The west observation platform overlooked a valley of white mist. Below it, the Academy's outer training fields descended in terraces toward a river. The platform itself was plain stone, without the protective arrays that decorated the dueling courts. Raze arrived carrying his notebook and no weapon, as instructed.
Adrian was already there, balancing a copper coin on the back of his hand. He flicked it upward, caught it, and placed it on the parapet between them.
"You came," Adrian said.
"You invited me."
"People sometimes confuse an invitation with a summons."
"Then you should have chosen less mysterious wording."
Adrian smiled slightly. "Fair."
Raze glanced at the divided-circle symbol drawn on the invitation. "Your teacher belonged to the Meridian Fellowship."
Adrian's coin stopped moving.
"That's an old name," he said.
"I read."
"Clearly. What did you read?"
