Liliana chewed distractedly on the end of her fountain pen as Professor Clintone regaled them with tales from history.

Normally the woman’s passion for her subject would draw Liliana in as thoroughly as the history itself did. Today, however, only a portion of her focus was devoted to the lesson. [Threads of Control] was busy writing down the notes of the lecture in short hand Liliana could go over later as she passed sheets of parchment back and forth with Emyr.

Emyr didn’t have a Telekinetic ability to aid his note taking, or a memory skill gained from a Psyche affinity to help him remember the lesson he was clearly ignoring. However, he had Liliana, and she would share her memories and notes with him later.

It was far from the first time they’d done this. Liliana’s [Telepathy] might be useless in class, but when combined with [Recall] she could give her friends near perfect memories of classes they’d missed, or been too distracted to pay attention to. Sharing notes was so common between their group that over half of Liliana’s own class notes weren’t even written in her own handwriting.

Classwork was so much easier when it was done as a group effort. Because all of them shared notes, and Liliana’s memories, so freely, it meant they could all retain their top grades. It was, undoubtedly, one of the biggest reasons why no one in Liliana’s group had ever dropped down a class rank.

They’d been accused of cheating on several occasions, but Vereign had gotten so irritated in third year over the accusations that an entire homeroom had been devoted to informing class S that helping each other through sharing their notes was not a violation of Academy rules. Only direct copying or trading answers on tests or plagarizing homework counted as against the rules.

Others were not happy with this, but Liliana’s group had always been meticulously careful—if one ignored Liliana’s singular attempt to try [Telepathy] during a test—to never actually cheat. The students who had more than two brain cells to rub together had figured out they needed to copy the method of sharing notes and information if they wanted to succeed. Those that didn’t. Well. They didn’t stay in class S for very long.

Liliana looked down at the parchment sent back to her as Emyr flipped open a well-worn notebook, thumbing past pages of cramped notes. Liliana knew they weren’t notes on classes.

Found out through Euphemia Glennon in class B that in their class, since we last checked, there were three beacons set off. Haywood Forrest of class D said they had two, Leopold Mendoza of class A said they got four, Muriel Cole of class E said one, and Valentine Whitely of class C said they got two.

-E

So twenty-two’s the count since we got back. Do you have specifics yet on what happened?

-L

Add that to the forty-two from the last semester. It’s escalating far too fast. We’ll exceed last semester before we’re even two months in. And no, but I can get it.

-E

Liliana frowned at the parchment. That wasn’t… good news. The announcement that second years would need at least one fourth year or a staff member with them for any assignments off Academy grounds had been met with a torn reception. The fourth years, who were a bit more aware of things that were going on, had been almost relieved. Some were still upset, but too many were aware of what was at stake at this point to be truly angered by it.

No one wanted to wake up one morning to be told an entire team of underclassmen had been killed.

Many of the ones Liliana had tapped herself to watch over younger years and basically search out beacons had relaxed. Those who were less perceptive had been agitated. Their homeroom teachers had made it clear they were expected to take at least one ‘body guard’ assignment a month, or risk punishment and privilege loss. The second years, many too young and far too confident in their own skills, had been overwhelmingly irritated at being seen as so weak they needed a babysitter.

There were a few, the ones who had presumably been saved from certain death, who had almost collapsed from relief in the coliseum during the announcement. Because of course Wraithe couldn’t make an announcement like this without staging a performance. A show of strength, to assuage worries that had begun to blossom in the young hearts of those who saw a bit more than most. To remind them that they were supposed to be safe here, if perhaps nowhere else on this planet could offer the same guarantee.

Liliana hoped that this would be enough that she could let go of some of the worries that had been steadily increasing her stress since she had first noticed the pattern of unusual assignments. Maybe she’d have more time to devote to the investigation behind the cause rather than treating the symptoms of a virus that was only spreading. Between the already heavy workload of classwork and assignments, the added stress had been driving her up a wall.

Get the stories, we can go over them later and try to find a pattern. And maybe figure out why our class has the most instances out of all of them. We more than doubled the next closest class in distress beacons. Maybe there were more a professor had to go to?

-L

Liliana passed back the parchment in a smooth, practiced motion the second Clintone turned her back. The professors would permit note passing to a point before it would irritate them and they’d punish or attempt to embarrass the perpetrators.

Liliana could answer any question asked easily enough, but Emyr would be caught wrong-footed and she didn’t want to deal with the way the social structure of their class would subtly shift if he embarrassed himself in class because he’d been doing a task for her.

Her group kept themselves at the top in grades and in martial strength, but that meant others in the class were always looking for chances to knock them down. Like sharks circling when they scented blood in the water, any sign of weakness would be a deadly signal. And then Liliana and her friends would have to spend at least a week dealing with dueling challenges again.

Gods damned politics. Liliana thought hatefully. It had only gotten worse as the years progressed, as they all came of age. The closer they got to graduating and becoming fully fledged adults in the eyes of their society, the more cutthroat the school politics had become. It was all practice for the lives they would soon lead, where their politicking would enter the real world, and the deadly chess board that nobles played on.

All of them were sharpening their claws and teeth on each other, preparing for the day that was rapidly approaching where they’d be flung out of their small pond into the savage ocean. They’d either swim with the sharks, or they’d drown, torn to shreds.

Everything Liliana had learned of navigating politics and noble society was learned against her will. It had happened as a means of survival, and she was less than pleased that she was good at it. Perhaps it helped she held little regard, and often outright disdain, for many of her noble peers. She had no issue with manipulating them to achieve whatever goal she had, especially when the goal was the protection of her friends.

The class ended and Liliana canceled her skills, cracking her neck as the class breathed a sigh of relief. They had Fundamentals next and then their day would be over. Four fourth years, Battle Training was first thing in the morning. Then whatever electives they had, then lunch, then they returned to their building for Math, World History and Fundamentals before their day was over.

Better than when Battle Training was at the end of the day, right before dinner, for second years. They were all exhausted and half brain dead by that point.

“Liliana Rosengarde,” a voice, petulant and exasperated, drew Liliana’s attention.

“Again, really Wardeby?” Liliana asked with something halfway between resigned acceptance and amusement.

Rycharde Wardeby stared sullenly back at her, an ornate box engraved with elegant golden runes held in his hands as if it was a poisonous substance. It might as well be. It promised nothing but a slow death in an incredibly unhappy life, golden chains wrapping them together until they both suffocated under the constricting weight.

Wardeby glared at her, but Liliana didn’t move, biting down on an amused smile. “My parents are very insistent,” he finally responded, and sighed at her, “can you just say no again so we can get this over with?” he asked plaintively and Liliana smirked.

Wardeby had asked to initiate an official courting with her six times since he joined class S last year. At this point, they had a betting pool on how many times he’d ask before he found his spine and finally told his parents ‘no’.

He was utterly besotted with a boy from class B, Matthew Mossling, but it seemed Wardeby found it easier to continuously face rejection from Liliana, for a courting he didn’t even want, than to ask out Mossling. An unfathomable concept to Liliana, who couldn’t imagine nurturing such cowardice within her own heart. If she wanted someone, as a friend or as an ally, for it was the closest thing she had to hold as a comparison, she made them hers.

All information on Wardeby and his pining, unreciprocated love Liliana had learned from Emyr, yet another unwilling bit of learning. She’d only bothered to even remember Wardeby’s name with any consistency after the second courting offer. She’d actually retained the information about Mossling after the fourth. She wouldn’t be able to pick Mossling out of a lineup though, and she frankly already knew quite enough, in her opinion, about the heir to a minor county in the south.

“No,” Liliana said with a roll of her eyes as Wardeby sighed, tension releasing from him as if he’d feared this really would be the time Liliana said yes. As if she ever would.

If she meant to marry for a political match, she would aim for someone higher than Wardeby, no matter the money his family had. He wasn’t an idiot at least, and not cruel either. Perhaps not kind or chivalrous, and he’d already been shown to be a stranger to courage. He was a fairly strong fighter with a clever and tactical mind, which redeemed slightly. She wouldn’t have remembered his name if he were unremarkable.

“Thanks, Rosengarde,” Wardeby said as he returned to his seat next to Howard Lale and dropped his courting gift into his storage as if it had bitten him.

“Anyone who bet five, cough up your gold for the pot,” Emyr turned in his seat, holding out his hands as the rest of their group wandered over.

They had time before the next class and, as always, everyone ended up clustered in this corner of the classroom. Other cliques had gathered and today Basil was holding court with Lilac Murrish, Arai Veiltross, and Roy Lawry. He wandered between cliques with an ease many seemed to envy, but few could hold actual aggression towards the southern heir.

Not only because of his power, but because he was so damn charismatic. Liliana knew she could use the same charisma. She had the stats. Though Basil’s charisma seemed a natural gift in comparison, but she had no reason to appease those who she didn’t deem worth her time.

She’d yet to be given a reason logical enough to try it. Everyone in class S already knew what she was like. Trying to act charismatic with them would only make them think she was faking it. Which she would be, so it was a moot point.

“I thought love would win out,” Corbin groaned dramatically as he handed over his gold to a greedy eyed Emyr.

“I thought Lili would scare him off with her death glare,” Marianne lamented as she lost her own gold. She really should stop betting. She was atrocious at it.

“Or Alistair’s. I thought he’d stab Wardeby,” Jasper muttered with a shiver that could be exaggerated. Or not, Jasper was rather easy to frighten. They all tried not to, but sometimes one of them could breathe and he’d startle.

“He should stop harassing my sister.” Alistair folded his arms with a sullen glare directed at Wardeby’s back. The targeted man froze, and his movements became wooden, as if he could sense the hostility being directed his way. Poor thing.

“It’s not like he wants to court me, Ali. Stop being so overprotective,” Liliana chided with a smile.

This time they weren’t mocking her for it, at least. The appeal of it had faded when it came to Wardeby. At this point, it was either bet or feel sorry for him. She still suffered endlessly from the others when new ‘potential suitors’ popped up to offer her courting gifts. Which happened often enough that they never really ran out of material to tease her with.

At least the commoners just asked her on dates. They approached her less frequently than nobles, who were often pressured by their parents, but it still happened. With those who weren’t noble, Liliana at least was a little more certain they felt something genuine for her, rather than seeing her simply as an alliance to be built through marriage bonds.

She still denied them all. She’d tried a few dates in third year but she found she couldn’t usually summon even the most basic feelings of affection for a stranger she barely knew. Most of them could get by a runaway carriage and she’d probably be more upset at the blood on her clothes than them dying. She just couldn’t really make herself care about people she didn’t know.

Liliana wasn’t too concerned about it. She had other things that demanded her attention, and if she survived to see her twenty-third birthday, she’d have hundreds of years to find love if she wanted it.

Sometimes she might feel a bone deep, aching envy when she saw how happy Emyr and Alistair were, as if they were two pieces of a puzzle finally slotted together. Complete. Whole. But the ache wasn’t enough to convince her of the merits of forcing herself through awkward dates with people she couldn’t remember the names of even under threat of death.

Corbin moved her notes and classwork aside with deft hands before sliding onto her desk, his long legs swinging idly, brushing against Liliana’s thighs as he grinned down at her, looking, for some unfathomable reason, delighted despite the money he’d just lost. Sometimes Liliana thought he had lost his mind and was utterly insane and somewhat good at covering it. It was the only explanation for most of his behavior.

“Your back is to Alistair and Emyr,” Liliana pointed out drolly. Corbin froze, shooting a fearful look over his shoulder to see two sets of glaring eyes boring holes into his skull.

Summoning foolish courage from some deep reservoir, Corbin kept his back straight and retained his seat. Liliana shrugged. If he wanted to die such an idiotic death for some ridiculous reason, who was she to stop him? At least he wasn’t a coward like Wardeby. She’d give him that. Even if she thought he’d been kicked in the head as a child. By a draft horse.

He grabbed one of her hands and started to play with it. Liliana hissed but allowed the contact and let her hand go limp as he started massaging the muscles that she hadn’t even realized were sore. Ah, right. There were reasons she kept him around, after all. He could be useful, sometimes. When he wasn’t flirting with death by antagonizing her brother and best friend.

“So, when are we all taking one of the new assignments guarding the second years?” Diana, ever the utter angel, broke into the thick tension that was building to dangerous levels thanks to Corbin grabbing Liliana’s hands. In her peripheral, Liliana saw Emyr sliding a dagger back under his sleeve.

Thank goodness, she didn’t want to deal with her notes getting ruined by blood. She’d have to ask Marianne for her copies, and right now the princess looked ready to bite of the head of anyone who so much as looked at her wrong. Liliana hadn’t survived this long by poking sleeping bears or bothering frazzled princesses.

“I want to finish the homework we have and get started on my potion theory before I go, so a week or two for me,” Liliana responded, sending Diana a grateful look that had the sunny blond beaming at her as she slid onto Liliana’s desk, side pressed to Corbin.

The bird beastman shifted to give her space, leaving an inch between them almost subconsciously. He never had a problem with being close to Liliana or Anya, but Corbin seemed to avoid touching almost anyone else. Liliana thought it might have something to do with the fact that Anya was also a beastman, and Liliana was a little too beastly to be considered strictly human anymore.

Liliana had theories about that, and she was almost tempted to partake in a few experiments to see… well, it was no matter. A thought trail to follow at a later time, when she had time for it.

“I’ll go in a week,” Alistair said, voice sounding upset as he continued to glare at Corbin, but he seemed less likely to attack him at the moment, so Liliana counted it a victory. He could kill Corbin later, when he wasn’t working out knots in Liliana’s palm.

“I’ll go with him,” Emyr said simply as he turned back to his notes.

“I want to get a real assignment done first, so probably towards the end of the month,” Koth’talan said with a shrug and a frown. He wasn’t happy about this new requirement, even if he understood the reason.

Based on what Liliana had learned of dæmon culture from Koth’talan and the books she’d read, he probably saw it was both insultingly beneath him and as the younger students’ own responsibility to handle any threats themselves. Even ones they were under qualified for. The Alfein Empire was… an at times cruel place, but it was nothing more than a product of this world, in the end.

“I’ll be going this week, helping out second years sounds like a much easier task than the assignments we usually get,” Jasper said, voice heavy with relief.

Liliana snorted and shook her head. Typical. He truly did hate combat, for all he was a force of nature and utterly deadly in his own right.

“I’ll go in two weeks. I want to get caught up and ahead of our homework.” Marianne looked up from what must be four text books spread around her.

“Hm, I suppose I might go with Jasper then. It would be a bit uncomfortable around so many second years without knowing anyone, right?” Diana turned to Jasper with a wide-eyed hopeful stare, and as predictable as the seasons, Jasper fell quickly under that gaze.

Not many could resist Diana’s puppy dog eyes, not once she’d made her apologies to their group in their first year and worked hard to earn everyone’s trust once more.

“Then we’re decided.” Liliana said with a shrug.

“Corbin didn’t answer,” Alistair bit out mulishly.

“He’s going with me,” Liliana said, tilting her head and taking on a look of utter innocence as she stared at her brother, who was darkening with anger.

Corbin shot him a smug smirk that did not help matters in the least, but it was entertaining to rile her brother up. Corbin released her hand and slid off her desk, the break between classes approaching its end and his welcome becoming tenuous as Alistair seemed ready to launch himself bodily at the beastman. The group split quickly, returning to their seats with a minute to spare.

“Emyr, the project you’re working on, any updates?” Liliana leaned forward over her desk to hiss in the minute before their next professor entered.

“I’m stuck on something. Come to the workshop tomorrow night. I’ll need your input,” Emyr replied, closing his battered notebook to open up one with actual class notes as Professor Reviee walked in to begin their Fundamentals class.