Aveline lifted a hand only to adjust the front of her uniform, and all four boys flinched at once.
The reaction was so immediate that it almost made her laugh.
"Go on," she said, rotating her wrists and rolling her shoulders as though she were shaking off the remnants of a difficult exercise. "Be on your way."
She was not accustomed to this kind of exertion. If anything, this had been the most intense workout of her life. Her arms ached. Her palms stung. Her breath still came a little fast. But the boys' panicked retreat was worth every sore muscle.
She watched them stumble backward, then turn and flee in clumsy haste, clutching at one another like frightened children who had just seen a ghost. The sight of it lifted something in her chest.
She was pleased.
Not because she enjoyed cruelty, but because for once, the fear was not hers.
Only then did she turn back to Aelion.
