If Aria had thought it an appropriate time to roll her eyes, she most certainly would have.
“The Galens Institute is possibly the best school in our system, and counts itself amongst the best in the ISC,” she replied flatly, not looking away from her uncle. “You will not be able to convince me for even a moment that the admission committee let anyone in ‘on a whim’.”
“And yet that’s exactly what happened,” the colonel told her with a sigh, leaning back in his broad chair and closing his eyes as the light of sun setting over Castalon’s skyscrapers washed across his face from the west window. “I won’t pretend there weren’t some circumstances to the decision—you’re smart enough to know that, as I hope the majority of your classmates are—but the details of them are not for me or any other staff of this school to share.”
“It’s because I know that there must be circumstances that I am asking,” Aria pressed, crossing her arms in a disgruntled fashion as she stood across from her uncle in the center of his office. “First I’m made to fight a boy six inches shorter than me and almost two full tiers under my rank, then he very nearly beats me. How could I not be curious? And what was up with those scars?”
The colonel cocked his head at her with a look of amusement.
“I was under the impression you were going fairly easy on the boy…”
Aria didn’t miss for a beat that her question had been deftly dodged, but decided to pick her battles carefully, for the time being. “I was. At least at first. How much of a bully would that have made me look like if I’d cut him down within ten seconds of the fight starting?” She frowned. “But it was a mistake. I almost lost because I didn’t take him seriously. If it hadn’t been for Third Eye, I probably would have. He was… capable. He took advantage of the margin I offered him without hesitating, and it almost cost me.”
But it was fun.
She didn’t voice this last thought, of course. There was no reason to give her uncle cause to suspect she had any cause for her questions other than curiosity at the anomaly that was Reidon Ward’s presence at the Galens Institute.
“I did warn you,” the man offered with a slow exhale. “I warned you this morning you needed to be ready. There is a reason every one of the students in your class—in this school as a whole—are within these walls. Cadet Ward is hardly an exception.” The colonel paused, chuckling and casting her with a fond eye. “You’re reminding me of your father, with these badgering questions. He used to assault me in the same way if he ever thought I was keeping anything from him.”
Aria bristled. “My parents care about nothing but perception and the value of their family name.” She only barely managed to keep the snarl out of her voice. “It’s cost them Kalus and Amina already, even if they refuse to acknowledge it. I am nothing like them.”
“You forget yourself, cadet.”
The rumble of Rama Guest’s words brought Aria up short, and the man stood slowly from his chair.
“I will not pretend your mother and I are any kind of close, but your father is my greatest friend. I was the best man at your parents’ wedding, and present at the birth of each of the Laurent children, yours included. You will not speak ill of Carmen in my presence. Is that clear?”
Aria brought herself to attention before the desk, fixing her gaze at a spot in the window over the commanding officer’s right shoulder. “Yes, Unc—Yes, colonel.” She just managed to correct herself as her uncle cocked an eyebrow in warning at her. “I apologize for speaking out of turn.”
The colonel gave a curt nod, and when he spoke again his voice was subdued, familiar once more. “I’m aware of the pressure you and your siblings have been put under, Aria. I have my own opinions regarding it, believe it or not. But I am also sure that your mother and father want nothing but the best for you and your brother and sister. They just… They have a hard time conveying it in a language you all speak.”
Vapidity and manipulation from one, uninterested silence from the other, Aria considered saying out loud. Yes. Those are certainly two ways to show concern for your children’s wellbeing.
Instead, she held her tongue, hoping her mutiny on the topic was clear in her averted eyes.
Her uncle sighed, moving around the desk until he was leaning back to sit on it directly in front of her. “At ease, cadet.”
Aria relaxed, bringing her hands to clasp behind her and spreading her feet a little more comfortably as she met the colonel’s eyes again.
“Regarding your curiosity involving Ward,” he started, apparently eager to bring the conversation out of dangerous waters. “As I said, I won’t be sharing the details of his acceptance to Galens with you or anyone else who asks—including the calls I’ve so far fielded only today from no less than eleven families demanding why an E-Ranker has been allowed into the same prestigious program as their talented children.” He met her gaze evenly. “That being said, I’m comfortable encouraging you to consider paying attention to what information you already have on your classmate. I suspect the reason for the board of admissions’ ‘whim’, as I called it, will become apparent fairly quickly.” He gave her an affectionate smile, then dipped his head towards the door of his office, set among the dark-stained bookshelves that encircled every wall of the room that wasn’t glass. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I do have a school to run.”
Aria hesitated, her uncle’s cryptic suggestion only adding to her questions. When his steady gaze said that he wouldn’t be hearing more on the subject that evening, though, she caved, throwing up a firm salute. “Thank you, colonel. Good night.”
“Good night, cadet.”
Turning on her heel, Aria left the office swiftly, easing the door shut again behind her. She paused there, in the narrow corridor that led from the Chief Assitant’s office and waiting room, considering the man’s final words.
Information I already have?
With the answer not immediately presenting itself, Aria muttered her disappointment under her breath and turned to make down the hall. In the waiting room, her uncle’s chief assistant had apparently stayed late, and was behind her desk in the process of packing a bag for the night, back to Aria. The young woman looked as though she’d spent some time in the bathroom doing her hair up, and that was definitely not the top she’d been wearing 20 minutes earlier…
Coming to the edge of the counter as quietly as she could, Aria leaned over it with a grin. “So where’s the date, Maddie?”
Maddison Kent nearly upturned her bag as she jumped, letting out a squeak of surprise. Whirling, her hazel eyes the size of dinner plates, she sagged when she realized who stood behind her, putting a hand on her chest in an obvious attempt to calm a franticly beating heart.
“Aria!” she gasped under her breath, shaking her head. “You scared the life out of me!”
Aria snickered, hardly feeling apologetic as she bent even further over the counter. “Worth it. And no dodging the question. Where’s the captain taking you?”
Maddison shook her head with a faint grin. “Brat…” she mumbled humorously before smoothing out her clean top—a pretty black blouse with silver frilling along its shoulders. Then she stuck her tongue out at Aria. “If you must know: we’re going to Sapata’s, in the shopping district.”
Aria groaned, resting her chin in both hands and putting on her best pout. “Jealooooouuus… Take me with you? I haven’t been outside the grounds since June.”
“I’m aware,” Maddison said with a laugh, gathering her bag up. “But no. You’re too old to be tagging along, but too young for us not to get weird looks.” She hitched the straps over one shoulder, then spread her arms a little. “How do I look, though? It’s only been a couple months. I’m still trying to impress.”
“Gorgeous,” Aria answered earnestly, leaning away again to take the woman in more deliberately. “Your hair, too. You’ll be knocking them all dead, I promise.”
Maddison laughed, moving out from around the desk. �
�I only need to knock one dead, thanks. Now come on, cadet. If you’re done with your uncle for the night, you can escort me out.”
“My uncle?” Aria feigned confusion, stepping in beside the older woman. “Oooh you must mean the colonel. Sorry. He’s gotten so uptight since the end of the summer program you’d almost forget the old man’s knew my name before I was born.”
“Hush, you,” Maddison said with a giggle, motioning for Aria to keep her voice down until they were out of the waiting room and into the hall proper, making for the staircase halfway along the brightly-lit corridor. “It’s well-meaning and you know it. You might be a tough cookie, Ms. C-Ranker, but some of your classmates could be quick to forget your merits if they found out you’re related to the commanding officer of the Institute.”
“Well we’re not, technically. If that helps.”
The woman waved the correction away as they turned into the staircase and started down, making for the ground floor. “Like it matters. Every year it gets a little worse, I swear. Like with that poor boy I heard you had a match with earlier.”
Aria, trailing behind, almost tripped down the last three steps before the first landing. Recovering, she glanced at her friend, hoping she sounded only casually interested as she spoke. “Yeah… The colonel mentioned that. Apparently he’s gotten like eleven calls about it?”
Maddison snorted. “Those were only from the families of the incoming cadets. He took that many again from parents from the other years who heard the news, and another two from a couple superior officers. Doesn’t even count the preparatory academies of some of your classmates reaching out, trying to ensure they haven’t attached their names to a ‘falling program’.” She gave Aria a sharp look. “Not that I told you any of this, mind.”
Aria nodded, but frowned, turning off the last landing before the bottom. Where her classmates had failed, Maddison Kent had been the one steady source of companionship over the course of the summer months, even more so than her uncle. She wasn’t about to let slip anything that might get the assistant in hot water. “Sure. But why the concern from everyone? All because of one new student’s rank?”
“A rank nearly a full tier lower than any previously accepted student in the history of the Institute.” Maddison sighed as they reached ground level and stepped into the clean, open atrium of the administrative building. “I must say, I do hope it all ends up being worth the gamble…”
Aria bit her lip, trying her damnedest not to come off to keen on the subject. Only after they’d passed through the sliding doors out into the dusk light—the highest of Castalon skyscrapers bearing the shadows of the night over the grounds an hour earlier than true sunset—did she think it safe to try speaking again.
“It does seem a little odd…” she tried tentatively. “I was pretty surprised when I got matched up with an E-Ranker…”
She glanced at Maddison hopefully, but the woman only gave an “Mhm” through her nose, taking in the pink and oranges of the sky visible through the branches of the oaks and maples that hung over either side of the path.
Aria decided to push her luck.
“You don’t happen to know why he got in, do you? I mean it’s pretty bizarre. And you should have seen our fight. I think the guy threw a single punch with his CAD the whole time, maybe two.”
“If your uncle didn’t tell you why Cadet Ward was accepted to Galens, I certainly hope you don’t expect me to.”
This time, Aria did trip, catching the toe of her boot against a protruding edge of the path’s synthetic stone. She caught herself quickly, her Speed spec getting a leg under her before she could really stumble, but she was still blushing when she came up.
“How did you know?” she mumbled, embarrassed at having been called out.
The young woman giggled. “Because your face is an open book, sweetheart.” When Aria clearly didn’t take this as funny, Maddison smiled and took her by the arm to walk alongside her beneath the trees. “I know the colonel’s schedule better than he does. I know you had your practice bout this morning, so for you to come for a late visit like you did tonight could only have meant something came up between now and then you wanted to discuss. I knew about your fight, and who it was against. Aside from that…” Her smile turned roguish. “You seem a liiiitle eager. What was it? Was Ward handsome? Tell me he was handsome.”
“What?! No! I mean… Maybe? I don’t know!” Aria could feel her face warming further by the second. “I wasn’t really paying attention to his jawline, you know? I was more worried about not getting my head punched off.”
“Oh? And were you still worried about your head when you caught him to keep him from falling on his face at the end of the match?”
Aria thought her ears would catch fire.
“You saw it!” she squeaked, mortified. “You saw the fight!”
“Oh of course I did. I had the file pulled from the Arena’s recordings the moment I heard it was you two.” She reached up, tapping Aria’s nose in the fashion of a doting older sister. “I. Saw. Everything.”
“You’re the worst,” Aria muttered, turning away in an attempt to cool her cheeks a little. When she finally felt like her face wasn’t the color of her hair, she looked straight again.
“I just…” She started as they passed by the Institute hospital, the lights within illuminating them in the fading light. “He surprised me, that’s all… I wasn’t expecting him to put up that kind of fight. It was… It was fun, honestly.” She frowned. “And those scars… What the hell was up with those scars on his hands? I noticed them when he was punching at Hippolyta, at the end. It looked like he’d been branded…”
In the corner of her vision, Aria saw distinctly the downturn of Maddison’s mouth. She turned to try and meet her eye, but the woman didn’t look at her, and spoke only after a few seconds of silence.
“What did the colonel tell you about Reidon Ward, Aria? Did he tell you to stay away from him? Or anything of the sort?”
“What? No. Nothing like that…” Aria considered again the words her uncle had left her with. “He said… He told me that if I wanted to figure out what Ward is doing at Galens, I should pay attention to ‘the information I already have’. Whatever that means.”
Maddison’s face softened, and turning a corner in the path the south gate of the school—the only entrance to the grounds left open at all times for the comings and goings of staff and visitors—came into view.
“Good. That’s good. I was worried that… But it doesn’t matter.” She slid her arm from Aria’s to take her by the elbow and stop her, pulling her about so they faced each other. “Have you figured out what he meant?”
Aria shook her head.
“You will,” Maddison assured her. “Just… Think literally, okay?”
Aria stared at her, not comprehending, and the older woman laughed. “That’s the only hint I’m giving you. Now get off to your dorm. You’ve got new roommates to meet, and I’m going to be late for my date.”
Aria opened her mouth to protest, but Maddison had already turned away.
“‘Literally’?” Aria called after her. “What do you mean, ‘literally’?”
Maddison only raised a hand over her head in farewell, an auto-flyer in the process of dropping down from the traffic high above them to descend towards the outer courtyard beyond the school entrance.
Watching her go, Aria couldn’t decide if she was more confused or annoyed. She understood the school staff weren’t about to outright give away information, but did they have to beat around the damn bush so thoroughly it probably left a nice worn track in the dirt? With a sigh she gave up, turning north to start the long walk back to Kanes on her own.
After the heat of the late summer day, the fading of the sun left a chill in the air that had Aria glad for her jacket and hat. Tucking her hands into the pockets of her slacks, she followed the path for a time, trying to distract herself by watching the reflection of the dying evening to
the west reflect in a wash of colors off the glass and steel of the skyscrapers east of the Institute. It was her favorite time of day, and had fortunately largely fallen within the limited hours of leisure she and the other top sixteen had had over the summer program. The cooling temperatures and the dimming light had always helped her relax, helped her gather herself after rigorous—and sometimes frustrating—mornings and afternoons spent in near-constant combat.
She didn’t regret the summer, of course. It had gotten her away from the Laurent estate and her mother, and any circle of hell at the hands of Valera Dent and her merciless sub-instructors was worth the escape of that particular torment. Still, it hadn’t been without its downsides. Aside from an exhaustingly intense training regimen, the other Users from her class—all high D-Ranks, like she’d been starting off—had proven themselves a fairly cold-shouldered lot. She couldn’t count any one among them a ‘friend’, per se, even if a couple—like Jack Benaly and Kay Sandree—had been pleasant enough. It didn’t surprise her, though. Of all 128 new students, the sixteen of them weren’t only the top in terms of Rank, they were also the favorites to make it through the Intra-School SCT and qualify for Sectionals. As incoming cadets that was as high as they could go in the collegiate circuit, but they also had their own bracket, which made the first years’ pairing a sort of exclusive, separate event even within the other tournaments. To add to that, the Galens Institute’s presence in Sector 9 meant their Sectionals was often times the most-watched feed of the entire series across all five of the Astra System planets.
With that amount of pressure, of course it wasn’t easy to make nice with the very people you were directly competing against.
Aria sighed sadly, turning her attention to the sky above, where several interweaving air-lanes thick with flyers and larger transport vehicles cut patterns across the orange clouds. She was more than proud of her CAD-Rank. Salista Laurent’s manipulations hadn’t driven her so far as to reject her own potential. Aria had been ecstatic to receive her D8-Ranking at assignment, and doubly so when she’d broken through to C0 not 2 weeks back.
Iron Prince: A Progression Sci-Fi Epic (Warformed: Stormweaver Book 1) Page 23