“I am Yenni Aja-Nifemi ka Yirba and I am from the Moonrise Isles.”

“Are you now? Well then, welcome!” he said, and slapped her shoulder. Yenni flinched, unused to being so casually touched by strangers. “Ah-ah, but wait? What is this?” He pointed at the white Masters’ rune peeking out from under her wrap shirt. “No magic allowed. Are you trying to cheat?”

“No, not at all,” she said, her heart thumping even as she curled her hands to hide the runes on her palms. “It is simply a warning rune. It alerts me to threats on my life. I cannot remove it.”

“Does it now,” he said thoughtfully, and Yenni’s chest clenched with anxiety. Please! I’m so close!

“Well, certainly no one should be trying to kill you here, just some friendly sparring is all. And it’d be a shame to send you packing after you came all this way, en? But I’ll be watching you closely,” he warned.

Yenni exhaled, relieved. “Yes, thank you.”

“Can’t wait to see you in action,” said the captain, and he strode back to the center of the square. He crossed his huge arms. “Right. Prevan Academy of Battle and Magical Arts is the finest tactical school on the continent,” he declared. “We select only the fat of the meat, the best of the best, to take part in training here. To that end, the final challenge in today’s test will be something extra special, something I doubt many of you have encountered before.” He raised one eyebrow. “But first you’ll be sparring in groups of two, according to weight, while I observe.”

He began pointing at various candidates. “You and you, and . . . you and you,” he called, pairing them off. Yenni ended up opposite a red-cheeked girl with hair like dry grass who refused to meet her eye. She clutched a wooden staff.

In the end about forty pairs were spaced out in the sand. “Now, you’re aiming to subdue, not maim,” called the captain. “That said, each round will last two minutes, and the one showing the most wear will be removed. Ready yourselves!”

Yenni brought up her spear. “Best of luck,” she said.

The girl still wouldn’t look at her. “I don’t need your luck,” she spat. “As if I would let some foreigner from the Isles take my spot.”

Yenni was so astonished she laughed, one sharp bark.

“Begin!” the captain boomed.