Another week went by, as did another. The nobles remained stubborn. As did Micah. He kept busy avoiding Josiah and concentrating intensely on his schoolwork. He also read up on modern technology in his free time and made a few more feeble attempts to get to know his teammates. All of them, with the exception of Keegan and Aiden, continued to ignore his efforts at unification. Edlen, and his three loyal aristocrats, remained elusive. If the other boy’s mission was to avoid breathing the same air as Micah, he’d excelled beautifully these past four weeks. Despite his exasperation, Micah was reluctantly impressed. Who knew someone could be so immature and childish to the point of skillful and impressive elusion? The boy and his trio of Unda cadets ate at different times, showered at different times, and stayed up late to study in living quarters belon

The barbed wire was like a crown of thorns and a cruel mockery of manipulated twine. With the wire wrapped tightly around his arms, his captors lifted his limbs in a ridicule of a broken marionette, pulled by relentless and cruel strings.A punishing puppet master.Micah was past the point of scheming up poetic metaphors to his abductors’ intentions. All that mattered was that he’d lost feeling in his limbs long ago due to their painful and purposeful arranging.Positioned on the ground next to the dying and gnarly maze of the academy’s gardens, Micah could only stare blankly at the other side of the hedge. One leg curled inward and the other, by painful contrast, curled outward. His left arm stretched far above his head while his right arm angled awkwardly to the side.A fitting position for a discarded toy.He’d tried to move to a more comfortable position long ago, but the bindings were tight and the barbed wire dug agoni

“Councilman Devereux will see you now, Mr. Edlen.”Kai nodded sharply to the butler.He stood from one of the several chairs positioned on either side of the long corridor. A rich, mahogany wainscot clashed opulently with the deep cherry and gold-patterned walls. As he straightened his tailored coat, his attention lingered on the gold frames hanging on the walls, focusing specifically on the largest painting.Stilling, he stared.He’d seen it a dozen times before, yet in the past, he’d always walked by without a second glance. It was an old adornment to the wall, as noted by the use of oil paints. If it had been newer, it would have been a colorless photograph like some of the other pieces in its immediate proximity.Kai was glad it was an oil painting.Photographs, though entirely realistic and lifelike, did not possess the color of life.He stared into the blue eyes of his lost friend, feeling t

A sword clattered to the ground followed by an overzealous whop.“You did it, Keegan!”Looking over his shoulder, Micah calmly surveyed the pair of exuberant Igni students.Keegan stood victoriously across from Aiden, the latter not appearing crestfallen over his defeat. Instead, his grin nearly cracked his face into two. True pride. Micah found himself mirroring the sentiment, appraising Keegan fondly.The boy finally did it.Granted, Keegan was drenched with sweat and appeared as if he’d just overexerted himself, but that was a familiar sight these past few weeks.Keegan was determined. His determination paid off, it seemed. Micah’s earlier uncertainties about his overenthusiastic claim that he’d improve his swordsmanship abilities had since quelled.Evidently, he shouldn’t have been concerned. Everything had worked out in the end.“You’ll be good enough to beat Mi

“They call them funnel cakes, Micah!”Micah offered Viktor an unimpressed look as he reluctantly brought the piece of cake up to his mouth. As he tasted the deep-fried pastry, his taste buds instantly swelled as the powdered sugar and the plump, lightly crisp dough hit his tongue. It was sweet, he noted. Almost too sweet. No. Not almost. It was definitely too sweet.“You can dip it in this.” Aiden held up the small container of amber liquid and shook it tauntingly. “Syrup.”“Syrup,” Micah repeated dimly. “That is all sugar.”“Well, that’s the point, isn’t it?” Viktor inquired, ripping off a large piece of the twisted pastry with his teeth. “Sugar. Fat. Deliciousness.” He soaked an entire piece of pastry with syrup and somehow managed to stuff it in his mouth without any dripping down his chin.Kai and M