Professor Ravenfeather's classes had been continuing with debates and discussions before they could start to actually work with magic. Ravenfeather had explained that it was up to their control teacher to determine when they were ready to start building their magic, but Tris thought it might be something more than that. Some of the answers had worried her in their discussions on ethics and power. Raeg had become the strongest speaker in the class, his points of view firmly held and defended against others who disagreed with him.

After that first day when the professor had startled a reply out of her, Tris had kept her opinions to herself. If I don't agree or disagree, she reasoned. There will be no reason for anyone to get annoyed with me.

The day after their trip into the city, Tris sat with a book on her lap, reading as the rest of the students filtered into the class. She had had a horrible night: one of her dorm mates had come down with a winter cold, and had kept the rest of the girls up for hours with her hacking. Tris, a light sleeper, had spent most of the night awake listening to the coughs from the other bed. The result was a red-headed thundercloud, ready to take out anyone who crossed her. Luckily, Periann had taken one look at her expression and had sat two seats down with the girls from Tris's dorm.

Raeg and his friends walked in the class with a blast of cold air that brought a vision of kissing students, huddled in a hollow out of the snow. Tris wrinkled her nose and shook her head, clearing it from her mind, and focused on the page. Four sets of legs walked past her, but one, instead, thumped down in the seat on her right. She didn't look up.

"What are you reading?" Raeg's voice asked close to her ear.

"It's none of your concern," Tris answered waspishly, jerking her head away from his breath on her cheek.

"Why not?"

"Because I'm the one who's reading it, not you."

"Now, that's just a silly reason for it not to be my concern. What if, by happenstance, we switch packs and I'm stuck reading it? Or what if you decide to leave it behind, how am I going to return a book to you if I don't know its title? Or what if I decide to court you? How can I gain your affections if we can't discuss current literature?"

Tris threw him a sharp sidelong glance and huffed at the familiar, teasing grin on his face. She continued to read, reasoning that if she just ignored him he would go away.

When he knelt on the ground at her knees, tilting his head to the side to try and read the book's cover, she decided that whoever had come up with that strategy was bleat-brained, plain and simple.

"What are you doing?" Tris asked, closing the book with a snap.

Before Raeg could answer, Professor Ravenfeather walked in with a bang of his office door. "Good morning, fresh young minds, I hope you are all ready for some stimulation. Wake up, Tridian! Raeg, young sir, I am sure Siriana is not taking kindly to your proposal of marriage, so pick yourself off the floor with a bit of dignity and return to your friends. Comfort him there, boys," he directed at Raeg's group, "there's some nice lads." Raeg rose with a slightly embarrassed grin, and with a wink to Tris he crossed the room to his catcalling friends. Tris stared straight ahead, feeling her face grow warm with her blush.

Don't take him seriously, she scolded herself, He teases all the girls the

same way. And it's all just to get attention, she thought, recalling the awkward silences that often cropped up when they were alone. He only acts this way when others are around, so he cannot be serious about it.

Not that I would want him to be serious about it!

"Today, we will start on the practical use of magic." Ravenfeather flapped his hands at them when the class cheered. "Yes, I know. My theory's not good enough for you."

"It's been months of theory!" Raeg shouted out. "What did you expect?"

"I expect exactly what I've gotten. A group of ungrateful, monstrous students." The class cheered and laughed. "But since your Meditation professor has told me it's past time I do my job." Tris frowned at the bitterness she thought she heard in his voice, but his smile contradicted what she thought she had heard. "We will start with simple spells, working in pairs. Now hook up with a class mate and sit down silently, if you lot can handle that."

"So, Siri. What are you reading?" Raeg asked, a smile in his voice as he stood over her. She glared at him: she had put her book away when Professor Ravenfeather had started talking.

"Want to be my partner?" he asked. Tris shot a glare at Peri, who ignored her and pretended to be listening closely to what her partner had to say. Peri hated dealing with her brother when he was in a teasing mood, and had apparently pawned him off on Tris. "I have an even number of friends, and apparently I'm the least liked," he continued, looking over at his four friends, seated in their usual seats together.

"You wonder why?" Tris muttered, relaxed by the teasing that reminded her of her foster brother. He had never been able to pass up a chance to push her buttons, either.

Raeg laughed. "A joke? An actual joke, Siri? I'm thrilled and honoured, even if it was at my expense. Now we have to be partners, so I can wrestle another one out of you." He looked at her in mock dismay when she just gave him a cold stare. "This may be harder than I thought…" he murmured, intending for her to hear. She ignored him, trying to quench the flustered feeling she was getting from his attention.

Concentrate on the lesson, she told herself, He is just doing this to get a rise out of you.

-----

After another fifteen minutes Tris was ready to strangle him, if it hadn't meant being arrested and all sorts of unpleasantness that would come with that. Also, she was pretty sure Periann was the only friend she had, outside her family group, and that friendships didn't often survive when one friend killed the other's brother.

Not that she was an expert on the matter of friends.

The lesson was easy enough, in her eyes. All academic mages could move things, usually by the time they were children, and this exercise was to refine that talent. Many groups had already graduated from the lifting of a wooden block, to moving an egg from one basket to another, Raeg and Tris included. Raeg, however, was arguing that throwing the egg would provide much more entertainment than simply moving it gently. No matter how many times Tris repeated the lesson, Raeg was insistent that his friend would enjoy egg in his hair.

"No, really!" he insisted, his face straight, "He would find that sort of thing very funny, especially since he's been showing off for that group of girls for a month."

"Raeg—" Tris started, her hands cupped over the egg, to prevent any 'accidents'.

Raeg tried to peel her hand off of the egg resulting in a short, silent fight that stopped just short of Tris kicking his shins. Instead, Raeg laughed, leaned forward and slapped his hands on top of hers, crushing the egg underneath her palms. With mucous slime sticking to her hands, Tris glared at the boy, who leaned back again, laughing uproariously at his prank. Tris shook her head at his amusement. She had to admit— No! It wasn't funny. Not even a little.

Getting up to fetch another egg from Professor Ravenfeather, Tris trailed her slimy hand along the back of Raeg's neck. He shouted and cursed as he tried to wipe off the disgusting gunk that was left just below his hairline. Without looking back, Tris smirked and continued her walk up to Ravenfeather's desk.

Passing in front of the glass cabinet that held a number of Ravenfeather's magical workings, Tris felt the air to her right, along the bleachers, expand and thrust out, with an uncontrolled magical working. One of the student's power had gotten away from him, a quiet boy who was always being yelled at by Clearwater in control.

Tris saw the spell coming. Time seemed to slow; her first response lasted a millisecond and seemed like hours, as she went to raise the shields that she had been praised for. The magic had enough strength to cause her some damage, but was nowhere near as strong as that which had been tested against her shields.

It will ruin everything, she thought, freezing. Everyone will know I'm different. I will have to leave Lightsbridge. I will never even get the chance to pretend to be normal.

Thinking of her future, of a normal life and of independence. Thinking of Periann's quiet, unfounded admiration and Raeg's teasing, Tris deliberately stopped her shield's formation, leaving herself defenseless against the blazing magic speeding toward her. She closed her eyes.

Time regained its normal speed and Tris felt the contact as the magic hit her. She flew back, hitting the cabinet with a crash and falling to the ground with shattering glass.

She heard Raeg's shout, Peri's scream, and her three siblings were suddenly inside her head, feeling the contact. Tris's felt someone turn her over as Ravenfeather called her name.

Don't worry, I'm okay, she reassured her anxious siblings. She didn't have enough time to do the same for Raeg or Peri before she passed out.

-----

She saw a strange room when she woke up and she was confused. It had taken her the better part of the two months since she had arrived at Lightsbridge to stop expecting to see her room in Summersea. Now, she had no idea where she was supposed to be.

Sitting up stiffly— she hurt!— Tris squinted around the blurry room. She had spent enough time in healers' rooms to know what one looked like, although she hadn't expected to find herself in one, at least not here.

Even more unexpected was who was sitting in the chair set beside her bed. Raeg looked as though he had been there for hours, judging by the awkward way he had fallen asleep sitting up, his head leaning forward onto his chest. Tris just looked at him, confused as to why he would sleep there in that uncomfortable position. Since there was no light shining through the windows, Tris knew she had been there for at least seven hours. As if her stare had awakened him, Raeg opened his eyes and looked around, as confused as Tris had been. Seeming to remember where he was, he snapped his gaze over to Tris, wincing at the pain in his stiff neck.

"Hey!" he said, smiling at her. "You're awake!" He handed her her spectacles, which he had been holding in his lap. Tris thanked him and slipped them on, looking around the room instead of at her companion.

"What—?" Tris started, unsure of how to finish the question.

"What happened?" Raeg supplied, and Tris nodded, although she would have been just as happy if he had said 'What am I doing here?' instead.

"That idiot Dudlass hasn't been practicing control. Instead of telling Professor Clearwater that he wasn't getting it, he just kept pretending, until it all came out in class today." His lips tightened. "He confessed after he threw you across the room, and I have to say no one took too kindly to it. Professor Ravenfeather said he wasn't allowed back until Clearwater actually looked into his progress, instead of 'ignoring him, like he had done with all his other students.'" Raeg grinned as he mimicked Ravenfeather's way of talking. "I get the feeling Clearwater and Ravenfeather don't get along that well." Tris smiled along with him at that obvious statement, but stopped when a flash of pain in her cheek caused her to clap her hand to her face. "You hit your face off the cabinet," Raeg explained. "You have a nice bruise, but the healers say nothing is broken." He took her cupped hand away and brushed his fingers along her cheekbone, seemingly making sure they missed nothing, although he had no healer's training. Before an awkward silence could develop, the door across from Tris's bed opened. A pudgy, but exceedingly tall, man was revealed, dressed in a Temple Healer's garb.

He smiled at Tris. "Welcome to the world of the living!" he joked, his voice higher than one would expect from someone his size. "It's about time! You had this poor boy worried." Raeg blushed and looked away, not answering the healer's taunt.

"There, now, Raeg," the huge man continued, "she's awake and well, just as I promised. Can you now get out of the way so I can do my job?" Raeg said a quick, embarrassed good-bye and left the room, looking over his shoulder at Tris once before he shut the door.

The healer chuckled, but when he sat down beside her bed his good humour had faded. "Miss Farash, we tried to do a healing on you but your body is much more resistant than we would have thought in one your age. Since you'll have no more than some bruising after this, I would prefer not to build up your resistance to healing any further. Yes?" Tris nodded her agreement.

"Good." He paused, as if waiting for Tris to explain where she had built up such a resistance to healing. Not wanting to even try to explain about a stubborn Empress, a great mage's curse and Namorn staircases, Tris kept silent. When the healer saw that she wouldn't tell him he continued on his own. "I want you to stay here for the night, just because you did hit your head rather hard, I've been told. Tomorrow, if everything goes well, you will be back at classes again." The healer left her alone in the room with the promise that he would return with a non-magical pain reliever in a few minutes.

What were you thinking, Tris? Sandry's voice seemed to cut through the silence, even though it was only in her head. Why didn't you raise your shield?

That would have gone over well! Tris replied, sarcastically. 'Of course, can't you all raise shields of lightning? Well, yes you can, you just haven't tried!' Come on, Sandry! I have to protect my identity.

At what cost? Briar asked, his concern showing in anger, as it always did.

Sandry continued. If I had known you would become self-destructive, I never would have let—

What, Sandry? Tris asked, her temper fraying. You never would have let me come? That is your choice now, what I do with my life? I want this! So just back off and let me do it my way!

She blocked Sandry, and Briar for good measure, from her mind. After a moment she felt guilty, she always did when she yelled at her sister. But what right does she have to judge my decisions?

She's just worried about you, saati, Daja's concern, quiet and unobtrusive, filtered into Tris's mind. We hate being so far away when you may need our help.

I am fine. Tris assured her.

I know. And so do they, when they aren't worried out of their minds. Sleep now, Tris. You'll need it, if you keep getting yourself into this kind of trouble.

Goodnight, Daja. Thank you for trusting in me.

-----

The pain medications wore off in the middle of the night, and Tris lay awake with a throbbing in her cheek and arm that wouldn't let her drift off again. Waiting for a healer to come through to check on her, Tris reached up and opened the window above her bed, letting in the cold night air.

The voice carried on the wind was instantly recognizable, she had listened to it six days a week for the past two months. "I told you they weren't ready!" Ravenfeather's voice snapped, sharper than Tris had ever heard it. "And yet I was forced into teaching them practical magic. Now look at what happened!"

"They have sufficient control," a wheezy voice replied. Professor Clearwater, who taught meditation and control theory, was someone who Tris had never liked. "You must not have been paying attention to the lesson, which goes to show what happens when a tinkering fool who just wants to play with toys is asked to teach practical magic."

"I am a magical artifacts expert, they are not my toys," Ravenfeather replied hotly. "And how dare you suggest that I am not capable of leading my stu—"

"Enough." This voice Tris was also familiar with, the Lightsbridge headmaster. "You disgrace yourselves with your bickering. The student is fine; I'm positive about that. Since there was no lasting harm done, the only—"

The wind changed direction and cut off the voices, leaving Tris alone in the dark once more.

-----

As promised, Tris was allowed to return to classes the next day. With a paste on her cheek to ease the pain of the bruise, Tris walked from the infirmary to her dorm. As soon as she entered the long room, she was attacked by a squealing mass of brown hair in a copper-red overcoat.

"Siri! Are you okay? What was it like? You were probably frightened! I'm so sorry I couldn't come visit you, but they wouldn't let in any visitors. Raeg just refused to leave so you weren't alone, which is good. Right? Was he any company at all?"

Tris braced her hands on Periann's shoulders, pushing her back gently. Periann's enthusiastic concern made her laugh for the first time since she had left home.

"I'm fine. The student is barred from that class until he learns control, and Raeg… he was well-behaved, anyway." Periann snorted at the idea of her brother being well-behaved.

"Do you need any help getting to class?"

"It's my face, not my legs!"

Periann grinned again, and gave Tris a quick hug. She broke apart and walked slowly with Tris to class, switching rapidly between gossip and asking about Tris's injuries.

They walked into class and Tris ignored the other students, who offered smiles or shouted jokes when she walked in. Professor Ravenfeather looked up, but instead of a smile or pun, he frowned, looking Tris over. Tris took her seat without looking at him again. What was going on?

The class passed by without any excitement. Ravenfeather used the incident to prompt a class on power buildup and release, and how to prevent the accident that had happened the day before. Tris caught him examining her more than once.

When class was over, Tris tried to get out before he could catch her attention, but he was a step ahead. "Siriana, can I speak to you for a moment?" he called over the noise of students packing up to leave.

Tris waited in front of his desk until all the students had filtered from the room. Only then did he look up at her, his face unusually grave.

"I'm an artifacts expert, Siriana. I deal with ways to put power in objects," Tris nodded, confused as to what he was trying to say. "I have never seen such a powerful working on a student before," he said, gesturing at the amulet hidden beneath her shirt. She felt shock rush through her, and she tried to keep her expression neutral. She didn't succeed, and Ravenfeather watched her closely. "Now, I cannot make you tell me about it, but you know how suspicious it looks if you don't."

Tris looked up from the desktop, meeting his eyes in the frozen stare her siblings hated so much. "Does that mean I'm dismissed?" she asked. He nodded reluctantly, and she walked across the room, towards the door.

"I will make sure nothing happens to my students, Miss Farash," he called to her as she opened the door. "If I think you have become a threat to them, I will deal with you."

Tris ignored him and walked out into the sun and the snow. She let the door slam behind her.