“anyway?” Raban asked. “There’s no way you’re getting culled now. Every master is going to submit a bid for you. Why do you have to win?” Raban was right. At this point Irjah would have no qualms about bidding for her. Rin’s position at Sinegard was safe. But it wasn’t about bids now, it was about pride. It was about power. If she surrendered to Nezha, he would hold it over her for the rest of their time at the Academy. No—he’d hold it over her for life. “Because I can,” she said. “Because he thought he could get rid of me. Because I want to break his stupid face.”