My alarm took three rings to wake me instead of the standard two. I got up, threw the clothes from yesterday into a wash basket, placing it near my door as I got dressed and ready for the day.

  I memorized the Colonel’s credentials as I got dressed, writing them down on the white board five times before closing my eyes, trying to make sure the information would stay in the back of my mind as I erased the message off my stream, covering my tracks.

  I arrived at the high-rankers' mess hall first—again. A few lieutenants relaxed behind the counter with Gerald, but I ignored them. I walked up to the counter, staring straight at Gerald, and said angrily, “Why were you not here last night?”

  He looked me square in the eye as the two other lieutenants raised their eyebrows at me.

  “Excuse me? Who do you think you're raising your eyebrow at? I am a high ranker. Must I speak to the Colonel about your behaviour?” I said, hunger making my mask slip, my tone biting.

  “The colonel has given us new orders. All sleeveless, regardless of ability rank, are now to be treated equally,” Gerald said, and I could almost hear giddiness in his tone, as he slid over a disgusting plate of food, the eggs overcooked, the toast almost black, and the bacon didn’t even look cooked through.

  “You expect me… to eat that?” I said with disgust as I looked down at the food. He thinks to serve me food fit for the trash?

  “If you have an issue with it, talk to the Colonel. Now take your food, and go away,” one of the new lieutenants said, leaning back in his chair like he was enjoying himself.

  I looked at him, really looked at him. Memorizing every detail of his face, from his pathetic excuse for a moustache to his combover, for I would make sure he remembered this moment when I came for him.

  “May I request my normal breakfast?” I asked through gritted teeth.

  Gerald looked at me wide-eyed, a smile growing on his face, “Sure. Why not?”

  He took my tray and threw the food away. I was relieved that at least this necessity wasn't taken from me. If this is the Colonel’s opening move, it is petty. I know he doesn’t know that I star…. That Calder and Viktor started the fire, so this just seemed like an unnecessary abuse of power to demoralize me, because it affects the rest of the high rankers too.

  He came back with the same tray, which I almost screamed at him to change. He knows I do not like the old food touching the new, the fool. He tapped his left shoulder, his face growing in concentration as new ‘food’ appeared. An uncooked egg, still in its shell. Some brown bread which he knew I hated, and three pieces of ham instead of bacon.

  “Here. Just the way you like it,” he said with a grin, sweat dripping down his face from his power, the lieutenants next to him snorting, seemingly pleased with their little game.

  I took the tray, my knuckles growing white from how hard I gripped it, and I looked every single one of them in the eye. “I will not forget this.”

  He rolled his eyes, waving his hand in ‘go away’ kind of motion.

  I turned, and walked away. The fool. How dare he? He serves me food fit for the dogs, and then he waves me away? Me? The conversation I would have with mother later has grown into a far more serious discussion now.

  Calder walked in, an arm draped around Bongi as he waved his hand, as if he was explaining something. Bongi just kept his eyes on the floor, Calder’s seemingly jovial smile nowhere to be found on Bongi’s face. As they walked past, I heard Calder say, “I’m glad we had this discussion bro, don’t make me have it with you again, okay?”

  Bongi just nodded, still looking at the floor. After the boys walked to the counter to receive their food, Bongi took his tray without complaint then came and sat next to me. He was seemingly in his own world, for he did not even greet me.

  I wonder what they had been discussing? I do not know, but Bongi did not look like he enjoyed it. No matter, if Calder deemed it necessary for the hierarchy, it might even be a good thing.

  Calder looked shell shocked when he received the news, and I silently agreed with every word he spat at the lieutenants as he stomped to the table. However, as a lady, I would never say the words myself, of course.

  Selena and Viktor came in, smiling and joking. I clenched my fist around the knife as I saw them joking. Marriage with Calder, you will marry Calder, I repeated to myself as she playfully punched his arm before arriving at the counter. She smiled at Gerald, said something which he smiled at, and she got what she usually had in the morning.

  I wanted to scream at the unfairness of it all. But Viktor’s eyebrows went high when he received his food, and he said something to the lieutenants, and one of them brushed him off with a wave of his hand. Viktor stood there for a moment in stunned silence, before turning on his heel and marching to the table.

  “What the hell is going on? Even if he knows what we did, this is too much,” Viktor muttered as he sat down, clearly angry with the burnt toast and poor imitation of the usual salad he had in the morning.

  Selena lifted a spoonful of perfect scrambled eggs to her mouth before her eyebrows knitted. “What do you mean?”

  She sat across from me, so I simply nudged her tray with mine, gesturing at the shelled egg sitting on my plate. Everyone’s eyes shot up when they saw that, looking at me with wide eyes. And then Calder was off his chair, stomping towards the counter as he raised a finger, shouting at them, “You dare to serve an S-rank this trash—”

  “Oh yes, they dare. It’s called an order. Do you need to learn what happens when you disobey an order, Calder?” the Colonel said from the door, leaning casually against the frame.

  I had no idea how he had opened the door without me noticing, but he was tapping his finger against his bicep to an imperceptible rhythm, his eyes almost relaxed for the first time since I had met him. But they never left Calder.

  Calder turned white, glancing back at the Colonel and then to me, before shaking his head, looking down, and walking back to us with a defeated look in his posture.

  “Thought my lieutenants wouldn't stress the ‘order’ part enough, so I just came to make sure all of you know what’s happening,” the Colonel continued. Gerald raised a hand in greeting, a warm smile on his face. The Colonel nodded back kindly, not even chastising them for their lack of salutes.

  “I’ll see you in twenty minutes for the bus ride. You will not be late.” He turned and walked out the door.

  “He has to know, we are so screwed,” Viktor said, putting his hands in his face.

  “He knows nothing!” I said through my teeth. I was extremely irritated he had not listened to me the last hundred times I had told him, so I emphasized every word I spoke as I glared at him, “Like I said, if he knew, he would be punishing just the two of you.”

  He nodded, wilting under my glare and looking away. I noticed the rest glance at each other, but no one broke the silence that fell.

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  It took a moment for Selena to stop looking bewildered, before gently sliding her tray over.

  I glanced from the food to her, sighed internally, and said, “thank you, but no.”

  I didn’t like eating other people’s food, especially when I could see the bacon grease melting into the eggs. Disgusting.

  She looked disappointed, the same way she had last night, but nodded as she looked down, before shoveling the food into her mouth again.

  We got up and left for the bus when everyone was finished, my food remaining untouched. I cannot believe I had missed two meals. But mother would rectify this soon.

  As I walked to my room, I stopped dead in my tracks as I came to a realization. They had spoken to me. Calder had defended me. They hadn’t tried to avoid me like they usually did. A mixture of disappointment and glee spread through my chest, and I felt conflicted through the entire process of hauling my luggage to the bus.

  Colonel Walker stood at the edge of the bus, looking both bored and relieved to see us go, as if we were an inconvenience he was finally rid of. We got into a neat line, saluting sharply, and all he said was, “I’ll see you at the tournament.”

  We got onto the bus after, and Selena slid into the open seat next to me, surprisingly. I thought I would be sitting alone on the way home. Pure glee sprouted in my chest this time, the earlier disappointment at not receiving the same level of respect completely gone.

  She was wearing earphones as we drove back to Alexandria. I had missed home dearly, and seeing my father’s statue in the distance flooded my body with a sense of both dread and relief. I got to go home. But I also had to report to mother.

  And that reminds me—I need to focus on the tournament, see what matchups Colonel Walker has in store.

  I whipped out my stream, hammering in his credentials instead of my own, and started scrolling through the files, ignoring the messenger app filled to the brim with unanswered texts, and finally found them. I was going through what he had in store as we got about halfway down the dirt track before Selena said next to me, “I liked your underwear last night.”

  I whipped my head towards her so fast I almost smacked her in the face when I realized she was peeking over my shoulder at the stream in my hands. “Excuse me?” I blurted out.

  She just grinned sheepishly, “I said, I liked your underwear. The bears were so cute.”

  I straightened, crushing the stream in my grip, reminding myself of the conversation we had yesterday. She was being playful, don’t bite her head off.

  I searched for the perfect words and said, “Is this… cheesy?”

  She snorted as she pulled her face into a confused expression, “Sure, why not? Are you excited to go back home? See the infamous general, conquer the world and save a few orphans in your free time?” she said, wriggling her eyebrows.

  I felt myself blush, and my ears growing red seemed to embolden her, but before she could keep speaking, I said proudly, “My mother isn’t infamous. She is the leader this island needs. The world needs. She is highly regarded among everyone, from civilians to high rankers.”

  Sofia just rolled her eyes, “Yeah yeah, everyone knows that. But I’m talking with you now you sexy princess. Want to grab a bite to eat before the tournament starts? I think it’d be fun,” she said, winking at me playfully.

  I hesitated, my entire face flushing. Was this a friendly gesture? A… romantic one? No, no, she was probably just trying to get into my good graces so I would favour her in any future decisions. Mother warned me about people like her.

  No, I thought.

  “Yes,” I said.

  She beamed at me, “Yay. We can go to that pizza place. You like pizza right? It will be amazing.”

  She said it more to herself than to me, before she whipped out her stream, “So, can I get your number or are we not there yet?”

  I felt so lost, and I stammered out a reply, “I have to… I am currently…. sure.”

  I chastised myself for my nervousness, remembering mother’s words:

  You must always, always speak clearly and concisely. It allows you to deceive more effectively, child.

  I read her my number, and she sent me a text straight away, then she looked at my stream eagerly. Of course, it didn’t pop up.

  “A fake number right in front of me? Damn, that’s cold… wait.” Her face paled. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she said quickly. “I was just trying to be playful. I wasn’t… I hope…”

  “No, no. It’s the right number,” I interrupted, and she sighed with relief. “This isn’t my account—it’s the Colonel’s. I was going through the B rankers matchups.”

  Instantly Viktor and Bongi popped their heads over the back of their seats, and I saw Calder whip around in his seat, where he sat across from Selena.

  “Can we join?” they asked, almost in unison.

  I sighed, angling the phone so they could all see. “Of course. The civvie and Zach will fight each other first. Their powers are...”

  It was another half-hour of explanations, and all of them asked questions, arguing with each other every five minutes. This, unfortunately, happened whenever I explained a power. They would stop only when I told them what was actually going to happen, no matter their wishful thinking.

  I had been so immersed in the discussion I hadn’t even noticed we had entered the city. Finally, I was in front of the tallest skyscraper in Alexandria, the rest long since dropped off at their desired locations.

  I was nervous, I didn’t know if what I had was adequate for mother. But I comforted myself with the thought that I could see Slava. That would be nice. Maybe he would get me some ice cream, and watch one of the banned films with me. We could even watch my favourite, Tangled. Flynn Rider was the perfect man, after all.

  I steeled myself against my nerves, took my luggage and entered the elevator. My heart beat faster with every floor, and finally on the thirty first floor, it dinged.

  I strode past the exquisite statues of my father—depictions of his battles and triumphs plastered on every wall—then walked past the secretary, and knocked politely on the doors. I waited three seconds, as is customary, before walking in.

  Mother stood with her back to me, gazing out the window at my father’s statue. After a moment, she turned and said, “Sofia. What do you have to report?”