The Exchange Teacher - Welcome to Dyntril Academy

The first thing Basque did was to go take a bath. Soaking in the warm water was his favorite way to think. It didn't help. No matter what, his conclusion remained the same: conflict with Kruami.

That prospect didn't bother him in the slightest. With a half-year journey one-way through Yani-infested waters, a long, drawn-out war wouldn't happen, but he'd effectively be unilaterally burning any relationship between the two countries. Even if he didn't see a benefit of some sort of alliance, someone had.

His heart ached. Whatever it is, it can't be more important than a human.

Spiriting Reianna away would keep her safe. With her talent and potential, the animal chairs would accept her. He knew it in his bones.

He laughed. Bear inks and tiger inks would follow him if he started the incident over a rock. His mom was the bear chair, of course, she'd back him. Tigers would need even less of a reason, even if Basque wasn't in line to be the next chair—there weren't many tigers, and they were fanatical in their devotion to each other.

Sure, they might be disappointed in him, but they'd still back him, regardless of any consequences. That's why he loved them all and would do the same for them.

What of the others? The Elephant inks' chair wouldn't be hard to convince. Reianna's story would sway her. If presented in the right light, she'd probably even feel sympathy for Krill. A brilliant, wonderful person like Reianna would leave the elephant chair in a puddle of tears.

Jaguars were greedy. Reianna's raw power and potential would have them drooling. Basque could push that angle hard for them.

He sighed. Rabbits… Their default reaction to everything was "no". All of his worst students turned out to be rabbits when they got their ink. Okay, "worst" was going too far. The students he clashed with the most. But tigers and rabbits would never get along. Their timidity was too annoying.

Eagles, though, eagle inks like Eder were the reason Basque was in this Yani-forsaken country. They'd want to burn Basque and Reianna before burning a trade bridge.

But the question was, would their opposition be enough to sway lion?

A knock at the door startled Basque out of his thoughts. Water splashed out of the tub as he jerked from the surprise. "Yes?"

"I'm sorry to disturb you, Master Gerenet," Yesenia said, "but one of your students is insistent on seeing you."

Since the day before, Sophia had been scarce, giving her normal duties to Yesenia. He still didn't know why he'd given his mother's name to the girl.

"Who?"

"Umm, the azure-haired one?"

"Cayelyn?"

"Yes, Master Gerenet."

"Please have her wait in the audience room. I'll be out in a minute."

"Understood, sir."

Basque got out of the bath and toweled off. Sophia would have sent Cayelyn away and let him know after he got out of the bath. Given his current predicament, he was glad for Yesenia's approach; he needed the distraction.

After putting on his under robes, Basque grabbed the casual robe he'd prepared and put it on. He tossed his long, wet hair behind his back and fixed the tucked-in edges of his robe. He exited the bathroom into his bedroom, then went out to the audience chamber from there.

"Cayelyn, please sit down," Basque said as he crossed the room and sat on the sofa facing the door.

Yesenia was nowhere to be seen, but Basque knew she was hidden behind the servants' door, listening to their conversation and waiting for a signal that she was needed.

Even though she'd been given permission to enter the room, and Basque's exit from the bath wasn't fast, Cayelyn had remained standing in the entrance to the doorway. Not until he told her to sit down did she walk into the room and sit.

"I…" she started, then stopped.

Her eyes were red and swollen. Basque kept his face passive, but his insides were a sea in a storm. That feeling that something was wrong, that feeling that had been eating at him for the past couple of weeks, screamed at him. Along with it, shock and fear swirled around—only Fawna was quick to tears; the rest of Class E hadn't cried once as far as he knew. Not even Maecy when she'd thought Malcalm was dead.

"Cayelyn, what is it?"

"Gerenet-Shr, I should have said something. I'm so sorry. I…" Cayelyn sobbed. "I've betrayed you! We've all betrayed you."

His stomach lurched. Betrayed him? How? When? "What do you mean?"

"For the past several weeks, Banca has been torturing Reianna."

The feeling of wrongness solidified into a dagger and struck his heart. His body sagged, and tears welled in his eyes. Torturing? "Torturing?"

Cayelyn nodded, causing the tears rolling down her cheeks to fall faster. "A while ago, Reianna, Dmi, and I went with Fawna to visit her friend, Mi—Avali. When we went, Banca 'took a liking' to Reianna." Her contempt was palpable.

Basque sat as stiff as possible, doing all that he could to keep his emotions from leaking. "Go on."

"She—Banca, she started treating Reianna like she was a dog. Banca and her friends…they made her bark and eat off the floor. They would use her as a stool. They…" Despite how red Cayelyn's eyes were, more tears rolled out of them. "…broke her cheek, jaw, ribs, her legs."

Cayelyn started bawling. "I'm sorry! I…I should have told you!" Cayelyn's sobbing was torrential. "But Reianna asked us all not to! She said she would take care of it herself."

Basque's hands fell to his sides, and he gripped the couch. He could feel the fabric straining under his grip. "Did Madam Julivie know?"

Cayelyn nodded. "She's the one who got Avali to start doing it to Fawna, too."

Basque couldn't see. Blood pounded in his temples as his grip finally tore through the sofa's seams.

"Go back to your room, Cayelyn." Basque stood and walked to the door. He had told that pink Yani what he would do to her. He warned her what would happen if she did something to his students.

Basque jerked the door open. Natt stood there with her hand in the air, ready to knock.

Natt's eyes went wide when she saw his face. "Oh, fuck." Her stance changed to block the door.

He tried to push past her, but she shoved him back.

"Get out of my way, Natt."

Natt pushed him back further into the room. She saw Cayelyn sitting wide-eyed in the seat. "Run back to your room, Miss Ryder. Close this door."

"Yes, ma'am!"

Cayelyn ran from the room.

"Move, Natt!"

"Basque! Calm down!"

"I told her. I told her if she did anything to my students, I would leave her a mangled, ugly mess."

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Natt shook him. "Snap out of it, Basque! Think about the consequences."

"That's what that woman should have done! They abused Reianna and Fawna!"

"I know!"

That got through to Basque. His eyes focused on the woman in front of him. "I knew."

"You knew and did nothing?" Basque's legs gave out, and he slid down against the wall.

"I'm sorry, Basque. I'm so sorry. I had no choice."

He looked up at her. "Had no choice?"

Natt squatted down and put her hands on his face. "I did what I could to protect her, but I'm a fallen."

"You could have told me." Tears flowed from Basque's eyes.

Natt also cried as she shook her head. "Look at what you are doing now! What would happen if I wasn't here to stop you?"

"There'd be a broken pink blob on the eighth floor!"

"Exactly! And then what would happen?"

"Reianna would be safe! She wouldn't be tortured by-by-by—!"

Once again, she reached out and cupped his face, forcing his eyes to meet hers. "No! No. You'd be gone! You'd be out of her life, out of all their lives! Do you know how much those children need you? How much they are depending on you?"

She shook his head. "That's why they couldn't tell you. That's why I couldn't tell you."

He slumped against the wall. No strength would flow through his body. He just stared at that beautiful face.

"I'm sorry, Basque. I knew once you found out you'd start hating me again. It's going to kill me, because I need you, but those kids need you more than I do. They love you more than I do. Keeping you in the dark was the only way I could keep you here for them."

Basque stared at her. His shock was too profound—he couldn't even cry.

Natt stood. "I'm so sorry, Basque."

He watched her as she left. His head stayed looking at the door. Natt's words poured over him. He still wanted to go kill Julvie, but the last of his strength was used to watch Natt leave him.

Reianna hid it from him because she was scared he'd retaliate just like he planned. She'd rather get broken and mangled than let him do something that would jeopardize his stay in Dyntril.

He covered his eyes with his hands and cried. He'd only been their teacher for a bit more than a month. He didn't deserve their trust, their faith, or the way Xav looked at him as a parent.

Small hands pulled at his arms. Yesenia was there, trying to pull him up off the wall. Her will gave him enough strength that he was able to get off the floor. Instead of slumping against the wall, he slumped across the girl's shoulders, and she led him into his bedroom.

Guiding him over to his bed, she removed her support, and he fell down in it. One leg at a time, she picked them up and put them on the bed. Then, she walked around to the other side and threw the blanket over him. She didn't go back into the audience room. She left through the servants' door in his room.

Basque stared at the ceiling in his room. His students hadn't betrayed him. Natt hadn't betrayed him. They lied to him and hid Reianna's and Fawna's abuse, but they were right to do so. They knew what he would do and understood what would happen after that.

Fuck this country.

He wanted to take them all and flee back to Hianbru. They could all live safe, stable lives. Whatever the inkers revealed as their animals, every single one of them would be good chair candidates for that animal.

It wasn't fair that they were here. They all deserved a better life. Could he convince Aros to smuggle them back home on one of the ships? Hianbru wasn't walled. Aros could drop them off before reaching the port. Basque could lead them back to a rural village somewhere. An unwanted laugh escaped his lips. No matter where he took them, their vibrant hair color would stand out.

And take just the students? What about their parents? Reianna was here because she needed to become a noble for her hometown. They were suffering without a noble. Reianna wouldn't leave. He didn't know why she sacrificed herself so much for others; maybe her parents' lesson had taken a stronger hold than she realized.

Whatever the cause, it was who she was. Even if it was just to sneak her out to prevent her from being found out as a mage, she wouldn't go. It would mean abandoning people who depended on her.

Despair gripped Basque as he couldn't see a solution. He couldn't keep Reianna alive. She was depending on him, and he was going to fail her.

***

Basque didn't know when he fell asleep, but he woke up and checked his interface clock: 3:27. Unwrapping himself from the blanket Yesenia had covered him in, Basque got up and left his room.

Swaying on his feet, he looked without looking around the audience room. His eyes felt raw. His eyelids were sandpaper. He was going to go somewhere. Where?

He left the dorm hall. His feet carried him to a flight of stairs. It was the middle of the night. No one will know. No one was awake. Even the lights in the Grand Entrance Hall were out.

He put a deliberate foot on the first step, then the next. Basque climbed the stairs. Fourth Floor. Fifth floor. Sixth. Seventh. Eighth. He stood in front of the door. He needed this. He had to do this.

A door. This door. Again, his fist squeezed into a tight ball. The swaying stopped as the sense of purpose washed over him. He knocked. No answer came. He raised his hand to knock again, but instead of knocking, he grabbed the doorknob—it was unlocked.

Opening the door, he stepped into the room. The woman sleeping on the bed shot up. "What the fuck, Basque?" Natt asked.

He didn't say anything. He just walked over and climbed in with her. He wrapped himself around her.

As he lay in the crook of her arm, she stroked him with the hand that she had wrapped around him.

"I want to save them all."

"I know."

"I don't hate you."

Her hand paused. He felt her trembling in his arms. Outside of the shaking, she didn't move.

"Natt?"

She shook her head.

He tried to pull away, but she grabbed him and pulled him down to her. His head lay on her chest, which continued to shake with her sobs.

Slowly, to not make her more anxious, Basque raised himself up so that he could reach her lips. He kissed her.

She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him back. She broke off from his lips and kissed his cheek, his ear, his neck. She came back to his mouth, and the kiss wasn't as soft as before. She pressed into him.

Her hands slipped into his robe and pushed it off his shoulders. Basque reached down and untied his sash. As he removed his garments, Natt pulled her nightgown off over her head.

Unlike their previous times outside, this time was calm and gentle—more care than passion. Natt stared into his eyes. She looked lost. She looked scared. She grabbed his head and pulled his lips down to hers. After kissing him, she pushed his head further down so that his ear was by her lips.

"I've needed you my whole life," she whispered. She moaned, and her arms squeezed his head down even further. Her grip was tight, then went loose.

When they finished, Natt lay curled up next to him. She ran a hand along his muscled chest. His hand played with the hair on the back of her head.

He understood that look of fear she'd given him; he felt it too. His attraction to her was too strong. To think anything he'd felt with Rakelle could compare to this was naive.

"Don't keep things from me in the future."

"I won't."

They both knew she could get through to him. She'd keep him from doing something that would jeopardize his position. Together, they would find a solution.

"How do we save Reianna?" he asked her.

"I'm still thinking."

"Krill is making a play for something."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, he seems invested in Reianna not being a mage."

Natt's hand stopped. "Did Julive ever mention how many kills she had?"

Basque's hand went still, and his body stiffened.

"Hey!" Natt slapped his chest. "I'm naked here. Stay with me."

"Then don't bring up that person."

"It's important to the discussion at hand. Did she ever brag to you about it?"

He shook his head. "Not an exact number that I can remember. Why?"

"I think Krill might be after Jorellan's dukedom."

"Yasher said something like that. Something about a triple upgrade?"

Natt nodded. "How much do you know about the peerage?"

"Harnel told me a bit. He said that the upper ranks are limited in number and there's a certain number of kills needed to get to that level, as well as a number to prevent sliding down."

"Yeah, so the only way there can be a new duke, or duchess, is if there's a vacancy. One of the ten must fall, either down to a lower rank or out of nobility completely, like I did."

"What rank were you?"

She slapped his chest again. "Shh. Not important. So, what Yasher must be thinking and what I am thinking is that Krill is aiming to take Jorellan down from Duke and putting Julvie up. That would leave a spot open in the machon, and he could slide in there.

"But that's only a double."

"Yasher's comment about a 'triple upgrade' is that he probably thinks that Krill would leverage the upgrade with Julive to have her marry him, giving him a jump to dukedom, and he could hold a marquis spot as well as have a claim to a dukedom."

"I see."

"The only problem with that is, first off, ew. He's like twice her age. But not only that. Krill truly loves his wife."

"Krill said that, too."

Natt slapped his chest again. "Why are you making me explain all this, then? You already knew everything."

"Well, I guess, but I wasn't sure."

"So, Krill's play is probably just a double jump. Julive to Duchess and himself to her marquis' spot."

"Okay, what I don't understand is how that relates to Reianna."

"Well, Banca is kind of like you. She's a genius fighter. I knew her when she was six. Even at that age, you could tell she was going to be special. But, if it turns out she lost to a plain commoner, the arches and dukedoms wouldn't support Jorellan anymore."

"Why?"

She shrugged. "Ego? Pride? Embarrassment? Petty reasons from petty people."

"Move into my room."

Natt pulled away from him and sat up on her elbow. "What?"

Oops.