“When you play the game of thrones you win or you die.” — George R. R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

  ???

  It would probably make for a rather amusing sight on any other day, General Callum Thorne thought to himself with mild amusement, even as he watched from where he sat near the instructor’s desk at the front of the classroom, observing the two classes of drenched students filing in.

  Half of them wore beaming expressions and didn’t seem to mind being soaked at all. In fact, they were laughing and jostling, with more than one of them trying to talk to Yuliana Nightray, who was flanked on either side by Elias Rovaryn and Gale Valemire. A red-haired girl and Heir Carrington were with her as well.

  Lord Hamilton’s daughter seems rather popular, Callum thought to himself with amusement, recalling that Hamilton himself had been quite well-liked back when he was a student, much to Selene’s annoyance—the girl who would later become Hamilton’s wife.

  In stark contrast, the other half that entered the classroom—largely consisting of a rather sullen Prince Rem and a scowling Nathan Hunt, were all doom and gloom. Callum could almost see storm clouds hovering above their heads. Nathan Hunt, for one, was practically glaring daggers at Yuliana Nightray.

  The head instructor cleared his throat deliberately as the last student took their seat. The rain was getting heavier, pattering like pebbles against the window panes, with the skies outside turning an ominous grey.

  The classroom quietened, with the students turning their attention towards the front. Two other instructors were also present, scribbling notes in their clipboards, and with a stack of parchment and files arranged neatly on the instructor’s table.

  “Quiet, now,” The head instructor said. “I’ll try to make this debriefing session short, since I suspect more than a few of you would like to head for the showers.” He gave pointed glances at a few of the students who were still covered in mud and grime from the war simulation. “But first, a quick overview of what both the blue and red teams did during the exercise.” He turned to one of the instructors, who nodded.

  The instructor looked from his clipboard, and to several students in the classroom, who were part of the red team under Prince Rem’s command in the mock war simulation. “First, the red team,” he begun. “You pursued a strategy based on diplomacy and peacekeeping, even initiating peace talks.” Several members of the red team flushed, already anticipating what is to come. More than one of them gave Prince Rem dirty looks, and Nathan glared back. “However, you failed to account for the fact that those ‘factions’ agreeing to your talks and ‘siding’ with you might not be as truthful as they seem. In actual warfare, you must learn to tell when someone is lying straight to your face, or mixing truth with falsehoods.” The instructor gave the students stern looks. “Even as soldiers, the excuse of “I’m just following orders” doesn’t hold up in military court any longer, especially if you know that those orders would be simply condemning your squad to die.”

  Several students flinched. Rem looked as if he’s trying to disappear in his seat, his face flushed with shame and embarrassment.

  “Your already limited food and supplies were sabotaged by so-called ‘neutral’ peacekeepers. By that point, you should have grown suspicious of your other ‘allies’. But you didn’t.” The instructor gave Rem a grim look. “Two factions, allies that you’ve made and parleyed with, declared neutrality. The same peacekeeping faction is what led to your downfall.” The instructor placed his clipboard on the table. “If this had been an actual war, the decisions you’ve made would have led to the deaths of your entire unit.”

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  The head instructor sighed. “Red team, please explain your reasoning,” he said.

  All eyes in the classroom turned towards the table where Rem is seated with Leighton and Nathan on either side, even as thunder rumbled in the distance.

  Rem raised his head, trying to steady his voice. “Alliances are common in times of war,” he said, his voice wavering at certain points. “We sought alliances. Tried to establish routes for peace—”

  The head instructor sighed, holding up his hand. “Enough. I asked for your reasoning behind your strategies during the mock simulation,” he said.

  Nathan scowled. “We would have won. We were sabotaged.” He glared at Yulia who wasn’t fazed. “The peacekeeping faction turned on us.”

  Leighton looked as if he wanted to groan. “They were never neutral, like I said,” he said tiredly. “They played us.”

  Rem fidgeted before raising his head, his gaze going towards Yulia, who stared back coolly at him from her seat between Elias and Gale, with Rowan, Kaela, and Felix seated in front of them. “…The blue team rigged the test,” he said, his voice soft, but it carried clearly across the classroom.

  Yulia sighed, before half-rising to her feet. “I acted within the rules. And you forgot, Prince Rem, that in war, there are no rules. We were told to use whatever that we had at our disposal. I did. We did.” She gestured to the students seated on the blue team’s side of the classroom.

  At the front of the classroom, the instructors and Callum Thorne remained silent, observing.

  “I played to win,” Yulia said simply. “You played to be liked.”

  Thunder rumbled once more, with lightning flashing across the skies outside the windows.

  Rem pressed his lips together tightly. “You used misinformation,” he said bitterly. “Sabotaged our alliances. Spread false flags. You forged orders.”

  “You only got yourself to blame for believing the words from the mouths of total ‘strangers’.” Felix scoffed.

  Yulia didn’t react to either Rem’s words or Felix’s rebuttal. “And you let strangers walk into your camp because they smiled at you,” she said coolly. “I believe some of your own team members warned you, didn’t they?” She looked around the classroom. Most of Rem’s teammates looked down at their desks, unable to meet her eyes.

  Rem’s fists shook on the table. “This was supposed to be diplomacy,” he protested weakly.

  Yulia’s voice cut through like steel. “You played to be liked, Your Highness. I’ve told you time and again that war doesn’t care about rules. Neither does reality.”

  “This was a simulation test—” Rem begun, but his words were cut off by the sound of Kaela getting to her feet, slamming her hands onto the desk in front of her, narrowing her eyes at the prince.

  “And how you act here is how you’ll act there when it’s real. That’s the point.” Kaela snapped. “We didn’t break any rules. We followed them. It’s not our problem if you believe the ‘lies’ that you were told. In an actual war, only a fool trusts the word of a smiling stranger.”

  Rem’s face flushed, and Nathan’s scowl deepened. “You set us up—”

  “You never understood how soldiers think,” Yulia interrupted, ignoring Nathan like he didn’t speak, her silver eyes staring straight at Rem. Most of the students in the classroom were looking from one to the other throughout everything. Even the instructors and Callum were just observing. “You never understood or tried to understand how commanders lead when lives are on the line. Until now, you still don’t.” There was an undertone of disappointment in her voice. “If you’re not careful, Your Highness, you’re going to lose the support of your generals. And they’re the ones actually keeping the kingdom alive. Not Parliament. Not courtiers. Not your speeches.”

  Nathan scowled at Yulia. “You’re just—”

  A new voice cut through the classroom, silencing Nathan’s protests.

  “To be honest,” Callum Thorne spoke for the first time, drawing the classroom’s attention. “I was surprised and a bit disappointed how the red team conducted themselves today. I was expecting better from a team that had the Crown Prince as their commander.” Rem flinched. “Your classmates are right, Your Highness. In war, there are no rules. Nothing like today. If this had been real, and you’ve given those same orders, it would have meant sending your men to their deaths.” Callum got to his feet slowly, his military coat swishing around him. “Diplomacy has its time and place. But it does not belong on a battlefield. Your Highness, I suggest you learn this lesson sooner rather than later.”

  Rem flinched, but said nothing even as Callum Thorne left the classroom, his military coat swishing around his body as he did so. The prince’s eyes were fixed on the desk.

  He had meant to win this simulation by unity and trust. To prove to Yulia and everyone that diplomacy could work.

  But it hadn’t.

  All it resulted is proving Yulia right.

  And now, Rem feared that this had merely widened the rift between them further.