Plia did not manage to keep her focus and hold her werelight whole until the very end of class the day after the Mallory and I had.

I wish it would have taken her a little longer.

Anna thought it was strange that one of the classes I was taking at what seemed to be a very exclusive school came down to a bunch of girls standing around and hitting one another. While I had been bending branch before I went to The Well, she had told me all about what she had imagined Sorceress school would be like. She had sounded disappointed when she said she thought there would be quests, teachers that were magical creatures, charming rivals who would later become friends, and mysteries of the school that were just obvious enough for us to solve without actually having to investigate them.

I had not corrected her about the rival. I had let her believe that my conflict with another new moon was just as imaginary as the quests and the creature teachers.

Tana was not charming, not to me at least, and she would never be my friend, but I did spend a significant amount of time wishing that I could embarrass her in front of everyone. Which, considering that hitting her once had made me feel like a senseless monster, meant that she was more of a rival than an enemy.

I did remind her about what I had seen through Precept Jasna's door when I had been chasing after Sam. If I stayed at Lun long enough, my classes would lead to much more than moving weights and getting struck in the gut.

Regardless of what Alexei had said, no part of me wanted to break myself. I had been whole for so little of my short life, why would I want to be in pieces again?

All of those things were on my mind when I walked into Precept Zetta's classroom and saw that it had changed.

It was still square, still cold, still empty, and still made of stone, but a large circle of my teacher's sapphire aura shone up from the floor in the center of it.

It was a barrier, a boundary, a pit, and I had spent more than enough time in Mother Ali's to never want to step foot inside one again.

Past the circle, placed against the back wall, was a big chest that looked much nicer than the two that Anna and so had in our quarters.

The others arrived not long after I did and saw the new things for themselves. Precept Zetta hurried everyone except Mallory through the door a moment later.

"Hustle. Turning you dandelions into proper sorceresses is already a tall task, wasting time only makes it taller. It's dueling day, show some excitement," She said as she pushed us forward. Mallory had already gone in and was trying desperately to open the chest. "Don't touch that, Rake."

The force in our teacher's voice sent Mallory flinching away from the chest, but she recovered quickly. "What's in it? Why would you leave it out if you didn't want somebody to touch it?"

"Are either of those your questions for the day?" Precept Zetta asked and silenced Mallory immediately.

Ever since she had introduced gambling into her classes, that was how things had gone. We each got one question per day, and she would only answer it if we succeeded at some task she gave us. Only Plia and I had earned answers the day before. Because of me being able to learn how to hit with my left hand as well, we had all learned that the armory enclave made up most of The City Above.

I had seen it once before, moments after I had been reunited with my mother and right before I had taken a black gate to the dark room to meet The Mothers.

There was truly not much that I wish to know that I can ask openly without inviting prying questions into why I had asked what I did.

Arthur had been on my mind however, and since Precept Zetta had been a knight, she could help me learn more about where my uncommonly tall friend had gone.

Plia's question had been if she could go to her quarters. The answer had been yes for all of us because our teacher had needed to prepare for the following day.

"Listen. Tighten up around the circle. Hustle. How many of you have been in a fight before?" Precept Zetta asked as all of us followed her commands.

Everyone but Plia raised their hands.

Precept Zetta narrowed her eyes. "How many of you have been in a fight that wasn't in this room?"

Mallory and Vanda lowered their hands, and Tana gave me an angry glance as she realized it was just the two of us that remained.

"How many of you have been in a fight with Simeon who isn't in this room," Precept Zetta asked a third question that left me and only me with my hand raised. "Thats seems more right. Who have you fought, Ire?"

The honest answer to my teacher's question cut through my mind like The River Eae did the snowy forest around it. The Mother in Purple. Several of The Mothers, actually. Brown, Green, Purple. They weren't really fights, but I fought against them. When I was locked inside a manor in Erosette, I fought the men who had been charged with guarding me twice. You might know them, Precept Zetta, I think they were all enclave men before they were my guards. Oh, right, how could I forget? I fought The Lady in Red as well. She did not enjoy seeing me running around the city wearing her face. Before that, when I was till hiding away on the mortal plane, there were a few more. A sorcerer named Eames who pretended to be my friend at first, I ended up tearing his throat out with my teeth. There were two horrors made of massive black nailed hands and torsos made of smaller arms. They were sent by a lich that I fought a few weeks before that. It found me in the place in my mind that no one is able to go to.

That was the truth, and I could not speak a word of it. Even worse, I could not stay silent. I had to give an answer, which meant that I had to lie.

"Come on, out with it. It's not The Mother in Blues six treasures that I am asking you for." Precept Zetta said.

"When I was in Don Viven," I began, hating that I had to be Ire in more than just appearance. "These two men tried to rob me."

Precept Zetta nodded. "You said tried, so that means that you stopped them. What did you do? Had you found your power yet?"

"Yes," I continued, weaving as much truth into my words as I could. "I charmed one of them and made him think that he had already taken my money. The other tried to run off, but I caught him by the ankle with my aura."

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"Very good. Step into the circle," Precept Zetta said and turned to Plia. "You too, Bones. I have a feeling that you have more power packed into that little body than it seems."

I did as I was told, but I had to hide my hesitance to willingly walk into the boundary. Plia's shoulders slumped as her feet carried her into the circle with me.

The little underwitch would still not meet my eyes. I had tried to talk to her after class twice, but could never seem to find her once she left the room.

"These aren't full duels. None of you will be ready for that before you get your first crescent, and that's only if you manage to do that. All you need to do is be the last one inside the circle. Use whatever power you have to accomplish that, is that clear?" Precept Zetta explained.

"Yes, Precept Zetta." All of us answered.

She nodded and pushed her blue black hair back from her face. "Good. What are your questions today? Whichever one of you wins, gets theirs answered."

I said what I wanted to know without having to think about it. "I want to know why Plia won't look at me."

"Who?" Precept Zetta asked in obvious confusion.

I shook my head and corrected myself. "Bones. I want to know why Bones won't look at me."

"Maybe it's because she's finally realized how awful you are." Tana said from where she stood outside the boundary.

Mallory pushed her towards the glowing sapphire circle. "If you're gonna say stuff like that, you should fight her instead of Bones."

"No. Plia needs experience. I won't take that away from her." Tana turned her nose up at me and gave a poor attempt at hiding the fear I had seen in her eyes.

It did not make me feel good that she was scared of me, but it did not make me feel that bad either.

"Bones, what's your question?" Precept Zetta asked, ignoring Tana's interruption entirely.

Plia sighed. "Why do I have to learn how to fight? Why can't I just stay with Precept Seram?"

"Let's see how bad you want to learn the answer to that then," Precept Zetta said and made her crystal sound with a snap of her fingers. "Begin."

Countless times, either behind the manor or outfront with the guards, I had waited in excited tension for someone to count out the start of a game of points. The moment that they reached the final number or shouted begin like my teacher just had, I would begin to hunt the way that Sam had taught me.

I searched Plia for any weakness that I could find, an opening, somewhere that I could rush in and strike.

My search was not very difficult.

From the top of her thin hair to the bottom of her laced black boots, she looked weak. She was thin and short, but it was not just her body, all of her looked like she was close to falling over.

There was no end to all the ways I could think to get her out of the pit. Everything Precept Seram had taught me would have worked. Pushing, pulling, sliding her left, sliding her right, lifting her, catching her after she had been thrown, I could do any of it with my aura or my hands. I had not manipulated anything quite as heavy as Plia was, but there couldn't be that much difference between them. One of my fireworks would probably knock her through the back wall instead just against it. If I used my cord on her, I could throw her around like a toy on a string for Sam. The only problem was that I wanted to do none of those things. After what I had done to Tana, I never wanted to hurt anyone again. And even if I did, Plia would be that last of the new moons that I would hurt. Charming her would not hurt her physically, but the thought of doing it to her felt almost as bad as hitting her would.

"Why aren't they doing anything?" Mallory asked as she swept the toe of her boot back and forth across the glowing circle.

Plia took a step backwards.

"Don't let her leave your sight, Plia, she will use any underhanded advantage to try and hurt you." Tana said.

Plia took another, and I understood what she was doing.

"One of you better do something or you both will have to duel me." Precept Zetta threatened.

Before she could back her way out of the pit, I took three quick steps to my right and stepped across Precept Zetta's boundary. "Oh no! Plia wins."

"Plia did what?" The little underwitch asked aloud with shock in her palid eyes.

"Very cute, darling, so precious, both of you back in the circle. Now." Precept Zetta said as she snapped her fingers.

Mallory wagged her finger at our teacher. "No. No. No. She won. That means you have to answer her question."

I am beginning to realize that I may have made a mistake," Precept Zetta nodded to herself before turning her sapphire eyes to Plia. "You have to learn how to fight because that is what you are here to do. If you do not want to do that, you should leave. Go to one of the lesser schools in Zenithcidel, you can study whatever it is you want freely. But as long as you are at Lun, you must become proficient in everything that is taught here because that is what being The Lady in Blue requires."

"What do we have to do with The Lady in Blue?" I asked, not understanding what had just been said.

Precept Zetta snapped again. "You have already asked your question, Ire. Back in the circle, both of you, and actually do something this time."

Plia did as she was told.

I did the same, but with frustration speeding my steps.

"Begin."

Unlike before, I moved the moment that Precept Zetta's lips parted. If I hurried, I could find a way to ask my new question before I had to wait until the following week. As gently as I could without slowing down, I picked Plia up underneath her arms and sat her down on the other side of the circle.

She was light enough that it had not taken much from me to do it, but was heavy enough that it sent a twinge of pain up from my mostly healed middle.

"Now you have to answer Lank's question, Precept Zetta. You lost the same battle twice, that can't feel nice." Mallory said with a laugh.

Precept Zeta bushed her hair back from her face once again. "Yes, that does it, I have made a terrible mistake. The answer to your question, Ire, is that Bones is who you should be asking. Not me."

She was right, and I listened to her advice.

Without releasing her, I knelt until our eyes were at the same height. "Why won't you look at me? Did I do something to you? I'm sorry if I did, but-"

Plia cut me off. "You didn't do anything. It's just. . ."

"Spit it out, what terrible thing has she done to you?" Tana demanded.

"The girl from the library, We saw her in Hymneth a few days ago. And she was with someone else. A red haired girl that was barely wearing any clothes. I wanted to tell you sooner, but I couldn't figure out how. I'm sorry, Ire. I think she is cheating on you." Plia cried and finally met my eyes.

Mallory gasped and covered her mouth with her hands.

There was care in Plia's eyes, real concern. She was upset at me being treated poorly. I had thought that I had hurt her in some way, but she had just been trying to find the right words to tell me something upsetting.

Plia cared about me.

At that moment, the smile that spread across my face probably seemed very strange to everyone else.

What should have sent me into a violent fit like it had Nami when she found Ola Gresha in bed with The Lady in Purple, brought me nothing but easy warmth.

Anna had been with someone else, yes, but I was the someone else.

Anna was cheating on me, with me.

It would be difficult to explain to Plia why I was laughing, but I would find a way.

That's what friends were for.

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