The Exchange Teacher - Welcome to Dyntril Academy

Basque didn't knock on Eder's door—he pounded on it. The door rattled and thudded in the frame.

Eder whipped the door open. "What in the Yani—!"

When he saw the expression on Basque's face, Eder's eyes narrowed. "I thought I told you to come see me weeks ago."

"I've been busy with a task that seems like it wasn't given to me by Kruami after all." Basque pushed past Eder and went into the office. In contrast to the lab-like office Rakelle used and the exploded library Xelac had, Eder's office was clean and tidy.

It resembled Yasher's private office back at the academy; a large wooden desk sat at the far side of the door with two chairs facing it. Between the desk and the door was a sitting area with two sofas and a coffee table between them.

Basque walked over to one of the two chairs in front of the desk and spun it around to face the sofas and coffee table. Pointing to one of the couches, Basque said, "Sit, Eder."

Following his own command, Basque sat in the chair he'd turned around.

Eder went to go sit at his desk, but Basque grabbed the man's sleeve as he tried to pass.

"Sit there," Basque said and pointed at the couch.

"I am the commander of this mission, Basque."

"You are a spoiled brat who's been lying to the entire entourage. I'm not staring into the sun behind you. You can play my power moves. Now, sit."

Basque pulled on Eder's sleeve and sent him tumbling back to the sofa.

"What the Yani do you think you're doing?!" Eder yelled as he crashed into the seat.

"Having a discussion with you."

Eder sat up and straightened his Kruamian coat. "Good! Then we can finally discuss all of your mishaps."

"My mishaps?"

"Yes! Core machines. Interface shortcuts. And I'm sure there are other things that you've done that I'm not aware of yet!"

"Oh, you mean like teaching a class you decided to volunteer me for?!"

"I didn't have faith in you to properly observe and felt you'd be better off in a teaching role. I wanted just the six-month period, but they were insistent on the full five years."

"Yani-shit. The time to decide I'm not good at evaluations is before I got on that Yani-forsaken ship and sailed halfway around the world through those Yani-infested waters!"

"There were stronger candidates than you, but I opted for you because I wanted your prowess."

"Yeah, in case this Yani-hole of a country decided to rebel against your invasion here?"

"I didn't invade them!"

"Xelac disagrees."

Eder ran a hand through his short-cropped black hair. "Of course he would! He's an elephant. To him, if Kruami didn't jump with joy at the prospect of trading with us, I might as well be fitting them for collars."

"So, what did happen then?"

"I…had to force our way through their wall."

"I didn't see any signs of damage."

"Not that you would in that slapped-together junk pile, but that was a metaphor. I didn't literally blow a hole in it. They rebuffed my first contact, so I showed them what we are capable of."

Basque pinched his brow. "How the Yani is that not an invasion?"

"An invasion would imply that I'm trying to subjugate them. I just…bashed on the door really hard. I'd think that would be something a tiger like you would understand and appreciate." Eder pointed at his door with a nod.

"Yeah, well…" Basque wanted to argue with the man, but stopped as Eder was right. Tigers weren't known for their tact. "But what do they have here that you even want?"

"The location."

It was just like Xelac said. "What's the real reason you have me here?"

"You're a tiger."

"So, you expect me to be some sort of brute-strength, intimidating force?" Basque struggled to keep his voice neutral and even. He wanted to get Natt's eye fixed. Getting into a shouting match wouldn't accomplish that.

"Are you saying if they came after us, you'd just stand around?"

"No, I'd protect our withdrawal, naturally, but you're sorely mistaken if you think I'll go on the offensive."

"Taken that much of a liking to the culture here, have you?"

Basque gritted his teeth. "Says the man with short hair."

Eder ran a hand through it. "You should try it. Upkeep is so much easier."

"I'll pass."

"Your loss. Now, let's get down to what you've done wrong."

"Nothing."

"What?"

Basque sat back and crossed his arms. "I've done nothing wrong. You want this place for its location only. Teaching about interface shortcuts and self-distruct enabled core machines won't hurt your negotiations. In fact, wouldn't they do the opposite and show these people we have things to offer them?"

"It's not like they have nothing of value."

"What do they have?"

"A wall that keeps Yani out."

Basqu snorted. "What are we supposed to dismantle that and ship it home? They even have pre-fall buildings worked into it. As soon as we try to move it, it'll disintegrate."

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"I'm not talking about the actual wall, Yani-brain. They've let their wild Yani population overgrow. You should see the purity of the stones that we can get from the Yani-born! They're so much denser than turned Yani."

"Is that why you wanted me to teach?"

Eder stood. "Exactly." Closing the short distance between them, Eder clasped Basque's shoulder. "Now, if you could stop giving away my bargaining chips that I'm using for hunting rights in the area, I would appreciate it."

"How about we sweeten the pot then? They don't have the tech to regrow body parts. Reattach? Yes, but regrow? No. Why don't we show them what we can do?"

Eder took his hand off Basque's shoulder. "Are you suggesting that we cut off one of your arms and fabricate a new one?"

"No. We can use a local. One of the teachers, she lost an eye. We could regrow it for her."

Eder smiled. "You must really like her."

Basque frowned. Eder wasn't wrong, but he hated being seen through by the man. "That's beside the point."

"And I'm guessing Rakelle refused to fix your new girlfriend? Ahh, jealousy."

Basque rolled his eyes. "You don't know Rakelle if you think she'd ever be jealous."

"Okay, Basque-Shr, let's say I fix your girl for you. What are you going to do for me?"

"Leave out of my report how you sold me out for five years. I'll write it up as my choice."

Eder raised an eyebrow.

"And, I don't know, I'll listen to you maybe?"

"Maybe? Would you cut your hair off if I told you to?"

Basque looked down at his hands. What would that matter? He looked up at Eder. "Hair grows back."

"If I needed an incident at the school, could you make me one?"

"I will not endanger any students."

"Oh, no. You'll just release a Yani in the cafeteria."

"It was a minute, and I was there the whole time."

Eder's face darkened. "I knew it was you behind that!" He walked away from Basque. "You're unbelievable! Why? Why did you do that?"

"I had to get the cafeteria closed down until my students could defend themselves properly."

Eder pinched the bridge of his nose. "How many locals know?"

"Just one."

"Kill her."

"What?"

"Kill her and I'll fix your girlfriend."

"That wouldn't fix anything."

"It would stop her from talking."

"The Royal Mage Billiam already knows."

Eder's face and head slumped in exasperation. "And why the Yani are you out telling and showing him?"

"He knew from when I released it. I didn't tell him anything. But, you don't need to worry about him."

"Why not?"

"He may be the royal mage, but his allegiance lies with Loushee."

"And who the Yani is Loushee?"

"The fifth-year mage."

"Fifth-year? As in a student?"

"Yes."

Eder wandered back to the couch and sat down. "You realize that everything you say just makes the situation worse and worse."

"Look, Billiam and Loushee seem more like an independent third party, and the one person I directly told is the leader of a revolutionary group, so—"

"A Yani-loving revolutionary?! Basque! Just stop talking! I beg of you, don't make my headache worse." Eder put his face in his hands, rubbed it a few times, then straightened up while taking in a deep breath.

"Okay, Basque. This is what we're going to do. You keep in with those revolutionaries while I make good with the royals. I want this port. I want access to the wilds beyond the walls. I'll tell Rakelle to fix your woman, and in return, I want a blood oath from you to support me when I need it. Be it here or back home."

Basque sat back in the chair. A blood oath? He loved Natt, but he would have to leave Natt. Eder, on the other hand…Basque didn't particularly like him, and they would be going back to Hianbru together in five years.

"Yani, Basque. I'm asking you to support me, not marry me. You won't have to follow my orders or anything, just protect me if anything goes bad."

"You said here and back home. If anything goes bad back home, it would be with the lion."

"No. I'm not asking you to get involved with him. Just…I just need you to say that you agreed with all my decisions."

"Why do I feel that would be something I could regret?"

"Okay, let me just be clear. I want a blood oath that you will protect me physically here and politically back home."

"But you and I disagree on most things political."

"Politically in regard to what we do here. The fact that we don't align will give things more credence. I won't ask you to betray your precious tigers or your mother."

Basque thought about it for a few seconds. "Protecting you physically isn't a problem, assuming we're in the same area, and honestly, I couldn't care less about this country. I'm fine with you using it as one of your eagle playgrounds. I'm good with giving an oath that I agree with your decisions here, but I won't take the credit or blame for them."

It was Eder's turn to think for a few heartbeats, then he nodded and produced a knife and a small vial.

Standing and taking the items from Eder, Basque sliced the palm of his hand and squeezed it, forcing the blood to drip from the bottom of his fist. As soon as the first drop of blood hit the bottom of the vial, an empty dialog box appeared in front of him.

"I vow on the blood of a tiger to physically protect Eder Hektle while in Kruami and within a visible area. In Hianbru, I will back the decisions he makes in Kruami, though I will not take credit nor blame for them."

As he spoke, his words filled the dialog box, and when he finished, Basque handed the blade and vial to Eder. The other man sliced his palm and added his blood to the vial.

"In return, I vow on the blood of an eagle to provide Basque Gerenet the medical operation of his choosing to the Kruamian citizen, also of his choosing."

Eder's words filled more of the dialog box, and when he stopped speaking, a simple "Accept?" alert appeared above the dialog box.

"Within a visible area? Really, Basque?"

"I'm not losing my tiger ink because you get yourself killed on the other side of this country while I'm teaching a class. If you need my protection, you can come to me and make me look at you."

"Fine. Accept."

Basque nodded. "Accept."

As the vial vanished from Eder's hand, Basque began to feel queasy, like he was a teen being caught sneaking drinks from his mom's liquor cabinet with his friends, and his mom was going to be disappointed.

The queasy feeling was replaced by a sharp pain in his shoulder, and Basque wiggled it to ease the discomfort as a drop of blood etched itself onto his right shoulder. It didn't hurt anywhere near as bad as when the inker had revealed him as a tiger, but neither was it the comforting feeling of his tiger switching stances.

"Don't make me regret this, Basque."

"You? The only one in danger of losing his ink is me."

"Just bring your girl when you can."

Basque nodded. Rakelle was going to kill him. His mother would also kill him for making the blood oath, but he wouldn't survive that long. Once Rakelle heard about the blood oath, she'd try to carve it out of his shoulder.

"Can, uhh, can we tell Rakelle that you just agreed to do it? Leave all the oath stuff out of it?"

Eder laughed. "Scared of a little woman?"

"She may be a rabbit, but she could take you in a duel."

"She is a feisty one."

Basque rolled his eyes. "I'll be back in a couple of days. And like I said, if you need help, come find me."

Leaving Eder's office, Basque reflected on what he'd done. He'd made a bargain with a man who would be happy to never see another tiger ink come into the world, or to make sure that tigers were relegated out of the chairs like cheetahs had been all those decades ago.

He'd added the qualifier about not taking blame for what Eder did, as eagles had been a driving force to expel cheetahs from the Council of Chairs. If Eder could mess up things in Kruami and pin it on Basque, with the decrease in tiger inks, they could push for the expulsion.

Of course, he knew Eder wouldn't accept it if he hadn't qualified it by denying credit as well. But the fact that Eder was pushing for Basque to be a political backer meant that whatever Eder was doing wasn't quite sanctioned, and there could be repercussions.

As Basque got into a carriage to take him back to the academy, he couldn't shake the sinking suspicion that he'd made a deal with a Yani. He remembered how well Eder and Krill seemed to get along, and Basque couldn't help but feel like they were unrelated brothers.

So far, whatever Krill had planned for Duke Jorellen hadn't come to fruition yet, and Basque was starting to worry. Resting his hand on his chin and glaring at the city sights, Basque had just added another black-hooved pig to his plate. He had no doubt that one day in the future, it would finish its transformation and try to rip Basque's face off.

But then he thought of Natt and her reaction to the idea that she could get her eye back. Sitting back and looking up at the ceiling of the carriage, Basque nodded his head. Tigers weren't pushovers, and Natt was worth it.

He couldn't wait to get back to the school and tell her the good news.