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A/N: I have recently updated my Patreon. I’m going to be doing more with it in 2017 including a bunch of free stuff so it’s worth a look even if you don’t want to back it.

Kate had been practising ignoring Ophelia and from the corner of her eye she could see that the girl did indeed look quite nonplussed by her lack of reaction.

“Aren’t we going to go and annoy Ophelia today?” Amy asked when she showed no interest.

“Not today, Amy.” She fanned herself with an exercise book. “It’s far too hot for that.” She didn’t mention that she was aching all over. Paritan had been training her hard for the past two days and nights and she was surprised she didn’t have visible bruises for the number of times he’d handed her ass to her. Still true to Darlryan’s word she now had, an admittedly basic, grasp of sword fighting she wouldn’t have believed possible in such a short time.

She smirked at?Amy who looked just as baffled as Ophelia. “Don’t let me stop you if you want to, but please stop gawking at me like I grew a second–” She broke off as she felt something like an iron weight press down on her head, a moment later the sensation of someone gripping her arms and pinning her down overcame her. “What the hell!” She turned towards the portacabins even before the cry rang out and gasped as pain blossomed in her ribs. It felt like someone was kicking her. “Damn! This hadn’t happened in so long I forgot about it.”

“Do you have another headache coming on, Kate?” Amy put a concerned hand on her shoulder.

“It’s not that,” Kate said. “Someone’s hurt…” She scowled at portacabins as she felt another kick. “And no one is going.” She came to a decision. “Stay here.” She headed towards the portacabins to investigate.

A boy from year nine was holding down an Asian kid – who looked like he was from year seven or maybe eight if he was small for his age – while another boy gave the lad a severe kicking. And every time his boot crunched into the boy she felt it too. Damn! That hurt! And it was probably worse for the kid. She rubbed at her sore ribs and growled at the boys. They jumped and looked at her.

“Leave the kid alone and pick on someone your own size,” she told them. “He hasn’t done anything to you!”

“Shut the fuck up, bitch!” The boy who had been doing the kicking pulled himself up to his full height and took a threatening step towards her. “He doesn’t belong here. He should go back to India.”

Oh joy, a racist prat. Kate assessed the boy – he was tall for his age. Taller and more massive than her even given how much younger he was. She could sense that he thought he could take her easily. He really had no idea how wrong he was. Her lips curled into a smirk that made him blink and look uncertain. His hand dipped into his pocket and when it re-emerged there was a glint of metal. He was clutching a small knife… only three inches long but it certainly could be a risk. “Do you want to go to prison?” She nodded at the blade.

The boy didn’t reply he just took a menacing step towards her. “Keep out of this or–” Kate didn’t wait to see what happened next – her fist connected with his jaw with a satisfying crack before he had a chance to stab her and knocked him out cold. As he hit the ground with a thump she turned her attention to his accomplice.

“Well?” she said coolly.

The second boy took one look at his fallen friend and bolted. Kate snorted and stepped over the unconscious boy to his victim and knelt down.

“You okay, kid?” she asked but the boy was barely conscious and could only groan at her. She really didn’t like the way he was struggling to breathe, she decided, but she didn’t know any first aid and didn’t want to make things worse. “I’ll go and get some help.”

“Okay, who are you and what have you done with the real Kate?”

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