Now back at his dorm Arthur meet up with Mira in his room.
"How was class master?" Mira asks having stop dusting his room.
"It went well I say, I learned a decent bit today. Though I already have homework, thankfully the library was open on my way back and I was able to pick up the books I needed." Setting down his books and notes Arthur turns to Mira.
"Did you let Amy know like I asked to meet with me for dinner?" Arthur says as he straights out his uniform.
"Yes and she said she'll wait for you in her room." Mira says matter of a fact.
"Good then I best get going." Arthur leaving the room closes his door a click sounding as he walks down over to Amy's door.
Knock Knock Knock.
"Who is it?"
"It's Arthur, are you ready to go to dinner?"
"Yup just give me a second."
No longer than a few seconds her door opened revealing Amy, dressed in her Watchers uniform.
Arthur had to admit it suited her. The fitted jacket, the pleated skirt sitting just above the knee, the white button-up tucked neat at the collar. Simple academy issue on everyone else. On Amy it just worked. Her light brown hair was down, slightly wavy, and her hazel eyes were bright in the way they got when she was in a good mood.
She looked good. That was the honest version of it.
"Ready," she said, stepping out and pulling her door shut behind her.
"Then let's go." Arthur turned toward the corridor and Amy fell into step beside him.
Going through the line at the dining hall both Amy and Arthur load up a plate and find a seat.
"So how were your classes?" Arthur asks.
"They were pretty good but mana theory I think is going to give me some trouble I've never been great at that sort of thing."
"If you need help, let me know. I was able to skip that class due to prior education I received, so I should be able to help you get through it no problem."
"Really? I appreciate that." Amy said, genuinely smiling.
"Of course. It's the least I can do, and besides, it's good for me to get a bit of a refresher. Though we should probably meet weekly — that way we can build good habits so you don't fall behind."
"Yeah, that's a good idea. What about tonight?" Amy said, taking a bite of her food.
"I would, but I have a meeting to get to later and I don't want to be late."
"You have a meeting later? Where are you going so late to meet someone?" Amy questioned.
"Just some park out a ways. They have some info for me." Arthur kept it vague.
"Well, good luck with your meeting then." Amy said, picking at her food.
"Thanks. Hopefully it goes well." Arthur said.
They ate quietly after that, enjoying their food as the sounds of the dining hall drifted around them.
"So this info — what is it?" Amy asked.
"Family things." Arthur said matter-of-factly.
"Oh, cool cool." Amy nodded, her face thoughtful. "And by family stuff, you don't mean your bloodline, right?" she said, eyeing Arthur.
Arthur scoffed. "I don't know why you're so interested in my bloodline, but the answer is no." Wiping his mouth with his napkin he looks at his clean plate. "Look, I know you're curious about everything new and interesting around you, but not everyone likes to share their bloodline. So maybe cut back a little on the questions, yeah?" He picked up his plate and took it to the dish pit.
Amy sat for a moment, turning Arthur's words over before getting up and joining him.
"You're right, that was rude of me. I'll make sure not to do that again." Amy apologized.
"Well, as long as you don't push the envelope, I'm sure I can tell you one day." Arthur said, smiling at her.
"Good night, Amy."
"Good night, Arthur."
The two said their goodbyes and went to retire to their rooms.
'Let's see if she takes the bait.' Arthur grinned as he stepped inside his room.
—----------------------
Amy had changed into her PJs, washed her face, and was halfway through her second attempt at the same page of her textbook when her mind wandered again.
She gave up, set the book down, and went to the window.
The campus grounds were quiet this time of night, just the distant glow of the pathway lanterns and the occasional student crossing between buildings before curfew. She rested her arms on the sill and let her head clear.
That was when she saw him.
Arthur, crossing the grounds below, jacket on, hands in his pockets, heading northeast toward where the lights thinned out.
Amy watched him go.
Just family things.
She pressed her chin into her arms.
Family things. That was what he'd said. Easy and unbothered the way he said everything. Just family things, nothing to see and nothing to know.
But why is it that those 'family things' required Mira to sleep with him.
And if it's nothing, why do I feel so strange thinking back to that night?
Amy's face flushed as the memory came back uninvited — the sound of Mira as she rode Arthur, the low groans, the way they rolled and tumbled together. The sharp edge of almost being caught.
"Ah—"
A soft moan left her. A chill ran down her spine.
I want more.
Out the window, Arthur had almost entirely cleared the view from the dorm.
No. I want more. I want to feel more. Amy turned it over — stay or follow.
I shouldn't follow. He told me not to bother him anymore.
But her body betrayed her. She was already slipping out of her PJs and pulling on real clothes.
She looked at herself in the small desk mirror.
'Just a walk,' she told her reflection. 'Fresh air. That's all.'
Her reflection said nothing helpful back.
She grabbed her key off the desk, slipped out the door, and pulled it shut behind her with a soft click.
Down the corridor, out the side door, into the cool night air.
She could still see the faint shape of him ahead, almost at the tree line now.
She picked up her pace.
Amy follow behind Arthur making sure to stay out of view.
She stayed thirty yards back and off the path, moving through the grass where her footsteps didn't carry, keeping to the shadows between the hollow trunks of Hallow Park. The moonlight made it easier than she expected with its bright shine making it easy to follow.
Arthur moved ahead of her without looking back, following a trail that curved deeper into the park until the campus lights were just a suggestion behind them.
Amy kept pace and told herself she would just see who Arthur was meeting that she isn't being a pepping tom.
She was close enough to hear voices when he entered the clearing and she pressed herself against the nearest hollow trunk and went still.
And who she saw surprised her.
'The receptionist?' Amy wondered what Arthur could possibly have to do with the front desk lady.
Out of the staff uniform, Ryn looked like a completely different person. A dark crop top left her midriff bare bronze skin catching the moonlight, the kind of toned stomach that came from years of training.
Her jeans were fitted, worn, strategic tears running along the thighs and knee that somehow made her look more charming. Her blue-green hair was its usual mess on top, shaved close at the sides.
Arthur approached with those sharp grey eyes that always made Amy feel slightly seen-through.
Amy held her breath.
"Before we get into anything," Arthur said, stopping a few feet from Ryn, "I want to know why I should trust you."
Ryn tilted her head. "Because your brother trusts me."
"My brother is on a capstone mission and unreachable." Arthur's voice was even. "You're telling me I should take the word of someone I've spoken to twice at a front desk because a sibling who isn't here says so."
"He knows something about me," Ryn said. "A secret that I wish to not let out. See that's the arrangement your brother holds my secrets and I hold on to his."
Arthur looked at her for a long moment.
"That's your pitch." It wasn't a question. "Your word that Alaric — who is currently unavailable — has leverage on you. That's how I'm supposed to trust the intelligence you hand me."
He let the silence sit.
Then — "I'd scoff but I've heard worse arguments."
Ryn's expression didn't change. She held his gaze with the particular patience of someone who had prepared for exactly this pushback.
"What if I showed you the secret," she said. "Instead of just telling you about it. Would that change things?"
Arthur considered her. "Depends on the secret."
Ryn looked at him for one more moment.
Then she moved.
It happened gradually and all at once she straightened, her posture shifting, and kept straightening, an inch, then two, her frame expanding with a quiet surety that had nothing forced about it. By the time it settled she was barely shorter than Arthur, eye level in a way she hadn't been thirty seconds ago.
The ears came with it. Grey-tipped, rising through the blue-green hair, pressing upward and swiveling as they found their position. The tail followed slate grey, darker at the tip, curling out from behind her. The tail whipping as if it was freed at last.
Her eyes had changed no longer blue; they shine a bright green, a contrast from before.
She stood in the clearing and let him look.
Behind her tree Amy's hand flew to her mouth.
Her eyes were wide. Her heart had stopped doing anything sensible entirely.
She's a demi-human. But all demi-humans have to be students or be on official business. How can she be a receptionist?
Amy pressed herself harder against the bark and did not breathe.
Author Note: Patreon.com/Lord_Cuckles for up to 20 Advance Chapters and Character Portraits.