The Academy Read Free Page A

would be over before it started.
     
    But the butterflies in my stomach turned out to be all for nothing. The guard barely looked up from his vid tablet before waving me through. The massive gates creaked and yawned wide and I took the fateful steps which were the beginning of my new life.
     
    It was surprisingly hard to walk past the gates and onto the campus which was to be my home but once I got started, I found I was able to keep on. Forgetting some of my trepidation, I looked around with interest.
     
    It wasn’t hard to find the Administration building—it was the first large structure on the right of the gray, marbleized road as I entered the Academy’s complex. To the left were a series of red brick buildings covered in the stately black ivy native to this moon. The black leaves were shiny, reflecting the sunlight. Periodically, along the thick vines, large waxy white flowers with blood red centers bloomed—I knew from the reading I had done these were Blood and Honor Blossoms, the symbol of the Academy.
     
    The grass covering the ground on either side of the road was deep indigo and clipped short with military precision. The sky above was a pale golden blue and Zeus loomed large on the horizon, its many rings displayed to perfection. The sun, Prometheus, was a smaller, brighter dot high above. Despite its presence in the sky, there was a faint chill in the air which made me shiver inside my borrowed jacket. Or maybe I was shivering because of the deception I was about to attempt.
     
    Well, no point putting it off. Taking a deep breath, I held my head high and walked quickly down the road, trying to make sure my stride was long and my arms swung free. I had to move like a man, talk like a man, eat and sleep and think like a man, I reminded myself. I tried to remember how my father walked and copy his decisive, masculine movements but it felt awkward after years of being schooled in the feminine graces by well-meaning nannies and governesses. I was lucky my voice was low for a girl—a natural alto. I only had to concentrate a little to deepen it to a passable imitation of a masculine tone. As for my features, they were still too delicate but my short hair went a long way toward the illusion that I was male—I hoped, anyway.
     
    As I climbed the steps of the Administration building, I saw a group of cadets standing to one side, about halfway up. They were all wearing navy blue uniforms with the Blood and Honor Blossom emblazoned above the heart. The uniforms were crumpled and their ties were crooked but the gold braid on their shoulders let me know they were upperclassmen—fourth-form students—and the forbidding looks on their faces told me I should keep my distance.
     
    “So what’s gonna happen?” one of them asked, sucking hard on a stumpy blue nico-stick he was holding. The cloud of smoke hanging over his head smelled like dirty socks.
     
    “Dunno. Nothing much. Chauser knows my dad would have him sacked in a heartbeat if he rides me too hard,” answered the largest student. “Here, gimme some.” He took the nico-stick and puffed, blowing the foul smelling smoke all over. I tried not to gag and kept moving.
     
    Their accents sounded strange to me, almost like slang. I wondered if that was the way people spoke on Ares or if it was just common to the Academy. Kristopher and I had grown up speaking much more formally but then, we had been classically trained in several different languages by his many tutors.
     
    “Hey look at that—fresh meat,” one of them said as I walked past their group. “What are you looking at, freshie?”
     
    I realized I had been staring at them and looked quickly down at my shoes. “Nothing,” I mumbled, hoping my voice was low enough to avoid suspicion.
     
    “Yeah, you better keep walking,” the largest student growled. “And keep your eyes on the ground. Be a shame if you tripped, wouldn’t it.”
     
    An oversized boot was suddenly thrust right in my