“Well?” I asked anxiously. “Did you pass?” What I really wanted to ask was “did I pass?” but I didn’t want to be rude.
It was frustrating not to be able to get through to see on my own. I considered trying to wiggle through, but I was afraid someone might elbow me in the head or mouth. If I wound up in the Infirmary, the Healers might want to examine me, and my secret identity would be exposed.
“We all passed,” Jorn-o said and Leaper nodded eagerly. “We’re all in,” he promised.
“Me too?” I asked anxiously. I hadn’t been part of their group for long. Had they really thought to look for my name?
Luckily, Jorn-o had.
“You didn’t just pass, Auri—you made the Highest Ranking.” He sounded awed.
“Really?” Relief flooded me. Surely I must have tested out of the First-year classes. Which meant that I would be assigned to a Second-year room with a single roommate instead of a twenty-person dormitory!
“Really.” Jorn-o nodded solemnly. “You must be really smart.”
“I just had a strict tutor,” I said, shrugging and trying to play it off.
“Nah—it’s the Lysandra blood showing up,” Leaper said, giving me a sharp look. “The cream always rises to the top—that’s what my father says.”
“Well, it’s been nice knowing you,” Toady remarked. “I guess you’ll be put in Second-year classes—maybe even Third-year. So you won’t have to hang around with us peasants any longer.”
I felt a sudden stab of regret. I didn’t want to lose my new friends! I had never been close to anyone but Auren before—it felt nice to have other people who cared about me, even if they were boys.
“Look, I still want to sit with you at Mess Hall,” I said quickly. “And I’m sure we’ll still have some classes together.”
“Maybe.” Jorn-o didn’t sound very sure about it. “Anyway, let’s get some breakfast.”
But just as I was turning to get into line with the rest of them, a heavy hand landed on my shoulder.
“Cadet Lysandra?” a cool voice said in my ear.
Looking up, I saw it was Professor Griven. His face was set in grim lines and as his fingers tightened on my shoulder, I felt my stomach drop.
“Y-yes, Professor?” I asked, my voice shaking.
“I need you to come with me,” he said. “Now.”
13
AURORA
Professor Griven led me away from the Mess Hall and up the long stone steps to the third level of the Academy. We passed by all the classrooms and testing rooms until we came to a section of offices. He paused in front of a door that had Professor G. Griven written in elegant gold script on it. He opened the door and motioned for me to go inside with an “after you” gesture.
I went in and saw a large wooden desk. There was a comfortable looking chair on the far side of it and a gas lamp with a green shade as well. In front of the desk were two hard wooden chairs—I assumed that was where I was supposed to sit.
Sure enough, as soon as Professor Griven got seated on the far side of the desk, he made a motion to me.
“You can take a seat, Lysandra,” he said.
“Thank you, Sir.” I was glad to be seated—my knees were as weak as water, and I was afraid I might fall down if I didn’t sit down first. The collar of my new uniform felt too tight and I had to resist the urge to try and loosen it with my fingers.
“You will, by now, have seen the Rankings for yesterday’s entrance examination,” he said to me.
“Er, actually I was too short to see and too small to get through the crowd,” I admitted. “But my friend, Jorn-o told me I passed.”
“You did more than pass, Cadet—you made the highest score in the past seventy years—you even beat Cadet Skoren, and he beat the previous high score by ten points.” He frowned. “I’m sure he won’t be happy to hear his record was so quickly shattered, but that is neither here nor there.”
I wasn’t sure what to say to this, so I said nothing at all. But I felt hot and cold all over and my palms were clammy. Professor Griven didn’t look like he was giving me good news—in fact, he looked as stern as ever, as though I had done something wrong.
