Page 240 of A University of Betrayal

I was in the library today. 6:06 pm. Diana had come with me and hadn’t wanted to leave my side until I’d persuaded her to at least behave normally and not cling to me so conspicuously.

When I finally walked through the rows looking for him, I found him. He had just been standing there, the dark blue sweater of his uniform over his somewhat untidy white shirt and a book in his hand.

I had already told Alaister that it looked good when he was reading, but with Alarik it was something else again. While Alaister radiated a certain elegance and mysticism in everything he did – which was due to his appearance, the pale skin and the white hair – Alarik radiated a certain peacefulness and immersion. As if he really was a part of this library and always had been.

I must have stared for too long, because he grinned at me, closed his book and walked over to me.

“I knew you were coming.”

“Oh, yeah?” I asked him in a teasing way.

“Are all Quatura this rebellious?” he asked, and I blushed again, which was unfortunately very noticeable with my pale complexion.

“If they were, things wouldn’t be the way they are right now.”

My words had made him think, because it had taken him a while to reply.

“Well, your friend seems to be very interested.”

“How...” I had wanted to start, but he tapped his ears and grinned. “Believe me, I heard you whispering as you entered.”

Senseque have very sharp senses. That’s for sure. I felt so uneducated in that moment.

I then asked him for his opinion on the topic that had been on my mind the whole time and still is, by the way.

He had listened to me attentively again, before saying that he would like to write me a letter about it, because talking about it at Vanderwood would be too reckless. He said that his father, the strict university director, was already sending spies who were friends of his brother, Nickolas.

Right now, I’m just praying that Alarik liked the idea, because otherwise I’ve really made a fool of myself.

At the end, I had asked him why he had set the meeting for 6:06 p.m. and he had just grinned again and said, “Because these times deserve to be used.” With those words, he left me speechless.

Beloved Mum,

I bumped into Amara on campus and invited her for a coffee with our now small but tight group of Alaister, Diana, Amanda and me.

I realized that she has no friends, and I felt very sorry for her. She spends almost all her time in Moenia these days, and maybe with you too, but I don’t know. She never talks about you. But Mum, believe me, Amara loves you just as much as Margot and I do. She just finds it a bit harder to deal with the pain.

She wanted to decline, but I forced her slightly, because I realized that she just needed to disconnect from Moenia. Even though it was only for an hour.

“This is my sister, Amara. And this is Diana.”

“Hey, Amara.” The two of them had hugged like they’d known each other forever, and a few minutes later I was told that they met regularly at the temple, just like Diana and Amanda did for Gloria’s Tempesta lessons. It was the first time I felt a bit out of the loop, but I guess that’s what happens when you distance yourself from Moenia.

We had been sitting in Lola’s Diner, drinking coffee, when Alaister had suddenly brought up our topic from last week. He had said that he was currently working on the inheritance of the Quatura gene and that he had some ideas on how to research and experiment on the other species.

My best friend is always so eager to learn, especially when it comes to biology. Even in the temple, he is the one who comes first and leaves last.

Last week, he wrote to me that he missed me at the temple and I had to promise him that I would come back more often to practice with him... He’s the only thing I like about Moenia, by the way. I would never have survived it all without Alaister.

Anyway, Diana had wanted to know his ideas, but he wouldn’t comment, perhaps because Amara was present? Was he perhaps afraid that she would pass on something to his mother?

Amara had asked how we came up with such ideas, and said that we should be careful what we talk about, because the current order had its legitimate reasons.

“You sound like my mother,” Alaister had said, whereupon Amara had jumped up and left. I told Alaister that he shouldn’t always be so direct and followed her.

I don’t know if you knew, but she’s had a crush on him ever since we were little. The fact that he compared her to the Devil of Blairville must have been a slap in the face for her.

“He doesn’t mean it,” I shouted to her, and Amara stopped.