Xerxes slammed the dorm room door behind him, startling Kashtiliash, Jad, and Enusat.

“What the ‘ell?” Enusat said.

“I finally had it,” Xerxes said, flopping down into the chair of his study desk.

“Gandash?” Kashtiliash asked.

“Yeah. He doesn’t handle his alcohol well. Said some things. So I laid him out.”

Jad, who’d been relaxing with his hands behind his head on the bottom bunk, swung his feet around and sat up. “Hold on. What do you mean ‘laid him out?’”

Xerxes hit the desk with his fist, causing everything on it to jump into the air, then thump back down. “In the end, it was a clean right hook. Knocked him down and he didn’t get up.”

Enusat let loose a slow whistle. “Damn. Xerk, not pulling any punches. Literally.”

Kashtiliash was still lying on the opposite bottom bunk. “You’re serious?”

“Yeah,” Xerxes said. “I hit him in the belly first, but he just kept coming at me.”

Silence. Xerxes looked around to see his friends exchanging disbelieving glances.

“I’m not exaggerating,” Xerxes said. “I’m just done with it all. I get that his girlfriend died, and that’s horrible and all. But that doesn’t give him a right to throw lies in my face.”

“Wait, his girlfriend died?” Jad said.

Xerxes nodded. “In the Abhorrent invasion. The three of us were on… well, a training mission basically. A juvenile ambushed us, and Bel died. I was there.” He closed his eyes and forced away the memory of Bel screaming as she fell to her death. “She was my friend too. And my main sparring partner. So I don’t like thinking about it, much less talking about it.”

Another silence prevailed, this one longer. Xerxes kept his eyes closed and tried to steady his breathing.

“Where’d you hit him?” Jad asked.

Xerxes opened his eyes. “What?”

“You said a right hook. But where’d it land?”

Xerxes thought. “About here,” he said, putting his hand up near his cheek.

Jad exhaled. “Fuck….”

“What?” Xerxes said. “Why does it matter where I hit him?”

“Because it’s a rules violation to strike an officer.”

“It is?”

“Yes,” Kashtiliash said. “A big one.”

“Yeah,” said Enusat. “Don’t you remember my prank with the plaster? If it wasn’t for that rule, my payback on Randy Gandy would ‘ave been a lot more… painful. Striking an officer is bad news. If he reports you….”

“If he reports me? Then what?”

Jad lifted his shoulders in a shrug. “Depends. A disciplinary committee at the least. Demotion isn’t really an option since none of us have official ranks. Technically, expulsion is one of the possibilities.”

“He’s a High Seer,” Xerxes said, “there’s no way a little punch is going to leave a mark. How would anybody know?”

“Witnesses,” Kashtiliash said. “There were other people there, right?”

Xerxes heart dropped.

“Besides, you’re a High Seer,” Jad said. “Rabya had a whole lecture on what kind of damage High Seers can take, and how the Balatu mages are supposed to deal with that stuff. Remember? Bruises aren’t worth wasting melam, she said. What if you gave him a black eye?”

“Dammit,” Xerxes said.

They continued to talk, and nothing the others said was any comfort to Xerxes. As the alcohol slowly left his system, and he cooled down further, regrets piled up.

I should have just walked away.

He began second-guessing himself, wondering if suggesting the meetup had been even the shadow of a good idea. Should he have groveled to Gandash?

Then he considered the ramifications. What if he got kicked out of the Institute, and sent back down to Mannemid? How would he keep in touch with Katayoun?

He wouldn’t. It would be the end of their relationship.

If the two of them received different assignments, and were deployed to different starisles, at least they would both still be members of the Sin-Amuhhu Combined Armed Forces. But if he got kicked out, that would be the end.

It would come down to Gandash. Would Gandash report the matter?

We’re best friends, he thought. He said it himself. Or was I the one who said that?

He tossed and turned long past when the other Swordmasters fell asleep.

The next morning, more details came.

“We’ll be deploying all of you at the end of the week,” High Archon Kingallu said, provoking a buzz of reaction among the assembled students. “This morning, the officers will receive their assignments. The rest of you will learn further details from your primary teacher. Make the best of your final week here. Everyone is being deployed to different locations, with different missions. All of the missions are important. Furthermore…”

He went on like usual, but Xerxes only half-paid attention, as the speech didn’t contain any concrete details about the assignments.

Katayoun found Xerxes after the assembly adjourned, and they held hands as they walked to the classroom.

“What happens if they separate us?” she asked.

“I thought about that,” he said. “Even if it happens, we’ll keep in touch. And we’ll be back together soon, I’m sure. They won’t just send us away forever.”

The tension in the classroom was palpable. There wasn’t any of the usual banter as they waited for Mystic Rabya to appear.

When she arrived, she looked around and said, “Getting nervous already? I’d say that’s normal.” She put down her teaching materials and sword, then leaned against the desk. “As you can imagine, there’s good news and there’s bad news. I’ll start with the good. Black Jackal classroom is staying together.”

Xerxes breathed a sigh of relief, and he felt Katyoun squeezing his arm. He put his hand on her fingers and squeezed back. Had Gandash reported their brawl, and now Xerxes was to be hauled in front of a committee and expelled?

“Okay, what’s the bad news, Mystic Rabya?” asked Atra-Hasis, the auburn-skinned Nasaru mage. “That if we haven’t made High Seer we get kicked out?”

Only about half of the members of the class had achieved their goal and reached the High Seer level. In addition to the Xerxes, Jad, Enusat, and Kashtiliash, that number included: Katayoun; the short-haired mages Arwia and Kuri; and Dasi from Sin-Masu, with her numerous piercings. All the other members of the class were still Seers.

The lower-level mages included Teucer, who was the fifth member of the Humusi Swordmasters, along with his friend Laxu. Ningsummunu, a friend of Dasi from Sin-Masu, who also had many piercings. Droopy-jowled Tizqar, stick-thin Ningal, Kishar from Dumusi, and Atra-Hasis, who had just asked the question.

Mystic Rabya chuckled. “No. Everybody’s staying. And I’ve even arranged for an extra round of Double-Concentrated Melam Pills for those of you who haven’t formed an extra chamber. I’d recommend trying to break through before deployment. Once you’re out there in the field, it’ll be difficult to find the right time and place.”

I’m getting kicked out, aren’t I? Xerxes thought, his fingers tightening on Katayoun’s hand.

“No, the bad news isn’t really that bad. It’s this: I don’t know who your commanding officer is going to be, nor exactly what your mission is. I’d hoped to give you some insights before the news gets broken, but sadly, I can’t.”

There was a short silence.

“That’s it?” Dasi asked.

Rabya nodded. “See? Not so bad after all.”

Xerxes exhaled softly. Although, it didn’t confirm that he was off the hook.

“I don’t even think that counts as bad news,” Tuecer said, provoking a few chuckles.

“Perhaps not,” Rabya said. “In place of this afternoon’s practical training, we’ll be meeting your new commanding officer. She or he will provide some basic details of the mission, then do some very high-level evaluations. Starting tomorrow, all the practical training will be led by the officer, with a focus on aspects relevant to the mission. Any questions?”

Katayoun raised her hand.

“Yes, High Seer?”

“Mystic Rabya,” Katayoun said, “you must have at least some idea of what kind of missions we’re being sent on. Can’t you give us a clue?”