The afternoon sun already hung low for autumn, throwing long shadows across the recruitment grounds, and half the banners that had claimed the field that morning were coming down.
Society officers folded cloth over practiced arms while insignia vanished into storage crates. The more prestigious tables still held their crowds, students waiting three deep for a name to be struck from one list before theirs could go onto another.
Somewhere behind her, a quartermaster counted borrowed practice blades against a roster and frowned at a number that refused to match.
Rumor moved faster than anyone could verify it. The Crown Prince's name passed from mouth to mouth with more confidence each time, and some students, Valeria noticed, had already begun revising the morning's choices on their faces alone. She did not stop to confirm any of it.
The day deserved a shorter accounting than it would otherwise demand.
