Shira paused after straightening her cot. "In the camp?"

Anne nodded.

A foolish question... except that... except that I can't count the time. How many times have I fallen asleep in this cot? Shira paused to think. Anne giggled. At how many dinners has Kyle told his jokes? I can't remember.

"You've been here exactly twenty-eight days."

"You've been counting?"

"In a way. I keep a sort of diary."

So like Lindsey, but...

Anne laughed. "It's strange, the way time passes here."

Shira thought. Twenty-eight days of straightening the barracks and eating at the mess and adding layer upon layer of practice and knowledge in the medic training. Constant friendliness from Anne. An ever-growing warmth from Kyle. Fewer attacks of the strange skin tingling. A long time since the School of Mages.

Shira watched Anne sweep the last of the dirt into the cracks between the floorboards. "What does it mean when they order us to clean up before dinner like this?"

Anne paused in her sweeping. "First of all, a camp-wide inspection. Then..." Anne took a breath. "We might move out of the camp for good. Maybe fighting. We could move out as early as tomorrow morning."