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it’ll be worth it.”
    Selena turned around. “I don’t think it would help him to watch two brutes hit each other, but I’ll consider it.”
    Piers tugged Aless to a nearby training circle. Selena watched out of the corner of her eye, making sure they were out of earshot before immediately approaching Corin.
    “I want you to stay away from Aless,” she snapped, louder than she had intended to, causing Corin to jump in surprise. He knocked the bottle to the side with a more powerful gust than earlier.
    “W-what?” Corin asked, turning to face his teacher.
    Selena took a deep breath. “I’m sorry for yelling,” she began. “I won’t punish you for today—Piers forced you. But it’s an order. Do not talk to Serac’s guardian at all. If he tries to talk to you, say I told you not to, if it will help.”
    Corin felt a wave of disappointment flood through him, his expression immediately falling. Serac’s guardian—rather, Aless—had been so polite. He couldn’t understand Selena’s command. He knew that Aless had been banished for quite a long period, but he seemed perfectly normal now.
    “If I may ask, Master,” Corin began, keeping his tone low, “and I’ll obey either way, don’t misunderstand, but why must I avoid Master Aless?”
    “Firstly, you will call him Master Serac, not Aless,” Selena ordered, “and it was before you came here, but Master Serac’s exile should have been longer—he threw the entire clan into chaos, believe me. You heard what Cyril said, didn’t you? The details aren’t important, but Aless is dangerous. Should I catch you talking with him, I’ll make you run laps until your feet bleed.”
    Corin looked at the ground. He couldn’t believe Selena’s words—how could she speak that way of Master Aless? He seemed perfectly nice, perfectly calm. He bit his lip. “I understand, Master. I apologize for my questions.”
    “Don’t worry about it,” Selena replied. “Now, in order to do a successful extraction….” She droned on. Corin looked over her shoulder, watching Aless and Piers.

Chapter 5

     
    “ S ATISFIED ?” Piers asked, stripping out of his shirt and stretching his arms over his head, attempting to warm up for their upcoming spar.
    Aless leaned against one of the pews. “Not even close. Is there a reason Selena refuses to allow me more than a few moments?”
    Piers turned to him. “You were trying to hypnotize him. And yeah, I could see it too—don’t try to lie your way out of it. You didn’t reallyexpect her to allow that, did you?” he asked, unlacing his boots and throwing them lazily to the side.
    “I don’t know,” Aless replied, removing his footwear. “I expected to receive the benefit of the doubt from her, you know? I really haven’t done anything wrong. I was more polite than she deserved, at the very least.”
    “Hey now, let’s not be rude about it,” Piers scolded.
    Aless snorted. “Selena gets a free pass and I don’t?” he asked, folding his coat and placing it to the side and unbuttoning his shirt. “Let me guess, if I grow a pair of breasts you’ll begin running to my defense?”
    “Look, you’re my oldest friend, Aless, but you have been gone for ten years,” he explained. “Kateline and Selena are also my friends. We’ve been working with each other for a very long time—it’d be impossible not to care for her a little bit.”
    “You know me well enough to know I’m not trying to hurt her,” Aless replied, folding his shirt and placing it on top of his long brown overcoat. “I’ve served my time, damn it! She could at least give me a chance.”
    “It’s not as if I don’t agree with you, really ,” Piers explained, tightening his restraints, the golden rings standing out brightly on his skin, “but Selena’s got a reason to act the way she does.”
    “And if you’d tell me, I’d do my best to correct it,” Aless countered.
    “And if I was allowed to tell you, I would,” Piers retorted,