Shovia turned to look at her over her shoulder. "Next week."
"How do you know?" I asked.
Shovia shrugged. "The head cook told me."
Of course, she would talk to the kitchen staff and become all chummy with the formidable Darma. The girl was a natural spy.
Codric snorted. "If kitchen duty will get me out of conditioning, I'll volunteer for it every day."
Shovia turned around and grinned at him over Kailin's head. "Wait until you actually do that. Have you ever scrubbed a pot so big that you had to use a ladder to climb inside, only to enjoy being smothered in grease and grime?"
I doubted anything the kitchen prepared required pots that size unless they were cooking the meals of the entire Citadel in the second-floor kitchen.
Codric groaned. "Can't say that I did, and the way you describe it, I'm glad that I didn't."
We dropped our trays off in the bin and headed toward the staircase when my name was called, cutting through the general din of the corridor.
"Cadet Tekum!"
I turned to see Captain Odinah heading toward me, her tall figure parting the flow of cadets like a ship's prow through water.
"Captain," I acknowledged, releasing Kailin's hand reluctantly as I straightened to attention.
"At ease, cadet," she said. "Shaman Fatewever has requested your presence. Please follow me."
I felt a jolt of anxious energy rush through me. Anticipation combined with dread.
The moment had finally arrived.
I'd known this summons would come eventually, Saphir had made that clear during the ceremony at the Circle of Fate, but I hadn't expected it so soon.
Kailin looked at me with surprise. "Do you know what it's about?"
I carefully composed my features into an impassive expression, even though I knew exactly why Saphir wanted to see me. "Perhaps it has to do with me being an Elurian," I said, the half-truth sitting uncomfortably on my tongue.
After that lame excuse, I expected her to ask why Codric hadn't been summoned as well, but instead, she just nodded. "Good luck. I'll take notes for you."
"Thanks," I said, wishing I could kiss her goodbye.
I followed Captain Odinah through the corridors, away from the flow of cadets heading to morning classes. We took a different staircase from the one we'd used to get to the roof the day before.
"Is the shaman's office far?" I asked as we kept climbing.
"Twelfth floor," she replied. "Central tower."
The twelfth floor was the topmost one, where the Dragon Force Command offices were, and I supposed the shaman's office belonged with the rest of the Citadel's upper echelon.
As we reached the top floor, the difference in the architecture was stark; the austere functionality of the lower levels was replaced by ornate stone carvings and murals depicting dragon riders in battle.
Kailin would love to see this floor and maybe sketch some of these epic battles.
We stopped in front of a pair of massive double doors, which were carved with the symbol of the Two-Faced God, one half of his face on each panel. The features were identical, and yet the halves looked drastically different. Benevolence contrasted with malevolence, mercy contrasted with vengeance. I'd seen countless renditions of the effigy, but none had been as impactful.
Captain Odinah used the dragon-shaped knocker to announce us before opening the door, and then she motioned for me to go in.
A young cadet sat at a desk in what I assumed was the antechamber to the shaman's office, and as we entered, he rose to his feet and dipped his head to my escort.
"Thank you, Captain Odinah. I'll take it from here."
