Part of Zoe wished she'd gone along on the field trip. Half of her friends—more than half, really—were in Gildingham now.

But there was no way she could leave Jaye alone at Foxfire after what had happened during the Great Splotching Championship. The whole thing with Larrina was getting way too annoying and complicated and Jaye would just get in more trouble if there wasn't someone around to keep an eye on him.

And, besides, she didn't want her older sister to be in charge of her. Even though Xandra was usually pretty cool, she didn't know if she could handle having her bossing her around.

Technically, ability detecting was offered until Level Six, even though pretty much nobody manifested older than fifteen, but Zoe and her parents had done a lot of arguing with the Councilors and basically invented something called skills focus class, a more in-depth version of P. E. pretty much no one with an ability took because it happened at the same time as ability sessions.

Honestly, Zoe was pretty sure her intense telekinesis talents were more due to the skills focus class than any innate gift.

And it seemed that Larrina had deduced that, too.

The day after Torrin and Callista had left, Larrina walked up to the P. E. Mentors with a sheet of paper.

Lady Marya frowned. "Larrina. You should be practicing your channeling."

Larrina smiled. "Normally, I would be doing that, but something important has come to my attention. The students that finish near the top for in the Great Splotching Championship tend to be Talentless individuals who, unable to take ability sessions, spend those class periods practicing their skills. Subsequently, they have an unfair advantage over those of us who have manifested. Ever since the most recent obviously rigged Splotching Championship, I have talked to parents and fellow students and drafted a petition to exclude those who take skills focus classes from skills competitions."

Lady Marya didn't even look perturbed. "The students taking S. F. are just making an efficient use of their time. If you want to have a fair chance of beating them, you could practice telekinesis outside of physical education."

Larrina scowled. "I'm afraid I don't have a photographic memory like Zoe Foster and actually have to study. Besides, I need to practice my telepathy. It's a really complicated ability and I can't just waste it or I'd be no better than a Talentless." She shook the paper in Lady Marya's face. "This has been signed by my parents, Tyrie and his parents, the Callums, and dozens of other elves who are concerned about the direction Foxfire is going."

Lady Marya sighed. "I'm concerned about how your channeling is going. Put that away. If you have complaints, you can take them to the Council."

Larrina nodded. "Gladly. The Council really needs to know they can't be bossed around by Sophie Foster just because she saved the world, like, forever ago." She folded up the paper and slid it into a pocket. Her eyes found Zoe as she walked away from Lady Marya.

Zoe sent her a deadly glare. This isn't over.

Larrina glared back. No. It isn't.

And Zoe knew whatever had made Larrina hate her—and not just her but everyone who didn't fit into Larrina Vacker's neat little boxes—wasn't about to quit.

Good thing Zoe—the Talentless Foster a year ahead in school who had just won the Great Splotching Championship—didn't give up either.