Page 20 of Pretense

“I am glad to hear it.” Iyrinder shared another glance with Captain Merrick that had an undercurrent to it.

Did it have something to do with the way Captain Merrick’s sister—who also worked for Farrendel and Essie—and Iyrinder had been spending more time together lately? Essie had noticed, but she wasn’t going to say anything. Of course she was hoping for another elf-human romance to blossom, but something like this could cause tension between the two heads of Farrendel’s security if they weren’t careful.

Essie smiled at Iyrinder. “If you wish to get a degree, Farrendel and I will definitely support you any way we can. We can help pay your tuition, since you’ll be taking classes as part of your job to keep Farrendel safe.”

A hint of a smile twitched on Iyrinder’s face. “Linshi, amirah, but you already pay me well enough that I can afford my own tuition. I am also thinking of my future. In a hundred years, you will no longer be in line for the Escarlish throne. You will be so far down the Tarenhieli line of succession that you will no longer require such tight security. Unless I want to return to guarding Weylind Daresheni, it seems prudent to create more options for myself in the future.”

Options that would include an Escarlish magical engineering degree. Which would only be useful in Escarland. Interesting.

Essie studied the expressions that both Iyrinder and Captain Merrick wore, but neither of them gave anything away. Still, it was telling that Iyrinder was taking steps to give himself more ties to Escarland. Almost as if he were thinking that he might marry a human and have reason to live in Escarland for a long time to come.

Farrendel nodded to Iyrinder. “Linshi. I would appreciate having someone guarding my back.”

And being his emotional support guard. Essie might have to figure out how to conveniently give both Iyrinder and Miss Merrick a night off at the same time as a subtle way to thank Iyrinder for this.

Farrendel had been nervous about taking classes in person at the university in the fall, and Essie had begun to worry if the anxiety would be too much. She wasn’t sure Farrendel would be able to walk all by himself into those classrooms filled with strangers. Iyrinder’s presence could be the difference between Farrendel getting through the anxiety or having it crush him.

Professor Harrington cleared his throat. “If that is settled, would you care to proceed, Prince Farrendel?”

Iyrinder quickly divested himself of his weapons, handing them to Captain Merrick. Then, while Captain Merrick took up a station with his back to the wall next to the door, the rest of them filed inside as quietly as possible.

The professor at the front of the room kept lecturing without missing a beat, even though his gaze took them in briefly. Several of the students turned around in their seats to gape. This room was one of the smaller rooms with rows of wooden desks instead of a larger lecture hall.

Essie picked one of the desks in the back row and sat in it. Farrendel glanced between the seat in front of her and the seat across the aisle next to her before finally choosing the one across the aisle. His nose wrinkled a bit, as if he found the desk’s sanitary condition rather suspect.

Iyrinder took the seat immediately in front of Farrendel while Professor Harrington remained standing at the back.

After spending a few more minutes of lecturing—some magical theory that Essie didn’t understand but had Farrendel leaning forward in fascination—the professor gestured toward them in the back of the room. “Class, as you have noticed, we have guests today. Princess Elspeth is gracing us with her presence, along with her husband Prince Farrendel of Tarenhiel. Prince Farrendel is enrolled here at Hanford University and has been taking this class via correspondence. Let’s welcome them today.”

Most of the students swiveled in their seats and clapped. A few remained where they were, arms crossed, in protest.

Essie smiled and waved, but Farrendel gripped the desk in front of him with a white-knuckled grip that had Essie worried. If Farrendel had a bad experience today, it would be that much harder for him to step into a class as a student in the fall.

“Prince Farrendel.” The professor turned to Farrendel, a broad grin on his face.

Essie stiffened. No, no, no. Was there any way to signal the professor not to call on Farrendel? He was just going to make things worse. Yes, getting called on was a part of taking classes. But Farrendel was not ready for that yet. He needed to ease into this university thing slowly.

But the professor didn’t catch Essie’s unspoken message. Instead, he kept beaming at Farrendel. “Would you be willing to give us a demonstration of your magic?”

Uh-oh. Essie glanced between the professor and Farrendel. Farrendel remained frozen in the desk, white-faced and white-knuckled. How was she going to salvage this situation?

Essie pushed to her feet, focusing on the professor while holding a hand out to Farrendel. “Actually, why don’t both of us give a demonstration of Prince Farrendel’s magic? I’m sure you’ve seen the stories in the papers about our elven heart bond and how I can now use the prince’s magic.”

The professor looked about ready to swoon in excitement. “Oh, yes, Your Highness. Quite the fascinating magical phenomenon!”

She got the feeling the professor would have loved to study the whole heart bond thing but couldn’t because they were royalty. As soon as human professors were allowed to study with the elves in Tarenhiel, heart bonds were going to be one of the first things they attempted to study.

She wished them all the best with that, since the elves considered elishinas to be deeply personal and not something to be discussed, except in the rare cases like an elishina between an elf and a human.

Farrendel’s fingers slipped into hers, and he eased to his feet. His magic crackled in the heart bond, but through it, Essie sensed his churning nausea, so intense she had to swallow bile rising in the back of her throat.

She kept a smile plastered on her face as she tugged Farrendel up the aisle between the desks until they reached the front. She faced the students, who stared back with everything from hostility to eagerness to a dead-eyed boredom. “Hello, everyone. I am Princess Elspeth of Escarland. No one in my family has magic, as is well-documented.”

A few of the students nodded. Several remained glowering. Others were still so bored they didn’t bat so much as an eye. And…was that young man asleep there in the front row?

“Farrendel, dear?” Essie glanced at him, squeezing his hand.

He had gone all hard and cold in full elf warrior mode. It had been a while since she had seen him look so much like the Laesornysh she had met nearly a year ago. With barely a flicker of change in his expression, Farrendel raised his hand and drew on his magic. It crackled to life around his hand, growing into a column of blue lightning that nearly touched the ceiling.

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