Rueln Layheart

To say I was nervous about this assignment from Balec was an understatement. I clutched my bag to my chest as the student advisor lead me through the academy’s halls to my new classroom. My only solace was the chance of being in the same class as one of my friends, which I only got to see before school or during the lunch break. I liked to think that my chances were pretty good, but since there were several hundred students here, they probably weren’t great.

The classes director pulled me from was ‘recollection grate one’ and ‘mana manipulation introduction’. He put me into ‘magical study grade one and ‘advanced recollection grade two’. It wasn’t much of an advancement, but they said it would be a better fit going forward.

My study in history would remain the same since my only knowledge of it came from Vhal’s era. Arithmetic and literature weren’t as emphasized, but I was still shoved into the beginner box with the five-year-olds, which was embarrassing, but at least I wasn’t the oldest kid in the class.

My last class was the one I hated the most and always made the last two hours of school the most miserable. Since the temple was an involved part of the recall academics, they held a service every day for the last two hours until the last bell rang. Strangely enough, Jaques replaced the priest that ran it for the first week, which I thought was a low job for a bishop, but I didn’t make him do it. He seemed more than a little pleased with the assignment, though it forced me to look at him far too often.

When I asked Balec about it during our talk, he told me he hadn’t ordered him to do it, but wanted me to update him if there were any changes. I agreed, but wanted to ask Lord Balec if he could replace him with someone else. Thinking about the service now made me regret not bringing it up. I hated to listen to them talk so much about the gods and the blessings that reincarnations had on the empire. It felt like a waste of time to me.

“This is it, young master Rueln,” the advisor said, opening a classroom door for me to enter ahead of her. I entered and glanced around the room to see nearly every place taken, two students seated at a table facing the teacher. Since I had to get my new schedule made, I was a few minutes late to the first class. There were large bay windows lining the classroom, with a set of doors that opened up into a practice yard, though I couldn’t guess what for.

I wished they wouldn’t call me that. The advisor smiled down at me, then spoke to the teacher, who stood from his desk upon our entrance. “Hello, Professor Galahan. This is Rueln Layheart. He will join you today onward, per the director’s order.”

Professor Galahan was a middle-aged man with similar spectacles that I saw on Kead. He wore a long gray robe with white and blue trim and a blue scar across his shoulders and down his front. He seemed to take quite a lot of pride in his appearance considering how he much like a peacock he looked, striding over to greet us.

“Welcome young master Rueln,” he said, smiling down at me. “It is a pleasure to have you join my classroom. Why don’t we get you settled in and we shall begin today’s lesson?” As he guided me further into the classroom, he thanked the advisor and she quickly made her escape. She abandoned me to a class full of people I only knew in passing. “Why don’t you introduce yourself,” he encouraged me.

“Hello, I am Rueln Layheart,” I said, more than a little reluctantly when I didn’t see any of my friends like I had hoped. Bowing politely, like Master Esra had taught me, I continued, “A pleasure to meet you.”

“What a polite young man,” Professor Galahan beamed, clapping his hands together, which encouraged everyone else to as well. “Is there anyone who would like to have Rueln as their partner for the year? I will trust you to help him catch up on what he missed in these first weeks of class.”

I noted the few empty seats when a girl raised her hand, bringing my attention to her. I nearly stopped breathing when I saw Bria Gracy offering herself up to be my partner.

“Ah, how delightful!” Professor Galahan exclaimed and nudged me toward my new seat. I rather pick someone else. Anyone else. “Go on, Rueln,” he encouraged me. “There is no need to feel shy. Miss Gracy is a wonderful student. I’m sure the pair of you will be fast friends.”

Dragging my feet, I reluctantly obeyed and took my seat next to the liar. I hoped I could get away with not looking at her directly, but she was just as big of a chatterbox as I remembered standing in line with when I was five. Maybe I should have mentioned that to Balec. It would be odd if she were to recognize me…

Please don’t recognize me.

“Hi,” she said, leaning closer to me to whisper over the professor, beginning his lecture. “It is a pleasure to meet you. I look forward to working with you.”

“Yeah,” I muttered, not exactly encouraging the conversation, but Bria seemed oblivious. It’s a good thing, I supposed. I was supposed to be making friends with her, but this was just too weird for me. How was I supposed to be friends with the person impersonating me? It just felt… wrong. “Uh, me too, I guess.”

My eyes looked down at my hands laying on the desk, still trying to decide what to do with myself or what to say. Bria seemed to interpret it the same way the professor had, however, and giggled. “Please, don’t be shy. I’m just another student.”

I doubt that.

A hand reached over, and in the next second rested on top of mine. A chill went through me, and a sick, twisted feeling went through my stomach when I looked up to find she had leaned closer to me. Bria smiled, an expression of friendly innocence, but I pulled my hand away and crossed my arms. Her hands were just cold. Don’t overreact, I scolded myself.

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. Why not be friends?”

I looked away, not sure what else to say, but, “Fine.”

I used our lesson to observe her. Bria was everything people wanted to see in the empress's return. She was beautiful, with long wavy blonde hair and bright blue eyes that lit up the room when she smiled. She was more than a little friendly with everyone around her, and I caught her more than once asking for help from a kid who sat close to us just for the chance to talk to them. It was clear she had won nearly everyone in the class over in the month she had been attending and from the smiles she kept throwing at me; she wanted to win me too.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

No chance.

Knowing exactly what she was, however, might have safeguarded me from becoming a drooling idiot. I had reason to believe that I wouldn’t interest enough without knowing that, though. Now, I just had to figure out how to deal with her, or at least tolerate her enough to do what Balec wanted. This entire thing was a terrible idea, even if I had my own reasons for greeting to it. I still wanted to know her real identity.

“Rueln,” Bria said, pulling my gaze up, only to stiffen when she gently brushed a finger through my hair. “You have the prettiest hair on a boy I’ve ever seen. When the sun hits it, it almost looks like honey.”

I leaned away from her, frowning now. “Thanks,” I said, though I didn’t mean it.

When the bell rang to dismiss class, I rose to my feet and started gathering my things, only to notice Bria had elected to remain behind with me. She even waved at another girl as she left, then glanced over at me, tucking a strand of gold behind her ear.

“Do you need help with anything, Rueln?” She asked, pretending to play it shy.

I shook my head as I pulled the strap of my bag up over my shoulder. “No, thanks.”

“Well, what did you think of the lesson? Professor Galahan is quite good. I thought it might be nice to study together on break if you needed to review anything,” she suggested as we started for the door.

She played the cute act pretty well, I admitted reluctantly to myself. “I think I’ll be fine,” I said. “I don’t have a break between classes.”

“Oh? Then what class do you have next then?”

Do I have to tell her? I guess it wouldn’t hurt. “Magic.”

Her blue eyes widened, and her smile grew. “You’re a mage?! Oh, I’m so jealous! I’ve always wanted to learn magic.” I was about to make my break for it in the hall when she grabbed onto my arm, excited at the direction in conversation. “Will you show me Rueln? What kind of magic can you do?”

I stiffened, but couldn’t pull away without bumping into someone else, and the hall was full of other kids. “I can’t do magic here,” I said, trying to come up with an excuse. How do I get out of this one? I didn’t want her to know I had fire magic. I didn’t think I was that stupid. Why did I have to open my mouth and think even for a moment that she wouldn’t turn what I said on me?

“No one will see,” she insisted.

“Yes. They will. Let go Bria. I need to go to my class,” I insisted, pulling on my arm. She pouted at me, her lips parting to convince me to break a school rule for her amusement only for my name to be called. I looked up to find Tagen and Ghus waving at me. “I have to go,” I repeated, finally pulling free and slipping through the other kids toward my friends.

Only when I stood next to Tagen did I dare to look back to see Bria. Two other girls had joined her, but Bria’s eyes remained on me. I thought she was still smiling, but the expression didn’t quite meet her eyes. I didn’t think she was used to being told ‘no’.

Turning my back to her, I followed my friends, wondering all the while about our interaction. Maybe I pushed her away too much. I should probably try to be friendlier. I wasn’t any good at this. Still debating on what I should do, I was biting at my thumb nail when Tagen glanced back at me.

“You make friends with that Vhal girl now that you’re in the advanced class?”

“No. She’s my table partner in that class. I could hardly get away from her,” I sighed.

Ghus winced. I frowned at him. “What’s the expression for? I thought the entire school was supposed to like her.”

Tagen and Ghus glanced at each other, then snorted. “Yeah, right? She’s friendly enough to everyone, but she has favorites and if you’re not one of them, then you’re out.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, looking between them. Have I not been paying enough attention?

“I think it’s better if you see it for yourself,” Tagen said. “Watch her at the noon meal. You’ll see it plain then. Her flock will hang onto her skirt and everyone else will be on the outside. I think even the professors are playing favorites.”

“She’s only here for a year, isn’t she? Why put so much on who she favors?” I asked, scowling. It made little sense. She’s eight, same as me. It wasn’t as if she were the heir apparent.

“Because she’s the emperor’s favored,” Tagen informed me. “My cousin works in the capital. You hear it more there, but word gets around. The emperor will give her anything she wants, so if she likes you, then it might mean big things for you or your family.”

“Isn’t that more for nobles, though?”

“This isn’t a school for the nobles, but that doesn’t mean people can’t be influenced.” Tagen pointed to a boy we passed who was just dropped a book to our left. “That’s Malic. He’s the reincarnation of a naval captain. The same captain that circled the entire empire to map out every inch of our coast line before he disappeared, trying to cross the sea.”

“So?” I said, not getting it.

“So,” Ghus said, “he doesn’t have a sponsor yet. He’s a ward of the temple.”

“And with as many nobles that try to win favors with Bria, it would take one suggestion and they will snatch him up. What do you think a captain with that much knowledge about the Recarnia empire’s coast will be worth to the right noble family with coin in trade,” Tagen said seriously. I think I was getting the picture.

“So, is he one of her favorites?” I asked.

“Not at the moment,” Ghus grinned. “He hasn’t let slip who he is the reincarnation of to anyone around Bria yet, but it’s only a matter of time before she gets her hands on him. I think her sponsor pays off the clerks to get information. I would.”

“You’re making me wonder who you two were in your past lives,” I joked, not really like I wanted to know. Depending on who it was, it could feel like pretty private information, or something to boast about.

“I was an imperial clerk,” Ghus said, scratching his chin. “Nothing too fancy.”

We both glanced at Tagen, waiting for his addition. “An… information broker.”

“So you’ll be her favorite,” I laughed, nudging Tegan’s side.

“No,” he said, his face turning red. “I was just the apprentice of one, really. Died in a fire before I worked more than a few years in the business.”

Well, that’s unfortunate.

“What about you, Rueln?” Gus asked. “What were you? You haven’t mentioned it before.”

It was my turn to blush with embarrassment. Well… I kind of walked right into that one. I knew that if I brought it up with them, then they would surely ask me about who I was. Wasn’t this the thing Lord Balec had told me to use in order to let mine slip to catch Bria’s attention? Well…. Who better to tell than my friends?

Ugh... they are going to laugh at me.

I mumbled it, not wanting to say it out loud. Both my friends blinked at me, and asked me to repeat it, unable to hear over the noise of the hall.

“What?” they asked in synchrony.

I closed my eyes and repeated myself. “Lanarie Aairith. Vhal’s…. Mother.”