Free Trial By Fire (Schooled in Magic Book 7) by Christopher Nuttall

unrepentantly. “There’s plenty of time, I think. We’re not expected to be in the Great Hall until ten bells.”
    Emily glanced at her watch, then nodded reluctantly. Classes normally started at nine bells, but the first day was always chaotic. She should have time to snag a mug of Kava and a snack – even though she didn’t feel like eating - before hurrying down to the Great Hall. Her bed quivered warningly as she sat down on it, pulled her shoes on and nodded to her friend.
    “Where’s Alassa?”
    “She had a very early morning meeting with Madame Beauregard,” Imaiqah said. “She’s not back yet.”
    Emily blinked. “Is she in trouble already?”
    “I don’t think so,” Imaiqah said. She rose and joined Emily as she walked towards the door. “I think there was just a dispute over what she could and couldn’t bring into the dorms.”
    They walked down the stairs into the Dining Hall and sat down. Servers brought them hot Kava - Emily winced at the bitter taste, but at least it woke her up - and bowls of porridge, crammed with raisins and sultanas. Emily ate quickly, surprised at her own hunger; she’d eaten plenty the previous night and done very little to work it off. But she knew she’d need the energy when classes restarted in earnest. Not eating was akin to self-harm where magic was involved.
    “I have my timetable here,” Imaiqah said, digging through her pockets. “How close is it to yours?”
    Emily pulled out her own - she’d barely had a chance to glance at it - and frowned, comparing the two papers. Most of their classes were identical, but there were blank spots for her where Imaiqah had Defensive Magic and Artwork. She sighed at the list of introductory classes - as if they’d have a chance to change their classes now - and then scowled as she realized she wouldn’t have Martial Magic. It was vanishingly rare for a student to take the class early and she’d completed both years offered at Whitehall.
    Aloha will have the same problem , she thought. She reached for the chat parchment to ask her older friend a question, then shook her head. We can talk about it later .
    “They probably won’t want to put you in Defensive Magic,” Imaiqah said, thoughtfully. “I think you’re well ahead of us, at least in some levels. You could probably teach the class.”
    Emily shook her head. Sergeant Harkin - she said a silent prayer for his soul - and Sergeant Miles were both formidable personalities, able to cow an unruly student with a single disapproving look. No one had dared defy Harkin openly before his death - before Shadye had made her stab him - and no one had realized he didn’t even have a single spark of magic to his name. She knew, all too well, that she didn’t have the presence to keep a class’s attention, not when they were experimenting with dangerous magic.
    “No, thank you,” she said. “Maybe they just mean to give me some more research time.”
    “I doubt it,” Imaiqah said. “They’d want you to build on what you have.”
    They finished breakfast, and hurried through the corridors to the Great Hall. Several more students cast wary glances at her, as if they expected her to start lashing out in all directions; Emily did her best to ignore it, even though it was worrying. She would have preferred to be ignored, rather than to be treated as a volcano that might explode at any moment. But then, by the time the story had swept from one end of the Allied Lands and back again, it had probably grown in the telling. God alone knew what the students had heard before they’d returned to Whitehall.
    She smiled to herself as she stepped into the Great Hall and waved to Caleb, who was leaning against the stone walls and trying not to be seen. Imaiqah caught her arm and tugged her towards Caleb, beckoning to Alassa as she entered the chamber. Emily smiled inwardly as Alassa came to join them, noting how she managed to make even the shapeless robes look good. She didn’t even