Page 108 of By the Moonbeam and the Mist
Mrs. Smetlar’s glower couldn’t have oozed with more hatred as we took our seats in a neat row of desks topped with papers and pens.
“There will be no talking unless you want a fail.” She lowered herself into the bloodred armchair at the head of the classroom. “There will be no peeking over at your neighbor’s paper unless you want a fail. There will be no bouncing of knees or fidgeting unless you want a fail.”
That last one had been directed at Rodhi, I was sure. His whole body stilled in his seat at those words, and another surge of rage rushed up my throat at the small ways she managed to be cruel to my friends.
“Begin,” Mrs. Smetlar said.
We flipped the paper over. I squinted down at the first question.
In 215 AF, a rogue Shape Shifter turned a lizard into a dragon. How did Wild Whisperers of the time calm the dragon before elite Shape Shifters could turn the beast back into its original state?
My neck muscles burned with the effort it took not to peek over at Emelle beside me, but I saw from my periphery that she was wrinkling her nose in confusion, too. Dragons were oneof those legendary creatures in bedtime stories that Esholian adults used to warn children off from bad behavior… alongside vampires. I’d never evenheardMrs. Smetlar mention the existence of a dragon on the actual island—even if it had started out as a simple lizard.
I moved to the next question.
In 427 AF, a Good Council elite was attacked by a silverback on his trek from one village to another. Which Wild Whisperer was behind the attack, and what did the Good Council do to punish him?
What the hell? I’d never heard of a silverback attack either.
Once again, the brand on the back of my neck seemed to tingle. Surely, this wouldn’t be the time to use my Mind Manipulating power, not when a hundred other Mind Manipulators were demonstrating their magic somewhere on another floor in this building.
But despite Mrs. Smetlar’s earlier warnings, the sound of rustling rose as more and more classmates scratched their heads, bit their pens, scrunched their eyebrows. From the edge of my vision, I could see a smile slowly raising Mrs. Smetlar’s sharpened cheekbones.
It couldn’t hurt to open up my blockade for asecond.
I funneled the opening toward her just like I had with the dolphins until her harsh, raspy thoughts filled my head.
Fools. Utter fools. I’m such a good teacher, and they don’t even appreciate me. If any of them had been paying attention, they’d know I’ve never taught them any of this. Just proves that they’re all going to fail their Final Test no matter how great I am at my job.
Thickened rage boiled in my blood. None of us could remember these questions because Mrs. Smetlar was testing us with material she’d never taught. To make sure we failed our first quarterly test.
At that moment, she pointed a cracked yellow nail at Rodhi, who couldn’t hold back any longer: his knee jiggled.
“You,” she started.
I didn’t hesitate to intervene.
Clinging to her outermost thoughts, I pulled myself forward until I fell into the confines of her mind, the bristled walls made of dead sticks and thorns and moldy bits of feathers.
Her consciousness was as hunched and gnarled as her body had once been, wholly focused on Rodhi and the fail she was about to give him simply because he’d fidgeted.
Do you really think that’s fair?I whispered into her mind.
Mrs. Smetlar swatted at her ear. “What? Who is that? Who’s talking to me?”
One by one, my classmates looked up from their papers.
Do you really want to give anyone a fail over a faulty test?I asked.
Inside her mind, that hunched consciousness still hadn’t recognized me standing by her unlocked gate—and wouldneverrecognize me without a Mind Manipulating power of her own. Hopefully, she thought a Good Council elite was nearby, checking on proceedings by probing instructor minds from a floor above or below.
Slowly, Mrs. Smetlar dropped her hand. She narrowed her beady black eyes at Rodhi but said through mashed lips, “It seems I’ve accidentally given you all the wrong test. My—my apologies. I will give you all a pass this time for your… discretion.”
“Well, you just made my day brighter for the first time ever.” Rodhi clapped his hands together and popped up, bounding for the waiting room without a backward glance.
The rest of the class followed suit, muttering.
Hesitantly, I withdrew from that moldy nest of a mind to do the same, glancing at Mrs. Smetlar’s pursed, quivering lips as I passed.
