Owen found Gareth the next morning in one of the smaller sitting rooms on the east side of the house.
His brother was stretched out in an armchair by the window with his boots crossed at the ankle, doing nothing in particular. Sunlight fell across the carpet, and now and then footsteps passed in the corridor outside as the servants went about their work.
Owen dropped into the chair opposite him.
"So," he said. "What’s the Academy actually like?"
Gareth looked at him and grinned. "Good morning to you too."
"Good morning. What’s it like?"
"You’ll find out."
"That’s why I’m asking you," Owen said. "You’ve been there for three years. You must know everything worth knowing about the place."
"I do," Gareth said. "And some things are better when you see them for yourself."
Owen leaned forward. "What about the examination, then? You must remember what they made you do."
"I remember it very well." Gareth laced his fingers behind his head. "You’ll understand once you get there. I’m not going to spoil it for you."
Owen opened his mouth to try again, but Gareth spoke first.
"Speaking of things I’d like explained," he said, "what was that in the duel?"
Owen didn’t pretend not to know what he meant.
"Lucien’s axe went straight through you," Gareth said. "Your whole body. I’ve seen you do strange things with that sword of yours, but they’ve always been the sword. That was you." He tilted his head. "Another monster core?"
"After a hunt," Owen said. "I got a core with a new property in it. When I incorporated it, it gave me Vapor." He shrugged slightly. "I didn’t expect it to turn out like that when I tried."
Gareth frowned a little. "But the last time you tried to take in another property, it failed."
"It did."
"So why did this one work?"
"I was surprised it worked as well," Owen said. "I can’t always tell beforehand whether a core is going to take with my armament or not."
That was true, as far as it went. He knew a great deal more about why some properties fit together and others didn’t than he was saying. But none of that could be explained without explaining everything else, and the honest part of the answer was that this one had surprised him.
Gareth studied him for a moment. Then he shook his head and laughed.
"Every time I think I’ve finally worked out what you can do, you show me something new," he said. "I think I’m going to stop asking. I’m getting tired of being surprised."
"You could always try being less surprised."
"I could always try having a normal brother."
Owen grinned at him. Gareth was just reaching for something else to say when a footman appeared in the doorway.
"Pardon me, Young Masters. The Ashcombe ladies are preparing to leave."
* * *
In the courtyard, the sisters’ trunks were being strapped onto the back of their carriage.
Servants went back and forth between the doors and the carriage with the last of their things, and the escort was already mounted near the gates. Hugh was standing by the carriage, and he nodded to Owen as he came out to show that everything had been seen to.
Clara saw Owen first. Her face brightened at once, and she came toward him in a travelling dress of pale blue.
"Lord Owen! I was afraid we’d have to leave without saying goodbye."
Elise followed a step behind her in dark green, more reserved, but Owen could tell from her face that she was pleased he had come.
"Thank you again," Clara said. "For everything in the capital. I know we were a lot of trouble, but I had a wonderful time, truly. I don’t think I’ll ever forget it."
"Thank you," Elise said simply. "We owe you a great deal."
"I enjoyed having you both," Owen said. "Really."
Clara smiled. Then, before Owen had any idea what she was about to do, she stepped forward and kissed him quickly on the cheek.
Owen froze.
Clara stepped back, looking very pleased with herself at the look on his face. And while Owen was still trying to work out what to say, Elise came forward and kissed him on the other cheek.
It was so brief that it was over almost before he had registered it. She stepped away again immediately.
"Goodbye, Lord Owen," she said quietly, and turned toward the carriage.
Out of the corner of his eye, Owen saw Agnes put her hand over her mouth. Hugh had suddenly found something interesting to look at on the far side of the courtyard.
Owen looked from Clara to Elise and back again.
"Have a safe journey," he finally managed.
Clara laughed softly. She waved to him as she climbed up into the carriage after her sister, and then the door closed, and the carriage rolled away across the courtyard and out through the gates.
Owen stood watching until it had gone.
"Well," Gareth said beside him. He sounded delighted. "Hugh told me you’d been kissed in the capital. I didn’t realise it was going to become a habit."
Owen turned to look at Hugh.
"You told him?"
"He asked how the trip went, Young Master," Hugh said. "I answered."
"You could have answered less."
"I was being thorough."
Gareth was laughing openly now. "Two of them, Owen. At once. And you just stood there like someone had hit you over the head."
"It was a goodbye," Owen said. "That’s all."
"Of course it was," Agnes said mildly.
Owen gave up and went back inside. Gareth followed him, still laughing, and kept it up most of the way down the corridor.
* * *
Three days later, Owen finished a training session with Hugh and Agnes on the practice ground behind the barracks.
The sun was well up, and all three of them were warm and breathing hard. The ground beneath their feet was hard-packed and worn smooth in places where generations of Ferrers soldiers had trained on it. From the yards nearby came the clatter of practice weapons and the shouted instructions of the drill sergeants.
Owen dismissed his sword and rolled his shoulders. His ribs had stopped complaining about most things now. Hugh was already checking over the practice equipment they had used, and Agnes tugged her sleeve straight and flexed her shoulder carefully as she got her breath back.
General Edith Rooke had been watching from the edge of the ground.
She walked over once they had finished. She was tall and athletic, her dark hair pulled back neatly, and the General’s insignia stood out on the collar of her fitted Ferrers uniform. Hugh and Agnes straightened as she came near. Her attention settled on Owen.
"I heard about the capital," she said. "The duel. And what you did against that axe."
Owen waited for her to ask him about it. She didn’t.
"Have you been practising it since?" she asked. "Going in and out of it. The change from solid to dispersed and back again."
"I have," Owen said.
"Good. Keep doing it." She looked at him steadily. "Having a rare ability is one thing. Being able to rely on it every time you need it is another. Especially when someone is trying to kill you, and you don’t have a moment to think."
"I know."
"Then make sure your body knows it too."
Owen nodded.
After a moment, he asked, "Did you attend the Imperial Military Academy, General?"
"No," Edith said. "I didn’t."
Owen was a little surprised. She was a General, and one of the strongest officers House Ferrers had. He had always assumed she must have gone to one of the great academies.
Edith seemed to see that on his face.
"I didn’t have money," she said. "Or a family name that could open doors for me. When I awakened my sword, I needed a way to feed myself and make something of my life. The Ferrers military recruited me. They gave me training, and wages, and a chance to rise if I was good enough." She shrugged. "An academy wasn’t something someone like me could realistically reach for back then. So I enlisted and worked my way up."
Owen had known she rose through the ranks on her own ability. But he had never heard her explain why she had taken that road. It made a lot of sense, hearing it from her.
"Do you know anything about the Academy itself?" he asked. "The entrance examinations, especially?"
"A little," Edith said. "The Imperial Military Academy is one of the four great academies recognised across Asteria. All four have a reputation for turning out some of the finest awakened fighters and military officers there are." She paused. "But they keep most of what happens inside them to themselves. How they train, how they choose who gets in. None of that is discussed openly."
"So you don’t know what the examiners will ask me to do."
"No. I don’t."
Owen sighed. If even Edith couldn’t tell him, he wasn’t sure who could.
"Don’t waste your time trying to guess every test they might give you," Edith said. "You won’t manage it. Keep working on what you already have. Your fundamentals are good. Make them better, and you’ll be ready for whatever they put in front of you."
"Thank you, General."
Edith gave him a short nod and walked back toward the barracks.