"You're eating again?" Pearl set her fork down, staring at my plate.
"Hungry," I said. Also: none of you fought for your life today the way I did, so please mind your business.
"You're always hungry," Des said. He was sitting across from them, picking at a dish of roasted vegetables that had been enchanted to taste like whatever you wanted. His kept changing flavors between bites. "But seriously, after what Kai did to you in training? Most people would be throwing up, not eating honey cake."
I shrugged and took another bite. The cake was good. The way it dissolved on my tongue made everything else hurt less. I'd learned a long time ago that food could be a kind of medicine if you paid enough attention to it.
The dining hall was busy. Students crowded around tables loaded with different kinds of food, and the air smelled like butter and something floral.
Pearl was staring at my wrapped arm. "That bruise is bad. Like, it's going to stick around for weeks."
"It's fine," I replied her, but it didn't stop her from worrying.
"You can barely move your shoulder," Des pointed out. He had a smaller bruise on his own neck from an earlier match. "Kai was insane today. Why would he go that hard on you?"
I just shrugged again and reached for the bread basket. It refilled automatically, steam rising from the fresh rolls inside.
Because I let him.
"He's just testing her," Pearl said. But she didn't sound sure.
A shadow fell across the table.
The whole dining hall seemed to notice at the same time. Conversations went quiet. Students turned in their seats. Some stopped eating mid-bite.
Malachi was standing there in his uniform, which somehow looked different than everyone else's even though it was exactly the same.
Great. Exactly who I didn't need right now.
"May I sit?" he asked.
Pearl's hand froze halfway to her mouth.
"No," I quickly said.
Absolutely not. Go away.
"Your Majesty, of course." Des was already shifting to make room, pulling his plate closer. "Please."
Malachi sat down across from me. He took a moment, just looking at me. His eyes tracked the gash on my jaw, the way I held my left arm, the bruises that were starting to show through my uniform sleeves.
"You're hurt," he said.
"Yeah." How wonderfully observant of you.
"More than usual." His hands were resting on the table, and I could see the faint glow of magic waiting under his skin. "I can help with that. Like before."
His hand moved forward, palm up. A memory of the last time he'd healed me and how it had felt when his magic had run through me, warm and smooth like water.
Don't. Don't remember that.
I pulled my arm back before he could touch me.
Malachi's expression didn't change, but his hand dropped back to the table. "It's just a touch. I could do stop the pain."
"I'm good," I said, trying my best not to yell. I turned back to my plate.
"The damage from training—"
"I said I'm good."
He sat there for another moment. There was something in his face that looked like he wanted to argue, but instead he just nodded.
"Amara!"
Kai walked up to us, pulled a chair over from another table and sat like he'd been invited. His smile was a bit creepy, I wont lie. "Hey, Amara. I wanted to talk about what happened in training."
"Okay," I said, which meant I wasn't going to listen.
"I was hard on you out there, and I'm sorry about that. But here's the thing, it proves my point. You're not ready for A-class. You can't handle the intensity. It would be better if you transferred down to another class. No one would judge you for it."
Des made a small noise that might have been disagreement.
Oh, I tried. Believe me.
"I'm being serious," Kai kept going. "You couldn't land anything real. The other students are way ahead of you already. You're going to keep getting hurt if you stay."
I chewed my food and didn't respond.
"Like, genuinely. I'm trying to help you here. You should transfer."
I stood up.
The movement was careful. Everything in my body wanted to stay bent over, to protect the places that hurt. But I pushed through it and turned toward the exit. Before I say something that I wouldn't like.
Serena appeared from nowhere.
It wasn't an accident. The way she moved, the angle of her shoulder, the timing of it all, it felt a little too planned. She slammed into my side, and the bowl in my hands went flying.
Food exploded everywhere. The soup was still warm when it hit my uniform, soaking through the fabric in thick, glowing patterns. Some of it dripped onto my shoes. The sharp, spicy smell hit me, with notes of something herbal.
Serena's eyes went wide. Her hand flew to her mouth like she was shocked. "Oh my god. I am so sorry. That was totally an accident." She deserves an award. Truly.
She was already reaching toward me, already performing for the audience. Malachi was watching from the table. The whole dining hall was watching.
"Here, let me help you," Serena said, her voice all sweet concern. "I feel so bad about this."
"Don't," I said.
"But your uniform—"
"No." I couldn't see them but my eyes were probably giving 'touch me and I will forget I'm pretending to be weak' glare.
I turned to Des and Pearl, who were already standing. They followed me toward the exit without being asked. Behind them, Serena stayed still in her apologetic pose. The dining hall started talking again, but quieter now, like they were trying not to miss anything.
The hallway outside was empty and cool. Their footsteps echoed against the stone.
"That was intentional," Pearl said once they were far enough away. She sounded angry, which was strange for Pearl. "She definitely did that on purpose."
"Yeah," Des agreed. He was watching my face. "You okay?"
I was staring down at the soup stains on my uniform. They were starting to dry, leaving weird patterns. "It's just food."
"It's not just food. She—" Des stopped. He knew I wasn't going to engage with this. "Whatever. At least you got out of there."
"Kai was being weird," Pearl said.
"He was being a jerk," Des corrected. "Since when does he try to make people transfer out? That's not how training works."
They walked in silence for a bit. The hallway branched, leading toward the residential sections. Somewhere above them, classes were still happening. Somewhere else, other students were eating lunch without having soup dumped on them. Lucky them.
"Will you still go to the dining hall for dinner later?" Des asked.
I thought about it. About Kai, about Malachi, about Serena still standing there with her fake apology. About the stains on her uniform that probably weren't coming out.
"Yeah," I said.
"Why?" Pearl asked. "After all that?"
"Because I'm hungry."
Des made a small, surprised laugh as we walked back to the dorms.
---
Back in my room, I stripped off my stained uniform and tossed it into the corner. The bruises were worse than I'd thought, my left side a canvas of purple and black, with yellow beginning to creep in around the edges. I pressed my fingers against the worst one and felt a flash of pain that made it hard to breathe.
Normally, I heal fast because of my demigod status, but I forced myself to slow it down. I needed to be believable, needed them to think I wasn't cut out for A-Class.
I replayed the training session in my head.
I'd been holding back a lot. When Kai threw that spellthat hit me in the stomach, I could have blocked it. I had counted over thirty-five ways I could have disabled him right there and then.
But I didn't.
I pulled on fresh clothes and was toweling my hair dry when...
KNOCK KNOCK
I opened the door to see Kai standing in the hallway, still in his training uniform, sweating slightly. He looked uncomfortable.
"Malachi told me I had to come apologize," he said before I could even greet him. "For what I said at lunch. So. I'm apologizing."
I stepped back to let him in. I didn't trust him in my space, but refusing would be worse. It would draw attention.
Kai came inside and closed the door behind him. He stayed standing, like he couldn't commit to being here.
"That's not the only thing though," he said. "I need to know the truth about this because it's been in my head all day." He ran a hand through his hair. "I talked to Juni. About the Shadowbeast Incident. The ones we fought."
My stomach did a small flip.
"She remembered something. Said she's been thinking about it wrong this whole time. When the beast had struck me and I was unconscious. She told me that your spell circle hit it and it just... fell apart. Disintegrated." His eyes were searching mine.
"Juni said your spell circle looked different. Old. More advanced than anything she'd ever seen come from a student. She thought she was hallucinating at first, but the memory keeps feeling real."
Deny it. Deny everything.
"I don't know what you're talking about," I said. I steadied my voice but my heart was doing something dangerous behind my ribs. My hands felt cold. "Why would I hide myself if I was that strong? I don't know what Juni saw, but it definitely wasn't me."
"You're holding back," Kai said. "During training. I know you are. You're faster than you show. You're stronger. And you wanted to get hurt today... You left yourself open on purpose."
"I'm not holding back," I said. I turned away from him and picked up a brush, running it through my hair. The motion gave me something to do with my hands, made me look occupied. "I'm just not that good yet."
"You're lying."
I didn't respond. Instead, I continued brushing my hair with careful strokes. One, two, three.
"Juni thinks you might be—" Kai paused, like he was choosing his words carefully. "She thinks you might be more. Like, magically speaking. She thinks there's something you're not telling anyone."
"Juni thinks a lot of things," I said. "She saw what she wanted to see. And honestly? You can think whatever you want. It doesn't matter."
Kai watched me for a long moment. I could feel his skepticism. He didn't believe me. But he also wasn't going to push further right now.
"Whatever," he said finally. "Have a nice night."
Then he left.