The academy went quiet around eleven.

I preferred it this way. The noise of students, the dominance posturing, the manufactured rivalries, the constant performance of strength, had always struck me as exhausting in a way that said more about their insecurity than their power. Real power didn't need an audience.

I turned another page in the case file.

Val Rhen. The notes went back seven weeks now, compiled from classroom observations, assessment data, the suppression rune interaction report, ...