Elara's POV
Principal Marcella appeared at the classroom door during third period and asked for me by name, and thirty pairs of eyes turned in my direction with the particular interest people reserved for someone being pulled out of class unexpectedly, the kind of attention that followed you down the hallway even after the door had closed behind you.
I gathered my things and followed her into the corridor without asking why, because her expression was not the kind that invited questions, careful and neutral in the way she got when something was happening that she had decided in advance not to comment on, and we walked in silence toward the main building with the morning light coming through the corridor windows in long pale strips across the floor.
"You have visitors," was all she said
