The Exchange Teacher - Welcome to Dyntril Academy

Rubbing her shoulder while stretching her neck, Yesenia wanted nothing more than to hop into a bath and crawl into bed. Training to fight had been tiring, but a completely different sort of tiring. Not even Baronettess Alestra's dance classes had been as long and intense.

As she approached her room, she heard muffled voices on the other side. Her hand fell to her side, and her head drooped. Tonight too?

She opened the door to her room, and there, on her bed, lay three maids snacking on cookies from one of the chiefs. Except for Belinia, they were different girls from the night before.

"Yaz!" Belinia called out. "Late again tonight?"

"Yes, Miss Reianna is teaching me to read."

The maid with mint green hair raised her head. "Miss Reianna's teaching you to read?"

"Yes."

The girl rolled onto her back, clasping her hands to her chest. "Oh, Yani, what I wouldn't give for that girl to take me with her when she graduates."

"If she graduates, you mean," Belinia said.

The mint-haired girl rolled back over. "Miss Reianna will graduate. Not only that, but I could see her becoming like an Archduchess or something. Her presence is just so…"

Yesenia tried to hold back her annoyance that some girl, two girls, okay, three girls she didn't know were lying on her bed. She knew Belinia's name, but didn't really know her.

"Come on! She can't be that special," the daffodil-haired girl said.

"She is. This is my third time working a class, and I was old enough to shadow my mom before they retired her to the servant city. So, I've seen my fair share of kids from Class E to Class A, and I've never seen someone like her."

She didn't want to hear them chatter. She liked Miss Reianna, but didn't want to hear silly girls gossip about her. Maybe they'll be gone after I take a bath. Yesenia started undoing her uniform.

"Oh, Yaz!" Belinia said and hopped off the bed. "Let me help you with that."

"No, it's okay, I got it."

"Nonsense! These things are annoying to put on and take off, plus I can see how tired you are. Now, move your hands."

Doing as told, Yesenia held her arms out so they would be out of the way, and Belinia could get the sleeves off.

As she worked on Yesenia, Belinia looked over her shoulder and said, "Well, you're lucky! I can't wait for mine to like die or something. She was impossible when she could walk, but now that she's stuck in a wheelchair and they've recalled that stuck-up Yani of a personal maid that she used to have, I've got to do everything for her."

Mint's eyes went wide, then her face darkened. "You have to do everything for that Yani now? Miss Reianna really should have put that Yani down for everything she did."

With Yesenia's dress removed, leaving the new maid in her slip, Belinia ran back and hopped onto Yesenia's bed. "Wait, wait, wait, you're saying that Banca did something to Reianna?"

"Miss Reianna."

Belinia rolled her eyes.

More blather. Yesenia couldn't be out of the room soon enough. Grabbing a nightgown out of her dresser, she headed for the bath.

"Oh! Yaz! The water's clean! I washed it and refilled it for you. I thought you'd like a warm bath."

Hesitating with her hand on the door, Yesenia stared at her hand. "Thank you," she said and pushed the door open.

Mint continued her babble. "So, for the last month, Banca treated Miss Reianna like a pet."

Yesenia stopped. "What?" She turned around. Who could do something like that to Miss Reianna of all people?

"Yeah, called her 'Razzle', and just did the most horrible things to her."

Leaving the door open, Yesenia went back to her bed. Belinia patted the spot next to her, and Yesenia climbed up. She'd just met Reianna that night, but Yesenia agreed with Mint. Reianna's presence was intense, but so welcoming. It was like she was the embodiment of safe and comforting.

And to think someone could do the horrible things to her that Mint was describing. Yesenia had seen and experienced bullying, but nothing to the extreme of what Miss Reianna experienced. Yesenia's heart swelled for the girl, then her pulse quickened when Mint started talking about the tournament. Reaching out, Yesenia took a cookie. Belinia smiled at her.

"...and the last one of them that Miss Reianna fought was Banca."

"Who won?" Yesenia asked.

"Miss Reianna, of course," Mint boasted as if she'd been in the arena with her. "Broke both her legs."

Belinia fell back on the bed. "Oh, Yani, I've never met this Reianna, but I'm already in love. Sure, my life sucks because of it, but every time I have to sponge bathe that lilac Yani now, I'm going to have so much satisfaction knowing an elevator put her there."

A chill ran down Yesenia's spine. Her opponent had been in Class D, and if it hadn't been for Gerenet-Shr, she would have died. One Class B and three Class As? The girl was so small. Her voice was so sweet.

"Yaz!" Mint turned her attention to her.

"What?"

"I never get to see her outside of official capacity, but she's teaching you how to read, right?"

"Yeah…"

"What's it like?"

Sitting with their feet under them, all three girls' attention was on Yesenia. She couldn't remember ever speaking to three of her former classmates at the same time. "Umm…fun?"

"Yeah?"

She explained the slap game they played together. For a handicap, Reianna started from across the room while Yesenia sat next to the cards. Reianna still won, but it was fun.

Mint fell over. "Oh, Creator, if you're out there, please have her take me with her."

"You'll have to kiss Headmaid Sophia's feet forever for assigning you to her," Daffodil said.

"I'll name my firstborn after her!"

"Umm, what does it mean to be 'taken'?" Yesenia asked.

Mint sat back up. "You don't know what it means to be taken?"

"Not much. Gerenet-Shr brought me in because he felt bad for my situation." That was the story that they were going with. None of the other maids knew that Yesenia used to be Islae, a second-year elevator.

Daffodil was the one to answer me. "When the kids graduate, they can take their maid with them if they want. 'Taken.'"

"Way to oversimplify things," Belinia said.

"Do things need to be complicated?"

Yesenia thought back to her maid. She couldn't even remember her name. Was it even the same one as her first year? "Wait, so they just decide after one year?"

Mint answered. "Of course not, we follow the same kids their entire time here."

Guilt twinged in Yesenia.

"Unless the kid croaks," Belinia added. "Seriously. Why can't Banca just die already?"

"What happens if the kid dies?"

Mint glared at Belinia. "If your charge dies, you get slotted into the next open rotation—"

"Until you're twenty-three," Daffodil added.

"Yes, until you're twenty-three, doing shit runner jobs till there's an opening."

"Like I was till Banca's Yani-ass personal maid was called home. I never thought I'd miss that old crank. Being a runner was so much nicer."

"What happens at twenty-three?" The hole in Yesenia's stomach told her it was being thrown out onto the streets.

"They move you to servant city."

Belinia and Mint shuddered at Daffodil's words.

"What?" Yesenia asked.

"Servant city is a Yani hole."

"Yeah," Belinia said. "My dad's out there, and it really sucks."

Mint nodded. "I only exist because my mom tried to baby-trap some boy to avoid it."

"Don't we have any other choice?" Yesenia asked.

Daffodil shrugged. "You could become a commoner."

"Oh, Yani! As if!" Belinia cried and threw herself on her back. "Give me servant city any day."

Mint shuddered, too. "I can't think of anything worse than being dropped to third class."

Yesenia could think of worse things than being a commoner, but she didn't say anything.

Still looking at the ceiling, Belinia said, "Can you imagine! Wait!" She flipped back over and looked at Mint. "Didn't you say this is your second charge?"

"Yeah, I was with a boy in Class E two years ago."

Daffodil said, "Isn't that the class that was killed off in the first month?"

"Yeah, I was a runner after that till this year."

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Belinia munched on a cookie. "What's the Yani-est thing you heard about life as a commoner?"

"They only have one set of clothes."

Daffodil yawned. "Oh, Yani, they must stink. I'm so happy my charge is Class C."

Turning her gaze to Yesenia, Brelina said, "Hey! Hold up! The outwaller brought you in, yeah?"

"Yeah?" Yesenia hoped they didn't ask her about life as a commoner.

Daffodil stuck her hand out. "Hold up another second. The outwaller brought you in?"

Yesenia nodded.

"Oh, Yani," Mint said and covered her mouth.

"What?" Yesenia looked at them in turn.

"That means you're already taken. You belong to him, not the school," Mint explained.

Yesenia stared at the three cookies left on the tray. Did that mean she would have to leave Kruami and go to his country? The thought made her feel…nothing. She had no lingering attraction to any place in this Yani-forsaken country. If Gerenet-Shr told her to go with him, she would gladly go.

Yawning again, Daffodil slid off the bed, stood, and stretched. "As much as I want to sit around being jealous of the new girl, I'm getting tired. I had fun, girls. Congrats on being taken before starting, Yaz."

"Thanks," she mumbled.

"Night, Stasha," Mint said, then her eyes unfocused. "Oh, Yani! It's already double-oh. I have to be up in four hours! Wait up for me," Mint said as she scrambled off the bed.

After rushing through the servants' door, Mint paused and stuck her head back in the room. "Thank you for having us tonight. Would it be okay to come back again sometime?"

She looked at Yesenia, not Belinia, as she asked the question. Yesenia nodded.

"Thank you! I'm Natya, by the way."

"Yesenia."

Natya smiled. "Night, Yaz! See you tomorrow, Belinia."

"Night, Natya!"

Once the door closed and Natya vanished, Belinia turned to Yesenia. "So? What did you think of them?"

"I…liked them."

Belinia smiled. "You didn't seem to be a fan of Tracia and Hopina yesterday."

Yesenia shook her head. While Belinia moaned about Banca, there was an innocent, light-hearted edge to it, as if she was mostly joking while complaining. The girls from the night before didn't have any of that. They were bitter and hateful.

"Oh, Yani! You never took that bath! I'm so sorry!"

"It's fine, I could have gone at any time. I'll just sponge off tonight."

"I'll warm the bath up for you tomorrow, again."

"You don't have to."

"I don't mind! After all, it's thanks to you that I can. It's so cool of you to share your student room with me like this! I bet Natya and Stasha will be asking to use the bath, too." Belinia held out her hands. "Of course, you can tell them no if you want."

Yesenia nodded. Is this what you call a friend?

"Anyway, we should get to bed. Our charges have busy days tomorrow, too." Belinia headed out the servants' door as well. "Night, Yaz!"

"Night, Belinia."

Unseen in the corridor, Belinia yelled, "Call me Bee!"

As Yesenia wiped her skin with the warm, rose-scented cloth, the tingle it left behind stayed on her skin. Belinia was the sweetest, most annoying, kind-hearted, unable to read the room, friendly, never-stopping chatterbox that Yesenia had ever met.

She wanted to find Xav and tell him everything. He'd changed so much since she'd last seen him. Is this what had changed him? This feeling that overwhelmed Yesenia—that feeling like she finally belonged somewhere.

That night, Yesenia fell asleep with a smile on her face.

***

"Yaz! Wake up!"

Belinia hit the bottom of Yesenia's foot, shocking her awake. Sitting up in bed, Yesenia rubbed her eyes. They refused to work.

"What Yani-loving time is it?" Not even her mind's eye would open.

"Oh-four."

Yesenia fell back into bed. "Oh-four! Why the Yani did you wake me up so early?!"

"My charge and your master have the test and trial today."

Shooting back up in bed, Yesenia's eyes flew open. All traces of sleepiness left her system as she jumped out of bed. "Why didn't you remind me last night?"

"Didn't you schedule it in your interface?"

"Miss Reianna is teaching me to read! How would I know you can schedule things in something I can't read?"

Belinia's eyes were downcast. "I'm sorry. You just seem so put together, I forgot that this is still only your third day."

Ignoring the girl, Yesenia ripped her wardrobe open and pulled out a uniform with so much force, a second fell out as well.

Hands gripped her shoulders, causing her to jump.

Backing away with her hands up, Belinia said, "Yaz, calm down."

"How can I?"

"Take a deep breath, and come sit in front of the vanity."

Yesenia hesitated. The girl's sincerity tugged at her.

"I'll help you get ready. Now, sit." Belinia held out her hand. Yesenia looked at it and her uniform, then passed the garment over to her mentor.

Heading over to the vanity, she sat on the stool in front of it and looked at her reflection. Her heart raced. This is a waste of time. She'd never be ready in time.

Belinia took the brush and ran it through Yesenia's tangled hair. "We still have an hour. One of the reasons I invited Natya over last night was to find out what One-E's mornings are like."

After getting all of the knots and tangles out, Belinia didn't style Yesenia's hair. Instead, she had Yesenia stand and began helping her put on her maid's uniform.

"One-E goes out to exercise at oh-five every day. You won't need to go help him get ready or be on call until oh-six. You have two hours. Natya told me that Master Gerenet's chef likes to take the meals himself. He's trying to get taken as well."

Yesenia nodded. His attitude made more sense now. He was trying to get taken, so he was kissing ass. The day before, Belinia told her it was Yesenia's job to take the food, but the cook got snitty when she tried. And that same night, when Yesenia relayed that Gerenet-Shr wouldn't need dinner, he'd been almost petulant.

"Alright, now, back to the seat." Belinia guided Yesenia by her shoulders and pushed her down. Yesenia's chest hurt thinking of how she had thought this sweet girl was annoying. Not only was Belinia dressing her and styling Yesenia's rose gold hair into a ponytail, but she also applied a light layer of foundation and makeup on Yesenia's face.

"There. Perfectly presentable."

Yesenia looked at herself in the reflection. Makeup didn't exist in the camps. Her first-year maid hadn't done anything like Belinia for her. Leaning forward, Yesenia ran a hand down the side of her face. "Is that really me?" The reflection was too beautiful to be true.

"Yes, silly!"

"I've never worn makeup before."

"Well, tonight, maybe Tia, Sha, and I can give you some lessons."

Yesenia looked at the kind smile on Belinia's lips. Yesenia remembered what it meant when someone in the camp smiled at someone else. Belinia had been smiling at her so much. So that's her angle.

Yesenia's face hardened. She wasn't in the camp. She wouldn't do something like that here. "I'm not interested in women."

The smile fell from Belinia's face as confusion replaced it. "What?"

Yesenia stood and put distance between them. "I prefer men."

Belinia laughed. "Do you think I'm doing this to hit on you? I'm not gay, either. I just want to be your friend. And as your mentor, I should be showing you how to do this stuff."

A friend? Her whole life, Xav had been the only person who could fit that description. None of her classmates had even tried to get to know each other. Her roommate had died a month into their first year, and they never gave her a new one.

Belinia was annoying and never shut up. But still…"I'd like to be your friend, too. I don't know how to do that either."

The slate blue-haired girl giggled. "It's just something you do. Just be you. Oh, Yani! That girl is already calling for me. I gotta go."

Yesenia watched her new friend run from her room again. A warm feeling filled her chest. The words Xav told her came back to her, about that man changing everything.

It wasn't like he was personally going around and doing these things for her. All he did was open the door to a new world for her, a world supported by him, and it was bright.

Going down to the kitchen, she ate the bland food that Reaggie made for her—it tasted exactly like the cafeteria food. She couldn't understand why Gerenet-Shr would want to eat something like that every day.

Done with her breakfast, she went up to his room to find that Headmaid Sophia was already there.

"Draw his bath, girl. I will attend to his clothes and dressing."

"Yes, ma'am."

There wasn't much for her to do as she waited in the servants' corridor. She couldn't go anywhere, just in case he needed to call on her. So, she sat there and listened to the noises in the bathroom through the thin walls. She felt like a pervert.

To get her mind off it, she pulled the letter cards Miss Reianna had given her out of her inventory and began studying. Reaggie came and went with the food and then the empty plates.

Yesenia was tracing her finger over a letter when Headmaid Sophia cleared her throat. Vanishing the cards, Yesenia stood up.

"Master Gerenet has left. Your task for today is a full clean of his rooms, bed, bath, and audience. He shall return at fifteen-half. You will be done by fourteen-half so that I have time to fix your mistakes."

"Yes, ma'am."

The deep violet-haired woman nodded once, then vanished into the elevator.

Getting to work, Yesenia gathered all of the laundry: the bed sheets, Gerenet-Shr's dirty clothes, and wet towels. When the elevator came, the clothing and linens carts were in there. She dumped the items in their proper places, and the elevator went off to give its load to the laundry workers.

She made good progress and was close to finishing when she took her lunch break. Thirty minutes before Headmaid Sophia was supposed to come back and check the progress, Yesenia stood back and double checked her work. Near perfection. Even the bed sheets had the perfect cut and angle to their tucking.

After one last look around the bedroom, she put her hands on her hips and smiled. 14:17. A full thirteen minutes to spare.

*BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM*

Yesenia jumped at the banging that was so loud it was as if the person was banging on every wall in Gerenet-Shr's bedroom. Heading out into the hallway, the dorm hall's door shook from the force of the banging.

Looking back down the hall, another maid popped her head out from room 302. Their eyes met, and the girl shook her head, vanishing back into 302. Yesenia turned to face the rattling door that seemed like it was going to splinter apart any second.

Finding the option in her interface that the headmaid had shown her, Yesenia smiled when she realized she could read >UNLOCK. Selecting it, the door burst open.

A woman with aubergine hair, who didn't look nearly big enough to have been rattling the door like she had been, stood there fuming. Her eyes found Yesenia, and in a blink, Yesenia was slammed against the wall with the woman's forearm shoved into Yesenia's neck, pinning her there.

"Where is it?" the woman growled.

Yesenia couldn't answer—she couldn't breathe. She tried to shake her head, saying she didn't know what the woman was talking about.

"Don't play dumb! That gray-haired Yani's room! Where is it!"

Miss Reianna. This woman was here after Miss Reianna. Was she Banca's mother?

Yesenia worked her mouth, but no sound came out of it.

"Earl-ess Wendia."

The woman spun to face Headmaid Sophia. Yesenia collapsed to the floor. Her hands went to her throat as she gasped for air.

"Sophia. Where is her room?"

"Miss Reianna has yet to return from the test and trial."

"I know."

The women fell silent. Yesenia regained enough strength to look up and see the stoic expression on the headmaid's face. She wasn't fazed by the raging woman in front of her in the slightest.

Headmaid Sophia's eyes flickered to Yesenia, then back to Earl-ess Wendina.

"Might I inquire as to what business you have with Miss Reianna, Earl-ess?"

"Tell me where her room is!"

Keeping her hands stacked and in front of her, Headmaid Sophia didn't flinch. "I'm sorry, Earl-ess. Academy policy forbids me from—"

*Thump*

Headmaid Sophia's voice cut off as Earl-ess Wendina slammed her against the wall like she'd done with Yesenia.

"I'm going to wait in her room, and when she comes back, I'm going to cut the Yani's head off. If you do not tell me where her room is, I'll start with you, then kill every commoner until I find her. If you tell me the wrong room, I'll kill whoever comes in there, then kill all the commoners till I find her."

Unlike Yesenia, the headmaid did not make any choking noises. In fact, Yesenia realized that Headmaid Sophia hadn't even raised her hands to try and peel away the earl-ess' arm. The vivid purple-haired maid's expression was calm, and her hands stayed by her sides, despite her feet dangling off the floor.

"Do you understand, Sophia?"

The headmaid nodded, and Earl-ess Wendina released her. Again, in contrast to Yesenia, who'd collapsed on the floor, struggling for air, Headmaid Sophia was perfectly calm. Only the rasp in her voice when she said, "This way, please," gave any hint that she'd been affected by the attack.

After opening the door to room 307, Headmaid Sophia took a step back. Earl-ess Wendina didn't even spare a glance as she walked by, so she didn't see the headmaid's hand flash out like lightning.

The tip of her fingernails hit the side of the noble woman's neck, and the earl-ess collapsed to the ground. Her eyes rolled up into her head, and foam started pouring from her mouth.

The headmaid bent down and put her fingers on the side of the woman's neck. "Aww, Yani-shit. She wasn't supposed to die."

Yesenia's eyes went wide at hearing the unflappable woman curse.

Looking into room 307, Headmaid Sophia said, "Natya, come help me carry the body to Master Basque's room."

Turning her head to Yesenia, she said. "Go open the door for us, then go wait for your master to return. When he does, say these words exactly."

Nodding, Yesenia ran down the hall and opened the door to Gerenet-Shr's room and left it open. On her way down the stairs, over and over in her mind, she repeated the words Headmaid Sophia gave her:

We have once again run out of sugar for your tea, and we desperately need some more sugar. Your room is sugarless. If we do not get sugar soon, there will be problems.