Page 11 of Destinies of Diamond
I had done no such thing. I had more misgivings than ever. Seeing Selene in the bath had made me wonder if I was supposed to be her teacher at all. But I couldn’t say any of those things to my leader, not when I knew our rebellion mattered far more than my scruples over my attraction to my student.
“If I may, I do have a question, Your Highness,” I said. “Prince Brendan is very protective and possessive of Selene Renard. If I were to approach her sexually, he would most likely be displeased. Wouldn’t this defeat the purpose of him working with us in the future?”
“I don’t think so, no,” Prince Archibald replied. “I’ve watched Selene Renard closely, and I’d hazard a guess that she’s the one calling the shots in that relationship. It might seem counterintuitive, but all you have to do is convince her that she wants you. Brendan will fall in line. He won’t be able to deny her.”
That made far too much sense. Thinking back, I had to agree. Everyone in the Grand Chimera Unit tended to go out of their way to fulfill Selene’s wishes. It wasn’t an ‘in-your-face’ kind of thing and certainly not a relationship of subservience. But it couldn’t be denied that they doted on her. It wasn’t out of the question that they’d indulge her in this too.
“It’s still a bit of a risk,” I dared to say, “but I’ll be careful and monitor their responses. If I take note of anything alarming, I’ll withdraw and let you know.”
“That sounds perfect.” Prince Archibald downed his liquor and handed his glass back to the waiting drone. “I knew I could rely on you, Wesley. Dismissed.”
Like Titus, I saluted and left the prince’s office. It was a little depressing to learn that I could be relied on to do anything for the rebellion, even if that meant lying and abusing the trust of an innocent girl. But that was the truth, and I couldn’t hide it any more than the Grand Chimera Unit could pretend Selene was harmless.
It didn’t take me long to return to my quarters, but by then, Selene and her lovers had already arrived. “Commander Trevor,” Brendan greeted me, “you wanted to see us?”
“Yes, Your Highness. Please, do come it.”
Technically speaking, Brendan was superior to me in rank. As a royal, he could pretty much do whatever the hell he wanted. But at Chimera Academy, he’d always respected the rules and had wanted to be treated like any other student—or at least, any other tamer of the Typhon.
It was therefore a little shocking that this time, Brendan made it his business to glare at me. When I opened the door of my personal quarters, he entered first. It would have been common courtesy for me to do that, since I was the host and the teacher. But it looked like Brendan had decided to throw his title in my face and make it clear that he wouldn’t allow any interference in his life.
This wasn’t starting out very well.
I narrowed my eyes at him, but decided to not call him out on his actions. For the moment, he hadn’t done anything that was truly disrespectful, so there was no point in mentioning the small detail. Still, I had to be careful.
I didn’t fear Brendan Chimera, but he we needed him to sit on his father’s throne once King Philip was gone. Archibald wasn’t as popular as his older brother and between that and his health problems, he wasn’t a viable leader. Besides, for good or ill, Brendan still remained the pilot of the Typhon, and that alone would bring us a lot of support from the populace. But all that relied on him cooperating with us, which could easily not happen if I fucked this up with Selene.
What a mess.
Well, I’d done crazier things than seduce a student and test the tempers of the Grand Chimera tamers. And right now, I had other priorities—like finding out what the hell had happened in the showers.
As soon as everyone was inside, I directed them to my lounge. I didn’t have a lot of guests, and it showed. The drones kept everything neat and orderly, but the room still had a distinctive Spartan look, since I hadn’t bothered to mount the holographic displays that officers used to decorate their personal quarters.
My students didn’t seem taken aback by this. “You wanted to discuss the incident with us, Sir?” Brendan asked.
“Indeed. And I’ll begin by advising you to not take me for a fool. It’s obvious to me—and to most everyone who was present—that you weren’t the one to lose control in the showers.”
Brendan’s face was like stone. I couldn’t read him at all. The others had a far more visible reaction. Selene’s eyes widened and her expression twisted into a grimace of guilt. Pollux went rigid. Knox’s eyes flashed with something deep and savage. A flare of tachyons swept over August’s skin before it quickly vanished.
I wouldn’t have noticed these things at all if not for the cybernetic additions to my human body. But there were advantages to being one fourth machine, and this was one of them. “There’s no need to lie. It was obvious to both me and Professor Strange. In fact, Professor Strange went to His Highness to discuss this theory.”
“Did he,” Brendan said.
It wasn’t a question. It was a statement. I had a feeling Titus had just earned himself a very powerful enemy. Then again, he’d always treated Selene poorly, so he’d probably already been on Brendan’s list of people to get rid of.
“There’s nothing to worry about,” I assured them. “Dean Chimera denied his petition on account of him not having any real evidence for his claim.”
“You didn’t support him, did you, Sir?” Selene asked softly. Her voice was like steel covered in silk and it made another memory of her naked form flash through my mind. “Why?”
“Because I think that you leaving the academy would be the worst possible thing that could happen at this stage. You’ve made significant progress in your control of Tartarus’s Gift, but accidents happen all the time. It just so happens that normally, young men have these accidents before they join the academy so we don’t have to deal with sudden uncontrollable episodes like this. That doesn’t mean we need to overreact to it.”
“Thank you, Sir,” Brendan answered tightly. “But am I correct in thinking there will be consequences anyway?”
“Of course. You’ll receive an official reprimand, since you took the blame for the accident. You won’t be suspended, but we’ll have to reorganize your schedule to add a new practice session. I think you’ll be able to arrange something with Dean Chimera, as long as your father doesn’t have specific requests.”
“That’s not really what Brendan was asking,” August murmured. “Sir, what are you planning on doing with this information?”
“I’ll discuss that with Acting Pilot Renard. A solution has to be found to make sure she doesn’t lose control again. I believe it’s more than possible to see results, and the new assignment will give us an excellent chance to pursue that goal. But in the meantime, I advise you to keep your hands to yourselves while in public. Intercourse often has a detrimental effect on tachyon manipulation control, especially when the user is very young. So exercise caution and, for Tartarus’s sake, keep your private affairs private.”
