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“Hey, Queenie!” Sebastian called over to her, ending their conversation. “Be my partner today?”

“Sure,” she agreed, grabbing a staff and following her classmate to a clear space.

The warm-up run had loosened her muscles somewhat, but two hours later Alex was feeling every one of her aches again. Zain had done little more than observe the class and offer advice when needed, but she’d noticed him staring at her on more than one occasion.

Talk about unnerving.

Alex was tempted to skip dinner in favour of another hot shower and an early bedtime, but her stomach complained so she gave in and headed towards the food court to meet her friends. She figured that afterwards she should also pay a visit to Darrius to fill him in on her horror-filled weekend. Unless…

“Hey, Jordan, is there any chance someone’s already spoken with Dar—um, Headmaster Marselle about our SAS trip?” Alex asked as they ate. They were sitting at a table with Mel and Connor along with a few other fourth year classmates, so she had to be careful with her words.

Fortunately, Jordan knew exactly what she was asking.

“Hunter made sure the headmaster was informed of… everything,” he told her, the tone of his voice revealing more than his actual answer. “I spoke with him as well, just in case anything was, uh, left out.”

Alex smiled at him gratefully. That was one less thing she would have to do, at least. Now, if she could find a way out of her Medical Science assignment that was due the next day…

“Recently I had a student come to me and ask an interesting question,” said the enigmatic and uncommonly intelligent History teacher, Doc, during class the following week. “This student asked about the historical development of society,specific to our advancement in technology. The question posed was, if society is so advanced, why does Akarnae still teach students using such an archaic curriculum?”

Alex resisted the urge to sit up straighter, knowing that she was the student Doc was speaking of, but not wanting to draw attention to herself. She’d approached the History teacher in his Tower office a few days after the events of the overnight SAS trip—specifically, after having witnessed the military outpost and the high-tech Stabiliser weapons. Too caught up in the adrenaline at the time, she hadn’t wondered until later that, if the people of Medora had access toguns, why she and her fellow classmates were running around with bows and arrows and learning old-school Combat techniques. That line of thought, which had kept her awake for hours, had also led her to question why they had an entire class devoted to riding horses when, as D.C. had mentioned during their time strolling along the cobblestone streets of Tryllin, most people walked or used Bubbledoors to travel these days. Out of nowhere, Alex had been burning with questions about why some of the classes at Akarnae were so dated when Medora as a world was advanced in so many ways.

Feeling like an idiot for never having questioned it sooner, Alex had only been able to justify herself with the realisation that ever since her first day at the academy, nothing had made sense to her, so she’d just gone with it in order to retain her sanity. Even the academy’s buildings were a juxtaposition of medieval structures alongside futuristic designs. The difference between the Tower and the Gen-Sec building alone was startling, but Alex had simply become used to the idiosyncrasies of Akarnae—and the people inhabiting it.

Or at least, shehad, until she’d seen the Stabilisers and the military force and realised that her understanding was seriously lacking and she needed to fix that, pronto.

“I didn’t answer the student’s question at the time since I saw it as an opportunity for a refresher that we can all discuss as a class,” Doc went on to say. “So, let’s break this down, shall we? Starting with the history of Akarnae—why you’re all here at the academy. Who knows the answer?”

Both Mel and Connor raised their hands in perfect sync and Alex hid a smile because, as much as they might disagree with her assessment, sometimes she thought they acted more like twins than cousins. Siblings, at the very least.

Doc nodded at Mel, who cleared her throat and recited, “Akarnae is the only school in all of Medora for people who are gifted. Every five years the headmaster goes on a scouting expedition to search for kids who qualify for enrolment—kids who have or eventually will have a gift. When they’re fourteen, the qualifying students leave their normal schools behind and come here to complete the remainder of their education. That’s why we’re here. Because we were discovered through the scouting process.”

“Why come here?” Doc asked. “Aside from it being the only school for those with gifts, of course. But why can’t students such as yourselves continue your tutelage with the rest of the populace?”

“We don’thaveto come here,” Connor spoke up this time. “But Akarnae is the best place to teach us how to develop our gifts. If we were at a normal school, we’d just be taking normal classes. But at Akarnae, we’re in an environment where we can cultivate our abilities and learn how to control them.”

“Ah ha!” Doc said, sounding pleased. “Control, Mr. O’Malley. A very important point.”

At that, Connor sent a smirk to his cousin, and Alex bit back another smile when Mel responded by pulling a face at him.

“At this point it’s worth mentioning that some scholars believe every human being has a potential gift inside ofthem, but not all of us are able to connect with or access these personalised giftings,” continued Doc. “For those of us whocan, we have a responsibility to nurture the supernatural abilities within us. That means we must learn to develop them, tocontrolthem, just as Mr. O’Malley said. Tell me though, have any of you ever wondered why Akarnae—a ‘school for the gifted’—only has one class dedicated to actively developing your abilities?”

Alex frowned at the question, mentally adding it to the list of things she should have considered long before now.

“After all,” Doc continued when no one answered, “Professor Marmaduke’s Core Skills class is the only time you have scheduled to learn control. Would you agree?”

Alex nodded her head along with everyone else, even if in the back of her mind a small voice scoffed at the very idea of the Core Skills class which had, for as long as she’d taken it, taught her next to nothing.

“Does anyone perhaps have another opinion?”

Silent shuffles and fidgeting hands met his question.

“Tell me this, then,” Doc said. “Archery, Combat, Equestrian Skills… These are demanding classes—physically and mentally—which is beneficial for your overall fitness, but they are also hundreds of years after their time. What need have we, in this advanced day and age, to learn the art of duelling with blades? Why send arrows into moving targets? What point is there in straddling an animal intended as a means for transportation when we have access to near instant teleportation? What possible reason could there be for us to teach these classes?”

Hearing her own questions come from his mouth, Alex was hit with a sudden realisation and she spoke without thinking. “It’s not about the classes.”

Doc raised his eyebrows. “Do continue, Miss Jennings.”

Feeling the weight of everyone’s eyes on her, Alex tried to rally her thoughts. “It’s just—I wonder if perhaps we’re looking at this wrong. We’re not learning Combat or Archery—I mean, weare, but that’s notallwe’re learning in those classes.”