“Recruit Pedrón,” DeLuca says, “you have good power and adequate speed for your size, but you can be better. We’ll work on that. Recruit Aldo, you have better speed and extraordinary spatial awareness. We’ll teach you some real fighting skills so you won’t have to rely on deception.”

My eyes widen. Perhaps DeLuca is not the idiot I took him for. Off to the side, a few other Guards are discussing something quietly among themselves, though their eyes remain on the recruits. Maybe they really are evaluating us.

“Next up, Recruit Iván.”

The handsome boy with quick, dark eyes steps forward. The son of a traitor. Which makes him Juan-Carlos’s younger brother.

“And Recruit Red.”

I’m stepping forward even as Iván says, “I won’t fight a girl.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on you,” I tell him.

“It wouldn’t be fair,” Iván says. “And I don’t want to get into the habit of pulling my punches or weakening my blows.”

“It’s clear you have great respect for women,” I say gravely, and Iván gives me a puzzled look, unsure how I just managed to insult him.

DeLuca considers. “Fine,” he says.

Weird that he’s not pressing the matter. Maybe Iván holds some status with DeLuca, being the brother of a Quorum lord. We’re supposed to leave status behind to come here, but such things are never true in practice.

“Any volunteers to fight a girl?” DeLuca calls out.

Several boys appear uncomfortable, looking everywhere but at the sergeant, lest they catch his eye. But there’s no shortage of hands raised.

The crowd on the walls is as thick as I’ve ever seen it. People are leaning forward, eyes wide, chatting excitedly. This is the best spectacle they’ve seen all year.

“You,” the sergeant says, pointing to the rich boy with fine silks. “Recruit Valentino.”

Valentino. Where do I know that name?

The rich boy steps forward. “I won’t pull my punches or soften my blows,” he says, heading toward the weapons rack. The look he gives me is not unfriendly.

“Thank you,” I tell him, and he smiles.

Valentino moves like a dancer, all grace and power and exquisite control, with not a single wasted movement. He is well trained and fully come into his own body. A man, not a boy.

He chooses the double-bladed ax. It’s wooden, like most of the practice weapons, but it’s by far the largest and heaviest of them.

“Recruit Red? You must choose a weapon.”

I stare at them all, remembering Hector’s words. Should I reveal my skills and training or save them for later? Should I look for an easy way out of this match like Aldo did? Valentino seems to be a worthy adversary. Losing to him wouldn’t be too humiliating. I’d get a black eye out of it maybe. A bloody nose. And a whole lot of sympathy.

Then again, I just declared my close relationship to the empress with my Godstone. People already hate me for that.

“Recruit Red?” the sergeant prompts.