She designated team leaders for small group discussions, instructing us to begin preliminary analysis of the scenario for our next session. To my surprise, she named me as one of the team leaders.
"Given your background, I'm interested to see your approach to this challenge," she said.
I nodded. "I hope my input will be helpful."
"I'm sure it will be."
As Commander Kestrel dismissed the class, cadets began clustering around their team leaders for brief introductions before departing. My team included three cadets from the first two pilgrimages and Morek from ours.
It worried me that Codric wasn't in my group. My cousin didn't always know when to keep his mouth shut.
Kailin had been assigned to a team led by a serious-looking cadet from one of the first pilgrimages. She caught me looking and gave a small wave, which I returned before turning my attention to my own group.
"Let's meet tomorrow during the midday break to begin working on our strategy," I suggested. "That will give everyone time to review the scenario details individually first."
As I watched Kailin heading for the door with Shovia, Codric walked over to me. "Lunch couldn't have come soon enough. I'm starving."
I rolled my eyes. "What else is new?"
"You having a lady friend?" He elbowed me. "Come on. We should hurry up and catch up to them so we can all sit together."
"Good idea." I followed him out of the classroom, not commenting on the lady friend remark.
In Eluria, calling a woman you were seeing a lady friend was considered one step before declaring an engagement, and given how deeply I cared about Kailin, Codric hadn't been wrong to call her that. But the complicated truth was that a relationship between us would be built on a foundation of secrets and half-truths, which was hardly the basis for a meaningful and long-lasting partnership.
56
KAILIN
"In the air or on the ground, courage is the mastery of fear, not the absence of it."
—Commander Ravel Nidar
By the time we reached the mess hall for lunch, my stomach was growling so fiercely that Shovia put her hand over it.
"Shush, you hungry beast. Food is coming."
"I'm going to fill up two plates to make up for this morning," I announced as we joined the queue for the serve-out counter.
Only the first meal here had been served like a feast, courtesy of the amazing kitchen staff that had welcomed us so warmly. The rest of our meals were much simpler affairs.
"I'm so glad that we don't have kitchen duty yet," Shovia said. "So far, it seems that the cadets from the earlier pilgrimages are still assigned to that."
"It's a mercy. Imagine if we had to do that on top of everything else."
Shovia grimaced. "I'm not looking forward to it. I hate doing dishes."
"Is there anyone who likes it?" I held out my plate for the assistant cook to load with mashed root vegetables and some kind of stew.
It looked suspicious, but it smelled good, and I was hungry. "I'm going to find us a place to sit."
Finding a spot in a dining room that could easily accommodate sixty cadets wasn't a challenge. Would we ever share meals with the second years? We hadn't seen any of them yet because their quarters and classrooms were on a different level of the Citadel. Besides, they were probably out in the sky most of the day, training with the dragons.
"Here." Alar put a plate of bread and herb butter on my tray. "You missed this."
"Thank you." I smiled at him. "I didn't see the bread."
We found an empty corner at a table near a window that offered a breathtaking view of the mountains and the auroras beyond. Codric joined us, sitting across from me with a plate piled high. I wondered how he'd managed to carry it without spilling its contents.
