Well, and how to spot artifacts.

Really, we just need classes on everything.

“One point for Master Magpie’s team,” Master Tiercel declares at the end of round two.

One point is then declared for Master Crow’s team, this person a different one from before. If I had to guess, I would say there’s not an expert on Crow’s team. They’re just guessing out of luck. But now I need to go back and get that egg. I have a feeling that if I don’t, we’ll end up with a tie, and I’m willing to bet that a tiebreaker would not go in our team’s favor.

This time, I head straight for the Weight of Crushing egg with no charges left. I pick it up and bring it to our table, and sweat as I watch the others pick their choices. When everything is chosen, this time Master Tiercel goes to Master Crow’s team first and picks through their objects with the archivist at his side.

“One point for Master Crow’s team again,” Master Tiercel declares. “Total points—three.” He strolls over to our side as I busily do mental math. Okay, we’re at three points at the moment. My egg should get us to four, which is a win, unless they don’t count it because of the lack of charges. If someone else on the team has picked a winner—

“No points this round for Magpie’s team.”

“What?” I blurt out, looking up. “So deactivated artifacts don’t count after all?”

Archivist Kestrel seems puzzled by my reaction. “They do count. You do not have any real artifacts at your table. We have a tie.”

I glare up at both of them. “That’s not right. Mine is a real artifact. It just doesn’t have charges.”

“The guild frowns on poor losers,” Master Tiercel begins.

Archivist Kestrel turns the object over in his hands, peering down at it.

“I’m not a poor loser,” I declare, stabbing a finger at the stupid thing. “It’s a legitimate artifact. Read the glyphs on the bottom. It’s a Weight of Crushing but it’s out of charges. They’re a common sort of thing. Look at it again.” Master Tiercel gives me a pitying look that only pisses me off more. “Just look, all right?”

“This is not very becoming of your team,” Master Tiercel continues. “And if your teacher were here, she would hear about it. This is the reason why teams need to be supervised. You can’t be left alone. The rules are rules for a reason—”

“She’s right,” Archivist Kestrel says suddenly.

All eyes are on him. And me, but I keep staring at the archivist, waiting for him to elaborate.

“She’s right,” he repeats, and shows the underside of the egg-shaped weight to Tiercel. “Look at the markings. Look at the usage of lapis. There’s one like this in the archive and it’s got the same angle of cuts in the stone.”

They bend their heads together, scrutinizing the artifact. Lark nudges me but I ignore her. My every fiber is vibrating with anxiousness as I watch the two of them. For some reason, it’s very important to me that I be correct about this. I’ve always prided myself on my Prellian scholarship. If I’m not right, then I’ve got nothing to my credit. Not looks, not wealth, not holder name…

Master Tiercel grunts after a long, interminable pause. “I suppose.”

“It’s truly a shame it no longer has charges,” Archivist Kestrel says in a bright voice, clutching the egg to his chest as if it is precious. “I would love to see how much weight the Prellians considered to be crushing. It would be a fascinating bit of scholarship, don’t you think?”

“Absolutely,” I force myself to reply. I want to talk about other weights that were mentioned in prior tomes and the units of measurement that Prellians used depending upon the situation, but now isn’t the time. I eye Master Tiercel. “So this means we have four points?”

The master’s jaw clenches and his nostrils flare. It’s clear he doesn’t want to announce us as the winners. He looks over at Master Crow, who seems equally irate, and then turns back to me. “The game is canceled. No winners, no losers.”

“That’s not fair!” Lark protests. “We fucking won!”

“You,” Master Tiercel snarls and points at my face. “You stay behind. The rest of you are dismissed. The rest of the games are canceled. Spread the word with the remaining teams.”

The room empties out with the sound of scraping chairs and grumbling voices. There’s more disappointment as others file into the hall and announce the cancellation, and my face burns as I remain in place. The others on my team stay at my side, and Gwenna moves to link her fingers with mine.

Master Tiercel gives Lark, Gwenna, Kipp, and Mereden a dismissive look even as Archivist Kestrel continues to study the egg in his hands. “The rest of you can go,” he says. “You’re not in trouble.”

“But I am?” I ask.

“The guild frowns upon cheating—”

Gwenna’s hand tightens on mine and she steps in front of me. “She did not cheat. How could she possibly?”

“This is horseshit,” Lark declares. “You just don’t like us because of Magpie!”

Mereden and Kipp make angry noises of assent.

I’m flattered they’re all so quick to defend me, but I can tell from the guild master’s expression that it’s useless. He doesn’t know how I managed to identify the objects and I can’t exactly tell him that I’ve been studying rare tomes ever since I was a tot. No one would have access to those kinds of books save for a guild member or a holder who’d paid a great deal to buy or borrow them. I can’t point that out, or that I had a tutor—a retired artificer who was too old to go tunnel crawling—who taught me how to read glyphs.

I can’t say any of that. I’m supposed to be just another person here, learning with the rest of them. So I give Gwenna’s hand a squeeze and then detangle myself. “It’s all right. I’ll stay behind and answer their questions. I’ve done nothing wrong. You should go on back to the nest.”

Mereden and Lark reluctantly head out, with Kipp at their heels. Only Gwenna remains behind, scowling at everyone. I have to give her another reassuring hand squeeze and a gentle shove toward the door. She stumbles forward and then glares at Master Tiercel and Archivist Kestrel. “If she’s not back by dusk, I will have every Taurian in the city at your doorstep.”

Then she turns and leaves and I’m left alone with the two men.

“Sit down, fledgling,” Master Tiercel says in a furious voice. “I want to know all your tricks.”

“My tricks?”

“How you did this. How you managed to cheat the system.” He gestures at the artifacts. “How you guessed right all three times.” He indicates the egg cradled in the archivist’s hands. “How you knew this was legitimate when even we did not.”

“Luck?” I answer weakly.

He leans forward over the table, the look on his face hard and unyielding. “Sit. Down. You’re not leaving until we get some answers.”

The archivist looks up as if seeing me for the first time. “Are…are you the one who married the Taurian? Your guild master’s assistant?”

I didn’t think it was possible but Master Tiercel’s expression gets even harder.

I sit.

I imagine I’m going to be here for quite a while.

SIXTEEN HAWK

Funny how things change the older you get. When I was a young bull, I wanted nothing more than to be in the tunnels at all times, exploring the ancient grottoes and ruins of Old Prell. It angered me when we had to return early due to an injury in the party, or when Magpie started her descent into the bottle, because it meant we couldn’t go out hunting. Not without five, and not without our leader. Now, though? As we finish another retrieval mission?