No, he loved me. Smiling, I forked pieces of my salad and shoved them into my mouth. I studied his psi energy. It was dim and small like a Subsixer's, yet I knew he had water abilities. How did he make it so small? Oh, I had so many questions to ask him.

Can we meet later? I telepathed him.

Nope. Your security team has tightened since your father left. I have to figure out a way past them first.

I glanced at the guards by the door. Callum and Ruby will cover for you.

I'm not worried about them. I'm talking about the others, the ones out of uniform doing a c.r.a.ppy job of blending in.

I glanced around, but I couldn't tell the guards and the students apart by appearance. You don't have to do menial work to see me.

Ah, but it's the perfect camouflage. No one looks at a minion twice. Sorry, I mean a Subsixer.

Is it true you won a mortal combat and are really the future king?

He chuckled. I didn't win anything. Someone more powerful did. I was just an instrument. Let's talk later. I gotta go. Duty calls. Don't try to contact me. You still suck at shielding your energy and we might get busted.

I wrinkled my nose. Thanks a bunch.

He chuckled. It'll come back when your memories return, along with everything else.

I hope so. Since he couldn't tell me anything useful, I wanted him to confirm some of the things Gavyn had already said. Maybe I could convince Father to let him see me openly without all this cloak-and-dagger c.r.a.p. After all, Bran had only joined the Guardians to be with me.

I checked the psi energies in the cafeteria and noticed the odd ones, red psi energy that was typical of security guards. Bran was right. My security detail had tripled. Would there be that many in the castle? I really wanted to go back to the dungeon and interrogate Prisoner Zero.

I focused on the conversation at the table. They were discussing who was dating and who was breaking up. Lottius didn't bother to hide the fact that she was bored. Skylar and Ravan were lost in their little world.

"Tannin is on the prowl again," Eisheth said.

"Isn't he always?" Daeva said.

Katia glanced at Daeva. "Didn't you two date once?"

"Ew, no," Daeva said. "We are neighbors. That's it. His parents are gone most of the time, and his sister doesn't really keep an eye on him, so he throws wild parties and has all sorts of girls traipsing in and out of his bedroom." She glanced over at Tannin's table just as he looked over. Some girl sat on his lap. He blew Daeva a kiss. She gave him the finger. Katia and Eisheth laughed. Lottius just rolled her eyes. My eyes went to the food carousel, but Bran was no longer there. His psi energy said he was in the kitchen.

The conversation at our table moved to parties and, of course, next week's tourney. Thankfully, no one expected me to contribute much until we were back in cla.s.s, where the current affairs teacher decided to single me out.

"I'm happy to welcome Princess Lilith into my cla.s.s," Master Carmelo said.

"Thanks," I murmured. All teachers had said the same thing.

"Today, we are focusing on the Guardians," he added.

Snickers and telepathic whispers followed. The mental comments weren't nice.

"Now, now, be nice." He grinned. "And since you have so much to say, today's topic is...drumroll, please."

The students pounded their desks.

Master Carmelo raised his hands and silence filled the room. "How can we make the Guardians understand that they are misguided? How can we make them join us in the fight to reclaim this world? Go." He sat on the edge of his desk and crossed his arms, his eyes darting from student to student.

"Convince them to love themselves first, and humans second," someone called out from the back.

"They need to accept that survival is for the fittest," another student added. "Even humans believe that."

"And your point is?" Master Carmelo asked.

"If humans can't compete with us, they should step aside and let us run things or get crushed into extinction. The dinosaurs once owned the world, and now they're gone."

The debate that followed showed how divided the students were and how pa.s.sionate they were about their positions. Some were convinced the Guardians were beyond redemption and should be wiped out. Others were more forgiving and thought we should bring them to the negotiation table. No one mentioned the dark lords.

Master Carmelo's eyes found me. "Lilith, any thoughts on the subject?"

Everyone turned to look at me. Yeah, pick on the new girl who was hoping to get a pa.s.s on her first day. Whatever I said could be misinterpreted or taken as my father's position. Lady Nemea had drummed that in me. I was never to take sides, either. On the other hand...

"Violence only breeds more violence. Is negotiation the solution? Maybe. It depends on whether both sides are willing to come to the table and talk."

The silence that followed was deafening.

"So, how would you go about making this happen?" Master Carmelo asked.

Seriously? I wanted to tell him to stop putting me on the spot, but princesses weren't supposed to show excessive emotions. Dang, I hated hearing Lady Nemea's voice in my head.

"I would find moderate Guardian and Hermonite leaders and start a dialogue," I said.

The students started to whisper among themselves. Katia, seated beside me, leaned over and said, "Nicely said. Very diplomatic."

"Annoyingly vague, typical bureaucrat mumbo-jumbo," Lottius retorted from my other side.

I glared at her. "I can't very well tell them to storm the Guardian enclave and demand they stop or else," I said.

Lottius grinned. "Why not? You achieve results faster that way."

"What if talks fail, Princess Lilith?" Master Carmelo asked.

Okay, the teacher needed to leave me alone. Then it's time to kick a.s.s. No, I couldn't say that. "Then we up the pressure until they cave in. And please, don't ask me how, because I'm not exactly sure whether we could do that without crushing them."

Laughter filled the cla.s.s.

Master Carmelo took pity on me and moved on to someone else. After that, the topic switched to current affairs. In the last twenty minutes of cla.s.s, everyone went online. Katia helped me create accounts. By the end of the cla.s.s, I'd received friend requests from everyone in the cla.s.s.

Time-power cla.s.s proved to be just as interesting as energy. Time was Lottius's element and she owned it. Like her, most of the students controlled time by time-travelling. They didn't go far, but the tricks they pulled were cool. Like in energy, my ability to control time was different from the others. I'd a.s.sumed I simply stopped time, but my teacher explained it better. I controlled time by putting it in a loop.

"How was school?" Lady Nemea asked as soon as I arrived home.

"I blew up a cla.s.s, but they decided not to contact you, because I told them not to." I opened the fridge and removed a bottle of water. "Is Father home yet?"

"You blew up a cla.s.s?"

I saw her face and laughed. "I'm kidding."

She shook her head. "You... So, how was it?"

"Great. I made new friends and I have an hour and a half before my session with Master Kenta. I'm starving."

"I'll ask the kitchen staff-"

"No, I'll go and get something myself. Bilal promised me a mango smoothie." I could tell she wanted to ask something. "Come. I know you're dying to know what really happened at school."

"Of course not." She straightened her posture. "However, I will come to make sure the staff doesn't ply you with too much food before your practice."

I hid a smile. She'd missed me. For two and a half months, she'd been responsible for me. Monitoring what I ate, where I went and with whom, and all of a sudden I was gone for hours. She probably knew who had drained my psi energy, which meant I probably owed her for keeping my surging energy a secret.

I took her arm. "Come on."

As usual, the kitchen was buzzing with activities. The aroma of spices and freshly baked pastries filled the air, but my eyes went to the tall gla.s.s of a yellow drink on the kitchen table. Bilal was removing more baked goodness from the oven when she noticed us. A smile creased her rounded cheeks as she led me to the table and handed me the drink.

"You'll like it," she rea.s.sured me. "How was your first day of school, Princess?"

The kitchen came to a standstill as everyone paused to hear my answer.

"Long."

Laughter filled the room.

"I made friends," I added, sitting. I took a long sip and sighed. Lady Nemea hovered by my chair. She probably wanted us to leave, but I had a few questions for the head chef. I patted the chair next to mine. She hesitated.

Dad would sit with me, I said. She made a face and sat. Someone asked her if she wanted a smoothie, but she declined it with a wave of her hand.

"What kind of friends?" Lady Nemea asked.

"Guys who could become useful," I said softly, then spoke louder. "I want to throw a party on Sat.u.r.day, Bilal."

"What kind of party, Princess? How many are coming?"

"Pizza and finger-foods party," I said, and sipped my smoothie, aware of a scowling Lady Nemea. "I don't know the head count yet. We could do it in the banquet room."

Lady Nemea looked like she was about to have a heart attack.

"Too formal?" I asked, ignoring the fact that she had disapproval written all over her face.

"Can we discuss this upstairs?" she asked.

"Sure." I stood with my drink. "Or we might have it on the beach, Bilal. I'll let you know once I talk to my friends."

"I'll be here, Princess," Bilal said, and turned with a plate of pastries. "Chocolate-filled croissant?"

"Oh, my favorite. You're the best." I took the plate, kissed her cheek, and teleported upstairs.

"So, these boys you mentioned inviting..." Lady Nemea said.

"...will be working on Rocky Beach," I said. "They are Earth Primes and I want them working on that beach by next week."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Oh. Can I go now and change?"

She smiled, relief in her eyes, and nodded. "I'll let you know when your father comes home. Where will you be?"

"Around. I have homework." I disappeared in my bedroom, placed the croissant on the bed, and headed to the closet. After I changed into my workout clothes, I settled on the bed and got busy.

Every few minutes, I did a psi scan to check for my father and Bran. Bran was around, but I didn't dare connect with him. Father wasn't back. I put the crystals away and glanced over at the bodyguards. I had thirty minutes to kill.

An idea popped in my head. The more I thought about it, the more I liked it. I did another psi scan. Lady Nemea was in her quarters, which were below my father's. I let the image of Block C fill my head. I should just do it. I knew the place now. I'd be in and out before the guards realized I was there. Or maybe not.

I hurried to the door and stuck my head outside. "How many guards are a.s.signed to me right now, Ruby?"

"You are the primary," she said.

"Meaning?"

"Your every movement is being monitored twenty-four-seven," Callum explained.

I sighed. "So, if I went to the dungeons?"

"Sir Malax would know before you arrived there."

"Does he know we were down there?" I asked.

They shook their heads.

"If he does, he hasn't said anything," Callum added.

"Hmm." The dungeons were off-limits. "Okay. Thanks. I'm heading downstairs to warm up for my session with Master Kenta."

I was starting to sweat when Master Kenta arrived outside the gazebo twenty minutes later. I put the staff down and teased, "I'm almost done, and you're just arriving."

I was surprised when he smiled. His smiles were rare. "We are not going to practice here today. We are going back to the Academy."

"Oh. Am I joining the other students?"

He chuckled. "Not really. Interestingly, they asked the same question."

"And?"

"I told them you are too advanced for them."

Oh, gee, thanks for setting me up to be disliked by the entire school population, I thought.