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A hush overcomes the crowd as a group of robed Elders take their position. Elder Superior Markus is the last to enter, gliding past his seat with a haughty arrogance to the podium.
My skin crawls at his presence, nothing like that of his son.
“Welcome, cadets, to another year of study at the Watch.”
The crowd erupts in applause. I clap a little less enthusiastically, as a form of rebellion to the speaker. At the thought of him, Elder Markus’s eyes scan the stands, and I sink into Leaf’s side. I just have to stay under the radar. He won’t even remember his previous threats and animosity toward me all last year, right? I proved him wrong by winning the Summit, so now he’ll leave me alone. No need to hold onto a grudge like this when you’re leading an entire war academy… right?
Oh, well, fuck. Even my internal voice is remaining silent. Come on! No words of wisdom?
Silence.
Fine. I harrumph to myself. Ramona jabs her elbow into me.
“What?”
“You’re murmuring to yourself.”
“Sorry!” I whisper back.
His speech resumes, and I take a deep breath.
“There are some very important announcements I fear I must make. First and foremost, the Northern Continent New World Treaty as we know it is no more.”
Shouts ring from the audience.
“SILENCE!” Commander Hogsmith’s voice is magically amplified throughout the stadium. I hadn’t noticed him standing behind the Elder Superior. He is in full armor with a Watcher-blue cloak draped off one shoulder. Half professor, half warrior—and I suppose that is exactly what he is.
“Thank you, Commander,” Elder Markus continues. “As you may have suspected, there were some issues following the Summit championship last year that led to a series of events.” His eyes scan the crowd once more.
Is he saying what I think he is saying?
“A member of the Watch was compromised and taken without our permission to the Jord.”
Fucking Hel, he is. Is he seriously trying to blame this on me? I can feel the eyes of nearby Watchers lingering like spiders trying to get under my skin. I mask my shiver by adjusting in my seat.
Elder Markus’s dark, soulless eyes finally find mine. “This was absolutely inappropriate and is in direct conflict with the Peace Treaty, thus rendering it broken.” His mouth pulls downward, nose flaring in disgust. “Conversations with the other allies of the Treaty are in talks and confidential at this time. For now, my message to you all is that we will continue our instruction. We will not let this get in the way of training the humans’ next class of elite Watchers! You are protectors of the realm!”
The crowd responds instantly.
“By the Watch!”
“Protectors of the Realm!”
“Those Underlings will pay!”
Elder Markus revels in the attention, and I wonder if his smug expression would stay that way if a few throwing stars are lodged into his podium.
“With that said,” he continues, “I have instructed our professors to implement a more grueling curriculum, harder tests, and stricter methods. For your own good and preparation of potential external threats.”
People seem to nod in agreement, accepting their fates as easily as a dog with a bone.
“Harder classwork, huh?” Ramona whispers close. “That’s going to suck.”
I nod and squint my eyes at the Elder Superior, hating that I feel an ounce of guilt for this new proclamation.
“And finally, before you get settled into your dormitories, I wanted to share one last piece of news. Many returning Watchers will be pleased to hear that without the Summit championship and negotiations underway, I will be reinstating Solarball.”
A wall of sound jars my ears.
