Chapter 11

Medra argues internally with the presence of her mother, Orcades Le Fay Pendragon, who claims a fragment of her soul lodged in Medra to save her during a near-death passage between worlds. Medra thanks her but insists on finding a way to remove her, tentatively deciding to seek answers in books or wisdom at Bloodwing.

Medra enters Headmaster Kim’s office, noting his thrall secretary and vampiric decor, and deflects questions about who sabotaged her. Professor Sankara arrives and advocates for keeping Medra in Advanced Weaponry despite her blightborn status, praising her combat prowess. Kim relents, allowing her to stay while also requiring basic blightborn combat training.

Professor Rodriguez bursts in, charging that Medra’s susceptibility to thrallweave makes her dangerous and vulnerable. He proposes training her in thrallguard, a defensive art once taught to riders and elite students. After Sankara underscores the political risk of enthralled assets, Kim authorizes Rodriguez to privately instruct Medra.

They finalize Medra’s timetable, with added combat workload and forthcoming thrallguard lessons. Leaving the office, Medra challenges Rodriguez about his sudden support; he distinguishes personal dislike from allowing harm and confirms Regan Pansera as her attacker, urging secrecy.

Rodriguez reveals he tutors select highbloods in anti-thrall measures and condemns Bloodwing’s tolerance of humiliating blightborn. He closes with a stark warning: despite occasional restraint among highbloods, each year a student dies at Bloodwing.