Free Tessili Academy by Robin Stephen

as if beneath a great weight. “I
can’t do it,” she said in a strained voice. “How long will we have
to keep pretending?”
    Kae straightened from securing her slipper.
Her tone was sharp and determined. “We’ll keep pretending until we
find a way past that cursed wall. Maybe we can figure out a way to
sabotage the spell during our maintenance shifts.”
    Jey looked over at Kae, a little feeling of
hope lifting her heavy spirits. “That’s a good idea. If all three
of us passed over one shieldstone each time we do maintenance,
maybe we can make a gap, a place where our tessili could fly
through.”
    Elle was frowning, twirling the end of the
braid between her fingers. “But the other students. They’ll notice
and fix it.”
    Kae answered quickly, before Jey had a
chance to respond. “We could cast a passive echo spell on the
stone. Then the other girls will pass over as if it’s not
there.”
    All three of them considered this plan in
silence for a moment. Phril, who had been rubbing his red scales to
a shine against the outside of a brillbane husk, leapt into the air
to make a darting loop around the domed ceiling. Jey could feel he
was happy. His scales had been warmed by the morning sun. His wings
felt strong and true.
    Jey watched him, feeling her heart turn over
with that deep sense of love. She imagined him flying over the
wall, of following her out of this place, to freedom. “It might
work.”
    Elle was staring down at the bright rug
under the table. “What about the other girls? We can’t leave
them.”
    Kae’s response was immediate and fierce. “We can leave them, Elle. We can, and we will. It’s going to be
hard enough for the three of us to avoid calling attention to
ourselves as it is.”
    Elle went quiet, staring ahead in silent
sadness.
    Jey spoke. “We’ll come back, Elle. The
others, they have more time. Our leaving won’t harm them. Once
we’re free we can come up with a plan to bring this place down from
the outside.”

 
     
◈
    Orderly Brint had come to terms with the
reality of his situation. In many ways, he recognized what he had
was better than the life he most likely would have ended up with
had the course of events taken his life in another direction.
    When he’d been sentenced to death for
poaching, Brint had thought he would die. He’d thought he would
die, and dying had seemed like a relief. It meant no more
scrounging for food, no more losing people he loved. He’d been only
a boy then, not quite shaving. He’d had a boy’s perception of the
world.
    They’d come to him the night before he was
scheduled to hang. They’d made him an offer. Death, or castration.
Removal from the earth, or removal from society. If he chose to let
him do their surgery, he would be safe forever. They promised him
food and shelter and an easy life. They’d brought him food, even,
when they’d come to him – a loaf of bread and a wheel of cheese.
They’d spoken to him while he ate.
    It hadn’t been a hard decision for a boy
who’d been hungry his whole life to make.
    As far as Brint’s parents knew, their son
was dead. As far as the world knew, the place where he now passed
his days did not exist. He’d undergone his surgery. The years had
passed. The marks of manhood that had begun to appear had faded
from Brint’s body. His muscles had softened. His cheeks were as
smooth as a girl’s. He lived here, a prisoner kept in peace and
plenty. There was a rhythm to his days. He had purpose. He had
security. Did he need freedom as well?
    Not all the orderlies saw it that way. Some
endlessly plotted their escape. Some chafed and snarled and scowled
until they were reprimanded. Sometimes, the reprimand made no
difference.
    When an orderly was removed for misconduct,
the others were always informed. High Orderly Fras would call them
to convene in the evening hours, after the girls had been put to
bed in their dorms. He would always explain the infraction, the
series of steps that had