gambeson. It fit like a glove. He reached for his sword and glanced at the silent boy.
‘They didn’t say anything. I only got the timetable today, so I had no idea I needed to prepare for anything. Luckily, my master’s butler sorted out everything I needed.’ He smiled more broadly.
‘You’d have managed even without that, it’s just a shame about the decent clothes.’ Zane shrugged. ‘Anyway. We’re having joint lessons with Group Ten today, and it looks like we’ll be seeing them more often.’
‘Aiden said as much. I think we’ve got alchemy together, and riding as well.’ Draco pulled on a pair of long gloves and reached for his helmet and practice sword.
‘So you do know someone, after all.’ A crooked smile appeared on the elf’s face, though it was hardly a grimace so much as the result of his rarely changing facial expressions.
‘We met during the exam. In the meantime, he’s managed to explain a thing or two about Solvein to me.’ The dragon looked around to see if he’d forgotten anything. The rest of his belongings were neatly folded in the wardrobe, and his school cloak hung where his gambeson should have been. He closed the metal door and slipped the key into a buttoned pocket on the side. ‘I suppose we can go,’ he said, picking up the steel sword and helmet.
‘No need to rush; Cedric went a bit overboard earlier.’ Zane rolled up his shirt sleeves and adjusted his earrings, checking each one with his fingers. ‘We usually wait outside the training hall at the very bottom, but that’s not where our lesson will be today. Before the holidays, Carter told us that at the start of the year we’d have a field combat test, based on which we’d be assigned to groups according to our level of proficiency in fencing and combat in general. So we’re heading out into the field, which means the woods behind the Academy.’
‘Sounds interesting.’ Draco quite liked the idea of field training combined with combat, although he didn’t yet know what form it
