Page 74 of Tears of Tungsten
“Brendan will do the right thing,” Archibald Chimera replied. “He’s wanted to avenge his mother for the better part of his life. And I think that, if Selene Renard is so important to him, she might be included in this plan. But even so, I’m not comfortable with not knowing what her true priorities are.
“Commander Trevor, I want to watch her very carefully. She isn’t as leery of you as she is of other teachers. If you must, approach her sexually. As far as I know, she was inexperienced before she arrived at the academy, and you can use that against her.”
Use that against her? She was so young. I was more than twice her age. But then again, we’d done far more immoral things in our lives than seduce a student.
“I can try, Your Highness, but considering the fact that she has four lovers in their prime, I doubt she’ll be all that eager to take another. There’s also the fact that I’m not exactly a catch as a romantic and sexual partner.”
Prince Archibald waved his hand, dismissing my concerns. “Nonsense. I’m sure you’ll be able to figure something out. If you don’t, we might be forced to use another, more drastic approach.”
His eyes flashed, and I quickly looked away. I didn’t need to be a cyborg to know how dangerous Prince Archibald was when crossed.
The last person who’d tried to betray him was currently a headless statue decorating his private villa. I didn’t want my corpse to end up in the same position.
“I understand,” I said. “It will be as you say.”
“Of course. And don’t worry. I have a few ideas on how to arrange it. After all, exams are coming up and young Selene is still behind on her studies. It wouldn’t hurt to get her some private tutoring sessions, would it?”
THE END
