I almost suspected that he knew, from the way he was making us exercise. We had not stopped, and it felt like we had gone way past dinner, my lungs burning and my arms shaking with every motion now, as I was far too tired to do anything but put one foot in front of the other, hoping that he would say stop eventually.

  “I see all of you are enjoying the going away present. Get to the pullup bars, do five, and then you may stop,” the Colonel said flatly, his tone long since grown bored after the initial rage he had started with.

  His voice seemed to convey this was just the normal going-away ‘present,’ but the crystals had long since darkened, and I could hear the tower going into its nightly slumber, so we must have been doing this for at least eight hours.

  We got to the pull up bars, and there was no weight this time. Selena breathed a sigh of relief next to me as we counted together. It was almost easy after the day we had, my chin drifting lightly over the bar and back down in four smooth, perfect pull ups.

  And as soon as we shouted four, the weight hit us. We all dropped, and just before I could get my legs under me, Selena tripped into me, unable to catch her weight. Both of us fell in a heap onto the mat.

  We laid there for a moment before the Colonel’s voice spoke calmly, “Get on the bar now, or you will not go home tomorrow.”

  The rest got on the bar, and I got to my feet, raising a shaky finger toward him, “Sir, that is unacceptable as a punishment! We have don—”

  “Get your bear underwear onto the fucking bar. Now.”

  His tone was ice, his eyes monstrous. I flushed red, hiking my pants up as much as possible. I glanced at the others, all of them dangling, Selena’s face a mask of desperation, begging me silently to do as told. I turned around sheepishly, jumping up and grabbing the bar.

  “One!” We roared together, kicking my legs to try and counteract the weight. Every repetition was agony, and I heard clicking noises up and down the line, as if joints were being popped out of their sockets, until, finally, we reached four.

  I wasn’t elegant, or in control, but luckily neither was anyone else. All of us were grunting, except for Selena, who was screaming as we tried our best to get over the bar for the last repetition. As soon as our chins got over the top, all of us fell to the floor and panted into the air.

  “If I never exercise again I will die a happy man,” Calder said to the ceiling.

  “Agreed,” the rest said in unison, all of us wishing for some ice cold water as we laid there together, the Colonel walking up next to us after a moment.

  “Stand.”

  We were on our feet in an instant, all of us saluting and lined up neatly, even though he hadn’t told us too.

  He stood in front of Bongi, holding his face not five inches away, and started walking down the line, looking each and every person in the eye as passed them. He stopped and stood for a lot longer in front of Calder, barely breaking his stride for Selena and Viktor, and then finally stood in front of me.

  He stared me in the eye for what felt like a whole minute, but was probably only twenty seconds. He didn’t blink once, he just… stared at me. Completely flat faced.

  “Stop saluting.”

  I did as told, focusing on his nose rather than his eyes, in a vain attempt to avoid the glare. His grown boredom from earlier was gone, replaced by the same rage he had entered the warehouse with. I thought he was going to say something, but he just turned on his heel, walking away, waving his hand with a casual “Dismissed.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief.

  I glanced down the line, seeing the rest do the same, all of us confused. When the colonel walked out the door, we waited five seconds before Viktor blurted out, “He knows.” His face was pale, like he’d just escaped an execution.

  “Not possible. If he did, both of you would have been questioned and punished privately. He had no way of knowing we were involved,” I said, staring at the door, like he would pop out any moment.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the rest glance at each other. I started walking towards the mess hall, and after a beat, the others followed.

  When we arrived, I found that this day, from the disastrous execution of my plan this morning, to the unpleasant conversations, to the grueling exercise, had one final cruelty left to give. The mess hall, which was open almost all hours of the day, was now closed. When it rains it pours, or so the saying goes.

  The boys whined and complained as we went back to our rooms, none of us happy with going to bed without supper. I ignored them. Despite my exhaustion, my mind was racing with thoughts of tomorrow. I was going to see mother.

  I thought back to the Collider's blessing, remembering the last time we had spoken. I had agonized over why she had spared the civvie for almost a week after the day he fell through the skylight. Any attempts at communication with him had yielded… less than satisfactory results. But then, I figured it out.

  The answer had been staring me right in the face. It was a test. He was a test. He was actually almost a gift, and I still struggled to keep the smile down when I remembered discovering that fact. Through him, I could prove myself. Through him, I could show every blessed who their future leader was.

  Which brings me to the meeting I would have with her. What should I report first? The civvies behaviour? The executi…. The grotesque display? I shook my head. These were good to open with, but the only thing she would be interested in was what the new high rankers had on offer for the war, and how I reacted to the civvie’s escapades.

  I already have the high rankers strengths and weaknesses, and she will be pleased to know about my campaign against the civvie. Maybe, just maybe, even proud that I am commanding the others against him so well. I will have to omit a few details from my report of course, such as certain events that transpired this morning in regards to the lower ranks. But the mission had been successful in terms of achieving its objective, after all. I would just need to make sure a few things did not come to light.

  I was shaken from my thoughts as the rest all bid each other goodnight. Not one of them had wished me goodnight. I straightened, pushing the pain welling up in my chest down as I strode purposefully to my room, but I hesitated before I stepped in.

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  I glanced over my shoulder, to Selena’s shut door. I shook my head, chastising myself for these childish thoughts. The political marriage with Calder is far more important, I repeated in my head as I threw my clothes on the floor, not even bothering to change into anything else and jumped into bed.

  The fact that my stomach was rumbling was an absolute affront to all high rankers, I could not believe Gerald had closed the mess early. I was lulled to sleep by the thought of how I would chastise him tomorrow.

  I woke to screaming. I bolted out of bed, grabbed the lamp on the nightstand, wrenching it out of its wall socket and running to the door in nothing but the bear underwear I had forgotten to take off in my exhaustion. I practically pulled the door off its hinges, arriving to see the other high rankers standing outside their doors, looking down at a figure in the middle of the hallway.

  Selena looked panicked, frantically smoothing her hair out, as the Colonel stood at the end of the hallway, in his boxers, pointing at the figure as it thrashed desperately against the floor.

  And then the figure glanced up at me, baring his teeth, before he glared at the Colonel. Boris looked worse for wear, some of his clothes torn and his broken nose was bleeding heavily over the floor, but his eyes were filled with hate as he screamed, “Come on fink! Let me go!”

  He turned his head so he could lock eyes with me, and tried to spit blood onto my foot as he sneered, “You are never safe! I will kill you in your fucking bed if I have too!”

  I was horrified to see that he had escaped, and that he might have hurt Selena. I wanted to scream at the Colonel even as he walked casually down the hall. He came to stand over Boris, speaking into his stream with that ‘you’re in trouble’ voice of his. Not a moment after he put his stream down, there were distant boots stomping quickly towards us.

  The Colonel looked at Selena. “I heard you scream, did he harm you?” he asked, his voice ice.

  “No,” she answered, her wide eyes staring down at Boris, “I got up to go to the bathroom, saw him sprinting down the hall… He just scared me,” she continued, taking a deep breath, she seemed to be trying to calm herself down, and mostly succeeding in the attempt.

  The Colonel breathed a sigh of relief and muttered, “thank god,” under his breath.

  “Sir!” I snapped, “his behavior continues to be unacceptable, I feel that he must be punished immed—”

  “That’s nice. I’ll get the gun, you can execute him yourself if you're so eager,” he interrupted, not even glancing at me as he watched some of his subordinates fly down the hall towards us.

  I bit my tongue. Again. He knew I wouldn’t execute him, even for such a transgression. And it had been against me. Worst of all? He had done so openly. Of course, his assassination attempt was poor, and his thrashing just seemed desperately pathetic, but the intent was there. No matter. One conversation with mother tomorrow, and I will never have to worry about him again, test or not. She would not accept even the possibility of my life being in danger.

  Maybe we can lock him up on the fifth floor, out of sight and out of my mind for the rest of my life. Yes, that would be perfect.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Selena lift her chin almost in hesitation, before she stepped forward, and asked the Colonel, “Sir, may I heal him?”

  He raised an eyebrow, but nodded, stepping back. She walked over to him, tapping her shoulder, and then leaned over his thrashing body, gently whispering, “Please don’t struggle, you might hurt me.”

  For the first time since I had seen him, he complied, growing still. Her hand lit up, and he flinched at the light, but after a moment his nose seemed to stop leaking, and she stepped away, coming to stand next to me.

  “That was very kind. And undeserved. Are you alright?” I whispered, glancing at her.

  “Yeah, I'm okay,” she said, shaking her head slightly, “He was just a little scary in the dark. Doesn’t seem so bad now, does he?” she smiled slightly down at him.

  “He would look better in a cage. Where he shall be going very soon,” I replied flatly, watching as the Colonel’s subordinates cuffed the buffoon, picking him up and walking back down the hall. He had started thrashing again, shouting obscenities through the entire process.

  Colonel Walker tilted his head, rubbing his chin with his free hand, “You know what? Sofia, that’s a brilliant idea.”

  He nodded, seemingly pleased with himself, before raising his voice at the subordinates carrying him, “You two, throw him in cell block A tonight.”

  His subordinates looked at each other, seemingly confused, “But sir, that cell block is occupied?”

  “Well then, he will get to enjoy some company. Dismissed,” he said, looking Boris straight in the eye, almost as if he was signalling something.

  Boris grew still for a moment, then scrunched his face in confusion, shouting, “What the fuck do you want?”

  The Colonel didn’t reply, just watching him get dragged around the corner even as he stifled a yawn.

  “All of you go back to sleep, I’ll see you on the bus,” the Colonel said, dismissing us with a bored tone as he walked back to his room.

  Selena hurried to her door, and hesitated as she opened it, turning back as she gave me a shaky smile, and saying, “Goodnight Sofia.”

  I was too stunned to reply, at the absurdity that she had been in danger, and was now bidding me goodnight. I just stood there, trying to think of what to say, but clearly I took too long. Her expression grew disappointed and she retreated to her room.

  I was rooted to the spot. Why hadn’t I said something? Said anything?

  “Goodnight,” I finally whispered to her closed door, going back to bed.