Page 31 of Souls of Steel
“Thank you,” I told Brendan. “I will keep him safe.”
“You’re missing the point of this, Ms. Renard,” Tiny Typhon said. “This works the other way around. I’m the one who’s supposed to guard you.”
“Such things work both ways,” I shot back. “Besides, you might be a strong chimera, but that doesn’t mean I can’t help you if you need it.”
“True.” Big Typhon hissed in a mix of amusement and approval. “You’re an interesting one, Ms. Renard, I’ll give you that. I’ll be very happy to watch your back while you’re here at the academy.”
The class ended shortly after that and I was forced to rush to my next one. It was Astronomy, and it was taught by a portly man wearing radiation goggles. His white hair contrasted sharply with his black skin. Easily four times my age, he introduced himself as Dr. Achebe and he smiled at me warmly, showing none of the disregard the other students and teachers had displayed toward me. “Astronomy is a subject all Chimera pilots need to be instructed in,” he told us. “Some of you might find it boring, but without it, you’ll be unable to complete missions in deep space and you’ll make mistakes that could endanger the lives of your team mates.”
He was right, but even so, the first lesson was far more boring than what I’d learned so far at the academy. I wasn’t a complete newbie at this, since my mother had taught me about it. Some of the terms our teacher used were different, though, so I’d been placed in a lower year than I should’ve been. I had to fight the urge to fall asleep. Dr. Achebe seemed nice, but I wasn’t crazy about wasting time going over things I’d learned three years back.
I ended up tuning most of the lecture out, petting my new snake and talking to Sphinx. She found Brendan’s plan an excellent idea, although she still cautioned me to be careful.“It’s a generous gesture. It could be that Prince Brendan is indeed as worried about you as he claims, but at the same time, he might have a hidden agenda.”
“That’s nothing new, though,”I replied.“Besides, if he wanted me gone that badly, he could’ve just abandoned me instead of helping me like this.”
Sphinx hummed, but didn’t sound convinced.“Nothing is ever what it seems. Prince Brendan grew up in the Chimera royal family. He was studying political manipulation when you were still learning how to crawl. That kind of person can’t be trusted, no matter what.”
Maybe she had a point, but if I started from the premise that my fellow Chimera Warriors didn’t mean well, I might miss out on something beautiful. So far, we’d butted heads on all kinds of things, but even so, they’d helped me from the very beginning. Knox was part of the reason why I was here in the first place, because without him, I never would’ve figured out a way to summon Sphinx on my own. We might disagree on my position, on everything that was right and accepted here at Tartarus Base, but it couldn’t hurt to give them a chance, could it?
The rest of the day went well and was pretty uneventful. I had lunch with the others, then another theoretical lesson, this time of Ancient History. Professor Cletus Moore ignored me, but I found his lecture interesting, since the approach was different from my mother’s. It wasn’t a challenge, though, and I suspected I’d get bored of it pretty quickly.
Before long, the day was over and we were returning to the dorms. I’d carried the metal snake with me all day, and although on occasion, he’d slithered off me, my shoulders still ached. Between that and the morning spent piloting, I felt exhausted and desperately wanted a shower.
It was only as I entered our room that I remembered what August and Pollux had told me on my first day here. Showers were usually taken by several units together. If I wanted to go clean up, I’d have to do it in front of the members of my unit and the Harpy tamers.
Fuck it. I couldn’t avoid taking a shower forever. How could I face an apsid in battle if I was afraid of a little thing like displaying nudity?
If anyone had an unpleasant reaction, I’d ignore it, just like I had with the other things the students had said so far. Besides, I might not want to rely on Knox, Brendan, August, and Pollux, but I was realistic enough to acknowledge that their presence would keep everyone from doing anything too offensive or harmful.
With that in mind, I grabbed my washing solution, a towel, fresh underwear and a clean uniform. The others noticed what I was doing and stopped in the middle of their own preparations. “You’re coming with us?” Pollux asked in visible surprise.
I nodded and didn’t let his reaction deter me. “That’s the rule here at the academy, right? Of course I have to comply. I can’t ask for special privileges, just because I’m a woman. It’s not something I want anyway. I want to be treated like everyone else and the showers are a part of it.”
Knox clenched his jaw, but said nothing. Brendan squeezed his hip without looking at him. His gaze settled on me, as fierce and determined as it had been in the hangars. “All right. We’ll try to make it at least a little easier for you.”
I couldn’t help a small chuckle. “Don’t worry so much. No one will dare to attack me while you’re there and that’s what counts. Sticks and stones, you know?”
“We don’t have a lot of sticks and stones at Chimera Academy, Selene,” August drawled. “Here it’s all about the metal and that can break more than bones.”
His words reminded me a little of Sphinx’s comment from earlier, her suggestion that I needed a ‘soul of steel’. Like her, August didn’t elaborate. Instead, he grabbed his things and left the room first. The rest of us followed him, heading toward the baths.
By the time we got to our destination, most of the members of Harpy Squad had already arrived. When they saw me, they gaped, as if my decision to take a shower was as remarkable and life-changing as the day I’d become a chimera tamer.
Brendan and the others greeted them with silent nods and I did the same. I hadn’t been introduced to most of them, but this wasn’t the best moment. I’d keep my distance for now, get clean, and then collapse in a bed to rest my exhausted body.
The bathroom doors slid open and we were allowed inside. My fellow Chimera Warriors led me to a locker room I hadn’t seen the first time I’d been here. I wordlessly started to take my clothes off, ignoring every single man around me who was doing the same thing.
My determination faltered when I heard Knox release a choked noise. I’d have ignored it, but a screech of protesting metal followed. I dared to steal a look at him, but nothing seemed amiss. Had I imagined it?
Shaking myself, I placed my uniform and underwear in the dispenser prepared for the dirty clothing. When everything was in order, I turned away from the locker, only to realize that three-quarters of the people in the room were staring at me.
My temper exploded. Seriously, this was ridiculous. “What?” I snapped at them. “Have you never seen a naked woman before?”
I was pretty enough, but if my trip to the settlement had proven anything, it was that the men at Tartarus Base had easy sex at their disposal. The nature of it might disgust me, but the fact remained that no one here was deprived of sexual satisfaction. There was nothing that special about me that warranted this reaction.
“Of course we have,” one of them replied, “but that doesn’t change how attracted we are to a Terran slut—”
“Enough!” Brendan barked, interrupting the exchange before it could get truly unpleasant. “You will not refer to Selene using any insulting terms. Consider this your sole warning. If anyone has an issue with this arrangement, step out now. We’re mature adults and we’ll handle this accordingly.”
