“Yesenia.”

  “Yes, Head Maid Sophia?” Yesenia put down the sheets she was folding and gave the head maid her undivided attention. Sophia was around less and less as Yesenia’s time as a maid went on. At first, Sophia had been very attentive to Yesenia’s “training,” but now, it was mostly progress checks once a week or so.

  “I want to speak to you about the hunting break.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “What are your plans?”

  “Plans, ma’am?”

  Head Maid Sophia walked up to the folding station and checked the sheets Yesenia had been folding. The creases were tight, and the edges were perfectly aligned. She picked one up and handed it to Yesenia. “Handover thirteen.”

  Yesenia nodded and took the bed sheet from Sophia. Keeping her eyes locked on the head maid, with her hands supporting the sheet from beneath it, Yesenia cupped her hand and pulled a dummy syringe out of her inventory, all under the thin bed sheet.

  “Excuse me, honored guest,” Yesenia said to Sophia. “My master requested that I give you new bed sheets with a higher thread count for your comfort.” She held the sheets up. “Would you please examine these to see if they are to your liking?”

  Sophia reached a hand out and ran it along the top of the sheet. As she did, Yesenia shot her hand holding the needle forward and poked Sophia’s arm with it.

  “Not bad. The thread count excuse is decent, especially if they complain about stiff sheets. Your movements in hiding the syringe have improved drastically. Well done.”

  Yesenia bowed. “Thank you, ma’am.”

  “Now, about hunting break.”

  Yesenia shook her head. “I have no plans.”

  “As you belong to Master Gerenet, your plans will, of course, be decided by him. I just wanted to make sure you didn’t have some silly idea that you could go off and visit family.”

  Yesenia kept her face from clouding over. Sophia had never hidden her distaste for Yesenia. “Ma’am, first of all, I’m a camper. I have no family. Second of all, the girl Islae, who was from the camps? She’s dead.”

  “Good. I’m glad to see you aren’t stupid.”

  Banca’s voice came to Yesenia’s mind. Last time Yesenia had complained about how cold the head maid was, Banca told Yesenia, “Your master is Basque, right? Who gives a Yani-shit about what some maid bound to this school thinks about you?”

  While she thought Banca was right, it still bothered Yesenia. She wanted to know why. “Why don’t you like me?”

  Sophia froze. “What makes you think I don’t like you?”

  “Because you don’t. You’re mean and cold.”

  Sophia laughed. “That’s how I treat everyone. I like you well enough.”

  “Is it because Gerenet-Shr took me in?”

  The smile fell off of Sophia’s face. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “The reason that you don’t like me. Is it because he took me in?”

  “Why wouldn’t I like you because of that?”

  Yesenia put the bed sheet back on the pile and straightened it. “Or is it because you’re jealous?”

  “Jealous? Of a little girl?”

  Yesenia shook her head. “No, of Natt.”

  “Natt’s my friend.”

  “Yes, and you have to take it out on someone, so I’m your target.”

  Sophia folded her arms and snorted. “You aren’t making any sense.”

  Yesenia turned to face her again. “Others notice it, too. You’re stricter with me. I watch you with the others you’re training—Natya, Hopina. You—”

  “Yesenia, it’s your imagination.”

  “No, it’s not! From the moment I woke up in Gerenet-Shr’s bed, you’ve been harsh with me. You tried to have him chase me out, then foisted me on him, and now you are hiding from him.”

  “I don’t need to have this conversation with a child young enough to be my daughter. I’m not jealous of you.”

  “I know! You’re jealous that he loves Natt.”

  “I’m not—okay, let’s do this then.” Sophia put her hands on her hips. “Let’s say that I am, as you say, jealous of my best friend. What do you want me to do?”

  “Stop being mean to me.”

  Sophia shook her head. “Look, if Master Basque doesn’t require you to join him during hunting break, I want to begin the next level of your training. I’m not going to coddle you.”

  “What makes you think he even needs an assassin?”

  “Everyone needs a personal assassin. Go get his dinner ready.”

  “He’s going out with Natt tonight.”

  A cloud passed over the usually unflappable maid’s face. “Then you're done for the evening. I don’t want to see your face the rest of the night.”

  Yesenia held back from commenting on the biting remark. Sophia wasn’t aware of her own feelings and, after their conversation, she wasn’t interested in realizing them.

  She bowed, picked up the fresh linens, and left. Out in the main servant’s hallway, other maids and footmen scuttled about with meal carts and other evening preparations. Despite the hallway’s width, the low ceiling still made the corridor feel cramped during busy times like now.

  Keeping to the middle of the hallway, the least busy part of the hallway due to its distance from the elevators, Yesenia made her way to Gerenet-Shr’s elevator. Since Gerenet-Shr and Natt would be out, Yesenia hadn’t changed their sheets yet, something Sophia would have scolded her for if she knew.

  If Yesenia were Gerenet-Shr, she would have chosen Natt over Sophia as well. Sophia claimed to be Natt’s friend, but Yesenia hadn’t seen them pass more than two words together in private. Yesenia found it ironic that part of her training with Sophia involved learning to read people's emotional states, but Sophia was so clueless about her own. Of course, Yesenia wouldn’t have cared if those feelings didn’t make Sophia act like a complete Yani to her.

  Yesenia pulled up the elevator call button, and the interface informed her that Sylvory was in it, taking her food cart up to the eighth floor. Having time to wait, Yesenia let her mind wander back to her Sophia issue.

  Natya, Sylvory, Hopina—they all thought the world of the vivid purple-haired head maid. It wasn’t just the girls, but the boys, too. Traven, Mikalin, and Zerith were just as infatuated with the woman—“the most beautiful servant ever to live”. Yesenia rolled her eyes. Servants’ portraits weren’t preserved. As if they’d know that. But Sophia was even popular with the servants not in her “special” program. Belinia loved the woman.

  That scary night when Gerenet-Shr disposed of Wendina’s body, Royal Mage Billiam had called Sophia the “Assassin Queen.” As Yesenia herself had been confused by the comment, she didn’t think Gerenet-Shr had picked up on it either. If Yesenia hadn’t been forced to be one of those assassin initiates, she wouldn’t have even remembered the royal mage’s remark.

  The elevator binged in her mind. It read as empty, but out of habit, Yesenia straightened her posture. More than once, Sophia had been in an “empty” elevator and scolded Yesenia for her posture after getting out. Yesenia still hadn’t learned how Sophia did that trick, but she knew others in the training program could do it as well.

  The doors opened, and Yesenia got in the truly empty elevator. Her ride up to the third floor was fast. She got out and queried the door for Gerenet-Shr’s room, and her stomach dropped. Occupied.

  He and Natt weren’t supposed to be there. Who was in her master’s room? One of the students? Yesenia shook her head. All of them loved and respected him too much. None would dare go in when he wasn’t there, especially into his bedroom.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  Yesenia paused at the door. She could hear the person on the other side moving around, but they didn’t speak. Thanks to the door acting as a speaker so that servants could hear their master’s commands, even at the faintest of whispers, she didn’t have to put her ear to it to listen.

  Despite that, she found herself leaning forward, getting her ear closer, as if it would help her hear better, but all sounds came through at the same decibel—from the loudest yell to the quietest mutter. Getting closer wouldn't actually help, but human nature was what it was.

  She swallowed. She had a year’s worth of training as a hunter—well, some training. And the head of an assassin organization was personally training her. Enough people hated Gerenet-Shr that Yesenia couldn’t put it past someone to try and set up a device or something to hurt him when he got back. She was trained well enough, and it was her job to protect him.

  Pushing the door open, Yesenia peered into the room. It was empty. She slid in and closed the door behind her. She’d definitely heard someone in it. A clunking sound echoed from the bathroom.

  Putting to use every second of her silent-walking practice, she crept towards the bathroom door. That’s when it hit her: she didn’t have any sort of weapon. The closest thing she had to a weapon was the fake syringe.

  The bathroom door swung open, and Yesenia jumped back, letting out a yelp. At the same time, Gerenet-Shr stumbled back into the bathroom.

  “Yani, Yesenia! I think you’re even quieter than Sophia. You nearly gave me a heart attack there.”

  Yesenia composed herself and bowed her head to the floor. “Gerenet-Shr! I’m so sorry! I thought you and Madam Natt would have left by now. I came to change your sheets and thought there was an invader in your room.”

  In Yesenia’s mind, she heard Sophia’s scolding. That condescending, I-told-you-so voice saying, “This is why we don’t assume our master’s plans.”

  Gerenet-Shr just laughed. “That’s quite all right. I should have been long gone, but…did you hear about the tournament today?”

  Still looking at the floor, Yesenia’s shoulders stiffened, and she shook her head. “No, I have not.” She’d spent most of the day by herself, because she was too scared to hear about the tournament. After her experiences with Dyntril’s tournaments, they scared her more than the Yani did.

  “Loushee attacked Reianna and Banca. It’s been a mess.”

  Yesenia’s heart missed a beat. Reianna and Banca? Yesenia knew they were incredibly strong, but so was Loushee, who was a mage on top of it. “Are…are they okay?”

  “Lift your head up. I’m not upset with you.”

  Yesenia did as she was told. She watched him as he went to his wardrobe.

  “They’re both fine. Reianna is still with Nurse Tyze, but Banca should be back by now. Natt went to go speak with her, then we’re going out to dinner. You can change the sheets then.”

  “Understood, Gerenet-Shr.” She bowed. “I’ll leave you to change. Unless you’d like some help?”

  “I’m fine, thank you. Be sure to eat, yourself.”

  Once more, she bowed. “I will. Have a pleasant evening. Please call if you need anything.” With one final bow, she left his room.

  Banca! Was she okay? Gerenet-Shr said she was, but Yesenia knew Banca. There was no way she was fine.

  As Yesenia ran to the elevator, she called for it, then she tied the door speaker to her interface so it could notify her if Gerenet-Shr summoned her.

  The elevator was empty and on the fifth floor. Why isn’t it still here?! Yesenia tapped her foot. She was on the elevator and sending the command for it to go down to the servants’ hallway before the doors even finished opening.

  When they opened on the bottom floor, she bolted out and across the hall. Someone taking a late dinner somewhere yelled at her as she dashed across, but Yesenia didn’t give whoever it was a second look. Once more, she was tapping her foot in front of an elevator door.

  Finally, it came, and she got into the little servants’ corridor between her and Banca’s room just in time to hear something smash against the wall and shatter. Yesenia came to a screeching halt.

  “She’s a Yani-loving mage, Natt!”

  “Banca—”

  “You knew, didn’t you?”

  There was a long pause. “Yes.”

  The only reason Yesenia could hear Natt’s answer was because the door amplified it for her. Yesenia didn’t understand the conversation. Everyone knew that Loushee was a mage. She didn’t understand why Banca wouldn’t know this or be so upset that Natt did.

  The other room was silent for multiple heartbeats.

  “And you think you can just step back into my life?”

  “Banca, please!” Natt’s voice was on the verge of tears. “I didn’t want to leave it!”

  “Get out.”

  “Ban—”

  “Not just out of my room, but out of my life.”

  There was more silence, and the door to Banca’s room opened and closed. Then, Yesenia heard something she’d never heard before: Banca crying. Yesenia had seen the girl silently cry before, as if her tears disobeyed her and rolled out anyway, but she was always silent.

  This time, the sobs echoed in the servants’ corridor.

  Yesenia slipped into her room. She didn’t change out of her maid’s uniform; she just went straight into the audience room and knocked on Banca’s door.

  “Go fuck a Yani, Natt!”

  “Should I fuck one, too?”

  The door whipped open. Banca’s hair was starting to grow in, and while she’d been beautiful with her shaved head, she was regaining even more beauty. Yesenia smiled at her.

  Banca threw her arms around Yesenia’s neck. “Yaz!” she sobbed.

  Hugging her friend back, Yesenia rubbed Banca’s back. “Come on, let’s sit you down.”

  Yesenia pulled away and led Banca to her bed. As she did, she accessed the door and turned off the speaker. Belinia and the others would be arriving soon, and Yesenia didn’t want them to hear Banca’s tears.

  “What happened?” Yesenia asked as she sat Banca on the edge of the bed, then next to her.

  Banca dropped her head on Yesenia’s shoulder. “Reianna…she is a mage. Daddy and I were right.”

  Yesenia frowned. Reianna? They weren’t talking about Loushee? “Reianna is a mage?”

  “Yes.”

  “And…?”

  Banca stood up. “And?! Do you know why I’m here? Do you know why I suffered so much?”

  “Because you were an unforgivable Yani, and karma caught up to you?”

  Banca opened her mouth, then closed it. She looked at the ground. “Couldn’t you just be nice to me for once?”

  Yesenia stood. “I am being nice to you. I’m your friend. I tell you when you’re being ridiculous, and you’re being ridiculous now.”

  Looking back up, Banca’s eyes burned. “Reianna, Basque, Natt—they all lied, and it cost me everything.”

  “How does Reianna being a mage have anything to do with you?”

  “When she beat me in the tournament, a commoner, beating me, Class A’s top student, the only reason we could think of was that she was a mage.”

  “Okay? So what?”

  “We took her—”

  “To see some arches or something, I know.” Yesenia rolled her hand, encouraging Banca to get on with it.

  “The Royal Mage showed everyone her interface. She wasn’t a mage.”

  “Maybe she became one after that?”

  Banca cocked her head. “Dyntril students start at twelve or thirteen because it’s after interface fever.”

  “So?”

  “So? Don’t you know? After interface fever is when people become a mage or not.”

  “How would I know that?!” Yesenia threw her arms up.

  “Everyone knows that!”

  Yesenia rubbed her face. The worry and fear she’d felt running from Gerenet-Shr’s room to here, combined with her annoyance over her last meeting with Sophia, left Yesenia low on patience.

  “Look, Banca, when I heard that Loushee attacked you, I was terrified that something bad happened to you. I ran back here as fast as I could, but when I got here, you’re fine and throwing a tantrum about someone who didn’t attack you.”

  “Her being a mage caused my fall. If she’d admitted she was a mage, my family would still be alive!” Banca’s silent tears ran down her face.

  Yesenia shook her head. “I thought you were maturing. I thought that you were changing. Natya wanted to kill you for what you did to Reianna, even after Reianna herself saved your life! Tell me, what was Reianna supposed to do at that trial?”

  Banca was silent.

  “Now, let me ask you, what would have happened to Reianna if she’d been discovered as a mage at that arch meeting or whatever?”

  “My family would have held its name.”

  “I didn’t ask what would happen to you. I asked what would happen to Reianna.”

  Banca lifted her arms and fiddled with the hem of her sleeves. “They would have taken her to do research on her.”

  “So, Reianna was just supposed to say, ‘Hey, person who tortured me, who treated me like a dog, who turned my best friend’s best friend into a psychotic Yani, you got me. I’m a mage. Now, let me go off with these nice science guys to be poked and prodded for the rest of my life’?”

  “But still…”

  “Still what?! Over the last half a year, I’ve heard you go on and on about how incredible you think Reianna is.”

  Banca frowned.

  “You’ve even gotten Natya to call you a friend.”

  “But she destroyed my life!”

  “What life?! How many of those so-called friends stopped the others from hurting you?”

  Banca looked at the floor.

  “Who helped you? Who did you turn to when your life was in danger?” Yesenia stared at Banca. Banca remained silent.

  “You yourself have said your father never saw you as anything but a tool, yet a grown woman left here in tears because she loves you.”

  Banca’s head shot up. Her face was red. “Eat Yani, Islae.”

  Yesenia clenched her fists, then opened her hands. Her vision darkened. “I feel like a fool for getting worried about you.”

  “No one asked you to.”

  “I don’t need to be! That’s what friends do for each other! Or did you not learn that growing up surrounded by sycophants?”

  “You know nothing of how I grew up!” Banca clenched her fists and leaned towards Yesenia.

  “Nor do you know about how I grew up!” Yesenia pressed her hand to her chest. “Do you want to see?” She flung her arm wide. “I can take you during hunting break. You can see what that woman you hate so much saved you from.”

  “Get out.”

  “Sure, chase away everyone who cares about you.”

  Banca pointed to the door. “Out!” Silent tears streamed down Banca’s cheeks.

  Yesenia sighed. By the time Yesenia made it to the door, Banca’s face was buried in her bed, and her body shook from crying. Yesenia’s shook from anger. She was done with Banca.