Whatever Rainer had expected him to say, that wasn’t it. He merely blinked at Aldric for several moments, then recovered. “Certainly. What did you have in my mind?” he asked, a voice full of understanding and conciliation.

“Three representatives from my class, three from yours. Excluding Lilianna, of course. We have the six of them compete in a series of contests decided by these two.” He indicated Kedrin and Zasia, both of whom looked equal parts shocked and trepidatious. “If my class wins, you leave Lilianna alone. Completely. If we lose, you get Lilianna.”

Rainer’s eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly. “Isn’t that rather gauche? Competing over the girl like some sort of trophy?”

“If your concern is that she is not being properly educated, then surely you could show your superior teaching ability in a contest such as this?” Aldric countered. “We’ll have judges made up of staff from the academy, ones impartial to either you or myself.”

“Surely this isn’t very fair to you? I have been teaching my class at least a month or two longer than you’ve even had yours, to say nothing of my many years of experience.”

“Take it as confidence that we’ll win. Now, if you stall any longer, I’ll have to think you a coward. Do we have a deal?”

A predatory smile broke out across Rainer’s face. “If I might make a slight adjustment? Should my students prevail, I will also gain young Lord Caffaret as well.”

Aldric felt the jaws of his trap slam shut as he shook Rainer’s hand. “Deal.”

~~~

NADRINA WONDERED IF anyone else could hear how hard her heart was pounding. It was certainly the only thing she could hear at the moment.

Her class and Professor Rainer’s were all gathered outside in the training yard, a large stretch of grass and dirt where physical training classes were typically held. Both professors were joined by headmaster Kedrin and Professor Glory in the middle of a marked off area to be used as an arena for today. The rest of Professor Rainer’s class, and a mildly dejected Lilianna, were currently sitting on bleachers that had been set up on the sidelines, and it was Nadrina’s deepest wish at this moment to just join them.

There had to be some kind of mistake. When Professor Aldric had announced that there was going to be a competition between classes, Nadrina had actually been quite excited. It would be a splendid opportunity to see different spells and styles of magic that she hadn’t been able to witness yet. She’d been looking forward to taking notes on the sidelines and reviewing them later at her leisure, one of her favorite hobbies.