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Five

MOST DISCIPLINARY ISSUES AT the Academy went to Headmistress Kirova She oversaw Moroi and dhampirs alike and was known for her creative and oft-used repertoire of punishments She wasn’t cruel, exactly, but she wasn’t soft, either She simply took student behavior seriously and dealt with it as she saw fit

There were some issues, however, that were beyond her jurisdiction

The school’s guardians calling together a disciplinary committee wasn’t unheard of, but it was very, very rare You had to do soet that sort of response Like, say, willfully endangering a Moroi Or hypothetically willfully endangering a Moroi

"For the last tirowled, "I didn’t do it on purpose"

I sat in one of the guardians’my couardians on ca, while I sat in a single chair and felt very vulnerable Several other guardians were sitting in and watching, but thankfully, none of my class the watchers He was not on the committee, and I wondered if they’d kept him off because of his potentially biased role as my mentor

"Miss Hathaway," said Alberta, fully in her strict-captainthat"

Celeste nodded "Guardian Alto saw you You refused to protect two Moroi - including the one whose protection you were specifically assigned to"

"I didn’t refuse!" I exclaimed "I fumbled"

"That wasn’t a fulanced at Alberta for permission to speak "May I?" She nodded, and he turned back to me "If you’d blocked or attacked me and then messed up, that would be a fumble But you didn’t block You didn’t attack You didn’t even try You just stood there like a statue and did nothing"

Understandably, I was outraged The thought that I would purposely leave Christian and Brandon to be "killed" by a Strigoi was ridiculous But what could I do? I either confessed to screwing up host Neither option was appealing, but I had to cut my losses One made me look incompetent The other made me look insane I didn’t want to be associated with either of those I much preferred my usual description of "reckless" and "disruptive"

"Why ahtly "I et in trouble Isn’t that the point of this whole exercise? Practice? If ere perfect, you’d already have unleashed us upon the world!"

"Weren’t you listening?" said Stan I swore I could see a vein throbbing in his forehead I think he was the only one there as upset as I was At the very least, he was the only one (aside fro his emotions The others wore poker faces, but then, none of them had witnessed what had happened If I’d been in Stan’s place, I ht the worst ofup’ i"

"Okay, then I froze" I looked at hi up? I cracked under the pressure and blanked out It turns out I wasn’t prepared The moment came, and I panicked It happens to novices all the tioi?" asked Emil He was from Romania, his accent a bit thicker than Dih "It seelares to him and everyone else in the room "Oh, I see After one incident, I’oi killer? I can’t panic or be afraid or anything? Makes sense Thanks, guys Fair Real fair" I slumped back in my seat, arms crossed over my chest There was no need to fake bitchy defiance I had plenty of it to dish out

Alberta sighed and leaned forward "We’re arguing semantics Technicalities aren’t the point here What’s i, you uard Christian Ozera In factI think you even said you wanted us to be sure we knew that you were doing it against your will and that we’d soon see what a horrible idea it was" Ugh I had said that Honestly, what had I been thinking? "And then, when your first test comes around, we find you completely and utterly unresponsive"

I nearly flew out of my chair "That’s what this is about? You think I didn’t protect hi?"

All three of them stared at me expectantly

"You aren’t exactly known for cals you don’t like," she replied wryly

This tily "Not true I have followed every rule Kirova laid down for one to every practice and obeyed every curfew" Well, I’d fudged some of the curfews but not willfully It had always been for the greater good "There’s no reason I’d do this as soood would it do? Sta - Guardian Alto wasn’t going to really hurt Christian, so it’s not like I’d get to see hietting dragged into there removal from the field experience," replied Celeste flatly

"Oh" I sat down, suddenly not feeling as bold Silence hung in the room for several moments, and then I heard Dimitri’s voice speak from behind me

"She has a point," he said My heart thumped loudly in e like that He didn’t think I was petty "If she were going to protest or take revenge, she’d do it in a different way" Well, not too petty, at least

Celeste frowned "Yes, but after the scene she "

Dimitri took a few steps forward and stood besidehis solid presence nearby comforted me I had a flash of d¨¦j¨¤ vu, back to when Lissa and I had returned to the Academy last autumn Headmistress Kirova had nearly expelled me, and Dimitri had stood up for me then too

"This is all circuardless of how suspicious you think it looks, there’s no proof Reraduation - is a bit extreme without any certainties"

The cohtful, and I focused my attention on Alberta She had the ether, she’d been strict but always scrupulously fair I hoped that would still hold true She beckoned Celeste and Euardians leaned closer They had a whispered conference Alberta gave a resigned nod, and the others leaned back

"Miss Hathaway, do you have anything you’d like to say before we tell you our conclusions?"

That I’d like to say? Hell, yeah There were tons of things I wanted to say that I wasn’t incompetent I wanted to tell them that I was one of the best novices here I wanted to tell thee of reacting I especially wanted to tell them that I didn’t want to have this mark on my record Even if I stayed in the field experience, I’d essentially have an F for this first test It would affect rade, which could subsequently affect ain, what choice did I have? Tell theuy who’d had a major crush on me and who had quite likely died because of that crush? I still didn’t knoas going on with these sightings One time I could write off to exhaustionbut I’d seen hi said no, but honestly, it didn’t matter at the moment If he was real and I told them, they’d think I was crazy If he wasn’t real and I told theht I couldn’t win here

"No, Guardian Petrov," I said, hoping I sounded ht," she said wearily "Here’s e’ve decided You’re lucky you have Guardian Belikov to advocate for you, or this decisionyou the benefit of the doubt You’ll go on with the field experience and continue to guard Mr Ozera You’ll just be on a probation of sorts"

"That’s okay," I said I’d been on probation for most of my academic life "Thank you"

"And," she added Uh-oh "Because the suspicion isn’t entirely re coain "What?"

Diers war et"

"If that’s a problem, we can make it next week too," warned Celeste "And the next five after that"

I sat down and shookdispersed, and I was left feeling weary and beaten Had only one day gone by? Surely the happy excitement I’d felt before the field experience had been weeks ago and not this o find Christian, but Direed, no doubt hoping he’d set ht and narrow

The rooht he’d sit and talk to me then and there, but instead he walked over to a small table that held a water dispenser, coffee, and other beverages

"You want some hot chocolate?" he asked

I hadn’t expected that "Sure"

He dumped four packets of instant hot chocolate into two Styrofoa it is the secret," he said when the cups were full

He handedwith a wooden stirrer, and then walked toward a side door Presu I was supposed to follow hi my hot chocolate

"Where are we - oh"