It was a gesture of respect. Nothing more. But at that moment, I reconsidered the reputation of House Orphos. There was something about Lysander. He may have been quiet, even dreamy, but I didn’t see either of those things as signs of weakness.

As the music reached its climax, the practice seemed to wrap up. Naveen packed up his flute, said good-bye to some of his band mates, then jumped off the stage and came towards me wearing a broad grin.

“Well?” he asked, plopping down across from me. “What did you think? Pretty dull, right?”

“I think you’ve made all of us other First Years look bad,” I teased. “That was incredible, Naveen. Why didn’t you tell us you’d been given a solo?”

He shrugged modestly, but I could tell he was happy I’d noticed. “Just lucky, I guess. The ensemble leader said I had a good ear for the piece. I guess I didn’t mess it up too badly.”

“It was beautiful,” I said seriously. “Does Florence know?”

He shook his head, blushing slightly. “Not yet. I was thinking of surprising her. You know she’s always in the library or staying after class when I have practice.”

Unable to decide on a single course of study yet, Florence had done the unthinkable and committed herself to both. At least for now. Instead of choosing a strategist or healer path for the Wintermark and Springrise terms, she’d balked and refused to drop any classes. Instead she’d actually gotten permission to add more courses to her timetable.

As a result she now seemed to have a paper due almost every day and had taken to staying late after many of her classes to get extra tutoring from her professors. All of whom seemed to adore her, of course. Why wouldn’t they? Florence was serious, studious, hard-working, and brilliant.

Whereas Naveen and I were, well, coasting through. Neither of us had failed any classes yet. We had midwinter exams coming up soon, but neither of us seemed too worried about them. Apparently the ones to panic over were the ones at the end of the Springrise term, just before the summer break. That was when the real culling would happen. At least a third of the First Years wouldn’t be back next year, Florence had told me conspiratorially. If she herself was worried, she never let on.

As for me, if fighting Blake hadn’t gotten me killed or kicked out, I somehow doubted flunking an exam would do so. Still, I wanted to do as well as I could. I might not have been as perfect a student as Florence, but to my surprise I found myself putting my head down and working harder than I ever had for any of my tutors back in Camelot. Any of them but Odessa, that is.

As I studied Naveen’s glowing face, an idea was growing in my mind.

I wasn’t sure I should risk putting it into words though.

I raised an eyebrow. “That’s a nice idea.” I paused, then added, “She’s going to be so proud of you when she finds out. You’re going to sweep her off her feet with that solo.”

A flush creeped up Naveen's neck and I grinned.

“Florence already told me you’re the only First Year to make it into the band, let alone get a solo.”

Naveen put his face in his hands and groaned theatrically. “And now the real pressure’s on. The Frostfire Festival is coming up fast. Soon there will be a lot more people listening to us.”

“And one special person in particular,” I prodded, my eyes twinkling.

He looked up at me with a guilty expression. “You’ve figured it out, huh?”

“It took me long enough, but yeah, I think so.” I looked at him thoughtfully. “How long has this been going on, anyhow? You said you had a girlfriend before you came to Bloodwing.”

“How long? I met Florence when I was eight.”

I choked. “You’ve liked her since you were eight?”

He shrugged, the blush returning. “More or less.”

“Did you ever think of, oh, I don’t know... Telling her that you like her?”

He shook his head resolutely. “Nope. Not happening.”

I stared at him. “Let me get this straight. You’d rather go out with other girls instead of taking a chance and telling the one you actually like how you really feel?”

He nodded seriously. “Safer that way.”

I rolled my eyes. “I take it your last girlfriend didn’t exactly break your heart.”

He grinned. “Nope. I might have broken hers though. She was hoping I’d turn down my invitation to Bloodwing and stay with her. So were my parents. They always hoped I’d stay home and wind up with a nice dwarven girl.”

“But you wanted to go where Florence went?” I said softly.

He nodded. “I couldn’t let her go alone.” He paused. “And I won’t risk our friendship for something so stupid.”

“I wouldn’t exactly call it stupid, Naveen. Not if you really love her.” By the gods, listen to me, giving relationship advice as if I had any idea what I was talking about.

“Have you ever been in a similar position?” Naveen asked curiously.

I shook my head. “Definitely not. I mean there have been... people. Men. Sure. But they were basically just flings. I’ve never been in love.”

Naveen’s blush deepened. “I’m not even sure that’s what this is.”

“And you’ll never find out,” I teased. “Not if you never take a chance and tell her.”

He looked away. “I’ve thought of telling her at the Frostfire Festival. There’s a ball, you know. I’ll be there as part of the ensemble. I know Florence will have permission to go. Her grades are certainly good enough. I was thinking of asking her.”

“Yes, ask her,” I said immediately. “I’m sure she’ll say yes.” At least, I hoped she’d say yes. What if Florence liked someone else? I decided I’d try to ask her.

“You can’t tell her about any of this, Medra,” Naveen said, as if reading my mind. “Promise me.”

I nodded slowly. “Fine. I promise. I won’t, I swear it, Naveen. But life’s too short not to take chances. You’ve been waiting since you were eight. Why not just tell her and see what she says? What’s the worst that could happen?”

“The worst that could happen is I’d be destroying the best and longest friendship I’ve ever had,” he answered.

I laughed. But I could see he really was afraid. “I don’t think Florence would end a friendship over something like that. Do you?”

“If I knew how she’d react, I’d have done it a long time ago,” Naveen said morosely. “But I don’t. It’s a big risk.” He looked around the refectory and sighed. “At least this year we’re together as First Years. But next year...”

“Next year we’ll all be in different houses,” I said softly. “I get it.” We wouldn’t be seeing each other as often then. Unless we were lucky enough to all wind up together. “But then, isn’t that the reason why now is the perfect time to tell her?”

“She has a lot on her mind. She’s taking so many classes.” He ran his hands through his hair, leaving half of it standing on end.

I hid a grin.

A shadow fell across our table. I looked up to see Regan standing there. Two highblood girls were with her. I remembered their faces from that night at the bonfire. Larissa and Gretchen. Neither had seemed like the brightest candles in the room.

“What's so funny?” Regan said with false sweetness. “Care to share?”

I stiffened, my good mood instantly draining.

Naveen glanced down at his hands, clearly not wanting to engage with the highblood girls.

But Regan and her friends weren’t about to let it go.

“You know, Larissa,” Regan drawled. “I think the little dwarf thinks his flute solo might actually impress someone. I mean, maybe if it was a show for children.”

She and the other two girls laughed as if what she’d said was hilarious.

Larissa leaned down, icy blonde curls framing her pretty but cruel face. “Oh, Naveen,” she cooed. “You’re not seriously planning on embarrassing yourself in front of the entire school at the Frostfire Festival with that terrible solo, are you? I mean, I’ve heard dying cats sound better.” She laughed loudly.