The conversation at our table moved to parties and, of course, next week’s tourney. Thankfully, no one expected me to contribute much until we were back in class, where the current affairs teacher decided to single me out.
“I’m happy to welcome Princess Lilith into my class,” Master Carmelo said.
“Thanks,” I murmured. All teachers had said the same thing.
“Today, we are focusing on the Guardians,” he added.
Snickers and telepathic whispers followed. The mental comments weren’t nice.
“Now, now, be nice.” He grinned. “And since you have so much to say, today’s topic is…drumroll, please.”
The students pounded their desks.
Master Carmelo raised his hands and silence filled the room. “How can we make the Guardians understand that they are misguided? How can we make them join us in the fight to reclaim this world? Go.” He sat on the edge of his desk and crossed his arms, his eyes darting from student to student.
“Convince them to love themselves first, and humans second,” someone called out from the back.
“They need to accept that survival is for the fittest,” another student added. “Even humans believe that.”
“And your point is?” Master Carmelo asked.
“If humans can’t compete with us, they should step aside and let us run things or get crushed into extinction. The dinosaurs once owned the world, and now they’re gone.”
The debate that followed showed how divided the students were and how passionate they were about their positions. Some were convinced the Guardians were beyond redemption and should be wiped out. Others were more forgiving and thought we should bring them to the negotiation table. No one mentioned the dark lords.
Master Carmelo’s eyes found me. “Lilith, any thoughts on the subject?”
Everyone turned to look at me. Yeah, pick on the new girl who was hoping to get a pass on her first day. Whatever I said could be misinterpreted or taken as my father’s position. Lady Nemea had drummed that in me. I was never to take sides, either. On the other hand…
“Violence only breeds more violence. Is negotiation the solution? Maybe. It depends on whether both sides are willing to come to the table and talk.”
The silence that followed was deafening.
“So, how would you go about making this happen?” Master Carmelo asked.
Seriously? I wanted to tell him to stop putting me on the spot, but princesses weren’t supposed to show excessive emotions. Dang, I hated hearing Lady Nemea’s voice in my head.
“I would find moderate Guardian and Hermonite leaders and start a dialogue,” I said.
The students started to whisper among themselves. Katia, seated beside me, leaned over and said, “Nicely said. Very diplomatic.”
“Annoyingly vague, typical bureaucrat mumbo-jumbo,” Lottius retorted from my other side.
I glared at her. “I can’t very well tell them to storm the Guardian enclave and demand they stop or else,” I said.
Lottius grinned. “Why not? You achieve results faster that way.”
“What if talks fail, Princess Lilith?” Master Carmelo asked.
Okay, the teacher needed to leave me alone. Then it’s time to kick ass. No, I couldn’t say that. “Then we up the pressure until they cave in. And please, don’t ask me how, because I’m not exactly sure whether we could do that without crushing them.”
Laughter filled the class.
Master Carmelo took pity on me and moved on to someone else. After that, the topic switched to current affairs. In the last twenty minutes of class, everyone went online. Katia helped me create accounts. By the end of the class, I’d received friend requests from everyone in the class.
Time-power class proved to be just as interesting as energy. Time was Lottius’s element and she owned it. Like her, most of the students controlled time by time-travelling. They didn’t go far, but the tricks they pulled were cool. Like in energy, my ability to control time was different from the others. I’d assumed I simply stopped time, but my teacher explained it better. I controlled time by putting it in a loop.
“How was school?” Lady Nemea asked as soon as I arrived home.
“I blew up a class, but they decided not to contact you, because I told them not to.” I opened the fridge and removed a bottle of water. “Is Father home yet?”
“You blew up a class?”
I saw her face and laughed. “I’m kidding.”
She shook her head. “You… So, how was it?”
“Great. I made new friends and I have an hour and a half before my session with Master Kenta. I’m starving.”
“I’ll ask the kitchen staff—”
“No, I’ll go and get something myself. Bilal promised me a mango smoothie.” I could tell she wanted to ask something. “Come. I know you’re dying to know what really happened at school.”
“Of course not.” She straightened her posture. “However, I will come to make sure the staff doesn’t ply you with too much food before your practice.”
I hid a smile. She’d missed me. For two and a half months, she’d been responsible for me. Monitoring what I ate, where I went and with whom, and all of a sudden I was gone for hours. She probably knew who had drained my psi energy, which meant I probably owed her for keeping my surging energy a secret.
I took her arm. “Come on.”
As usual, the kitchen was buzzing with activities. The aroma of spices and freshly baked pastries filled the air, but my eyes went to the tall glass of a yellow drink on the kitchen table. Bilal was removing more baked goodness from the oven when she noticed us. A smile creased her rounded cheeks as she led me to the table and handed me the drink.
“You’ll like it,” she reassured me. “How was your first day of school, Princess?”
The kitchen came to a standstill as everyone paused to hear my answer.
“Long.”
Laughter filled the room.
“I made friends,” I added, sitting. I took a long sip and sighed. Lady Nemea hovered by my chair. She probably wanted us to leave, but I had a few questions for the head chef. I patted the chair next to mine. She hesitated.
Dad would sit with me, I said. She made a face and sat. Someone asked her if she wanted a smoothie, but she declined it with a wave of her hand.
“What kind of friends?” Lady Nemea asked.
“Guys who could become useful,” I said softly, then spoke louder. “I want to throw a party on Saturday, Bilal.”
“What kind of party, Princess? How many are coming?”
“Pizza and finger-foods party,” I said, and sipped my smoothie, aware of a scowling Lady Nemea. “I don’t know the head count yet. We could do it in the banquet room.”
Lady Nemea looked like she was about to have a heart attack.
“Too formal?” I asked, ignoring the fact that she had disapproval written all over her face.
“Can we discuss this upstairs?” she asked.
“Sure.” I stood with my drink. “Or we might have it on the beach, Bilal. I’ll let you know once I talk to my friends.”
“I’ll be here, Princess,” Bilal said, and turned with a plate of pastries. “Chocolate-filled croissant?”
“Oh, my favorite. You’re the best.” I took the plate, kissed her cheek, and teleported upstairs.
“So, these boys you mentioned inviting…” Lady Nemea said.
“…will be working on Rocky Beach,” I said. “They are Earth Primes and I want them working on that beach by next week.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. Oh. Can I go now and change?”
She smiled, relief in her eyes, and nodded. “I’ll let you know when your father comes home. Where will you be?”
“Around. I have homework.” I disappeared in my bedroom, placed the croissant on the bed, and headed to the closet. After I changed into my workout clothes, I settled on the bed and got busy.
Every few minutes, I did a psi scan to check for my father and
Bran. Bran was around, but I didn’t dare connect with him. Father wasn’t back. I put the crystals away and glanced over at the bodyguards. I had thirty minutes to kill.
An idea popped in my head. The more I thought about it, the more I liked it. I did another psi scan. Lady Nemea was in her quarters, which were below my father’s. I let the image of Block C fill my head. I should just do it. I knew the place now. I’d be in and out before the guards realized I was there. Or maybe not.
I hurried to the door and stuck my head outside. “How many guards are assigned to me right now, Ruby?”
“You are the primary,” she said.
“Meaning?”
“Your every movement is being monitored twenty-four-seven,” Callum explained.
I sighed. “So, if I went to the dungeons?”
“Sir Malax would know before you arrived there.”
“Does he know we were down there?” I asked.
They shook their heads.
“If he does, he hasn’t said anything,” Callum added.
“Hmm.” The dungeons were off-limits. “Okay. Thanks. I’m heading downstairs to warm up for my session with Master Kenta.”
I was starting to sweat when Master Kenta arrived outside the gazebo twenty minutes later. I put the staff down and teased, “I’m almost done, and you’re just arriving.”
I was surprised when he smiled. His smiles were rare. “We are not going to practice here today. We are going back to the Academy.”
“Oh. Am I joining the other students?”
He chuckled. “Not really. Interestingly, they asked the same question.”
“And?”
“I told them you are too advanced for them.”
Oh, gee, thanks for setting me up to be disliked by the entire school population, I thought.
“They’d like to see why,” he added.
“Oh.” I grinned. “They want me to join them in the tourney.”
He shook his head. “You can’t participate in the tourney. You’d give your team an unfair advantage.”
“Unfair? They’re going against seniors, twenty-five-year-olds who’ve had years of training.”
He shrugged. “The tourney isn’t a big deal. This is Kessler’s attempt to start a school tradition, but he’s going about it the wrong way and it’s going to fail.”
Why was he such a killjoy all the time? “Who am I sparring with?”
“Me. Come on.”
We teleported to the hallway outside the main gym. The buzz of student voices reached me before Master Kenta pushed open the door. Unlike earlier, the bleachers were down and packed with students, teachers, and non-teaching staff. Something about the gathered students and the anticipation in the air was vaguely familiar. Bran would know if I’d ever fought in front of an audience. A quick scan told me he wasn’t around. I waved to Katia and Lottius.
Master Kenta raised a hand and the room became silent. “This is going to be a short, friendly fight.”
Somehow, I doubt it, Bran said, and I searched the audience for him. I found him at the top of the bleachers. He winked.
“Lilith is a gifted fighter and has learned a lot since I started working with her.”
Now, that’s a joke, Bran piped in. I tried hard not to laugh.
“We will start with hand-to-hand combat before using staffs, then swords,” Master Kenta continued.
Of course, he starts with what he’s good at, Bran added. What a douche. Heads up, sunshine. You can control solids now. Use it to your advantage.
But I didn’t need to prove anything or let Bran’s dislike for Master Kenta mess with my head. The fight was intense, but he backed off when he could have taken me down a couple of times. When we switched to staff and swords, I took it easy on him, too. I even warned him before pulling some new moves. The crowd, on the other hand, ate it all up, the silence so thick it was spooky. Even Bran shut up.
When we finished, the applause was deafening. The excited whispers and telepathic communication that followed said they were impressed. Well, not all of them. A few die-hard skeptics still didn’t trust me and I could feel a trickle of suspicion, even hatred. I tried not to dwell on haters, but I still noticed. I wiped the sweat of my brow and bowed.
“Just so you know, she was playing nice and let me get away with quite a bit,” Master Kenta said, taking me by surprise. “I would say without shame that she, my pupil, has surpassed me. Anyone want to try and take her on?”
“I’d like to try,” a girl said, and waved from the middle of the bleachers.
“Me too,” a guy said from the bottom on the bleachers. Oh, one of the haters.
“Same here,” another guy added.
Master Kenta frowned and I knew he had been joking when he’d asked the question and hadn’t expected the students to volunteer. I knew he was going to turn them down.
Please don’t turn them down, I telepathed him.
I already told you—
I’m not asking, Master Kenta. It took a lot of guts for them to step up. Shooting them down will only undermine their self-confidence. I want to spar with anyone who volunteers. I didn’t look at him the entire time we were having the exchange, but he knew what that meant—if he turned them down, I would go against his wishes. I’ll keep it fun.
He nodded, but he wasn’t happy. Smiling, he acted the part of a master allowing his prized student to educate lesser-trained recruits, and invited the volunteers to the floor.
I started by fighting individuals, then pairs, and finally several at once. I didn’t push too hard, but I didn’t toy with them, either. A few seemed more determined than others, but they had good sportsmanship and accepted their losses gracefully, except for the ones who didn’t trust me. They were actually better trained than Master Kenta had led me to believe.
“Can you train with us?” a student asked, and the ones surrounding us echoed her.
I glanced at Master Kenta. It’s your call.
He nodded, although reluctantly. I grinned and bowed. Thank you.
-19-
Red lights woke me up. I tried to open my eyes, but it was as though I had lead eyelids. I wasn’t alone in my room. Someone was standing over my bed, and a familiar scent teased my nose, but I couldn’t place it. My eyes grew heavy. The person mumbled something.
“Father?” I asked.
“Sleep.”
Was that Father? The base of my spine itched. “Happy…you…home.” I drifted to sleep. What seemed like five minutes later, someone shook me awake. I squinted against the light pouring in through the window.
“You’re going to be late if you don’t get up, my dear,” Lady Nemea said. “I pinged you several times, but you didn’t respond.”
I stretched and glanced at my watch. I had thirty minutes. The Academy was less than a second away. I turned and pulled the covers over my head.
“Oh, no, my darling child.” Lady Nemea pulled the covers down. “You need to get up, unless you want me to carry you to the shower and bathe you like I used to when you were in a coma.”
“Ew, no,” I mumbled, and covered my face with a pillow, wishing I didn’t have to get up. I was so tired and sleepy. I’d gone to bed early, so the fatigue didn’t make sense.
“You are the one who insisted on attending the Academy. It starts in exactly twenty-eight minutes, unless you want to have a different set of rules just for you.”
I lifted the pillow. “Can I?”
She chuckled. “I’ll get your uniform.”
Did she have to be so damn chipper so early in the morning? I sat up just as she disappeared into my closet. “I don’t understand why I’m so tired. I went to sleep early.”
“Your energy fluctuates, that’s all.”
Like that boy Locke and the omni sisters in my energy class. Not to forget the criminals in the dungeons. “Is this common among all Specials?”
“Yes, but most learn to control it.” Lady Nemea stepped back into my bedroom with a cleaned and pressed uniform.
>
A memory flitted in and out of my head as I dressed. Father was supposed to come back last night. A quick scan said he wasn’t home. “I don’t detect my father’s energy. Did he come home last night?”
“No, dear.”
My stomach hollowed out. “He promised me he’d be home.”
“He’s perfectly safe, Lilith. If there’s a problem, they’ll inform us. Knowing him, he probably visited family after family, putting their feelings ahead of his own.”
“It takes a fraction of a second to teleport,” I griped.
Lady Nemea sighed. “If he’s being monitored, that’s also how long it would take the Guardians to follow his telegate to the island. Your father will come home when he can, my dear, and worrying about him won’t make him do it sooner.”
I thought I’d had a dream about my father, but the more I tried to remember it, the hazier it became. Despite what Lady Nemea had said, I couldn’t help but worry about him.
Our sparring demonstration was the topic of conversation when I arrived outside the school building. Students stood in groups, enjoying the crisp morning air and basking in the sun. Greetings and smiles followed me, but mingled with curiosity and respect were wariness and suspicion. I imagined I was never this “popular” at a school growing up. No, I was homeschooled, although I wasn’t sure how that memory had slipped past my mental block.
Oh, well, I knew I couldn’t win them all.
Bran was pushing a mop when I entered the main hallway. Someone must have spilled water around a water fountain. Bet he would have taken care of that effortlessly using his water powers if he was alone. The students hurried past him without seeing him. No one appeared to notice the way he stopped and watched me with a wink and a twinkle in his eye.
My feelings for him were strong and scary and overwhelming, and I didn’t know what to do with them. For one insane moment, I allowed myself the luxury of fantasizing about us as a couple, walking up to him and kissing him.
Heat flooded my cheeks when I caught him studying me from underneath a canopy of long black lashes.
I’d dare you to come and kiss me if your guards weren’t around, he said.
Forgotten (Guardian Legacy Book 3) Page 27
