“I’m the first spymaster in our year to ‘arrive’,” Diana placed the word in air quotes because the school was her home, and aside from her summer internship, she’d been here the whole time. “So I get the job of showing the rest of you how to break the wards and gain access to our floor. After that, we use normal voice activation to enter our rooms.”
She led us to the entryway and up the stairs to the third floor. We turned the same way we would have gone if we were heading to our old tower, passing paintings of ex-spymasters and celebrated headmasters as we went.
Diana chatted the entire way, which I was sure the rest of us appreciated. It gave us time to think about our meeting with the headmistress. About halfway down the hall, I was snapped out of my musings when we took an unexpected left turn down a narrow side corridor. I cocked my head, lost. I would have passed this hallway daily to get to the initiate tower, but somehow, I didn’t remember it at all.
“Where did this corridor come from?” Hunter asked, once again on my level.
Thank the universe I’m not the only confused person here.
Diana’s lips curled up in a smile. “It was always here. It’s hidden from initiates—a lot of things are. Mother believes that fewer distractions allow us to hone our focus better.”
I snorted a laugh because the hallway we found ourselves walking down was the epitome of distraction, lined as it was by old weapons, artifacts of espionage, and accolades that the school had earned from the United States government, and even one from the Irish government.
Each item was interesting and clearly valuable, as they were kept behind sturdy, likely magically-reinforced cases. But one artifact caught my eye more than the others. It was an ancient blade, studded with a ruby handle. I paused long enough to read the name inscribed on the metal.
The Realm Slicer.
A shudder ran up my spine.That doesn’t sound ominous at all.
We proceeded down the hall for a couple minutes more until the corridor ended. A single door, painted a dark, Spellcasters green stood at the end.
“Why is it green?” The door to the initiate tower had been basic black. From what I remembered, most other doors in the academy were also a neutral hue. But maybe they painted them yearly?
Diana grinned. “The doors to the student, academic, and alumni buildings are all painted Spellcasters colors. The initiate one is black because we’re often kept in the dark or clueless at that stage. But as Grind-year students, we’ve earned green.”
Good grief, this school and their freaking symbolism. I wondered how many other things I’d missed when I’d been floundering through my initiate-year. In fact, only one of my friends looked unsurprised—Alex. He’d probably read about the doors in one of the bajillion books he’d devoured.
“What are the other colors?” Eva asked.
“Crucible students get silver,” Diana said. “Academics and alumni earn white, since they’re the most enlightened. If you ask me—”
“While all that’s interesting,” I interrupted, “what do you say we get inside? I have to pee.” I didn’t actually have to use the restroom. But I wanted to avoid a lecture, get to my room, and regroup a little.
“Right,” Diana said. “The voice activation on the tower door coincides with your fingerprints. Make sure your right pointer finger is on the handle when you grip it and say your name.” She demonstrated, and the door clicked open.
The aroma of coffee filled my nostrils, followed by sage, telling that a staff member had been in the tower to cleanse it before term. Both were scents that I associated with the initiate tower, but another aroma floated around the Grind tower. Something unusual, almost acrid. I tilted my head, unable to place it.
“Rue.” Alex wrinkled his nose.
Diana nodded. “An additional measure to ward off demons.” She walked through the door.
About half our class was already inside the tower, chatting and catching up with friends they had not seen in weeks.
The Grind tower looked much like the initiate tower, except nicer. They had upgraded our furniture. The tables were all a dark, gleaming wood, and the chairs and couches were a rich brown leather instead of gray cloth. Whereas our old dorm had one fireplace, this tower had two. The change was most welcome; it meant more people could sit in front of the fire during Maine’s bitterly cold winter. To my great surprise, there were even a couple entertainment options, like a pool and ping pong tables in the common space, a luxury we didn’t have last year. A tightly wound spiral staircase climbed toward the bedrooms. Domed at the apex, a lunette window allowed natural light to stream inside during the day, and would give us a glimpse of the stars at night.
“Wow,” I breathed. “It’s beautiful. And more welcoming than the initiate tower.”
“Mother says the higher we rise, the more privileges we accrue. Wait till you see our rooms.” Diana wagged her eyebrows.
A grin spread across my face, only to falter a second later when I realized just how many people were staring at us cooly. My eyebrows knitted together at the cold welcome from students who I considered friends.
“What’s up their butts?” Eva whispered, as we walked by a small group of people who blatantly turned away from us.
Diana waited until we’d climbed halfway up the stairwell to answer. “When they arrived, they got their rankings. Some aren’t happy with where they’re placed.”
Oh. Right. The rankings.
“I take it those who looked like they’ve had the most poo shoved under their noses got emissary spy?” Eva asked.
