“You seem distracted today,” Master Kyra tells me at our next session. A handful of tiny ossicles lie on the cloth in front of me—malleus, incus, and stapes—and I’ve been using them to try to determine the location of the nearest pack of wolves in the hills surrounding Ivory Hall. The small bones of the inner ear are particularly useful for readings that involve hearing, but each time I get close, I lose my focus.

“I’m sorry,” I say. “I’m not my best at the moment.”

Master Kyra sinks down into the chair across from me. “Something you want to talk about?”

She rarely asks me anything personal, so the question catches me off guard. “I … No, I guess not.”

Kyra laughs. “Well, that’s a yes masquerading as a no if I ever heard one. What’s on your mind?”

I swallow, unsure how truthful to be. “I’m just a little shaken by our first challenge.”

“What happened?”

I tell her about the trial, and she listens intently, her expression thoughtful. When I’m finished, she makes a throaty sound of disbelief. “Whoever designed that challenge wasn’t pulling any punches, were they?”

My heart leaps into my throat. “Who designs them?”

“It varies. Usually a member of the Grand Council. Occasionally instructors or prominent members of the community.”

I think of the Bone Charmer who watched me so carefully during the trial, and gooseflesh races across my arms. Did he suspect my mother of practicing illegal magic? Was he testing me to see if I’d give anything away?

“What specifically is troubling you?” Master Kyra asks.

“I don’t feel like we did the right thing.”

“The right thing for the challenge or the right thing for the accused?”

“For the accused.” I give her the details of Jensen’s story, and she listens carefully, her lips pressed together in a thin line.

“I don’t blame you,” she says. “That’s a difficult case. What specifically is troubling you?”

“It just seems so unfair. Jensen was trying to help his son. He did something good—something merciful—and we punished him for it.”

“Ah, but ‘fair’ means different things to different people.” I raise my eyebrows in a question, and she continues. “Let me ask you this: Did Jensen know the law?”

“Yes.”

“So he knew when he mended Boe’s leg that the magic was forbidden?”

I let out a frustrated sigh. This is the same circular argument I had with my team over and over again. “Yes, but—” Master Kyra holds out a hand to silence me.