Miri's Pov
The rumors had been floating for days, slithering under breath in hallways and carried in whispers between class changes. Some students had been excited. Some anxious. I ignored it.
Tara was the one who brought it up first—during lunch, of course, mouth half-full with rice and expression somewhere between dread and curiosity.
"They say it's because of Saela," she said, dropping her spoon into her bowl with a soft clink. "That the academy's trying to smooth things over."
"Smooth what over?" I muttered, nudging my own food around. I wasn't hungry. "Someone tried to get me expelled and caused a public scene. What, a few games and puzzles are supposed to make the pure bloods hold hands with the rest of us now?"
