Four First Year students of the Assassin Guild's Academy have been nominated and accepted into a special extra-curricular Master-In-Training and Apprentice Program. The Program may never be the same.
Next morning, being Starne's Da, Brittainy and Chrystyna were able to sleep in. Waiting for Emalynn and Katrynn to arrive, the first day of the weekend felt like it was going to last forever. However, in the morning of Skroll's Da, Emalynn and Katrynn, escorted by their mentors from the train station, arrived at the Academy just in time for lunch, which they ate heartily. Gulping down the sandwiches and tea offered them, the four girls finished as quickly as they could, barely able to contain their excitement.
It is all coming together, Brittainy thought. Who would have thought an assignment could be so interesting? For the first time, it's as if school really matters.
Of course it is useful! Another part of Brittainy (which sounded a lot like Emalynn) reminded her.
Upon finishing lunch, the girls bolted up the stairs to Chrystyna's Tower, talking over each other in a rush to get their stories out before the debriefing meeting. During the meeting, Master Colin would no doubt wish them to "stay on target" [1], so if any of them wanted to share something especially funny or interesting, now was the time.
On arriving at their secret meeting spot, the girls fell silent at the busy scene before them. The mentors were already waiting. Mistress Hilde-Beth was arranging chairs and stools in a circle, while Mistress Athylee prepared tea. The older woman looked even more thoughtful than usual. She failed to hear Master Geoffrey's repeated coughing and nudging as he attempted to get past her to close the window. Knowing how distracted Brittainy and Chrystyna (and Mistress Athylee) were, the tall man wanted to limit the girls' range of vision. Open windows invited cloud watching, pigeon feeding, and daydreaming. Standing in front of the two cork boards, Master Colin was furiously taking notes.
"Take your seats, girls," Mistress Hilde-Beth said as she took one of the canisters out of Mistress Athylee's lax hands. "I'll bring you some tea."
"We will start in a few minutes," promised Master Colin.
The girls nodded and took their seats silently, looking at each other with barely suppressed looks of nervousness and excitement. It's the final debriefing, Brittainy stiffly watched her mentor with caution. We should be on our best behavior because Emalynn says debriefing means that we have to talk about what we learned. It's a bit like an exam, I guess. I hope I remember my notes...
At this, Brittainy glanced down at the three small pieces of paper tucked in her pink blouse's wristbands and then glanced over at Chrystyna. One of Chrystyna's palms looked suspiciously black. Did she write her notes on her hand? Brittainy wondered in amusement. I wonder if looking at our notes counts as cheating.
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"Well, everyone," Master Colin began the meeting with a proud smile at the four students and his colleagues. "This has been a very interesting year – and definitely a very interesting assignment."
"Hear, hear!" Master Geoffrey raised his tea cup.
Mistress Hilde-Beth, having given the girls their tea cups, took her own and sat down.
