Page 495

Field packs arranged beside them. Someone near me whispers "They look like soldiers."

Professor Neris hears. "They are not." Silence. "Not yet." Nobody likes that answer.

I find Caelen in the formation. Easy. Then Rhyven. Also easy. I hate that too. Vyrael stands behind him.

Impossible to miss. Rhyven is speaking to three other Riders. Points toward the sky. Then toward the southern ridge. Kaelis joins. Rhyven listens. Nods.

Changes something on the board.

Neris taps my desk. "Vaelith." I look at her. "Your ward." Right. Mine is failing. Excellent. I fix it.

At ten thirty, First-Year Response receives new medical kits. I inventory them. Bandages. Tourniquets. Antiseptic. Pain suppressants. Splints. Burn dressings. Two emergency ward stones per team.

"Why burn dressings?" Lena asks. Nobody answers. She understands. "Oh."

I close the kit. "Again."

At eleven twelve, I pass Rhyven near the western staircase. Finally. No one around him. For once. He's walking toward me. I'm walking toward him.

"Rhyven."

"Vaelith." He slows. I do too.

"Have you—"

"Corvell!" Of course. We both look. A third-year Rider is running toward him. "Kaelis needs you on the lower grounds." Rhyven closes his eyes. Just once. Tiny.

"Coming." He says. He looks back at me. "What."

I forgot. Not really. Doesn't matter. "Nothing."

His eyes narrow. "Eirea."

"Go." He hesitates. Maybe half a second. Then goes. Good. He has work. So do I.

At noon, Caelen asks me to help him pack. Not because he needs help. Because I follow him into his room and start doing it. Room 305 looks wrong.

Rhyven's side is nearly empty. Not empty. Packed.

Everything normally scattered across his desk has disappeared into field cases. Weapons. Flight gear. Books. Most clothes still there. Obviously. He's not moving. Just leaving. Temporarily.

Caelen drops a pack onto his bed. "Don't."

I look at him. "What."

"Whatever you're about to reorganize."

"I wasn't."

"You were looking at it."

"It's terrible."

"It's packed."

"Badly."

"It closes."