“We barely know one another,” he told them, organizing the notes the other guys had already sent to the tabletop screen. “It was a political alliance set up by our families.”
“Whoa, for real?” Calder’s shoulders slumped. “Man, I’m sorry, that sucks.”
“They just sold you out like a piece of meat?” Brennon shifted. He was seated on Rin’s right and he reached out and rested a comforting hand on his arm. “Do you want me to see if my mom can do anything about it?”
Brennon was technically a Royal, but unlike Madden and Zane, he’d never gotten an invite to join Kelevra’s little band of assholes, either because of the age difference or something else.
Rin shook his head. “Thanks, but no can do. Already tried.”
“What about your brother?” Daylen asked. “Why couldn’t he do it?”
“He’s studying to be a doctor,” Rin reminded.
“And you’re training to be a detective, not seeing how one is more important than the other.”
“I have experience in hand-to-hand combat,” he replied.
Brennon made a face. “You’re supposed to be his Royal Consort, not his bodyguard.”
“Why would Tibera want to ally with Vitality?” Calder frowned. “We’re in different galaxies.”
“Not sure,” Rin said. He’d tried to come up with something but had realized that would be overkill. The best sorts of lies were the ones easily remembered and not so easily traced. “I’m not privy to that information. I just do as I’m told.”
“You’re too nice, man,” Daylen ran a hand over his head and clicked his tongue, the flash of metal catching Rin’s attention briefly. Clearly he’d kept that one in thinking he wouldn’t get caught. “Like, what era is this anyway? Arranged marriages? Yikes.”
“Imperials.” Calder shuddered. “Scary.”
“Entitled,” Brennon spat, “that’s what you mean. And you’re not going to contest it?”
Daylen hummed in agreement. “That is your right, whether your families set it up or not.”
The Interstellar Conference tried to avoid involvement in how planets were individually run, so long as none of the other treaty rules were broken, but they’d instated the Arrangement Act a few decades ago. It allowed anyone who was being traded by their parents and forced into a marriage contract they didn’t want to legally contest it by submitting a form to the I.P.F. There’d be an investigation and eventually the Intergalactic Conference would either step in to put a stop to it or allow it to happen.
It was messy and time-consuming and considering both he and his brother planned on remaining on this planet for at least another three years, pissing off the entire Imperial family by publically announcing Rin didn’t want to be a part of them? Yeah. No.
Rin’s conversation with Kelevra last night came to mind and he forced himself to smile at his friends, easily burying the unease and the anger he still felt. “Relax, guys. It’s really not that big of a deal. So I have to marry a prince? Boohoo.”
“Do you…like him?” Brennon asked.
“I think,” he wasn’t touching that with a thousand-foot pole, “it doesn’t matter. It’s already been decided. Anyway, that’s what’s up, sorry it’s not as exciting as my secretly having been dating Kelevra this whole time, but can we get to work now?”
They grumbled but dropped it, letting him steer the conversation onto the case. Daylen was part of another class and therefore his case was completely different, but he helped them go over their findings and the notes anyway, taking it just as seriously as they were. He liked puzzles so that wasn’t too surprising. He also happened to be a pretty decent friend.
Rin glanced around at the three of them and remembered what his brother had said yesterday about possibly staying. About how they had friends here. He’d specifically chosen his words—because his brother didn’tcareabout any of these people—but…It was true, wasn’t it? What they had going on Vitality was good. At least here they were able to carry on separate lives. They’d even stopped telling one another their entire daily schedule; Rin had no clue where his brother was at this moment.
Back on Tibera, there hadn’t been a second out of any day that he hadn’t known exactly where his brother was and roughly what he was doing and vice versa.
“Have either of you checked out one of the mock crime scenes?” Calder asked. “I couldn’t find anything when I went.”
“Nope,” Brennon said. “My mentor has been busy.”
“It’s only been a day since it’s been assigned,” Daylen rolled his eyes at them. “Chill.”
“Some of us haven’t been gifted with top marks.” Calder stuck his tongue out.
“Hey, I earned those,” Daylen argued.
“Why don’t we go to one now?” Rin suggested. “Maybe together we’ll be able to catch something we’d miss on our own.”
