WOOHOO!!! UPDATE!!! Darn site wouldn't let me do anything with it; I've been trying to update for the past week! Anyway, here you go; another chapter, all for my lovely readers! Enjoy!

Ringwarriorkayla: Woot! Encouragement; just what I needed to get me off my fat bottom and get moving! Thanks!

Vanilla Bean CEO: NO!!! Put pressure on me!!! It'll make me work faster!! Or it might just make me feel bad... Shrugs shoulders

monachulus puella: Just let me know if you want me to e-mail you when I update, I don't mind! I'm just happy you like the story!

Silver POV

Life was so unfair. First, I end up with a detention every night for a whole week, then Iana flips on me, and then I'm totally humiliated in front of the whole of my Etiquette class!

Apparently, Ancel had come to the conclusion that whosoever had sent the Dead hands might have also chosen to send more along to finish off the job. He therefore decided that Iana and I had best not be let out of his sight, and the only way to do that was to accompany us to every single one of our classes.

With the rest of the company.

Not that any of the other 14 girls in our Etiquette class were complaining; nice looking men were very few and far between around Wyverley College. But what did bother them was the fact that the soldiers wouldn't take their eyes off me and Iana, and all of them wanted to know why they were dressed in strange clothes, none of them knowing what an Old Kingdom Royal Guard's uniform looked like. And of course, we weren't permitted to tell them where they were from, or how they got here, or who we really were. So we ended up looking like total fools in our Etiquette class, as the soldiers stood around the sides of the room like statues, watching our every move.

Our teacher, Mrs Parker, wasn't very pleased with the arrangement but she had to live with it; a quick word with the headmistress got her no information, only instructions on how to make sure that the soldiers were not disturbed by questions from the other girls in the class. Needless to say, Iana and I received some pretty weird looks from her and our classmates, but I don't think they really bothered Iana; she was completely used to them, and even went so far as to smile and say hello to the people staring at her.

We were supposed to be revising the many ways a lady must act when receiving flowers and gifts from different nobilities today, but after a brown envelope was delivered to Mrs Parker 15 minutes into the class, the whole lesson went out the window. Every girl leant forward over the table in their seats, whispering to each other excitedly. Our test results had arrived!

"I don't want to know mine now…" Iana groaned, putting her head in her hands, "I know I should have revised harder…"

"I hate it when she says them out loud so the class knows what you've got," I muttered, grimacing.

"And to top the whole thing off, we've got half of your army gagging in on it!" she hissed to me across the aisle; I quickly glanced around at the soldiers. They were all looking at each other with confused expressions on their faces; Ancel looked particularly interested.

"Hush now, ladies," Mrs Parker chided the lot of us, "I'll read out the subject and then the places, but only if you'll quieten down," Everyone shut up immediately; Iana began hitting her head on the table quietly so no one could hear her, but a few of the soldiers looked at her strangely.

"Firstly, Art, and we have a joint first place everybody!" she began, looking around the class, "Excellent work Miss Sayre and Miss Elestral," Iana looked up at me in amazement; I just stared at her. Mrs Parker continued to read the names of the other girls, and then began on the places for English.

"First place to Miss Elestral, second place to Miss Lytle, third place to Miss Sayre…"

"Etiquette; first place to Miss Elestral, second place to Miss Sayre…"

"Fencing; joint first to Miss Elestral and Miss Sayre…"

"Geography; joint first to Miss Elestral and Miss Sayre…"

"History; first place to Miss Garner, joint second to Miss Elestral and Miss Sayre…"

"Magic; joint runaway first to Miss Elestral and Miss Sayre…" Iana turned to me with a look that said 'No surprises there!'

"Maths; first place to Miss Garner, second place to Miss Finn, joint third to Miss Elestral and Miss Sayre…"

"PE; first place to Miss Lytle, second place to Miss Hirie, joint third to Miss Elestral and Miss Sayre…"

"Riding; first place to Miss Sayre, second place to Miss Elestral…" I gave Iana congratulatory punch on her arm; she pulled tongues at me as some of the soldiers sniggered behind their hands.

"Science; first place to Miss Sayre, second place to Miss Elestral…" Our mouths were hanging open in disbelief; there must have been some mix up with the results! Mrs Parker walked around handing out the certificates to us; there used to be a formal ceremony for this, but that was done away with when the college realised that some students need to leave before it. Doing it this way allowed anyone to leave when they felt it necessary... or circumstances called for it...

Iana stared at her certificate, her hair hanging over her face so that I couldn't see her expression. I looked at mine, lying there on the table before me; this was meant to decide my future in Ancelstirre. But I had no future in Ancelstirre; my future lay in the Old Kingdom with my family, as did Iana's. In fact, the more I thought about it, the more I realised that Iana was going to have more of a future than me. She'd be able to wander the Kingdom with her mother, father and older brother Verl; I'd be stuck in Belisaire with my mother and father and my older brother Rael, Grandma Sabriel and Grandpa Touchstone, and of course Aunt Ellimere and the whole of the Royal Court…

I sighed; there were times when I envied Iana's freedom. The way she was able to come and leave Court whenever she wanted without any repercussions, and the easiness with which she spoke to people; she didn't have to watch what she said in case the ministers were offended. Everyone knew what she was like and didn't dare argue with the Abhorsen-in-Waiting.

"Can you believe this?!" Iana hissed, "All that work and we're not even staying in this country!" I leant over the aisle and put a hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down as I spotted the flush of red creeping onto her pale cheeks; a warning sign for those around her.

"Don't worry, we'll be out of here soon," I whispered, "Then we have forever to do what we want; no more tests!" Iana smiled ruefully.

"Not soon enough for me…" she muttered, getting up and stalking out of the class, the soldiers' eyes following in wonder; Mrs Parker stared at the door, open mouthed, disbelief preventing her voicing the reprimand that everyone else was expecting. Every single head turned in my direction; I smiled uncomfortably.

"Er, heh heh… she… um… n-needs a little time to, um… to… t-to be… by herself for a while… I think…" I tried to explain, failing miserably. Mrs Parker frowned and shook her head.

"If she's not back within 10 minutes, you'll have to go and look for her," she snapped, her short temper starting to fray; I nodded and looked down at my desk. Where had Iana gone? Why had she just walked out of class like that? I didn't understand it; even if she was coming down with the flu, Iana would stay in class until the end; she'd never go without a reason… I looked over at Ancel; he shrugged his shoulders and leant closer to my ear.

"I'll find her in five minutes, give her time to cool off," he whispered, his breath warm on the sensitive skin of my ear; I smiled up at him thankfully before settling back down to the lesson.

Right, the next chapter is not finished yet, so you might have to wait a while for it, sorry... cries Darn college!!! R&R, pleeeeeeeease!!!