His voice was gentle, even kind. “I know this isn’t much consolation, or perhaps not any consolation at all in light of the seriousness of the situation, but I will be giving you an A on your essay. Though you veered from the assigned topic, you did write a persuasive piece.”

Mina nodded. Her throat was too clogged to thank him, and she didn’t feel like there was anything to be thankful for. She’d failed. There would be more graves in Dern—​if anyone was left to bury the dead.

Mina trudged back to her dorm room. There was no one in the halls. Every door was shut, which was good. She didn’t want to see or talk to anyone. She’d nearly made it to her door when Vira suddenly came out of the bathroom.

Vira was sporting a black eye, and her hair was half up in braids and half dangling over her cheek. She brushed hard against Mina’s shoulder as she walked past. Mina flinched away, opened her mouth to say something, and then shut it.

“What?” Vira snarled. “Oh, I forgot—​you didn’t join in the fight. Too scared to choose a side? Coward.” She stalked away.

Mina watched her go, and a half-dozen retorts jumped into her mind. She didn’t say any of them. I did choose a side, she thought at Vira’s back. And I’m not a coward. I just don’t fight the way you fight.

I also am not going to lose the way you’re going to lose.

She felt her hands curl into fists. It felt good.

“I’m not giving up,” she said. Quietly, but out loud. She wasn’t going to quit, and she was not going to abandon the people of the Dern outpost to their fate. She didn’t care anymore if she failed her training or was expelled from Mytris, if there was a way to help save the people who had helped her. Some things are more important. She couldn’t just wait for another chance to help, not when she could make a chance. She marched over to Ferro and Zek’s door and knocked on it.

A few seconds later, it cracked open. Ferro poked his nose into the gap. “Oh, it’s you. Thought I heard Vira. Didn’t want to get pounded on again.” He opened the door wider.

“My room,” Mina said quietly. “Bring everyone you can, but leave your beasts—​they’ll be too conspicuous. You can fill them in through your mind.” She moved down the hall and knocked on Kita and Saril’s door. She continued, choosing the doors of the students who had fought the hardest in the dining hall. She knew who they were—​she’d watched it all. She introduced herself to each of them, even though her voice was shaking and her heart was pounding hard.