t expect that from you. Why didn’t you mention how good you were before?”

  “What, and miss out on the look on your face when you realized it?” Her toothy grin seemed to instinctively unsettle the others briefly before they recovered. I suspected she was aware of exactly how her smile appeared to the less-fanged members of our society and either didn’t care or reveled in it.

  She explained. “I played wallball competitively in secondary school. I stopped when I started university, but I still played recreationally occasionally.”

  Delroy nodded. “I’m not surprised. You’re a vicious little player. And those leaps? Impressive.”

  She gave a softer smile this time, less “I could rip your flesh from your bones if I wanted” and more “friendly but dangerous” vibes.

  We played a few more matches, though Delroy sat out the rest, and after a couple hours, we were all tired.

  “You know,” Gathrok offered. “I have a deck of cards in our room. Anyone up for some Battle Royale? I figure we all grab showers then meet up in our common room?”

  The rest of us agreed, and, after getting directions from the guys, we split up to bathe. Once back in our normal uniforms, Valissa and I met up with Kolo out front and headed to the men’s dorms.

  On the walk, I brought up something that had been niggling at me. “Kolo, I’ve never seen you with your roommate. Is there a reason for that?”

  She snorted. “She’s a bit stuck-up. She’s an elven noble, and she doesn’t much like to ‘fraternize with the lower classes,’ as she says.”

  I nod. “Yeah, I’ve definitely met the type before. Sadly, as long as she follows orders, my impression is the navy doesn’t much care about how she views those she considers beneath her.”

  “It’s pointless snobbery, but it’s easier to just ignore her and be ignored. At least she’s not a bully like Ganthar Torlan.”

  “Is that his name? I don’t think I ever caught it.”

  “Yeah, he seems to assume that everyone knows it already.”

  “He seems like the type, which is silly. The Torlans aren’t even all that important as far as nobility goes, despite being dragons.”

  “I sometimes forget you’re nobility too, Dax.”

  I shrug. “I was the forgotten younger child, and instead of acting out, I ended up leaning into it and doing my own thing away from the eyes of others.” That wasn’t even a lie—it was true of both my cover identity and my real one.

  “Makes sense. Well, I for one am glad that you aren’t stuck up like some of the others.”

  “As am I,” Valissa agreed.

  “Thanks, you two. Looks like this is the place,” I said, changing the subject as we stepped up to the dorm entrance. The common rooms on the ground floor were accessible to those who didn’t live in the building, so long as we were accompanied by a resident, but we weren’t allowed in the halls or private rooms.

  Gathrok opened the door for us. “Ladies,” he said, gesturing inside.

  Kolo shook her head. “She’s the only lady, here,” she responded, pointing a me.

  I held up my hands like I was innocent. “Don’t hold it against me.”

  Everyone laughed, and we stepped inside. Towards one end of the room, Delroy was sitting at a six-seat table, and the four of us walked over to join him.

  Gathrok explained the rules of the game, and we played for the two hours until dinner, chatting and joking and gambling fake money all the while. When it finally came time to eat, Gathrok was the overall winner, but Valissa was close behind, while the rest of us were well behind.

  “Good game, but after all that winning, I could really use some grub.” Gathrok’s comment brought a collection of eye rolls and good-natured shoving. With the game packed up, we all walked to the mess hall together.

  After eating, we separated back to our individual dorm rooms to study, and I made sure to grab at least an hour before bed to cultivate, something I had been neglecting the past few days.

  As I drifted off to sleep, I felt a deep satisfaction at my day with friends, a feeling that was new to me.