Rueln Layheart

Okay, it wasn’t as bad as I expected. Yeah, my friends had a laugh at my expense, but they took it well enough. Besides having something to tease me about, they didn’t change how they behaved toward me. Which was something I didn’t realize I was afraid of until it was practically on top of me.

We split up for our classes and met again in the main hall by the statues near the academy entrance. When Kead jogged up, the last to join us, we turned and headed toward the dining hall to eat. To my surprise, Tris appeared at my side just as we passed the doors to the library. I had seen little of her since that first day and figured she just avoided me.

“Hi, Tris,” I said, offering the first olive branch.

She glanced at me, her short black hair mussed as if she had been in a hurry. “Hi,” she said, about as welcoming a greeting as I think I would get from her before she turned to Ghus, who was on her other side. “I got you the book you wanted.”

“Thanks,” he said as she pulled it out of her bag and handed it to me. He grinned and held it up to see. “This is brilliant, Tris!”

“Well, don’t ask me to sneak you another one,” she grumbled, though she seemed pleased with herself. “I need it back before tomorrow.”

“Okay,” Ghus agreed, then Tris hurried ahead of us to catch up to a group of girls.

“What’s that?” I asked, looking down at it. I still wasn’t the best at reading, but I could pick up a little if he would just hold it still so I could get a decent look at the cover. It looked like any other hand-bound book in the library, which from what I saw didn’t have a large selection. Books weren’t easy to come by and were usually expensive, which was why they were supposed to stay in the library.

“It’s a book of maps from all across the empire,” Ghus said, opening it to show us a detailed map of what looked like the north coast. “Talking about Malic and his map making past life got me curious. I wanted to have a look at the empire. Merchants and travelers are always talking about going here and there. I want to see it myself.”

“Weren’t you a clerk?” Tagen teased, which had Ghus frowning at him.

“That was then. Doesn’t mean I don’t want to adventure in this life. I’ve gone through my past life’s memories and I do not want to sit at a desk for another.”

I could understand that. So many people’s lives depended on the decisions she made. It weighed on her for most of her life. I sure didn’t want to stop warring countries and craft them into a united empire again in the hopes people could live better. It was a lot of hard work and she never had time for herself or the freedom to do as she liked. It was why I wanted to be free to choose my path so badly. One lifetime of that was enough.

“Put it away, here comes the director,” Tagen hissed, and Ghus immediately stuffed the book into his bag.

All four of us tried to hide our smiles as the director passed. We were just about to breathe a sigh of relief when the director noticed me among them. “Rueln Layheart,” he said, and I stiffened. I glanced at my friends, then stopped to look back at him. Thankfully, they waited with me, giving me the excuse to keep this short. “I hope your first day in the advanced class went well?”

“Yes, Director,” I answered.

“Very well then, off with you. I’m sure you all are famished,” he said, waving for us to continue. I just got turned back around and took a step when he called us again. “Oh, Rueln,” he said. “Before I forget, come by my office after classes. I have a letter for your sponsor.” Dismissed, he turned down the hall toward his office.

“You’re sponsored?” Tagen asked, his eyes widening.

“Well... yeah,” I said, feeling all three of my friends staring at me. They were all too aware only certain reincarnations were listed as important enough to have a sponsor. It was still a new concept to them. I was Lanarie Aairith. It’s still a gross idea. I can’t get used to it.

“But Finnley comes to see you home every day,” Kead pointed out. “You’re still an apprentice with your master.”

They had met Finnley about a month ago when Master Esra rewarded him with the outing. He was getting far too restless cooped up in the house with her training and, ever since the bishop incident, Master Esra wanted us to be careful. Having Finnley come to the academy and us walking home together eased something in her. If anything happened, the other could run and get help.

I never failed to miss Finnley choosing to carry his practice sword with him every time.

“It’s what the noble wanted,” I said, not really wanting to go into it. Despite what Balec said, I knew that if he had wanted something different, there was nothing me or Master Esra could do about it. “I still am with Master Esra. The sponsorship is more on paper than in reality.”

“You got lucky,” Ghus breathed. “I figured the temple would have snatched you in a second. That’s why Malic is with them.”

I scowled, hating the idea of Malic becoming a ward of the temple, not because he lacked parents, but because his parents weren’t of noble blood. It was an awful thing to do to anyone, separate them from their family. I couldn’t understand why it ever became such common practice. If I really was Vhal, then I would change it.

The conversation returned to Ghus’s stolen book as we entered the dining hall and got in line. He didn’t dare to pull it out again with the staff standing so close to the line. He was careful to sit down between everyone when we found our table, so when he pulled it out of his bag, our group could shield it from view. Just as everyone looked it over, I remembered Tagen’s suggestion to watch Bria at the noon meal and lifted my eyes.

Everyone dined together, including most of the staff. Sometimes it could make getting through the crowd difficult. I couldn’t see one particular head of blonde hair among the dozen other blondes scattered about.

“If you’re looking for Bria,” Tagen said softly, leaning into my side, “She’s over there toward the front.” He pointed, and my eyes followed his finger to a table crowded with kids. No wonder I hadn’t seen her. There were people standing around her, blocking my view. Why didn’t I guess she would be at that table? They were doeting on her as if she were a princess. I made a face, and Tagen nodded in silent agreement. “You see what we meant?”

“Yeah.” Turning my attention away from Bria’s table, I looked at the other tables. The ones closest to Brias seemed relatively popular, but the further out you came, the more obvious who the less connected the kids were. My table was in the middle, along the south wall by the windows, but there were several tables with only one or two kids sitting at them who didn’t seem to have very many friends. “This is all Bria’s influence?” I asked, not really expecting an answer.

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Ghus looked up, guessing at what I meant, and shook his head. “I wouldn’t think so. It’s more likely that it’s just more obvious with her making a show of it.”

“Look at this one,” Kead exclaimed in a hushed tone as he turned a page, oblivious to our conversation.

I glanced down, expecting to see Threa mapped out or maybe the capital, grew curious when I saw a large island off the mainland coast. There was hardly any detail compared to the other maps the book had showcased. It gave a strong sense of mystery that heightened everyone’s interest.

“Where is that?” I asked, curiously, forgetting all about Bria and her popularity competition.

“It says it’s Mol-Molak-,” Kead said, struggling to pronounce the foreign word.

“Molak’ev,” Ghus corrected, his eyes alight with interest.

“Isn’t that where the el’denura live?” Tagen asked, standing so he could lean over and get a better look.

“No way!” Kead said, nearly jumping out of his seat. “I thought it was impossible to get anywhere close to that island. Who made this map?”

“el’denura?” I asked, only vaguely familiar with the name.

All three of my friends looked at me before it clicked that I wasn’t originally from this area. “Oh, right. You’re from the south, aren’t you?” Ghus said, a sheepish smile pulling at his lips.

“They are the draconic race,” Tagen said, putting two fingers up on his head like a pair of horns.

“I heard they live forever,” Kead added. “There are a few in stories my grandpa told me, but I’ve never seen one in real life.”

“Who has except a few traders with permission,” Tagen snorted. “They’ll sink a ship that comes near their waters without permission. I heard a captain from one of the port cities north of here tried it once and no one’s heard from him again.”

“How do they sink the ships?” I asked, frowning. “Are their ships that powerful?”

“Magic,” Gus and Tagen said then grinned at each other.

“They have the most powerful magic known,” Ghus explained. “Hardly any humans even register on their lowest scale.”

“Maybe one of us will meet one,” I said, reaching over and pulling the book toward me to have a closer look. The ink depicted a vast area of water between the island kingdom and Recarnia. Nothing but an experienced sailor could cross. It made me wonder if a human has ever gotten permission to stay there for any length of time and learned from them. If I was a scholar, I would consider trying for it. At least, I imagined I would.

I was still playing with the idea when the noon meal finished, and through most of the temple’s daily service. I snuck my slate into the worship hall and doodled for the entire service, trying to decide what someone of the el’denura people looked like.

I couldn’t say I was all too happy with my drawing ability, but I at least decided that el’denura people should look terrifying. They were dragon people, so they should look like dragons, heavy armored scales, and big spikes all the way down their spins. Tagen kept leaning over to offer me suggestions as I worked, which eventually got us caught and my slate taken away.

“For shame,” the staff member hissed at me, keeping her voice low to not disturb the service. “You can collect this before you go home.” She walked away without another word.

“Maybe I can just start skipping this,” I grumbled, sinking down in my chair and crossing my arms. “It’s not like they count us.”

“Want to?” Kead asked, pushing his spectacles up higher on his nose. “This is pretty boring and you’re right. I doubt they would know.”

“I can’t,” Ghus mumbled. “If my pop hears I skipped a service, my bum will be raw for a week and Tris would sell me out at the first opportunity. Blackmail that’ll be.”

“We can always invite her too,” Tagen suggested, looking around and spotting Tris a few rows up.

“Invite her?” Ghus hissed, “Are you mad?”

“She doesn’t like me, so doubt she would come,” I said, remembering the looks she kept giving me.

“Bet she does,” Tagen grinned. “My dad says girls act like that when they think you’re pretty.”

Well, that comment made me uncomfortable. I shifted in my seat. That’s the second time someone called me pretty today. I’m not a girl. Boys aren’t pretty.

“Your dad is a lout,” Ghus snorted. “Didn’t your mom leave em for that baker?”

“Shhh,” Tagen said, not finding that comment as funny as he did teasing everyone else. “That’s private.”

“Lay off him, Ghus,” I said. “Just because you can’t sneak off like the rest of us doesn’t mean you should be a lump about it.”

“I’m not being a lump,” he grumbled. “I’m not going to tell on you, now am I? You’re just going to make these last two hours of the day worse if you all leave me here.”

“He’s got a point,” Kead sighed. “We can’t just leave him.”

“Alright,” I said, in defeat. “We’ll stay.”

“Shhhh,” a boy said from the row behind us. “You’re too loud.”

Looking around, I guess he was right. More than one staff member was looking our way again, including the one who held my slate. Groaning internally, we all fell silent and suffered our way through the service. When it was over, I got my slate back from the woman and we gathered our things to head out.

“Rueln,” Tagen called, before I could escape out the gate and meet up with Finnley. “I was going to tell you something after you told us you were Lanarie, but I didn’t want to in front of the others. I think it’s something you should know.”

“What?” I asked, curious now. I couldn’t think of a reason Tagen would be reluctant to tell me in front of everyone else unless it was more he didn’t want to be heard by anyone else in the hall.

“You said you were Bria’s class partner, right?” I nodded, but he seemed reluctant to continue. “Just be careful.” He waved and hurried past me to a man I assumed was his father waiting across the street.

Why did I have a feeling that wasn’t what he wanted to say?

“Hey, Rue,” Finnley called to me, pulling my attention away from Tagen.

I crossed the street to join him and we started in the opposite direction from where Tagen and his father left, but his words still had me looking over my shoulder, wondering what he meant. “We need a plan, Finn.”

“A plan fer what?” He asked, kicking a rock ahead of us as we walked like it was a new sport.

“A plan to get close to Bria Gracy,” I said, then told him about my day, including that I was now Bria’s class partner.

“Ya’re just wanting her to figure ya out,” Finnley said with a straight face. He had no faith in me.

I paused. Well, if Finnley saw me with her today, then I probably wouldn’t blame him, but he’s supposed to be my right-hand man. Not the voice of reason.

Disappointed in myself more than Finnley’s lack of support, I fell silent for several minutes, lost in thought. Finn kept glancing over at me with a frown, like he wanted to say something but didn’t know what. There wasn’t much to say. I clearly wasn’t talented at faking how I felt around people, and certainly not around Bria. She just irritated me.

“What did I miss with Master Esra today?” I asked, glum. He was already miles ahead of me in practice. I doubted I would catch up to him.

“Nothin,” he said, walking with his arms behind his head, as casual as you please.

“What do you mean, nothing?” I pressed, finding it odd.

“Just that,” he answered. “Nothin. She gave us the day off. Mornin practice was it.”

I stopped in my tracks and just stared at him. Master Esra hasn’t given us a day off yet. An hour or two breaks sometimes, but never the whole day. “You’re serious?”

“Yeah,” he said, frowning harder when I didn’t believe him right away. “Course I am. Do ya have any of that school work ya bring home sometimes?”

“No.” Thank goodness.

“Then let’s find a spot ta practice,” Finnley said, reaching down at his side for his wooden sword. I was so used to seeing it now that it surprised me when he offered me mine. He had tied it next to his own this whole time. “I’ll help ya catch up.”

“Finn,” I said, dead serious. “You’re the best.”

“I know.”