Book 9: Chapter 10: An Unfortunate Parting
Sen watched Wu Meng Yao conduct the class from the concealment of a shadow. He’d rarely done more than take quick glimpses of her teaching, mostly because he trusted that she didn’t need the supervision. Unlike two other instructors he’d only decided to let stay on a whim. They’d both pled their cases well enough and seemed to have settled their differences. Or, at the very least, they’d learned not to share their animosity publicly, which he decided was good enough. She’d only gotten better since the last time he’d stayed and watched. He expected some of it was raw experience. She wasn’t as nervous, so she wasn’t thinking so hard about every last thing that came out of her mouth. She also knew now where and when to focus her attention. It figures, thought Sen. But I always knew this day was coming.
He waited until the last of the students filed out before he revealed himself. He’d learned the hard way that his presence was just about the single most disruptive thing that could happen in one of these classes short of what an actual attack on the academy might provoke. He was hiding, so it took her a few moments to notice him standing there. She let out a startled little shriek. Sen wanted to feel bad about the minor fright, except the look on her face was so funny that he couldn’t quite manage it. He must not have hidden his thoughts quite well enough because she narrowed her eyes at him.
“Not funny,” she said. “How long have you been there anyway?”
“Since the class started,” said Sen.
“What? Seriously?”
“How is this kind of thing still a surprise to you?” asked Sen, honestly perplexed.
“It’s unnatural, for one. No one as powerful as you should be able to go unnoticed like that. Most can’t. That’s just such an unfair advantage.”
“Yes, well, I am magnificent.”
“I’m one hundred percent sure that wasn’t the thing you should have taken from those comments. With all due respect to the Patriarch.”