I'd thought there would be workshops in the Earth Wing but as it happened, all the Wings had something I'd call a workshop. I'm stretching a point there, the 'workshop' in the Water Wing was the main kitchen for the school, but it doubled as a classroom.

Teaching students to cook wasn't a very high priority since almost all of us grew up with servants, but there was enough of a gourmand tradition in the Realm that we were expected to know the basics of high cuisine… and how to cook on a fire in a camp because active military service or at least long journeys into the wilds were an even stronger tradition.

For some reason, the teaching staff were hesitant to let a seven-year-old work with glass, hot metal or sharp wood-working tools so I got to split my arts and crafts class between sewing lessons and cooking.

I'm really not opposed to the former, it's a practical skill, but cooking… There's a very real truth to the adage that the fastest way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Well, figuratively. Honestly, once you're using essence, human ribs are hardly a barrier if you absolutely feel you have to rip someone's heart out.

It's not my preference, too showy, but some deathknights and green sun princes feel differently.

Most of them I met found out that it's a mistake to try that against me - they weren't up against just human ribs, but a body reinforced by essence.

But outside of actually fighting, a good meal could benefit more than bodies. It's hard to put a number to how much a good feast could do for a diplomatic conference, but there was ample evidence that negotiators with a stomach full of tasty food would be less highly strung and likely to look on those they'd just shared a meal with more tolerance.

There was quite a crowd of first year students outside the classroom door, I noticed as I looked away from the oven. They were held back by only two powers – firstly that Udano was looming in the doorway and secondly that Iyuki was wearing an apron at my side.

If this went on much longer, then both their powers combined might not be sufficient though. The kitchen staff would need the oven soon to begin preparing the evening meal.

With due deliberation I squinted into the oven, past the grille that provided just a little visibility through the metal door. "It's time."

There was some yelping from the door. "What are you all doing here again?"

"Yeah, what's so special about Alina acting like a servant?" a second girl asked.

Iyuki looked tempted to go out and address those comments but I gestured for her to focus on what she was doing.

Wearing heavy gloves, we opened the oven and pulled the trays out. I was glad to see that the light inside the oven hadn't misled me. The timing had been right.

"Now we just need a few minutes for these to settle," I decided. "This looks good, Iyuki."

She wiped her brow and adjusted the scarf holding her long hair back. "This was nerve-wracking. Where did you learn to cook like this?"

In a ruined flying city of the First Age, I thought. Where the winged People of the Air had been enslaved by the Raksha for centuries, each generation murdered as soon as they had borne the next. But that would be really hard to explain.

"My father's household entertains a great deal," I said instead. "We weren't formally taught but there was plenty of opportunity to watch the cooks work. Now it's time to put these on plates and you can take them to the real judges."

"Do we have to share them?" she asked wryly. "I feel like these are trophies of a kind."

"They really won't last," I reminded her. "And if you don't give them at least a share then you'll probably start a riot."

"Clever girl." She reached over and ruffled my hair, pulling the scarf around my own head loose.

I picked up the racks once Iyuki had moved the snacks across to a large plate we'd prepared and headed for the sinks. I'd washed everything else while the baking was going on.

There was an outcry from the door as Udano stepped back to let Iyuki out. I hoped that the two of them managed to keep some of the food for themselves, they'd each earned it in their way. Mind you, with that ravenous horde out there…

I shrugged and jumped up on the stool by the sink, dropping the tray into the water and reaching for a washcloth to scrub it.

"I shouldn't be surprised that you're cooking and cleaning," Lyta declared. The girl was at least true to her principles and hadn't joined the scrum trying to get more than a fair share of the treats. "You can exalt a servant's brat but she's still a servant at heart."

"I'm glad that we're at a school, Lyta." I didn't look back at her. "Perhaps in class you can learn some new putdowns. You know, ones that are actually a little bit insulting. Are we all not servants of her Scarlet Majesty and the Realm? To a greater or lesser degree, of course."

If I'd looked back, I'd have had to deal with the fact that even on a stool, I wasn't quite as tall as Lyta. She'd had a growth spurt over the winter and I…

I was beginning to think that in this life I would always be titchy. I'd not exactly been a giant in my last life but I hadn't been short. I'd bulked up quite a bit as well over the years but I'd still been rangier than most Earth-aspected Dragon-Blooded – we naturally tend towards being powerfully built.

Hopefully I wouldn't turn out to be an actual dwarf.

"I can see it's no use expecting you to be respectable, but you should at least stop spreading your deviant behaviours among the other students. Goodness knows what those filthy snacks of yours taste like."

"Musht be tewwibleah," the indistinct voice of her companion agreed with… rather less than sincerity.

I looked back and saw that the girl was trying to cover her mouth and hide that she'd crammed something into it. I think I detected a defector to the side that had cookies. "I can't help but wonder what you're worried about." Turning back, I scrubbed at the first rack. "That you'll catch a sense of responsibility? It isn't that easy to communicate that, unfortunately." Satisfied I set the rack aside to drain and started cleaning the second.

"I can see there's no use talking to you." She whirled around and prepared to make a dramatic exit. "Come al-" I imagine that was when she saw her compatriot's face. "What's that in your mouth?"

The other girl swallowed. "It's…" She wavered for a moment and then sobbed guiltily. "It's delicious!"

"Thank Iyuki, she did all the work." She was coming along well, I thought. If she put another ten to fifteen years in then she would be an accomplished cook. I doubted that she was quite that committed, but as it was, I thought that by her graduation she would probably have a valuable tool for reeling men in, one that might even be as effective as her looks.

"I most certainly shall not!" Lyta cried. "There will be a reckoning for this, Tepet Demarol Alina! And you, you… you traitor!"

I laid the second rack aside and hung the cloth up to drip-dry. "Yes yes, we're terrible. I'm sure your parents will be incredibly shocked at the corrupting effects of a mere snack. By all means express your horror to them." I untied my apron. "But in the meanwhile, we should clear out and let the kitchen staff make dinner. Trust me, you don't want to mess with that. Greater forces than you or I will be unleashed should that happen."

"That's very true," the chief cook concurred, sliding into the room past the diminishing scrum of children at the door. "Oh, very tidy. If only my own staff were so hard-working. If it wouldn't be grossly presumptuous, I'd ask the dominie to hire you as my assistant."

"I'm sorry," I apologised. "But I couldn't accept that offer – you'd be my assistant within a week and the pay cut would be too burdensome on your drinking."

The man blinked and then laughed. "What a sacrifice we are making. Thank you for being so responsible, Lady Alina."

"It is my privilege," I saluted him solemnly and then gave Lyta a little push. "Come on Lyta, I promise I haven't cooked dinner today so you don't have to worry about profiting off House Tepet's work any more than you usually do."

She snarled socially at me and stalked out. The other girl looked after her, looked back at me… I winked at her and she gave me a reluctant smile.

Iyuki handed the plates to one of the kitchen staff and gave me an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, I only managed to keep one cookie Alina, do you want it."

"Cook's privilege," I assured her. "It's important you taste what you've cooked."

Udano coughed into his hand and licked some crumbs off the palm. Then with his other hand he pulled his handkerchief out of his pocket and revealed that he had another cookie wrapped in it.

The older Dragon-Blood smiled at us. "You have him well trained, Alina."

He didn't blush, only because we'd long since got used to the teasing. The first time Iyuki had suggested that, he'd actually apologised.

The letter had arrived during the day but classes were far too busy for me to have read it, so I had to wait until after dinner.

One good thing about Root and Reed School was that they had not fallen prey to the scourge that had plagued so many educational institutions. There was no 'homework'. You learned in class and the assigned study hours, but once they were over, our time was our own.

Thus, after dinner I was free to lie back on a couch in the dorm and unseal the letter. I'd had one from Opiha last week and my reply wasn't quite finished, but if this was hers, she'd sent it rather sooner than usual.

From the outside I couldn't tell, because all her letters were sealed by father's secretary as a matter of course. No one else handled correspondence being sent out through the Imperial Post. But when I opened the seal and unfolded it, the hand of the writer was plainly different.

I didn't recognise it, but when I looked down at the signature, it was no surprise that this sharp and angular writing – so different from Opiha's looping brushwork – was Lady Yrina's.

"Another letter from your great-niece?" asked Iyuki, entering the common room and perching herself opposite me with two letters of her own. Her ice-blue eyes flicked to the broken seal. "Or bad news from home?"

"It isn't the best news," I admitted.

"Nothing too serious, I hope?"

"I suppose you'll have to judge." I folded the letter and resisted the urge to crumple it. "My father and his great-great-great grandfather have apparently been engaged in complex discussions regarding the Demarol Household."

Iyuki frowned, checking her memory. "Elder Jita, you mean?"

"That's him. There's been a certain amount of distance between my father's household and the main Tepet household – unavoidable due to five hundred miles of separation. So, how put out would you be about not having three months freedom from me?"

"…pardon?"

"I'll be remaining a guest in Lord's Crossing over the summer." I stood and went over to the desk in the corner where I kept my correspondence. The dorms were well furnished, especially here in the rooms for the Exalted, but there wasn't a huge amount of privacy. I found my half-completed letter to Opiha and some ink.

Spreading it out, I began to update it with the change to my summer plans. Opiha would be disappointed, I knew that I was. She'd be off to her own school when the summer was ending and was endlessly curious about what my own first year had been like. I'd expected her to be bursting with questions.

"I can think of much worse things than that," Iyuki assured me, opening her own letters. Rather than snap the seal or use a knife, she ran her finger along it, calling on her anima flux to tear it apart.

As a technique of essence, it was perhaps among the most trivial and unless your control was good, it was easy to do more damage than intended. As such, there was a certain understated boastfulness in doing it.

I had elected not to tell her that more experienced Exalted generally considered it childish. However much essence you had, there was almost never enough for everything you wanted to do. So, using it for something you could do without it might leave you short at a critical moment.

There was no harm in Iyuki being a child while she was a student here. She might not act like it at times, but she was a few years younger than Icole. Not even in her teens yet.

"Such as?"

"Well, Lyta could exalt."

I winced. I wasn't entirely sure it was the same person but there had been an Exalted by the name of Lyta in the years to come. She had not been an entirely admirable person, to put it mildly. I'd fought some Solars who had been just as mad and twisted as their predecessors had been. I could very much prefer not to have to put down one of my own classmates.

On the plus side, if she did receive Terrestrial Exaltation then it would prove that it wasn't her. The Lyta I had heard of had been among the Solar Exalted. One couldn't have multiple exaltations. "I can think of worse things as well."

"It spares you quite the journey," Iyuki added, not looking up from her first letter. "It's a long way back to Juche, about a month on the road by coach. That sorcerer that brought you to Lord's Crossing might not be available. So, you'd be spending more time travelling than with your family."

I almost blotted my letter at that. I hadn't considered it at all. Other than being flown here I'd never really travelled in this life.

"I suppose it hadn't sunk in how far away five hundred miles is," I confessed, finishing the line and setting the brush down until my hand stopped shaking. What else was I just assuming?

It wasn't as if I had my mechanical wings. I could make them again, but I'd need a fortune in materials, months of work… actually, without the tools and assistants I'd worked with before, more than a year of dedicated work. Not many people would be willing to pour that level of resources into even an unknown artificer's work, much less a pre-adolescent's. And it was a purely personal project, which could only benefit one person. Any investor would expect to receive the resultant artifact.

It would make life much easier in that respect though.

Why not wish to attain the second immortal court of cultivating one's essence while you're at it, I told myself.

"Looking on the bright side, I won't have to deal with some of the other children. Poor Nalan, though." I'd only had one letter from the younger of the two twins, but he'd indicated that he was extremely happy at his school and making friends of his own rather than having to spend all of his time competing with Doreg.

Hopefully that would bolster his confidence because he'd be outnumbered. I looked down at the letter and then picked up the brush. Maybe Opiha would back him up – or ask Icole to stand up for him if needed. It'd embarrass my musical great-nephew; but better that, than some outcomes.

Iyuki switched letters, holding the one she'd already read behind the second one. "Oh!" she exclaimed.

"Bad news?"

"Quite the reverse!" The smile that crossed her face was luminous. "My older brother exalted. We'd almost given up hope!"

I frowned, trying to place that relationship. "I don't think I ever had the chance to meet him."

She shook her head. "He went to sea after graduating. Mother didn't think he'd be a good fit for secondary school, but he's a strong swimmer. Perhaps that was a sign."

A sign of…? "He's Chosen of Daana'd?"

"Yes." Iyuki pressed the letter against her chest for a moment. "I'm so proud of him! He never gave up, even when everyone said he was too old to Exalt."

I nodded. "It must have been a comfort to him to have your support. What happened exactly?"

She looked at the letter again. "He doesn't say exactly. It was during a storm though."

If he was lucky, it was just the perceived hazard that had been his destined moment. If not… I shivered. He might have been swept overboard. "Is he with the navy or the merchant marine."

Iyuki's face was indignant. "The navy of course. He's a Tepet!"

I raised my hands. "Now now, Ayama's household would be shocked to hear such disrespect to their contributions."

The bulk of House Tepet's soldiers came from the main household and three of the smaller households. The Berel and the Nerigus were more akin to the Demarol branch of the house: certainly, they produced some soldiers, but their main focus was on other matters, primarily the House's trade interests.

The older exalt shrugged. "I suppose so. But still, however necessary that might be, where would they be without the legions and the fleets to protect their convoys?"

I gestured surrender, acknowledging her point. The only trade fleets to rival those of the Realm were that of the Guild and even those rose and fell in power and wealth as mortal traders died and passed their fortunes to less capable heirs, or political squabbles brought them down. The sheer longevity of the Dragon-Blooded leaders of the Great Houses allowed for far more stable situations, and the protection of the Realm drastically reduced the risks of merchant ventures in the threshold.

It was a situation heavily skewed against the Guild and I would admire their members for holding their own in that great game… if one of their most profitable trades weren't the vast slave markets they operated.

I hadn't done quite as much to hamper that business as some of my friends had, but the look on one merchant prince's face when I told him that I was the sole arbiter of what was and was not slavery, and thus prohibited in my city, still made me smile. Even Nexus, the legendary free city of the East, grudgingly allowed the work around of indenture contracts that allowed the Guild to operate there. I was not willing to do so and I had sincerely thought the man would choke to death at the sight of hundreds of thousands of dinars of investment being liquidated for no profit when he'd he marched slave laborers to my gates in the expectation I'd pay in ancient treasures for manpower to clear the city of the jungle that had grown over much of it.

I had considered compensating him for the transportation of my new citizens, but putting any money at all into the slave trade was something I was loath to do.

To my great frustration, Tepet Jita's palm thrust was both telegraphed by the set of his shoulders and too fast for me to do anything about. I hit the ground, rolled and kipped up but that was another point for him.

The old man was about as dangerous as I'd guessed and I had to remind myself that being able to defeat him would be rather suspicious since he was something like fifty times my age and experience.

Although, even if I hadn't been holding back, I wasn't going to be the winner here.

Think of the big picture, I reminded myself. As satisfying as putting a third break in the geezer's face would be, the real victory will be convincing him that I'm a talented youngster but nothing more suspicious than that.

I got a lock on his wrist and went for a throw but he broke my grip at the apex and turned into a graceful flip that brought him down on his feet, perfectly braced. He didn't even make it look hard.

And then he was on me again, knocking me flat with a lightning one-two punch combo.

"Enough," he said hoarsely as I got back on my feet. "I am satisfied."

Yay…

He folded his arms and walked back to the table at the side of the room where the other elders were sitting. Apparently, it was the custom of the Tepet household that children would have to demonstrate what they'd learned over the school year. As if school testing was suspect. Then again, perhaps it was.

I wasn't sure if my father did the same in his manse. No one had ever mentioned it and I would have thought that Icole would have. Then again, perhaps he simply assessed we children on how well we served when he was entertaining. It would make sense since we weren't doing anything that servants couldn't have done better.

"You are close to mastering the form of Terrestrial Hero style," Jita continued, once he was seated. "For your age that is exceptionally promising. I am also pleased that you are working to integrate its use with Five Dragon style. Continue to study both and it may be worth sending you to the Cloister of Wisdom when you graduate."

I bowed my head. "Thank you, elder." It seemed he hadn't noticed the moment when I slipped into Crimson Pentacle Blade style to try to catch him off guard with one of their lightning fast charges. I'd tried hard to hold back and it would have been unfortunate if they asked me who was teaching me that style.

Jita glanced at his siblings and Vergus nodded slightly. "You have done well for your age, Alina. It would be preferable if your grades in literature and music were better, but we accept that you are putting in the necessary effort to improve them in time."

I bowed again. "Thank you for your praise, elders."

"Your teachers made note that you were spending considerable time in the kitchens. A curious habit," noted Marek disdainfully.

"An army marches on its stomach, elder Marek," I offered to the head of one of the oldest Tepet households. "One of the Sesus-born students had trouble with the concept."

That got a slight snort. "A clever answer. And while simple camp food should suffice, it is unnecessary to settle for it if one can do better. I do not disapprove."

With eerie unison, they all swept the wax boards they'd been taking notes on clean. "You may leave," Jita told me. "The rest of the day will be free of any duties, I think?"

That got a shake of Vergus' head. The woman's hair was a pale blue and she bound it back in much the same way as my father. "Serakan wishes to speak to the girl. It seems her daughter took a shine to you, Alina. She feels obligated to extend that care while Elana has returned to the ranks of her legion."

"Of course, elders."

I escaped the room with less relief than I had hoped. What did Serakan want? And where was she at the moment, anyway?

The Tepet palace didn't ramble in the way mortal dwellings that had been occupied so long by a single family might. Both the demands of geomancy and the family's martial traditions had led to the manse being kept in its original form: two perfectly circular curtain walls, each pierced by five drum-towers, while the centre was a cluster of taller but narrower towers.

Gardens and guest houses filled the space between the two walls, while more personal dwellings dotted courtyards and training fields within the inner wall. The entire manse had a larger footprint than the Demarol estate and it was easy to get lost if you didn't know it well.

I had been evaluated on one of the lower floors of one tower and exited down the stairs around its exterior. There was no rail, since the Air-aspected majority of the Exalted Tepet had no fear of falling. It was a bit harsh on those of other aspects and mortals, I thought. Particularly if the weather was poor.

Even in the city of Sezakan, where almost every dweller had wings, builders took more care. After all, a surprise fall might kill you before you had enough speed for your wings to matter, and not all children had mastered them yet.

There was an easy solution to finding Serakan. I caught a servant and asked where she might be found. While the footman did not know, he directed me to the butler who had some notion and from there to a maid who was taking a tray to the pavilion where the matron plotted the next generation of binding alliances for scions of House Tepet.

She was not alone there and I saw Iyuki perched on one of the chairs that circled the pavilion. They were wrought iron, likely salvaged from some threshold city or tower that had weathered the centuries only to be looted for its furnishings. Chairs were hardly beyond the making of the Realm's artisans, but who would use iron on them when it could be forged into armour and weapons for the legions… or nails, to be more utilitarian.

Serakan's seat was subtly higher than the others, perhaps not originally part of the set. "It is good to see that you have thrived, child," she greeted me and waved in a peremptory fashion for the maid to place the tray of tea and pastries on the table in the centre. "Do eat something, I know how children so easily hunger."

I was not shy to accept the offer and took a pastry as Iyuki prepared a tea-cup for our elder, not needing to ask how Serakan took it.

A bite into the pastry revealed the contents to be pears and I looked for the maid, recalling another who had served pear pastries from an orchard I had helped her plant.

The woman was gone and I could not recall her features clearly. If she was the same then… well, who would question that she had been where she needed to be.

No one looks at servants, she had reminded me without saying it as such. And if the mark of the Hidden Sun graced her brow then she had never been so gauche as to show me.

But perhaps I read too much into the taste of pears.

"Do you like them?" asked Elana's mother solicitously. "I find this year's harvest excellent."

"Very much so," I admitted and teased another onto a plate for her. "Would you like cream?" Unlike Iyuki I did not know her preferences and better to ask than to assume.

"The merest touch."

My schoolmate passed me the correct jug and I let a trickle grace the top of the pastry before placing the plate before Serakan.

She thanked me gravely but did not eat yet. "I understand that your lady mother has had little opportunity to discuss marriage plans with you."

I nodded silently. The Exalted might easily not marry until their forties or fifties, but the matter was considered carefully, and given the importance of continuing bloodlines that bore the potential for exaltation, women tended to marry younger. Negotiations usually began years in advance.

"Now that you have exalted, there is less urgency but more interest." She sipped on her tea. "Have you given any thought to the matter."

I hesitated – long enough that Serakan noticed. "I cannot say that I have considered either marriage or romance," I confessed. "I assumed that the former would be a matter for my elders alone at this early stage and the latter…" I let a hint of distaste cross my face. "Boys of my approximate age are not appealing in that way."

"You will probably find your opinion on the latter changing over the next few years." The woman appeared to find the prospect amusing, damn her. "So long as you recall that they are two separate matters, you will likely make no major errors. I have warned Iyuki of how confusing them may damage her prospects but I doubt you are old enough to need examples."

Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw a flicker of irritation cross Iyuki's face. Other than the occasional joke about Udano, I don't recall her ever mentioning the matter of romance either on my part or hers. Perhaps she had felt it inappropriate to discuss seriously with a seven-year-old. Wait, I was eight now, wasn't I? Yes… not that it made a huge difference.

Serakan leaned back and bit into her pastry. Both of us had to wait politely as she chewed. "Once you marry, it will be important to factor children into your plans. A marriage that is fruitless might as well not have happened, wasting the time and effort to prepare it for you. It might even be dissolved. But children need not impact on your life too heavily. Unlike mortals, carrying a child does not impair us greatly until the last few weeks. Though do not take the example of some women who continue to march and campaign right up to the birth. Your children matter far too much to be so careless."

"Now." She set down the pastry. "More seriously, even though you are correct that your parents will handle the matter at least until it is time to introduce you to potential husbands, there is much that you can do to raise your profile and attract better offers."

I finished my own pastry. "Thank you for taking the time to instruct us, Lady Serakan."

"Given my own daughter's behaviour, encouraging you to make a better job of managing your prospects is the least I can do for the House." Serakan considered us both seriously and then nodded. "Both of you have exalted young, which is good. That is the mark of a strong exaltation and any sensible family will want to marry their sons to someone more likely to have Exalted children. While it's true that Alina's strong aspect markings and exceptionally young exaltation make her a prized match, Iyuki, this applies to you as well."

Iyuki nodded in acceptance. "Thank you for your kind words. I assume that schooling plans are also a consideration?"

"You are correct." She looked severe. "I understand that you have raised the possibility of enrolling at the Heptagram."

"Yes, lady Serakan. I hope to become a military sorcerer."

"Sorcerers do have trouble finding spouses at times," she conceded with what I considered a degree of reluctance. "However, it could also open doors to a marriage into House Ledaal or House Mnemon. The key point to remember is that knowledge of sorcery, even for a graduate of the Heptagram, does not always translate into the same… concerns. As long as you keep from wandering around with a coterie of bound spirits while you're in polite society, it need not be too impairing. Presenting yourself as a soldier first and a sorcerer only for utilitarian purposes can also help. I wouldn't go so far as to try to deter you from that school, but I imagine that your parents have already discussed the matter in depth with you."

"That is true." Iyuki gave no sign of how that had gone.

Serakan nodded seriously. "It's also important to advance one's essence control. I imagine that you're already aware that sorcery requires the third plateau of essence mastery, which is as far as you can reasonably reach until you're well established, but it's also the mark of how strong your exaltation is. Dragonseeds are almost always the mark of a parent with strong essence mastery."

She looked at me. "I'm sure Iyuki can coach you in how to increase your mastery. Breaking through into the second plateau before you complete primary school would be another feather in your cap when it comes to invitations to meet suitors."

I exchanged looks with Iyuki and then gave Serakan a warm smile. "We have been practising meditation exercises to help advance our control, elder."

Her eyes widened in surprise. "Very good. Ah yes, you would wish to do so for martial arts, would you not? Well it's useful in essentially any field. Far too many younger Dragon-Blooded are slack about it and settle for the second mortal plateau. It's shameful, in my opinion."

"It shows a lack of work ethic."

The matron snapped her fingers. "Yes, well said. You are a clever girl, just as your parents said. Now, when the time comes to be introduced to suitors, be aware that there are almost certainly other prospects for them as well. I cannot stress too much: do not fight over them. Some young men may be flattered, but their parents will be looking at what sort of households they're marrying their sons into and it suggests that it wouldn't be a stable marriage…"

At the height of the summer, the elders declared a banquet for House Tepet, inviting everyone not only from the main household but those in the nearby households or even just guesting in the area.

Unlike my father's galas, there was no plethora of different entertainments arranged but I was ordered to dress my best. That meant a hasty visit to Iyuki's closet for something small enough that it could be altered to fit me.

We could have gone into Lord's Crossing to a dressmaker but there was such a scramble, by other Tepet who felt suddenly dissatisfied with their finery, that connections might have mattered more than money and without Lady Yrina, I doubted that I could have secured an appointment. The Demarol manse was very far away, and while Juche might be the most fashionable city outside of the Scarlet Prefecture, to the other Tepet I was very much their country cousin.

I'd have also had to get someone to authorise for payment out of my stipend, which was being managed by Tepet Jita while I was here as his guest. And arranging the banquet was apparently keeping him rather too busy to attend to such minor matters as a young Dragon-Blood not having a dress – sorry, a formal tunic – for the meal.

Look, if it's a skirted garment that goes from shoulders to calves then I'm going to call it a dress. Most of the girls my age weren't even pretending and had full on gowns, hoping it would make them look more mature.

It would have been idiotic for me to try that, but I was confident enough in my seamstressing to restitch two of Iyuki's more worn tunics from when she was my age into something sturdy and decorative enough to pass.

"Are there no end to your talents?" she asked as she helped me by unpicking the stitching holding lace cuffs to one of the tunics. The cuff was just a bit silly to my eyes, but reworked it could be a nice contrasting decoration against the blue on blue of my dress. Covering for the obvious fact that I had no bosom.

"You have heard me singing," I pointed out as I finished the main seam up the side of the dress, keeping the stitches neat and even.

"Ah, yes." She looked away demurely. "A memory I was trying to block. But cooking and sewing? If you ever set up your own household, your servants will be driven mad trying to live up to the standards you set."

I made a face. "I wasn't planning on being a professional hostess in the Imperial City, but it's something to fall back upon, I suppose."

Iyuki's fingers slipped and she missed a loop. "Uh, Alina, do you know what a professional hostess is?"

I was saved from answering that with a lie (because I shouldn't know even if I did), by a knock on the door. "Visitors for Miss Alina," advised Iyuki's maid.

The older girl set the lace aside. "Please show them in," she instructed

The door opened and I had just enough time to push aside the dress I was working on – and more urgently, the needles and pins – before my arms were fully of a white-haired meteor that streaked into the room. "Aliiiina!" she shrieked happily.

"Opiha!" I exclaimed, returning the hug. "What in the world…?"

She humphed, not letting go of me. "What sort of way is that to say hello?"

"The sort that fits not knowing you're within five hundred miles." I kissed the top of her head. "I missed you so much."

"So much?" she asked, releasing me to hold her hands apart.

"More than that," I said, not looking at the hands behind me.

"This much?"

"More than that."

"They may be at that for a while," Icole said fondly from the doorway. He bowed to Iyuki. "My lady, I am Tepet Demarol Icole and this is my sister Opiha. Thank you for your kind hospitality."

There was a… not quite a squeak, but more than a gasp… from Iyuki as she looked up at him. Her normally pale cheeks were quite pink. "Y-you're welcome in my home, Icole." She stood and dipped a shallow curtsey in acknowledgement of his bow, the most an Exalt could politely show towards a mortal.

At fourteen, Icole was only half a head taller than Iyuki and they both had similarly dark hair with pale eyes. I suspected they might make a handsome couple together, something to tease Iyuki about if Udano was raised in conversation.

Or perhaps not. Icole wasn't Exalted – although there was still time – and that would be a difficult barrier to cross, even for an affair much less anything more formal.

Finally, Opiha's arms reached full extension and I nodded seriously to her question. "That's almost as much as I missed you."

"I missed you too," she agreed and turned to Iyuki, lifting the skirts of her tunic to curtsy. "Thank you for being a friend to Alina, Miss Iyuki. She has written to us of you."

"You mean written to you," Icole corrected. "I don't recall any letters."

"If I wrote to you directly then Opiha would have only half as much excuse to write to you. How are you, Icole?"

"I'm very well, thank you." He looked more confident than I remembered from last year. Elana's approval and graduating from his primary schooling had both done him good.

"But what brings you here? It's weeks of travel. As wonderful as it is to see you, I'm sure that my parents wouldn't allow it just so that I can see you again."

"Silly, they must be here for the banquet," Iyuki told me. "T-that is, I assume that you have been accepted?"

He nodded and she turned to me. "There is always a banquet to celebrate all the sons and daughters of our household who have been admitted to the House of Bells."

"…so, is that the reason? I thought that it was something the elders had thrown together without warning."

"That was inviting people from every household," she clarified. "I suspect that it's for the same reason that your father was advised to send to you school here in Lord's Crossing rather than nearer home in Juche."

Icole nodded. "No one has confided in me, but great-grandfather was sending letters back and forth almost every day as we travelled."

I gave Opiha's hair another tousle before letting her go. "My congratulations on being accepted at the House of Bells, Icole."

"It wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for you." He bowed his head to me. "It was your suggestion to approach Tepet Elana. Otherwise I don't think father would have sent in an application. Father and grandfather both sent their congratulations. None of our household have ever been admitted before."

"Udano will be attending as well," Iyuki told me. "Shall I invite him here and we can have our own little tea party before the banquet? You know he'll agree if you're baking."

The two siblings turned to me. "You can bake, Alina?"

Oh wonderful. I hadn't really expected anyone from Demarol household to be here, so I hadn't considered that my explanation for knowing how to cook would be so easily investigated. "Yes, but I had to keep it quiet while Hunt was around. You know what a snob she is."

"Is she part Sesus?" asked Iyuki.

"Her father's a Cynis."

She nodded at the reference to the most notoriously debauched of the Great Houses. Only their strong blood kept them socially above House Nellens, and that was the one house that couldn't manage to maintain a strong elemental affinity.

"Alina!" exclaimed Opiha, pouting. "But hiding something from Hunt doesn't mean you need to keep it secret from me! I thought we were close!"

"I was waiting until she'd gone to school," I explained. "Until then, there was too much chance that she'd wonder about crumbs around your mouth or something. She's not blind."

The white-haired girl grasped my arm. "But you'll show me now, right?"

"Of course."

"And who is Udano?" she enquired. "Do you have a secret romance as well?"

"Oh, now there's a tale," Iyuki began. I suspected that whatever she told them would have only a tangential relationship to the truth.

"A classmate and a nice enough boy now that he doesn't think I'm a witch stealing the exaltation from other children," I cut the tale short.

Iyuki made a face at me behind Icole's back and took his arm to guide him to a seat at the table. Well, now I had something else to keep an eye on, I guess.

Winter was unusually mild that year, but not especially dry. This had the unfortunate effect of keeping most of the student body crammed up inside except when classes forced us out. Even with the main building and five wings, that wasn't a lot of room for over a hundred generally rambunctious children.

Getting wet wasn't the end of the world, but wet, cold and muddy got tired in a hurry.

As a result, when I reached the dojo for class, I was looking forward to blowing off some steam. There was still no one my age who had exalted and Udano was falling behind despite his best efforts. I'd coached him as much as I could but if I walked him into enlightenment then I'd be doing him no favours.

If he wanted that when he was old enough to be making an informed decision, then I'd gladly help him, but in that case we could both prepare for the likely outrage from the Vergus household about me 'leading him astray'.

Aware of my frustration, our sifu had taken up the role of my main sparring partner. I tried not to take too much advantage of it – he was there to teach the whole class after all – but today I planned to shamelessly indulge. Even the Exalted quarters were no real refuge from so many frustrated and restless children since two students in the senior year had exalted – one over the summer and the other shortly after the return to school.

The two of them were having what they no doubt thought was a discreet relationship, with all the stealth one would expect from teenagers dealing with the additional rush of Exaltation. Hopefully they'd work it out of their systems amicably, because the only thing worse than this would be if it ended badly and I spent the rest of the year tip-toeing around two feuding Exalted.

To my disappointment though, Sifu Voish wasn't present. As we entered, Old Man Spider was standing quietly in the middle of the floor. That wasn't a disrespectful nickname, I assure you. The long-limbed man was from a tribe in the far south-east and when someone had dared to ask, he had confirmed that he'd been called exactly that all his life.

How a boy from the jungles had ended up a grey-haired old man teaching geography at a school near the centre of the Blessed Isle, I did not know. I suspected it was quite a story and that he might have visited many of the places he taught us about, but perhaps that was hoping for too much. He might simply have done a lot of reading. Travelogues about journeys through the Threshold were another good seller in the book market, as long as they were suitably derogatory.

"As my good friend Voish must travel to Lord's Crossing for a family gathering, I will be covering for him this lesson," the old man informed us. "I regret that those who are Exalted may not spar today as I fear I would be inadequate in the event of an accident with your great powers."

It was a real effort not to sound sulky but I managed, somehow, as I accepted his decision. On the one hand, he was right. If there was an incident, I could easily kill someone. But I had never had an accident in all my time here. I was unlikely to have one simply because Voish wasn't here.

"For the rest of you, we will have some sparring. Who wishes to go first?"

Udano stepped forwards, of course. "I volunteer, sifu."

Old Man Spider waved one hand dismissively. "I do not claim such a title for my meagre skills. You may spar. Who wishes to face Udano?"

Lyta and a second girl from her end of the little group of students both stepped forward at the same time. With the 'great cookie defection', only Cathak Erika was still closely attached to the older girl. I wasn't sure exactly why they were so tight, but the redhead was almost always found with Lyta.

After a momentary conference, Lyta stepped back and let her compatriot join Udano in front of Old Man Spider. The rest of us moved back against the walls to have a clear view.

"Very well," he raised his hand. "You will begin on my mark; you will cease on my mark. Three solid strikes or pins to succeed. I will warn you once for a foul move – this is not a battlefield. A second foul will merit more than a warning. If you do not know if what you will attempt is a foul then do not do it. Questions?"

Both of them shook their heads and the old man lowered his hand. "Mark."

Erika didn't hesitate to strike first and Udano moved into it deliberately, ignoring her first few hits in the hope of getting hold of her. Given his height and weight advantage, she really didn't want to let him manage that so she backed away, still delivering quick kicks and punches to his extremities.

That set the pace for the next few minutes, none of her hits hard enough that Old Man Spider was treating them as solid while Udano simply couldn't get close to her. She was light on her feet, I noted. There was raw talent there, although she looked as if she'd be happier with something to extend her reach. A sword or a spear probably, I recalled her being reasonably adept when we worked on weapon drills.

Udano was getting frustrated though and tried to push Erika towards the edge of the room, his own kicks and punches growing wilder as he tried to extend further and deny her room to move.

That was leaving him more open though and I winced as I saw her jab sharply into a nerve bundle in the wrist.

My friend yelled in anger, almost drowning out the sound of Old Man Spider's calm: "Point, Cathak Erika."

And then Udano reared back and brought one foot down, hard.

White light roared and the entire dojo seemed to shake. No, it was shaking. There were screams from students on that side of the room and a stunned looking Erika was bounced literally off the ground as the wooden floor bucked under her. I was amazed it didn't break!

"Mark!" Old Man Spider screamed; his calm gone. He dashed at Udano. "I said mark, stand down!"

Apparently unaware of the words, perhaps too caught up in the rush of essence, the newly Exalted Udano paid our teacher no heed, grabbing hold of the pale faced Erika and whirling her as if to throw her against the wall with what would be bone-breaking – perhaps lethal – force.

To his credit, the teacher didn't hesitate to leap upon the young Exalt, latching one arm around his neck in a stranglehold. Veins seemed to pop in his long, bare arms.

With a roar, Udano somersaulted forwards and came down on his back, smashing the old man between himself and his floor. The move cost him his grip on Erika, who hit the floor with one arm and shoulder – just enough to break the fall before her head struck the hardwood floor.

I dashed towards them. "Clear the dojo!" I screamed to the rest of the class as I ran, spurring those still frozen in shock into following their brighter peers out of whatever door was nearest, even if it was out into the rain outside.

Udano got to his feet and saw me coming. His eyes were alight with joy, exultation… and a terrifying ignorance of what he'd already done. He came right at me.

This was probably going to hurt one of us.

And then, blood running down her face; Erika re-entered the fight with a banshee shriek; going right for Udano's throat with a jab that only barely missed, tearing skin from just below the throat. The floor beneath the girl was smoking and crimson flames hammered into my friend as the girl ducked and weaved around his attempted retribution, smacking at his arms and legs, leaving his uniform smouldering.

She apparently didn't expect him to simply ignore that and while she managed to block his punch, diverting it over her shoulder, that left her exposed when he rammed his broad forehead against her nose.

It broke with an audible crack and I wasn't sure if the blood on his face as a result was hers or if he'd torn his own face doing that.

Erika screamed and latched onto him, her anima roaring with flames so hot that I could practically see his skin begin to redden. In a moment, it would be burning.

All this in the handful of heartbeats as I crossed the dojo.

I had to shut this down. Now.

And ideally without killing them.

I didn't even try to separate them. I'd picked up a fair bit of speed already and I grabbed them each by one arm as they wrestled and threw myself into a whirling throw.

It almost didn't work, even with essence they both out massed me.

Almost.

Both of them hit one of the few door panels still closed after the exodus of the other students. It burst beneath them and they tumbled out into the rain.

I was right on their heels and while I didn't use lethal force, I landed perfectly braced and hit Udano as hard as I could.

He was Earth-aspected, I figured he'd have the best chance of taking it.

The large boy hurtled away, flipping over in the air with a surprised look on his face. He came down in the koi pond on this side of the dojo, the water splashing up out of the water and taking a couple of fish with them.

Erika pulled herself into some semblance of a stance, but she was just beginning to realise what had happened and that left her off balance. I yanked her around and gave her a less forceful push.

She back-pedalled to the edge of the pond and teetered on the edge, arms pinwheeling for balance. I gave her good odds of managing despite the wet and slippery nature of the stones around the edge, Fire-aspected are agile if nothing else…

But that was when I scooped up one of the koi and flung it in her face.

She went over backwards to join Udano and I went to recover the other fish.

Look, I did not want to tell Voish that we'd wrecked his dojo, hurt his friend and also killed some of his precious koi. It would be adding insult to injury.

"Have the two of you calmed down?" I asked them, dropping the fish into the pond.

Udano was still lying on his back, face barely out of the water. Erika was on her hands and knees, dripping water and blood into the pond. Both made submissive noises.

"Great. Congratulations, by the way. You're both Exalted. I'm sure your families will be ecstatic."

When Erika looked up, a smile was creeping across her face. It should have looked happy but with the blood…

"Er, Erika, you want me to set that nose? And you should probably stop bleeding now."

She gave me a surprised look and then sat up on her knees before rising fluidly to her feet. "Uh, yes to the nose and… how do I do that?"

"It's really easy." I reached up to her face. "You feel your essence, right?"

"Ye-aaaah!" she yelped as I used my thumb and forefinger to line her nose up again. She was rather pretty, so it would have been a shame to leave her with a crooked nose.

"Okay, just focus on one mote. Feel its warmth. That warmth is you as you should be. As the perfect pattern of essence that is Cathak Erika. Do you have it?"

She hesitated, reaching up to feel her nose. From the way her eyes tightened, that was a mistake. "Yeessss?"

"Okay, now do you feel the cold parts? The parts of your body that are chilled. Not just by the water," I added.

"I think so."

"Now imagine that heat is warming those places, setting them right. Until every part of you is warmed by the fires of your essence."

Erika nodded slowly and I saw the scratch on her brow close, blood ceasing to spill from it. The rain washed away the rest of it. "I think I did it. But my nose still feels strange."

I nodded and helped her out of the pond, then did the same for Udano. "It stops the bleeding, that's all. The bone's still going to need time to set."

Udano looked around. "I don't feel… warm."

"You're Earth aspected." I looked at his face. No, that had been Erika's blood. "For us it's more like feeling our solidity and stability, then spreading that to the places that lack it. Want to get out of the rain?"

"Yeah, sounds good," he rumbled and then looked at the wrecked door panel. "Oh Mela, what did I do to Old Man Spider!" He ran to the dojo and there was a screech from someone, followed by pounding feet as whoever it was apparently made the assumption that Udano was still rampaging.

Old Man Spider was flat on the floor, eyes staring straight up at the ceiling. For a moment I had the dreadful feeling he was dead, but then I realised he was just breathing shallowly.

"Ow," the teacher gasped when he tried to raise his head.

"Please don't move," I asked, going past Udano to kneel at his side. "I'm not sure what's broken but your ribs are probably in a state."

"Voish is never going to let me live this down," he mumbled. "I see Udano is alright, how about his opponent?"

"I'm alright sir," Erika managed, looking down at him white-faced.

"I've been trampled by worse," he managed to say with a crooked smile. "But Alina is right that I should not move without proper care and attention. Udano, I require your forfeit for failing to stop on instruction."

"I-I'm sorry, sensei."

"Yes, I would hope so." Old Man Spider gave him a mild smile. "My congratulations to you both on your exaltation. Class dismissed." Then his eyes rolled back in his head and he closed them.

"Is he…?"

I checked his pulse and found it weak, but steady. "Just unconscious. Would one of you go to the nearest classroom, please? I think we need the school physician. And maybe someone to cut him out of the floor."