Unlikely Reunion

The whipping was less entertaining than Arian had hoped. None of the punished people screamed.

First, it was Sir Balay's turn. He wasn't happy with the punishment, but he took it without showing any sign of anger. Nor did his face reveal a trace of pain.

Arian watched him closely, as one of his other guards hit the bare back of the commander again and again. He was impressed by the strength of his guard.

Next were the teachers, who only got 5 lashes.

This went over pretty fast. Most of them gritted their teeth, but just like Sir Balay they didn't make a sound.

Whereas Arian had seen it as a strength of the former, with the teachers he got angry. Even though they kept their heads down there was something that bothered him about them.

He couldn't pinpoint it until it was the principal's turn. The old man with fading white hair and steel gray eyes behaved just like his colleagues. With one exception- at the end, when he received the last strike with the whip, he looked up and stared directly at Arian. In his eyes, hatred was burning.

But worst of all, when he got up, his back dripping with blood, and staggered away, he made an effort to walk straight, different from all the others, who got assisted by someone.

For Arian, this was a sign worse than the hatred in Javis's eyes. Even though it was just a small action, Arain knew what it meant and it sent him into a fury inwardly.

Of course, he didn't let his emotions show. But in his mind the prince cursed.

He dared to show defiance. He dared to keep his head high in front of me, even though this was the very thing I punished him for.

Briefly, he played with the thought of giving more beatings just for the fun of it and to beat the stoic principal into submission. After a moment of contemplation, however, he decided against it. No matter how bad his mood was and how he hated to stay in this place, he still had to live here for a few months.

Being seen as a mad Tyrant on the first day he arrived might not be a good start to his relationship with the people here.

How bothersome, Arian made a sour expression mentally before he signaled his subordinates to leave. His maid pushed his wheelchair as his party headed for the main gate again. Next to it, built into the fence was a watchtower, which was one storey taller than the main buildings.

To Arian's dismay, only a narrow stairway led up to the platform above. Needless to say, he couldn't get up there by wheelchair.

So he had to be carried.

Already getting him out of his wheelchair was a tiring task. Arian had to stem himself out of his wheelchair, while a guard tried to get the prince onto his back. The guard's thick armor and Arian's long white robes, that vailed his whole body made the task all the more challenging.

They still hadn't perfected the procedure completely, so they needed a few tries.

Once one of his guards finally carried him piggyback Arian was sweating from exhaustion and embarrassment.

After all, he- the rightful crown prince of the empire- was carried like a little boy.

Arian let the awkwardness wash over him as he once more realized, how useless his not functioning body really was. Once again he wished that fateful incident hadn't happened.

The thought of it made his heart beat faster and a lump formed in his throat. Arain swallowed and tried to think of something else...

Come on, there had to be something, he told himself.

Something nice...

Right, at least none of the teachers were watching him being carried, Arian thought, finally having found something positive about the whole situation. They were probably too busy tending to the wounds of their beaten colleagues.

And their beasts most likely as well, he added in an afterthought.

Arian was surprised that they hadn't intervened when their masters got punished.

But then again, they were so weak that not even their race was known. Arain suspected they had been more frightened about the punishment than their bounded humans.

What irony.

Arian just pondered if he should consider such helpless creatures truly beasts when they finally reached the platform. Two other guards had carried his wheelchair up, too, so Arian could sit again, while his servants stood beside him.

After all, one more exciting thing happened today: The students' arrival.

Arian's party didn't need to wait long before they saw multiple carriages wheeling over the red desert floor.

As they drew nearer, the prince could identify the creatures that pulled the carriages. They were Kelpies.

It was probably the only beast species he had encountered today, that was important enough to be known by him- even though the horse-like creatures were ranked in Puny.

Arian also asked himself why beasts that had an affinity to water were used to pull carriages through a desert. He asked Maloc about his opinion on the topic.

His deputy shrugged his shoulders. "Probably because they are one of the easiest beasts to tame. And they work well as transport animals, my prince."

Arian nodded and turned his attention back to the ground beneath the platform.

The exciting part came when the carriages finally halted and the students got out. Many of them were returning ones. Arian wouldn't spend as much time with them as the new ones, so he focused his attention only on the carriages with the writing "First-graders".

After studying the carriages for a bit he realized, there was only one; one three-leveled carriage, which was pulled by sixteen kelpies. Like all the other carriages that transported students, it was a simple metallic box without any ornaments or drawings.

How unsightly, Arian thought and remembered the carriage he had traveled in. It had been a beautiful white one, with golden ornaments and drawings depicting the emperor's legacy. Even its interior had been beautiful, with golden-rimmed furniture, chandeliers, and marble pillars.

Therefore the overall picture was more reminiscent of a small palace than a carriage for simple tavels.

And instead of it being pulled by kelpies, his had been pulled by twenty pegasuses-beautiful winged horses with iridescent white fur.

Flying had made the travel much easier and faster. Especially for Arian, who was paraplegic, flying was much more convenient, as there were no bumpy roads.

Indeed, it had been a smooth journey...

...until they had been attacked, by a dragon, no less. Even though there were twenty pegasuses and some other beasts guarding the prince and his party- they were no match for the dragon. After all a dragon was a beast of the second highest category- almost a god among beasts.

In the end, Arian's party had to flee, even though this attempt proved to be futile. The dragon managed to kill all the beasts protecting the carriage and ate some of the pegasuses as well, which resulted in an emergency landing in the desert. Luckily they weren't far away from the academy, so they had managed to go the last few miles on foot.

Arian suddenly wondered what had happened with the carriage, the pegasuses as well as the carriage drivers. He had not noticed any of it, as he had used the commotion after the crash landing to escape his guards and...well, and attempt suicide.

The latter sadly didn't work out.

Arian wanted to sigh in frustration, thus he tried to forget the matter, focusing on the manner ahead. He counted the students, which got out of the carriage for the first graders.

What? Not even forty students?, Arian couldn't hide his surprise and disbelief. What a far cry from the renowned academies of the capital, which often had hundreds of new students.

Tomorrow morning would be the official greeting, where Arian would get to know all of them better. Today, he only observed them, to hopefully know what he could expect from them.

He realized most of the students were male. It surprised him a bit, given the fact that in the capital most beast tamers were female.

Otherwise, the students were like he had expected. Dirty, ragged clothes, simple looking with no clear skin, and of course bone thin. To nobles like him and his servants, they all appeared ill.

The exquisite and unique facial expressions nobles had were of course not present. Arian thought all of them ugly…

...except one.

There was one girl with long straight black hair uniquely sharp dark eyes and flawless white skin. She did not possess the usually tanned skin, which the common folk normally had due to working outside.

Arian would even go as far as to call her the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.