CHAPTER ONE
Three days. Three more days of this wretched torment and Ryu would be free.
Free of high school, at least. Crown princes never got to be truly free. As soon as he turned eighteen, His Highness Prince Ryu Galandia would inherit a multitude of political tasks and responsibilities that would define the rest of his natural life.
But in three days’ time, at least these dastardly exams would be over.
“Now, if you scroll down to the diagram of the mountain region, you’ll see three proposed sites for dams collecting meltwater runoff in the Idrian Mountains.” Felix, Ryu’s ageing tutor, peered at him over the top of his half-frame reading glasses. “Ryu? Are you paying attention?”
“Yes, sir,” Ryu said, dragging his attention back to the laptop in front of him. His geography exam was tomorrow, and Felix was determined that his own reputation as tutor to the children of nobility was not to be tarnished by his latest charge failing any of his exams.
“Excellent. Now, spend a few minutes examining the pros and cons of each site, then tell me which site you would select, and why.”
Felix sat back, and Ryu spent all of thirty seconds skimming through the lists of details for each dam site; the impact on the local wildlife, the activities of the native tribes that still practiced a hunter-gatherer lifestyle in the region, and the water needs of the surrounding farmland.
Sitting on the sofa opposite the study table, Ryu’s bodyguard, Kentario Amagarda, shifted his muscular frame. After two years of being under Kentario’s protection, Ryu was convinced that the man was incapable of simplysittingon any given surface. Instead, hesprawled, legs akimbo, one arm slung over the back of the sofa, giving Ryu an excellent view of a massive, tattooed bicep, while his other hand held a book he was reading. As he watched, that ridiculously defined arm slunk forward to turn the page, before resuming its perch atop the elegant white leather.
Goddess above, couldn’t Kentario find a less suggestive position to rest in? His legs were encased in black leather; Kentario’s preference, despite the official requirement that he wear the uniform of the Royal Guard. At the juncture of his thighs, an impressive bulge served as testament to his gender, along with the two pale scent glands nestled at the base of his throat. Kentario was an alpha, as if that wasn’t obvious enough given his broad frame and six-foot-five stature. A faded grey t-shirt clung to the muscles of his chest like a second skin, while the thick tail of a huge panther tattoo snaked out the top of the shirt, rising halfway up his neck. Everything about Kentario was larger than life, from his thick, black hair, pulled into a roguish ponytail, to the tips of his oversized combat boots.
Not wanting his misplaced attention to be noticed, Ryu returned his gaze to the computer screen. But only a second or two later, his eyes were once again drifting off across the palace library, catching tantalising glimpses of defined muscles and an occasional errant quirk of seductive lips.
“Ryu? Are you ready to answer the question?”
“Yeah.” Ryu sat up and straightened his shoulders, grateful that he hadn’t been told off for slouching yet. A prince never slouched, he’d been lectured often enough. He must always appear refined, poised and in control.
He briefly glanced over the three possible choices again, feeling a familiar niggle of irritation at the question. “None of them,” he answered, turning to look his tutor in the eye. “Every single option is either going to destroy the habitat of a fragile mountain species or impinge on the lifestyle of the native tribes. The bigger question is why are we building dams there at all? According to historical agricultural conventions, steep, rocky land should be used to graze sheep or mountain goats, which require minimal water. A few artificial ponds here and there would let shepherds water their flocks but they’d be small enough to not damage the ecosystem. But farmers have moved in with crops of greens and root vegetables that need heaps more water, and they’re using artificial fertilisers to get the soil to support the plants. A far more efficient method would be to move the farmers back down onto the river flats, let them divert water directly from the river, and turn the mountain slopes back into grazing land.”
From across the room, a rough snort sounded from the sofa.
“Something you wish to add, Mister Amagarda?” Felix asked.
“Nope,” Kentario said, not looking up from his book. “Just read a funny bit of the story.” Despite his reputation as one of the finest fighters in the Guard, even Kentario knew that one did not mess with Felix and get away with it.
“Very well.” Felix sighed and adjusted his glasses. “Perhaps, Your Highness, you’re not fully embracing the purpose of the exercise. In yourexam, you’ll be presented with specific information and asked to come up with workable solutions based on defined scenarios. One cannot simply reimagine the entire landscape to suit your own purposes.”
“But isn’t that the whole point of my education?” Ryu said. “Everyone keeps telling me how I’m supposed to take an interest in the well-being of my country and consider the complexities of Galandeen’s international relations, but the instant I do, I get told to quit stepping out of line and stick to the status quo. Site one would flood an area used by the native tribes to gather edible lichens, site two would destroy the breeding habitat of the yellow marsh frog, and site three is in the path of regular winter avalanches, which would put the integrity of the dam at serious risk. So none of the sites are suitable. Or should I just forget everything I learned in biology and social studies and tell the native tribes that their lives don’t matter as much as the lives of farmers growing yams?”
Felix sighed again, and this time he removed his glasses altogether. But far from the stern frown Ryu was expecting, his face instead held a wry smile and a tender affection that the prince had rarely seen in the man. “In truth, Ryu,” he admitted softly, “you are one of the finest students I’ve ever had. I’m going to miss these ‘robust debates’ after you graduate. But unfortunately, the education system doesn’t embrace your more holistic view of the world, no matter how wise your perspective may actually be. And we both know that His Majesty would not allow any son of his to progress to managing international diplomacy if he’s failed high school. So, for the sake of the exercise,you need to pass your exams. This is only a hypothetical question, after all.”
“But I’m not going to be makinghypotheticaldecisions after I graduate,” Ryu said. “I’m going to be potentially destroying species, or ruining the economy, or sending hundreds of men to their deaths, whenever I deploy the army to settle some international dispute. How am I supposed to do that if everyone keeps making me ignore valid information?”
Without quite meaning to, Ryu once again glanced over at Kentario. His bodyguard, too, presented an unsolvable conundrum, though of an entirely different nature. Even though Ryu was a prince – or perhaps especially because he was a prince – there were strict rules about who he was allowed to have a relationship with. Illicit liaisons were strictly forbidden, and when he eventually met his soulmate – the one person in the world whose soul mark was a perfect match for his own; the person he was destined to marry – they would almost certainly be a vapid, noble, omega woman, ready and willing to bear him a gaggle of children to continue the royal line. His alpha bodyguard most certainly did not fit the criteria.
This time, though, Kentario had given up the pretence of reading and was staring straight back at him, the corners of his lips curling upwards in the barest hint of a smile. “He has a point, you know,” Kentario said. “Formost of your life, you’re not going to be able to please everyone. Sometimes you just have to give in and compartmentalise stuff. Ignore the bits that aren’t immediately relevant and get on with getting shit done.”
Despite his reluctance, Ryu had to admit it was a valid perspective. At twenty-one years of age, Kentario had finished his own high school exams just three years ago, and the rules surrounding his own graduation had been just as strict. As the eldest son of the revered Amagarda family, Kentario’s father would have sent him straight back to school if he’d dared to fail so much as one single subject.
“Not the most eloquent validation I could ask for,” Felix said, “but sound advice nonetheless.”
Ryu sighed. “Fine. Then I choose site two. But,” he added, “part of my answer would include plans to set up a program to relocate as many of the frogs as possible and have a biology team monitor their population to make sure the species doesn’t die out.”
◊◊◊
When Ryu’s tutoring session was over, his next appointment was in the palace gym. Despite having a bodyguard to accompany him whenever he left the palace, it had been impressed upon him time and again that he still needed to be able to defend himself, in case anything untoward happened, and maintaining a certain level of fitness was vital.
But as he headed out the library door, he was startled to find Kentario once more at his heels. Not that being followed around by the tall, dark and handsome man was a bad thing, but there was something to be said for a little independence.
“What’s going on?” he asked. “Usually you only get forced to play babysitter when we’ve got visitors.” If Ryu was going anywhere outside the palace, of course, Kentario would stick to him like glue. But inside, he tended to have much more of a free rein.
