Alone, Rin took a moment to collect himself. They didn’t hide the fact they were twins, but the second he stepped foot outside this room, he was going to have to slip back into character, and that sounded every bit as mentally draining as having to interact with Kelevra again did.
And he would have to. There was no getting out of it. The assignment required they meet at least twice a month. What they did during that time was up to the mentor to decide, but the Imperial Prince didn’t exactly come off as the teaching type. With any luck, Rin would be able to convince him to just lie on the spreadsheets and claim they met when they didn’t. Breaking rules obviously wasn’t something Kel was opposed to.
Rin glowered and adjusted his weight, hating the way his sore ass smarted at the tiny movement. He would have showered there, but the idea of staying naked in the Imperial’s presence had been a no-go. Survival instincts had kicked in the second he’d woken and seen Kelevra was still asleep.
The emblem on his wrist beeped and he shifted the cover off so he could check the screen, internally groaning when a familiar name flashed over it in neon letters.
Great. Another person he didn’t want anything to do with.
The past twenty-four hours sucked.
Straightening his spine, he lifted the device and hit accept, making sure his face remained relaxed, not too happy, but with no hint of the irritation he felt towards the older-looking face that appeared. “Father.”
Crate Varun had aged since the last time Rin had seen him in person, his hair now flecked with strands of silver. There were wrinkles at the corners of his mouth and on his prominent forehead. The holographic video image of him flickered once or twice, the distance between them interfering with the signal.
It was tempting to end the call and claim it’d dropped, but Rin refrained.
Barely.
“Where are you?” Crate frowned, glancing over Rin’s shoulder. The camera would only show him Rin from the shoulders up and a bit of the background. “Ah, you have regular classes today, don’t you.”
“Yes.” He didn’t bother correcting him and letting him know he was on Vail campus. His father would throw a fit if he knew he was skipping. Slacking, he would call it.
“I can’t get in touch with your older brother,” Crate stated. “He must be hard at work. But you…They let you take calls? What kind of military school is this?”
“It’s an Academy,” Rin reminded. “Technically not a military school, sir. And we’re actually between classes at the moment. I’ll need to leave for my next one in a moment. Is there something I can help you with?”
“Just checking in,” his father stated. “You’re still on course?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And your grades?”
“Still fine, sir.”
He grunted. “Meaning you’re still placed in the middle of your class.”
His father hated that he wasn’t doing better, but Rin and his brother had already agreed this was what was best for them. They’d deal with listening to their father’s complaints from afar. Freedom never came without strings, after all.
They just had to make it through the next three years and then they’d be out from underneath this tyrant’s thumb for good.
To be fair, their father wasn’t the worst. But he’d certainly raised his boys with an iron fist, controlling and dead set on getting his way in everything. As a Tiberan Royal, Crate Varun had a high-standing position on the Tiberan Council, and that came with a reputation. If he ever discovered neither of his sons was what their planet deemed normal…
“I’ll continue doing my best,” Rin promised, leaving out the part about how he’d be doing what was best for himself and his brother.
“You better,” he said. “If I feel like either of you are slacking off, I’ll order you home. There are perfectly acceptable schools on planet that you boys could have attended.”
“Vitality is the only one that offers everything we need,” Rin pointed out. Their father wanted them to fill certain positions back home once they were done with schooling, and that meant one of them had to attend a regular university while the other was destined for the Academy.
Didn’t matter that neither of them wanted that path.
Their father’s word was law.
Always had been.
“Tell your brother to call me.” He didn’t wait for a response, ending the video call instantly.
Rin blew out a breath. He still really wanted a shower, but warning Sila about their dad now took precedence. With a growl of annoyance, he shut the emblem multi-slate and stormed out of the room, settling a friendly smile on his face when he immediately encountered a group of Vail students dressed in the telling freshman white.
