Page 16
Meveris was glad they had a long break between classes today, because by the time they left Master Mandryell”s room, he was dragging his feet, and so was Zaryen.
Which was weird, because aside from his companion”s worry about being an inadequate partner—a completely bizarre issue from Meveris”s point of view, considering the inherent magic of their bond and how much he wanted Zaryen—the class was honestly great. Learning that the two of them were ahead of most of the new pairings in regard to the tethers was nice, but it also made him incredibly excited to work on them, now that he understood them better. Like he”d said back there, he already had more than he”d thought he could ever get, but there was also this new hunger inside him—if it was possible to have even more understanding, more connection, he wanted it. He wanted everything. And he was willing to work hard for it.
But first, he really needed a break.
”How about we go lie down for a while?” he suggested. They were already heading towards their rooms, but he preferred to check in anyway.
Zaryen hummed. ”My thoughts exactly.”
They looked at each other then, eyebrows raised, until Meveris chuckled.
”That”s just a coincidence. We”re both tired, after all.”
”I don”t know how we”re supposed to tell which thoughts are ours and which aren”t,” Zaryen muttered.
”Well, maybe we aren”t supposed to tell them apart yet, since we”re already ahead as it is. But I”m… I”m excited to see us get better at it.”
Zaryen beamed at him and even quickened his pace, pulling Meveris along.
”Me, too. I”m going to check the library for any books on this, perhaps there”s something about speeding up the process.”
”But not now, right?”
”Oh, no.” Zaryen shook his head. ”Now, we need a nap.”
”Perfect.”
Unfortunately, the moment the two of them entered the entrance hall, Meveris knew this wasn”t going to happen.
There were about two dozen people and each and every one seemed to be looking at the two of them. Some only gave them a glance, but some continued to stare, as if waiting for something.
Then, Soryan appeared right in front of them and tilted his head towards the headmaster”s office.
”Go in, Master Raizen”s waiting for you.”
Meveris tensed right before Zaryen gripped his hand, both of them likely wondering about the same thing: What now?
”Did my family come again?” Zaryen asked, barely above a whisper.
”No, they didn”t.” Soryan gestured for them to start walking. ”Come on, it”s better if you see it somewhere else.”
Somewhere away from the curious eyes and ears of their fellow students, Meveris would bet.
Hook, as if they didn”t have enough to deal with already.
Soryan didn”t follow them into the room, but Taveris was already there with the headmaster, along with a teacher Meveris didn”t know, who left soon after the two of them entered, nodding at them on his way out.
Meveris barely remembered to offer polite greetings to everyone before his gaze focused on his brother.
”What happened?” he asked as soon as they sat down, and he curled his fingers to resist the urge to tap them over his thigh.
Taveris indicated the headmaster with his head, so Meveris reluctantly turned to Master Raizen, who spread his hands over the open newspaper in front of him. Several more were lying on his left.
”As we suspected might happen, your family hasn”t let things slide,” he told Zaryen with a blank expression on his face. ”I wish it weren”t so, for several reasons, but unfortunately, here we are. Most of today”s newspapers at least mention the situation, but quite a few cover your family”s accusations against the Academy extensively.”
Zaryen inhaled sharply, but before he could say anything, the headmaster clasped his fingers together and leaned forward on his forearms against the desk.
”But I want you to understand this—we suspected it might happen and we still offered you sanctuary you asked for. This,” he nodded at the papers, ”will not change our minds, because we made the decision knowing what may follow. Which means, I do not want you to worry about your place at the Academy. Nothing is going to change on our end.”
Meveris looked back and forth between the headmaster and his companion, who seemed to have frozen in his seat.
”Zaryen?” he whispered, leaning closer. ”They”re not getting you back. Not now, not ever.”
”It”s not about getting me back anymore.” Zaryen stared at the headmaster”s desk as he clenched his hands in his lap. ”They”re choosing to create a sandstorm to hit back at me and the school. I”m so sorry.”
”You do not need to apologize for what other people do, even if they are your family,” Master Raizen told him. ”I only asked you to come here so you could find out about the situation away from others” attention. Although I am afraid it is impossible to stop the other students from learning about this, since everyone has access to newspapers from Teranea and Paryada.”
”Oh, they know already.” Meveris barely stopped himself from slouching in his seat. ”Nobody”s said anything yet, though.”
”They will,” Taveris spoke up from the side. ”And you should be aware of what”s out there, so you”ll be prepared for when that happens.”
You”d know, Meveris thought, remembering what Taveris had told him about the press coverage he and Caleen had been forced to deal with.
”If any of the students crosses a line, you are of course welcome to come to me and make a complaint,” the headmaster said. ”While I aim not to insert myself in my students” disagreements, I strongly oppose any disrespectful or harmful behavior. And since some of those… articles are attacking the school rather viciously, I may be forced to speak up publicly anyway, so do not think you are bothering me. If any issues arise, I need to know.” He glanced at Taveris. ”You may also approach your brother with your concerns, of course, as well as any other member of the staff.”
”So you expect things to get ugly around here,” Zaryen said, rather than asked.
The headmaster shook his head. ”I expect everyone here to behave with respect and open mind, and to be each other”s support system. And most of the time, the vast majority of the students do exactly that. But I”m also aware of the differences of opinions, backgrounds, and ingrained values of the young men arriving here, and such a diverse pool of people creates friction every once in a while.”
”You don”t have to take things lying down, but please be careful about how and when you engage,” Taveris warned. ”You”re never going to be careless about each other”s safety and well-being, but at an early stage, everyone is especially vigilant and prone to reactions that may be out of proportion and cause even more problems.”
”It is best to ignore them, if you can, honestly. Two days from now, something else will catch their attention and this,” the headmaster gestured at the papers, ”will be old news.”
”Can I see?”
Zaryen”s face was blank, and without their connection, Meveris might not have known what the situation was doing to him, but as things were, he was acutely aware this was breaking his companion”s heart.
The headmaster stood up, prompting them to do the same, then he gathered all the newspapers and handed them to Zaryen.
”You can take them to your rooms. If you have any questions or need anything else later on, my door is open.”
They thanked him and left, with Taveris right behind them.
And maybe it was his presence that kept everyone back, or maybe not, but nobody approached them or even stared at them again as they quickly made their way through the main corridor and then up to their rooms. Some people looked, sure, but it wasn”t nearly as bad as Meveris expected after getting a warning like that.
”I can give you privacy, if you prefer,” Taveris said as they approached their rooms. ”But I can also stay and perhaps offer my perspective, if you”d like.”
Meveris exchanged glances with his companion, who was clutching the newspapers to his chest as a shield.
”I think us doing it alone would be best for now, but thank you. I”ll let you know if we need anything.”
Taveris clasped a hand on Meveris”s shoulder briefly, then nodded and left them to it.
Once they entered the room, Zaryen paused and got a faraway look in his eyes, still clutching the newspapers.
Moving to stand in front of him, Meveris cupped Zaryen”s face with his hands.
”Hey,” he whispered softly.
”All I wanted was to go to school and live my life.” When Zaryen met Meveris”s gaze, his eyes were shiny and wet. ”They indulged me throughout my childhood, you know? They weren”t… They weren”t cruel or anything. It was fine. And then… Then I do something they don”t like, and it ends up in national newspapers, for everyone out there to see.”
”I”m so sorry you”re hurting,” Meveris offered, wishing with all his heart that he could make this right for his companion.
But if he”d taken one thing from his conversation with Taveris after the searching ceremony, it was that at the end of the day, all they could control was what happened between the two of them and how they behaved. The press and society were going to think and say many different things, seemingly as changing as the winds out there at the open sea. But Zaryen and Meveris needed to be each other”s touchstones.
And as they sat down on the bed now, spreading the newspapers around them, Meveris had a hunch he was going to need that talk with his big brother all over again. Perhaps more than once.
Because this stuff was worse than he”d thought.
”THE ACADEMY STAGES ANOTHER ATTACK ON OUR TRADITIONS!”
”OUR KINGDOM”S SONS ARE NO LONGER SAFE!”
”THE ACADEMY”S ULTIMATE DOWNFALL!”
Those three headlines were the worst, and the accompanying articles weren”t any better. There was no mention of the fact that Zaryen was of age and willingly emancipated, or that his family had tried to scare him into going home. Instead, there were repeated attacks on the Academy, including insinuations that the school was forcing Zaryen to stay or that it somehow corrupted him into wanting to go there in the first place.
”Is that what we can expect now? Tricking young boys into rebelling against their families by attending the institution that”s supposed to be a school and instead turned out to be a place where dangerous ideas spread until the entire kingdom is forced to fall in line?”
The author had it out for the Academy, that was clear. But not only that—he attacked and minimized the social revolution that brought marriage equality to Teranea, and then swerved to hit Caleen, although without naming him outright. It didn”t take a genius to figure out who the author meant, however, when he went on and on about how awful were those ”new ways of living that go against our traditions, no matter what ANYONE says or does.”
There were some more favorable takes, too, but there was a clear divide between the progressive newspapers and the rest of the press. While the progressive outlets barely mentioned this situation at all and simply reported that Zaryen decided to emancipate himself to attend the Academy against his family”s wishes, the others went with the anti-Academy narrative, with the most conservative newspapers being the worst culprits. Meveris oscillated between outrage and disbelief, but there was still that growing weight in the pit of his stomach that stopped him from being able to laugh off even the most outlandish of the takes.
Zaryen, though, was more and more horrified, which made Meveris push the papers off the bed and gather his companion into his arms, hauling him right into his lap.
”They”re out of their minds.” He kissed the side of his companion”s head when Zaryen hid his face in Meveris”s neck. ”But you”ve heard the headmaster, they”ll move on soon.”
”Unless they don”t.” Zaryen”s words were muffled, but Meveris still heard him. ”Maybe they”ll keep circling like desert vultures over the Academy until something breaks.”
”Or maybe this is the only thing they have left, now,” Meveris countered. ”Airing stupid grievances in the papers as they watch the world change and evolve in front of their eyes. They”ve tried that before, remember? You know better than me how brutal the campaign for marriage equality was. There were way too many voices against it to ever make me think your kingdom doesn”t have fools in it, but in the end, the majority of people supported it. They spoke out for the right side of the issue and they won. This,” he glared at the papers he tossed from the bed, ”is not nearly as big of a deal as that was.”
”They”re still using every opportunity to attack any new ideas, and the Prince Heir, and—” Zaryen”s breath hitched. ”I should have known. I watched it happen, all of it, and had to read this crap over and over again. I knew what stepping out of a clearly defined path meant in Teranea, and yet I still did it, making it easy to attack us all over again.”
”You still did it because you knew that stepping out meant freedom to live how you choose, and you wanted that.” Meveris dropped another kiss on his companion”s head and tried to pull him even closer. ”And I”m so glad you did. So incredibly, overwhelmingly grateful that you did it despite knowing how hard it would be.”
Zaryen sagged in his arms and hid his face against Meveris”s neck again, this time wet from the tears Meveris chose not to comment on.
He simply held his companion closer and whispered promises of never letting him go.