Loreth appeared pensive. He gazed down at Andres’ fish. “Rhen is at the Elfin University?” he asked.
“Yes,” Andres confirmed.
“His birth family wanted him to go?”
“I don’t know,” Andres admitted. “They didn’t object to it.”
Reaching up to stroke his chin, Loreth smiled at Andres. “Leave him. I’ll enjoy our victory over Thestran even more if they fall in love with our Rhen. How delightful to watch the horror on their faces when they see his betrayal. Yes,” Loreth said with a laugh. “Let’s leave him for now. I want to conquer Thestran after those fools learn to trust and adore him. Once they consider him to be theirs, we will strike.”
“As you wish sir,” Andres said, feeling relieved. His own pleasure at the thought of hurting Rhen’s birth family was lifting his mood.
Chapter 14
Elfin University – Student Dining Hall
Rhen and Ceceta walked into the student dining hall the next morning to find Rhen’s sister Lilly and a few of the University’s teachers eating breakfast at a table in the back of the room. Lilly waved hello to them as soon as they entered, while the teachers sitting with her turned their heads to stare. It was obvious from their expressions that Lilly had been talking about them. Ceceta waved back as Rhen leaned over and whispered, “I guess we’re the freak-show attraction.”
“Did you think things would change here on Thestran?” she said as Rhen chuckled and poked her in the ribs. Ceceta smiled and sat down across from him at their assigned table. As soon as they were seated the University’s staff placed bowls of bloodworms in front of them. “They’re good,” Ceceta said of the school’s employees. She had been impressed at the speed with which they had met her needs. Rhen nodded as a staff member filled his glass with blood and placed the pitcher onto the table in front of him.
Overnight, a few of the elfin students had decided they would sit with the youngest Thestran Prince at breakfast no matter what he was eating. To Rhen’s chagrin, seven students placed their trays onto the table around them. They greeted Rhen and Ceceta and held out their hands to shake. Rhen ignored them as he drank from his glass. He had no desire to meet any Thestrans. Ceceta was desperate to respond but dropped her head down to look at her bowl since Rhen hadn’t given her permission to speak yet.
The elves remained at their table, chatting about various upcoming sporting events while encouraging Rhen to get involved. Rhen’s response to their dialogue was to pick up a few of the wiggling bloodworms from his bowl and pop them into his mouth. As he crunched their red-capped heads, the bloodworms emitted a thick, warm, rusty blood smell. The elfin students gagged, and within minutes they had all moved to different tables. Rhen smiled with triumph, revealing blood-soaked teeth, as Ceceta kicked him under the table. He knew it was for the best. The Thestrans should learn to stay away from him. When Ceceta kicked him again under the table, Rhen grimaced; the moment he gave her permission to speak, he was done for. She’d be all over him. For the rest of their breakfast Rhen ate at a snail’s pace, enjoying the silence before the maelstrom.
The classes that Kate and Henry had chosen for Rhen and Ceceta were History of the Thestran Royal Family, Writing Composition, Women in Interuniversal Politics, Astronomy and Math Level 1. Professor Dewey had suggested giving them a language class, but Kate and Henry had told him not to bother. Rhen could already speak more languages than most people. As Rhen and Ceceta moved from classroom to classroom, they noticed they had the same students in most of their classes. It seemed the freshmen class had been broken into groups and each group stayed together throughout the day.
Most of Rhen’s teachers found him infuriating. He would gaze out the windows or flip through his textbooks, looking at their pictures during the lectures. It was obvious he had no interest in being at the University. Professor Dewey had told Rhen’s teachers that they were not allowed to discipline him, nor could they fail him. They had to give passing grades, no matter what work he did. It was a nightmare situation for them.
“I’m bored,” Rhen said when he and Ceceta entered their math class after lunch.
Ceceta refused to answer him. She was still angry at him for scaring away the students who had approached them during breakfast. Rhen plopped down into the seat beside hers and glanced up at the young man who was teaching math. He couldn’t have been much older than they were. He was a dark-skinned elf with shoulder length black hair and a warm, inviting expression.
Professor DiGrego had heard, from the other teachers at lunch, that Rhen was disrespectful. He didn’t mind as long as Rhen didn’t take away instruction time from the other students. “I’m glad you’re here,” he began, as he wrote an equation on the screen in the front of the room. Several of the students smiled at his apparent enthusiasm. “If any of you can figure out this equation, you’ll receive an A in this class and you’ll be excused from taking math for the rest of your time here at the University.” Mr. DiGrego smiled as he watched the students’ eager expressions while they read the equation. He knew the problem was far beyond their years. It was too advanced for even the graduate students.
Rhen sighed and glanced up at the screen. Within seconds, the answer to Mr. DiGrego’s question popped into his mind. He debated whether he should answer it. He wanted to stay with Ceceta, but the idea of escaping these horrible Thestran classes for even a few minutes made him lift his hand to get Professor DiGrego’s attention. “75.75,” he told the teacher, giving Ceceta a triumphant smile. He was ready to go. In fact, he wanted to go home. He’d had enough school to last him a lifetime.
“Excuse me?” Professor DiGrego asked. He wasn’t sure he’d heard right. He had been teaching math for ten years and no one had ever figured out one of his opening equations.
“75.75,” Rhen repeated, with annoyance.
Mr. DiGrego gave a surprised laugh. He couldn’t believe it. Rhen had figured out his equation. “Was that a lucky guess?” he asked. Instead of answering, Rhen stared at him without any expression on his face. Professor DiGrego walked back to the screen and wrote out another equation. Turning to Rhen, he said, “If you can get this one, I’ll give you an A in the class.”
Rhen felt himself flush with anger. “You already said that I was getting an A. Why do I have to continue? Were you lying before?”
“No,” Professor DiGrego said, hoping to calm Rhen down. “It’s just that I’ve never had a student who could answer that problem before. In case you were told about it before coming to the University, I want proof you solved it yourself.”
“So,” Rhen said, shifting in his seat. “You’re calling me a liar.”
Professor DiGrego realized why the other teachers had found Rhen difficult. It was because he was difficult. “Rhen,” he said in an appeasing tone of voice. “You get an A in this class for the year. Would you please amuse me by answering this equation?”
“And I never have to take math at this University again?” Rhen prompted.
Professor DiGrego squirmed. That promise was beyond his power, but he’d made it so he had to uphold it. “Okay,” he said. “But first, you need to answer a few other problems, so when I go to the Math Department to petition for your removal from the program, I’ll have the data I need to have you released.”
Rhen glanced up at the screen and said, “235.678.”
Professor DiGrego looked over his shoulder. “Correct,” he said, before writing a new problem on the screen. “Try this one.” Before he could turn around, Rhen answered, “0.56734.”
Without responding Professor DiGrego continued to write equations on the screen. Rhen gave the correct answer to each of one before Mr. DiGrego could remove his hand. Soon Professor DiGrego was pulling math books off his bookcase. He copied down equation after equation onto the screen; Rhen answered each of them as soon as he had finished writing them down.
When he’d reached the end of the book he was holding, Professor DiGrego slammed it shut and placed it onto his desk. “You’re a
genius,” he said. “A mathematical genius. How’d you know the answers to these equations? I didn’t even know the answers to some of them. I had to look them up in the back of the book after you’d given me your answer.”
Rhen shrugged.
Professor DiGrego walked over to stand in front of Rhen’s desk. He gazed down with awe. “You’re a genius,” he repeated. “Would you consider joining the University’s Math Club? We try to discover answers to the Universe’s greatest math problems.”
“No,” Rhen said.
“Please,” Mr. DiGrego urged. “With your knowledge, we’d be able to advance the field of mathematics to new heights. It’d be amazing what we could do.”
Rhen shook his head. He had no interest in becoming involved in the University. He wanted to leave it as soon as possible, without upsetting Ceceta.
Professor DiGrego sighed. “Perhaps we’ll be able to entice you into joining us later in the year. It’d be a shame not to tap into your innate skills and knowledge.” Rhen glanced over towards the door. It was clear what he wanted. “Alright,” Mr. DiGrego said, stepping away from Rhen’s desk. “You can go. Would you like me to have the Headmaster find you another class during this period?”
“No!” Ceceta yelled out, startling everyone.
“Okay…” Professor DiGrego said, taking a moment to study Ceceta. He’d heard from the other teachers that she never spoke. As far as he knew, this was the first word she’d said all day. He found Rhen and Ceceta’s behavior odd and wondered what life was like on Surpen.
Rhen stood up and leaned over to kiss Ceceta. “I’ll see you at our History of the Thestran Royal Family class,” he told her in Surpen. She nodded as he turned to go.
At the Headmaster’s request, Lilly had been attending Rhen’s classes. She hesitated, watching Rhen walk towards the door. She wasn’t sure if she should follow him or stay with Ceceta.
“Hey,” Professor DiGrego called out to Rhen when he opened the door. “If you change your mind about Math Club, let me know. We’re always happy to have a brilliant mathematician join us.” For a moment, it looked like Rhen was about to laugh, but he stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Since Lilly was supposed to be keeping an eye on Rhen, she wanted to follow him, but she decided it would be too obvious if she did, so she remained in her seat. She wasn’t sure what his reaction would be if he found out she was spying on him.
After math class, which the rest of the students found very difficult, Lilly walked with Ceceta towards her History of the Thestran Royal Family class. “So, Ceceta,” she said in Neptian. “How did Rhen know the answers to all of those equations?”
Ceceta shrugged. She could talk to other women when there weren’t any men present, so she added, “I don’t know.”
“He must’ve had a wonderful math teacher on Surpen,” Lilly said, increasing her speed to keep up.
Ceceta laughed out loud. “No,” she said, reaching out to open the door to her history class. “He’s never taken math.”
Lilly stared at Ceceta with raised eyebrows, but before she could ask her to explain, several male students walked up behind them. Ceceta dropped her head down and walked into the classroom, taking one of the seats in the front. A few minutes later Rhen strode into the room looking very pleased. Ceceta could smell the scent of the Surpen Beasts of War on his tunic, and she realized he had popped home for a quick visit while she was in math class. Ceceta reached out to touch Rhen’s arm. His skin was still warm from the Surpen sun. “Bad boy,” she whispered in Surpen under her breath. Rhen gave her one of his mischievous smiles before their history teacher began.
Professor Balot closed the door to the classroom. “I love teaching this class, because I find the Royal Family fascinating. Don’t you?”
The students murmured in agreement as Mr. Balot walked to the front of the room. “Occasionally, we’re lucky enough to have a member of the Royal Family join us, but now,” he said, turning towards Lilly and Rhen, “for the first time, we have two. Does anyone want to get their autographs before we begin?”
The students weren’t sure if he was serious or not. They wanted Lilly and Rhen’s autographs, but they hesitated. They’d heard rumors about Mr. Balot. He wasn’t supposed to be nice. Mr. Balot laughed at their indecision and said, “Maybe you can get them after class.” Turning towards Rhen he said, “I believe this will be the most interesting class I’ve ever taught. In the past, we’ve spoken about the members of the Thestran Royal Family in detail, but we’ve only ever mentioned Kate and Henry’s youngest son, Max, briefly. Now Max is in our classroom and—”
“My name is Rhen,” Rhen said, interrupting him.
Mr. Balot paused to regard him. “Yes, of course,” he said. He glanced back at the rest of his students. “It appears I’ve been teaching Max’s history incorrectly. It’s time,” he said, staring down at Rhen, “for you to tell us your story.” Rhen remained quiet, so Professor Balot continued. “You’ve always been a side note in my students’ education. My bonus question on tests: ‘Do you know what planet Max is currently living on?’”
Rhen remained focused on his desk. He could tell Professor Balot was baiting him. He’d met men like him before. There was always someone out there who wanted to test themselves against him, someone who wanted to prove they were stronger than him.
“I do hope you’ll tell us what you’ve been doing with your life,” Mr. Balot said. “For example,” he added, leaning so close to Rhen that their faces almost touched. “How did it come to pass that you can eat meat? Was it hard being the only Thestran on a Convention run world? What was it like to be forced to call King Andres dad?”
Rhen was going to have to fight him. There wasn’t any way around it. Mr. Balot wasn’t going to leave him alone. Rhen raised his eyes to Balot’s. “It’s none of your business,” he told the man.
“Oh, yes, it is Max. You’re a part of the Thestran Royal Family. What you do is our business. We have a right to know about your life. You owe it to us, Max.”
Professor Balot was so close that Rhen could smell the fish he had had for lunch. Gritting his teeth, Rhen decided to give the man one more chance. “I am not a Thestran,” he told Professor Balot. “I am a Surpen. Therefore, I don’t owe you anything. Should you move to Surpen, I would be happy to tell you what I have been doing with my life.”
Mr. Balot chuckled. Rhen felt his hot, stinky breath blowing against his cheeks. “You don’t look like a Surpen to me,” Professor Balot said. “You look like a plain old Thestran elf.”
Rhen thrust himself forward, head butting Professor Balot. The man fell to the ground unconscious. Standing up, Rhen surveyed the shocked students around him. “Class dismissed,” he announced, walking out the door without looking back.
The room erupted as everyone began to talk at once. No one could believe what Rhen had done. He was sure to be expelled. The students rushed out into the hallway, telling everyone they met about what had happened to Mr. Balot.
Lilly bent down over the fallen professor. She had never liked the man. Mr. Balot had deserved it. He’d been antagonizing Rhen. Reaching out, she used her powers to wake him up, then shook the chill from her hands. Without a word of thanks, he rose and rushed out of the room to inform the Headmaster.
Lilly sat down on the floor and rubbed her arms to warm them. She glanced back at the desks and noticed Ceceta sitting alone, staring out into space.
“He was asking for it you know,” Ceceta said in Neptian. “I thought this school experience was going to be fun, but it’s been miserable. And now,” she added with a sigh. “I guess it’s over.”
Lilly wanted to tell Ceceta she wasn’t going to be expelled, but she had no idea what the Headmaster was going to do.
“What was I thinking?” Ceceta said. “You can’t ask a wild tiger to watch babies without at least one of them getting killed.”
Lilly laughed. Ceceta gave her a sad smile and ran her fingers over the covers of her te
xtbooks. “I guess I’ll just leave them here and go pack,” she said, reaching up to take the translating device out of her ear.
“No,” Lilly exclaimed, rising to her feet. “I’m not going to let him get away with this. Professor Balot is not going to get Rhen expelled. Don’t worry Ceceta, I’ll take care of it.” Without waiting for a response, Lilly rushed from the room.
An hour later, Rhen lay under the apple trees on the hill near the Teachers’ Residence Hall. He had apologized to Ceceta for his behavior, and it seemed as if she had forgiven him. Professor Dewey, Lilly, Mr. Balot, Kate and Henry were meeting to discuss his fate. He didn’t care what they decided. He was going home. He had had enough of this whole ‘school’ thing and he wanted out. He would insist Ceceta accompany him back to Surpen this evening.
A gorgeous blue butterfly fluttered by Rhen, making looping shapes as it searched for food. Its wings matched the color of Ceceta’s cheeks. As Rhen watched the butterfly move from flower to flower, he was suddenly hit with guilt. He had agreed to let Ceceta attend this University, and now he was ruining it for her. They hadn’t even gotten through one complete day and he was already forcing her to go home. Ceceta. His beautiful, loving, supportive wife.
A group of students approached him to thank him for putting Mr. Balot in his place. They were the seventh group to stop by since he had sat down under this tree. Rhen gave them his usual nod and watched as they ran off, laughing at his balls for knocking out a teacher. Earlier, Charlie had sat down next to him to tell him that he should’ve knocked out Mr. Balot in secret, so he wouldn’t have gotten in trouble. Rhen had assured Charlie that the next time he would be more careful.
The next time, Rhen thought. He groaned. He felt terrible for Ceceta. The excitement on her face when they had gotten out of bed this morning had thrilled him. He loved it when she was happy. She was the only thing in the Universe that he cared about and now he was letting her down. Rhen closed his eyes and made a promise. If Professor Dewey didn’t expel him, he would behave himself and support Ceceta for as long as she intended to stay at this school. It was the least he could do for her, after the years of support she had given him.
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