Rin nodded in the affirmative to Tine’s question and then clicked on an image in the case file projected from his own emblem-slate. It was a photo of one of the “killings”, a brunette girl around their age staring into the camera with a smattering of bruises across her delicate throat. “Looks like they all happen at random, too. The location is always different, sometimes it’s public, other times it’s in a more secluded area.”
“So whoever he is, he’s not too worried about being caught,” Tine said. “Think checking in with your friends would help, or no?”
Rin considered it. “I’m guessing the Academy just asked for some of their students to get involved because of the cosmetics.” The whole thing was staged, after all, and someone had to have applied the makeup on the girl pretending to be dead in the photo. It looked pretty realistic, meaning they’d pulled out all the stops for this to simulate an actual case. “Unless they’re listed as a witness in the files, I doubt they’ve been told anything.”
Tine sighed, disappointed. “Yeah, you’re probably right. I bet they’re getting extra credit for volunteering even.”
Before Rin could respond to that, the holo-file flickered and vanished, replaced by a wavy line and a staccato rhythm indicating he was receiving a video communication. He frowned when he read the name and then stood, heading down three of the bleacher steps before thinking to turn back. Purposefully, he looked directly at Tine, ignoring the Imperial Prince as he said, “I’ve got to take this. I’ll be back.”
“Sure,” Tine waved him off, distracted with the case file.
Rin tried to pretend he didn’t feel Kelevra’s gaze on him while he crossed the gym and entered through the door that led down the hall to the locker room. He accepted the call just as he entered, giving a quick look around to see that he was alone. Since they’d only met here to receive the assignment, no one had changed out of their uniforms.
“It’s about time, you ungrateful shit,” Crate hissed the second his image appeared, the hostility momentarily catching Rin off guard. His father was a tried and true asshole, but he didn’t typically lead with juvenile name-calling.
He moved over toward his locker automatically, stopping just before the bench. “I’m not sure what this is about.”
“Like hell you aren’t,” his father snapped. “If you think this type of insubordination is going to go unchecked, think again. You may have ruined my plans for you, but I’ll have your brother on the first ship home within the hour. I knew sending you boys to Dual Galaxy was a mistake, even more so since neither of you would shut up about it.”
What had his brother done now? It certainly hadn’t beenhim, since he couldn’t think up a single thing that could have set their father off like this. Hell, the past week he’d been going out of his way to stick to the sidelines and stayoutof trouble.
“I only agreed to this because the Empress happened to be in the room when I initially took the call.”
The Empress of Tibera? Seriously, what the fuck had his brother done to enrage their old man to this degree, and why hadn’t he warned him about it?
“I’ll find someone else to take over the hospital,” his father continued, still seething. “Sila will have to return immediately and be sent to start over on Status. It’ll put us behind schedule, but that’s entirely your fault and I’ll be sure your brother knows where to place the blame.”
Status was the planet in their home galaxy, the Crystal Sea, where the Academy was located. Whatever his brother had done, it was bad enough for Crate to uproot one of them and force them to start over. Since Sila Varun was a student at Vail University, he’d have no Academy credit to his name and therefore would have to begin as a freshman.
Rin would be upset that their dad was acting like this, ordering them about like they were still teenagers sleeping down the hall, under his roof, but he couldn’t bank down the confusion. Like with most intense emotions, it was strong enough that he was finding it difficult to latch onto any other feeling, and his hand slipped into his left pocket so he could run his thumb over the smooth surface of his grounding shell.
“Father, I apologize, but I honestly don’t understand. What did I do?” Supposedly. What had hesupposedlydone? Because for the life of him, he couldn’t figure it out. Even if his brother had done something, given the nature of his proclivities, if he’d been caught in the act it would have made national news. But Rin hadn’t heard anything from anyone about any sort of major crimes having been committed.
His brother knew better anyway, was careful. They both were. So what—
“Don’t play the fool, son, it’s unbecoming. You may think I don’t know you, but I do. You’re a petty creature. I bet you seduced him just so you could get out of your responsibilities toward this family, isn’t that right?”
Rin blinked. “I…What?” Had he said seduced? Plus he’d called him petty. As if he truly believed he knew the first thing about what type of person Rin was. It was laughable. But that confusion was still there, maybe even thicker than before, and until he was able to shake it, nothing else was going to be able to get through.
He hated this about himself. Hated his inability to process intense emotion the same way the rest of his people did. His brother had the opposite problem, and there were days when Rin was actually envious of that fact. As if not having emotion would somehow be better.
Maybe it would.
At least if it were his brother here having this conversation he’d be able to follow the plot.
“I hope you’re happy,” Crate said. “I approved your betrothal because the Empress thinks it’ll be a great way to pave future transactions between our planets. You may have gotten what you wanted, but heed this, you better not screw this up. This has become a political alliance and if you cause any more damage to this family’s name I’ll disown you faster than you can blink those ridiculous fucking eyes of yours!”
Rin was only partly listening to the insults now, a wave of pure, undiluted dread crashing over him, causing black spots to wink in front of his vision. It was amazing he managed to stay on his feet, though he did sway a little, not that his father seemed to notice.
Or maybe he just didn’t care. The bastard probably thought Rin’s physical reaction was due to his comments about disownment. What a load of shit.
“Betrothal,” he managed to get the word out but it was difficult and he had to pause before finishing with, “To who?”
His father sneered. “How you managed to persuade an Imperial Prince to fall for you is beyond me. Remember, Rin, everything that happens from here on out is on you and your selfish actions!” Crate cut the call.
Rin’s arm dropped lifelessly to his side as his mind scrambled to piece together this new bit of information. His father thought he was betrothed—no, no since he’d said betrothed and not engaged, that meant hewasbetrothed. To get married. To an Imperial Prince.
TheImperial Prince.
