The villa's main room was quiet when Holden walked in.
Team Soup was already there. Lyra sat on the couch. Emric stood by the window, arms behind his back. Renna was perched on the armrest, bouncing her leg.
They had heard. The entire academy had heard.
Holden stood and looked at each of them.
"The Royal Envoy challenged me to the National Academy Wars," he said. "A tournament in the Capital. If I win, the grudge is settled. If I lose, they strip my immunity and come after me legally."
He paused.
"I'm not asking any of you to fight this battle for me. This is my mess. You can walk away and nobody would blame you."
Emric pushed his glasses up his nose. "Based on our performance metrics during the Borderland Expedition, our team coordination rating exceeds eighty-seven percent. Between our personal fighting skills and your strategy, we've got about a seventy-two percent chance of taking down any of the regular teams at the academy."
He looked at Holden.
