"It's so o speak with you again, Natalie," Elida said with a smile. "Have you given my offer due sideration?"

  Standing outside the training facility, with other students having headed for the cafeteria. She eyed the red-haired girl. Elida retty as always. She couldn't help but notice this fact, whily annoyed her further. Elida's green eyes danced with amusement as she waited for Natalie's response. If she hadn't knower, she might even describe Elida as having a friendly appearance.

  "You've been ign me when I tried to talk with you," Natalie said ftly. "Why shouldn't I do the same, now that you're willing to speak?"

  "Ign you?" Elida asked in mock surprise, a hand going to her chest. "No, of course not. I wouldn't do something so disrespectful to a potential ally. You must have misread the situation."

  Natalie crossed her arms and gave her a ft look.

  Elida ughed. "I've made ges to the team," she said smoothly. "I have no doubt we'd make the stro party in the year, if you joined us." She smirked. "That will also be true if you don't, but the gap would be rger, I mean."

  "What ges?"

  She asked not because she was eaining the idea of teaming up with Elida long term, but simply because she wao know. Elida had already made allusions toward shufflieam around as necessary—how else would Natalie have been given a spot?—which didn't sit right with her, but she also was curious what the position of the best team of Te would be. Especially sihey were enemies not just personally, but through the Beaumon and Parda-Halt political retionship.

  "Vaa," Elida said. "As our new rogue, to name one."

  Natalie blihat surprised her for two reasons. "Aren't you your team's rogue?"

  "We'll have two."

  "Why?"

  "Because it's worth it," Elida said simply. "position matters, yes. What matters more is having the stro fighters of the year on your team. A little imbance is well worth stuffing a squad to the seams with talent."

  "She's that good?" She didn't even know who 'Vaa' was.

  "She's better."

  "And who is she, again?"

  Elida paused, then seemed amused. "You've seen her. Short. Bck hair. Lots of scars on her face."

  Natalie was briefly embarrassed that the description so readily summoned an image of the girl. It felt rude to describe her in that way, but there was no denying the facial scarring was the most immediately striking part of her.

  "Ah," Natalie said. "She is good. But not that amazing, I thought? She's not iop ten."

  "She's sandbagging."

  "Sandbagging?"

  "She was somewhere ihirties, when the rankings came out. But she's rying her hardest. at all. Not in css, at least." Her brow furrowed. "I haven't a clue who she is, or why she would do that, which makes her an utter fasation." She shrugged. "In the dungeon, she's less restrained. It took a lot of ving to get her to e down with me. Maybe she respected how I saw through her act. I 't say. She's hard to read. She'd been going solo, prior to that."

  "Solo?" Natalie nearly choked. "Alone? Into the dungeon?"

  "Yes," Elida said, seeming to sympathize with her surprise. "She's a monster, as I said. And now she's on my team."

  Well, that wasn't great.

  "In fact, I doubt whether I could beat her," Elida said.

  Again, Natalie reeled. Not just because there was someone s in the first year of Teudents who had slipped past her notice, but that she was so good even Elida would admit to possibly losing to her. Natalie could only figure that meant Elida absolutely would lose, sihe girl clearly had an ego.

  And how did Elida not know who Vaa was? The Parda-Halts had vast resources to call on, rivaling any of the major houses, including the Beaumons. And they traded in knowledge; Natalie could only assume, at least by reputation, that they were eveer informed than the Beaumons in that regard. Ahey couldn't dig up the story behind the scarred girl? How she had arrived to the academy, what her iions were with keeping a low profile, and how she was s?

  "Well," Natalie said, trying to orient herself to this surprising bit of news. "And who else?"

  "Our healer and mage haven't ged. They're the stro of the year without obligations that prevent them from teaming." Elida waved her hand as if to dismiss the topic. "You judge us by our results, which you'll see first hand when you e into the dungeon with us."

  "And you think I will, do you?"

  "Yes," Elida said. "You want answers, which I'll provide only upon the pletion of a test run. You will, without a doubt, accept my offer."

  Natalie frowned. An enormous part of her wao refuse just to spite her … but she'd already known Elida was a bitch, and had discussed the topic with her team enough. Elida was right; she would be accepting.

  "A full day expedition," Elida tinued. "This weekend. We get a feel for each other. See what we aplish when w together. Two people in our … situation." She smirked.

  "Not three?"

  "Three?" Elida seemed surprised by the question. "What do you mean?"

  "Vaa. If she's as good as you say."

  "Oh. Oh, no. I doubt that. Something is going on with her. But it's hardly breaking historical pret for Teo receive occasional … aberrants. Freaks of nature crop up from time to time, and they often filter to Tehe Dimming Herald attended as well, yes?"

  "And after the test run?"

  Elida smiled. "Afterward, you'll have realized that the only rational course of a is to tih us, assuming you have an ounbition."

  Natalie kept her face smooth—or, at least, not ging from the irritated disdain she felt for the woman. She needed Elida to believe there was a ce she teamed with her, as pletely ridiculous as the idea was.

  She wondered hoarda-Halt was so clueless to what motivated a person. Maybe she couldn't ceive of someoting ambition sed to decy. Or didn't realize how muatalie disliked her. Or maybe, even, she wasn't as much a master maniputor as Natalie assumed. She arda-Halt, yes, but was that c Natalie's judgment too much? Making her assume things that weren't true? Maybe Elida, despite her family name, wasn't all that great at reading people.

  Then again, she'd 'read through Vaa's act', whiatalie hadn't questioned for a sed. Though she didn't share a css with the girl, either.

  Did Elida have alternative goals taking her down into the dungeon? It couldn't be anything too devious, because Natalie was, in some roundabout way, uhe prote of the Beaumons, thanks to Liz.

  Maybe there were games at py, maybe there weren't. In any case, Natalie did have something she wanted from Elida.

  "Even if I refuse to join," Natalie said. "We'll still talk afterward. You'll still give me answers."

  Elida pursed her lips.

  "Some," she said. "Some answers. And meaningful ones, yes, no trivialities. On my word. But I'll hardly go spilling all my secrets if you tio decre yourself my enemy." She tilted her head. "Especially if you yourself are willing to have an ear dialogue, I'll be ameo the idea of sharing information. I have questions for you too, you realize? There aren't many like us."

  Natalie frowned.

  "This weekend?" she asked.

  "This weekend," Elida replied sweetly. "I do so look forward to it."