Secrets of the Starrs

Chapter 7

I returned Elody to her room and confiscated all sharp objects. It was past lunchtime now, and my stomach rumbled unpleasantly as I thought about what I'd seen.
I'd known that Elody was jealous and upset that we'd been promoted before her. I'd known that. Sam had known that.
She'd often been jealous of us growing up. Whether it was me being slightly better at hunting and archery when I was twelve, or Sam beating her in a running race aged ten. But now, as I stood in my barrack running my hands through my hair, I realised she'd always vanish after these incidents had occurred.
The door opened with a bang and Sam thundered in, looking flustered. His dark hair was sticking up and he was sweating profusely.  "Max..."he said, clearly very out of breath.
"Sam, what in the name of..."
Sam was so breathless he could only manage a single word. "Elody."
My heart began to thump painfully. "What about her?"
Sam mimed cutting his wrist.
I took a deep breath. "Yes I know. I caught her at it on the training ground."
Despite himself, Sam gasped. "You mean it?"
"Yes,"I replied, hating this conversation.
"Did you take sharp stuff?"said Sam, starting to get his breath back.
"Yes of course,"I said, shaking my head at him. "I ran all the way from the archery practice park to here,"said Sam, now collapsing on his bed. "And you already knew! Oh well. So, what are we going to do?"
Before I could reply, a gong sounded from outside.
That could only mean one thing.
"Emergency from Master Konrad,"Sam said hurriedly. "Quick! We'd better get to the courtyard."