“You’re an ass.” Erianna glowered at him.

  “Takes one’s niece to know one.” Sam smiled back at her.

  “I see that you two are getting along swimmingly,” Dan said with a smile. “Does that mean that the trial period General Farris has warned me about shouldn’t concern me?”

  “We’ll see.” Erianna huffed. “Just because my uncle took an immediate shining to Sam doesn’t mean that I did. And besides—”

  “The fact that he took a shining to me at all raises all sorts of red flags,” Sam finished for her.

  “Uh huh…” Dan gave a non-committed nod before slowly taking a sip. He sat it back down and regarded the both of them before turning to Erianna. “So, seeing that you’re here as well, I’m assuming that I shouldn’t conduct this like a normal lesson?”

  “Quite the opposite. I just wanted to spend the day observing Sam and how he goes about his usual schedule.”

  “That doesn’t strike me as something that would be required from his threads teacher.”

  “I’m a perfectionist.” Erianna wrinkled her nose.

  “Very well. So, I hope that I won’t be wrong twice in a row, but I’m assuming that your core hasn’t become fragmented since yesterday?” he asked Sam.

  Sam shook his head. “Nope. That would’ve made for quite a jam-packed waking, though.”

  Dan nodded. “Then we’ll continue as usual. We’ll start with some gathering. Move on to Epirak studies until lunch. Then tracings and some theory. And patterns, I suppose, since we’ll have more time today. Any problems?”

  Sam shook his head, and Erianna held up her hands. “I’m not here,” she said.

  And yet, she was there. She took a fairly active part in the day’s lessons. Asking questions that she already knew the answer to. Helping with Dan’s explanations and examples. Partaking in the exercises herself, the same exact exercises.

  Which was all sort of amazing in Sam’s eyes. Because, considering he was only a step above the most rudimentary gathering techniques, that was probably akin to a race-car driver suffering through a driving tutorial in a forklift simulator game. With that being said, Dan was a couple of steps up from Erianna, and he had spent the last half a year watching and lecturing Sam about that tutorial. Still, he hoped that Erianna’s willingness to suffer wouldn’t extend as far as Dan’s. He already felt bad enough about putting Dan through that. And Erianna had a lot less free time. Then again, Sam probably didn’t need to worry about that, since a not insignificant part of Erianna’s time during the lesson was also spent making jokes and responding to his.

  They broke late for lunch, partly due to academic reasoning and partly to make sure they’d avoid running into anyone Erianna knew. Dan sent them alone on their way, claiming that he had some other work to attend to. But both Sam and Erianna assumed he was lying and the only work he would attend to stemmed from Erianna’s surprise arrival (Sam, of course, also had to make a joke about Dan needing a break from suffering their presence).

  Lunch passed uneventfully and, surprisingly fruitfully, with them only talking about the subjects pertaining to the lesson (there were still some jokes thrown around, of course). Once they returned to Dan’s office, they resumed just as before, although Sam couldn’t help but notice that Erianna seemed a bit more subdued. Tiredness or boredom, he couldn’t say.

  Shortly before they finished for the day, as Sam was quietly tracing through his heart, he heard Erianna release a heavy sigh. Opening his eyes, he asked, “Everything alright?”

  “Yep.” She gave him a thumbs up. “I was just worried about Farris’ weavings. But they finally ran out.”

  “Indeed.” Dan nodded, although he showed no sign of having noticed a person changing their appearance before his very eyes.

  “I was worried it would last until dinner. I really didn’t want to talk to Yvessa in another person’s skin.”

  “What did it look like?” Sam asked Dan. “Her changing back?”

  “It didn’t look like anything. One moment, she looked a certain way. The other, this way. There’s no transition.”

  “Cool. Can you do that by using pattern and tracings?”

  “Mimicking the effects of threads manipulation? Yes. But it is very complex and well beyond even most experts’ abilities. And it is quite useless since the drain is enormous and the gain is minor. There are patterns to physically alter a person’s appearance. They are much simpler and actually worth the cost. But they are painful. There is a very long and obvious transition.”

  Sam looked at Erianna, chuckling. She frowned at him, probably reading his mind. “Go back to your tracing,” she said. “Your performance so far has been very lackluster.”

  Sam winked but obliged and a short while later, they bid Dan farewell and were on their way to reuniting two best friends. “So Sarah hasn’t given you any problems?” Erianna asked.

  He shook his head. “None. She has no idea. She thought I was telling the truth. What a dupe.”

  “Aren’t you worried…?”

  “About what?”

  “That since you’re such a giant piece of crap, your friends would decide to drop you in my favor once they meet me? Seeing as I’m pretty much your polar opposite in every way.”

  “So? They’ll still have to spend time with me through you. I don’t care about other people’s feelings. All I care about is my own emotional satisfaction. Filling my sim’s social bar.”

  “I hate the fact that I understood that.”

  “Not you don’t.”

  Erianna clicked her tongue, but then relented with a half-shrug. “Yeah, you’re right. So, for tomorrow, I’m going to accompany you for you spear-fighting lesson.”

  “When’d you make up your mind?”

  “A few seconds ago. It’s not like I have anything else to do. Even if I wanted to study, the year hasn’t started yet.”

  “You could work on those final papers you need to hand in. Or that exam.”

  She waved him off. “The exam’s only in three weeks. And it’s practical, not much I can do to study for it.”

  “You know best. That still leaves those essays.”

  “Don’t worry about them or me. I’ll have plenty of time in the coming weeks to finish them. I’m already almost finished with one, after all. And half-started on the other.”

  “I just want to make sure that your studies won’t be hurt on account of me. I’ve got enough of that at home.”

  “Boo hoo. Poor boy. Having people that care about him.”

  “I know you’re being funny, but it is a problem.”

  Erianna chuckled. “Relax. I’m well aware. Just get it into your thick skull that you don’t need to worry about me. Worry about yourself first, your friends second, and me way down at the bottom.”

  “Oh yeah, that goes without saying. I don’t care about you at all. Drop out cause of partying all night, as far as I’m concerned. But my conscience is a prickly little bitch. I can’t control it. And I can’t control the discomforting pangs it sends up my spine, through my heart, and into my brain.”

  “You should get rid of it. That’s what all the cool prodigies do nowadays.”

  “Believe me, I’m trying.” Sam sighed before stopping. “This is the place.” He gestured to the mess hall. “We going in?”

  Erianna nodded. “Yes, they’re already inside.”

  “Good, because I’ve seen a couple of heads turning your way already and it probably won’t be long before they’ll get their surprise ruined for you.”

  “How do you know they weren’t looking at you?” Erianna asked as they entered.

  “I’m old news at this point. A known fixture. And more stares were thrown my way today than my beautiful visage could account for.”

  They quickly made their way through the aisles, picking up their dinner while Erianna kept her head down. Once they were done, she started leading him to the back of the room, where he knew his three friends were already seated thanks to a message sent just a few seconds after they entered. “Alright, here goes…” Erianna drew a breath. “You go sit next to Yvessa. I’ll grab the chair at the head of the table between you and Sarah. Don’t say anything until I do; follow my lead.”

  Sam saluted by punching his fist to his heart and gave her the best expression of a feverish, loyal follower he could muster. “Glory be with you, Highness.”

  She gave him the finger and slowed her walk, dropping behind him. Despite himself, Sam found that he was getting excited about the whole ordeal. It was fun. Of sorts. And acting like they were on some all important mission definitely made it even more exciting. With his heart beating in his ears (this was a nice change of pace, consciously making himself excited instead of anxious due to being aware of his body) he set his tray down next to Yvessa’s and pulled back the chair to join the three.

  Not noticing the mute stares of her fellow diners, Yvessa nodded at Sam and said, “Hey Sam, how was your day?”

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Sam nodded with wide eyes and pursed lips, but said nothing. Felix frowned at the approaching figure and Sarah seemed to alternate between glancing at Sam and behind him, where the Princess of Sarechal walked before she sat down a few seconds after he did.

  “Eh…” Felix frowned. “Is that who I think that is?” he asked Sam. “Are you who I think you are?” he asked Erianna. Sarah stared at her, puzzled, then turned to regard Sam with suspicion.

  “Who are you talking about?” Yvessa looked up from her plate. Following Felix’s eyes, she turned to regard her best friend. Sam held his breath as the entire table was stuck in a tense daze, waiting for the dam’s wall to breach. God, he really wanted to make a joke. But the stage was Erianna’s; this was her day.

  Yvessa’s senses seemed to come back to her, and she shot up from her sit. Staring at Erianna with surprise, she almost shouted, “What are you doing here?”

  Erianna exhaled and gave Sam a self-satisfied smile. “See, Sam? That’s how normal, upstanding people behave. They know what someone so close to them looks like.”

  “How do you know?” Sam shrugged his shoulder. “It’s far more likely that they’re just shocked by the fact that someone outside of the group joined us for a dinner.”

  “Ugh!” Yvessa stomped her leg and glared at Erianna, who only laughed in response.

  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” She held up her hand. “Really Yv, I’m sorry. I just had to make a joke. Sit down, I’ll explain everything.”

  “Wait…” Sam said, “you guys know each other?”

  “Don’t think you’re off the hook, Anders.” Yvessa glared at him as she sat down.

  “Indeed,” Sarah said while crossing her hands. “This whole setup is your doing, after all. You lied to us.”

  “Only insofar as I didn’t reveal the whole truth and didn’t correct your false assumptions,” Sam said. “But in my defense… she made me do it.” He gestured to Erianna, who just gave a beaming courtly smile.

  “While I appreciate the jokes,” Felix said with a slight nod, “can we space them out through the entire explanation instead of all before it?”

  Sam and Erianna exchanged looks. “It’s all you, princess.” Sam pulled back, forsaking responsibility.

  Erianna laughed. “Alright, so the short of it is that I was the threads teacher Farris chose for Sam. I arrived today, and both as a joke, and because I had a good reason, I wanted him to keep my arrival a secret.”

  “I still have so many questions,” Felix said. Sarah and Yvessa still kept mute frowns.

  “Come on…” Sam said. “Why are you guys taking this so seriously? You didn’t react this strongly to Farris joining you for breakfast out of nowhere. And, with all due respect to Erianna here, she’s not Farris.”

  “And thank God for that,” she and Sam said in unison.

  Felix rolled his eyes. “Maybe it has something to do with the fact that both Sarah’s and Yvessa’s best friends had lied to them today?”

  “Not just today,” Yvessa said. “But for a really long time, I’m willing to bet. Isn’t that right, Er Er?”

  Sam almost choked on his drink with a snort, but before he could say anything, Erianna threw him a warning glare. “Don’t,” she said before turning to Yvessa. “You’re right, Yvessa. It’s been a possibility for more than half a year. The day after Farris came to New Terra, in fact. But it had taken me a few weeks after that to come to a decision myself.”

  “And why did you not tell me? I can guess the good reason for not wanting us to see you until now. Something about being disguised with threads, right? But what ‘good’ reason could there have possibly been to keep this secret for me for all this time? Besides the fact that you and Farris found it funny…”

  Erianna looked downwards, abashed, twirling her fingers with a grimace. “Isn’t it obvious?” Sam asked. “First of all, just because she and Farris made plans, it didn’t mean that it would surely have come to fruition. A lot of other variables were, and are, in play, as I’m sure you’re well aware—”

  “Undoubtedly. But it’s not a reason to keep this a secret from me. I wasn’t going to leak it to the press.”

  “Not to the press no… but to me? To us? Most certainly. And even though we wouldn't have leaked it as well. I would have known.”

  “Not if she would’ve asked me not to tell anyone about her plans.”

  “Oh,” Felix said, “so you would’ve traded one friend lying to you for you lying to three of your friends?” Yvessa glared at him and he held up his hands. “Hey, I’m just trying to act as an objective observer. Sam’s right, I don’t see your best friend being here as something much more surprising than her uncle dropping in on us out of nowhere.”

  “It’s surprising to me. Besides, even if I hadn’t lied and told Sam, what’s wrong with that?”

  Sam shrugged. “Mainly that Erianna still has to make up her mind whether she’ll actually be my teacher. Think about it, it’s like a double-sided job interview. I’m interviewing her to make sure she can, and should, be my teacher. And she’s doing the same thing for me as a student, as a person she will have to spend the next year with. It’s better for everyone if we went into that initial meeting blind, free of pre-conceived notions about the other person.”

  Erianna grimaced. “That’s not completely true, though. I knew plenty about Sam before I came here. And it’s not like you hadn’t talked about me. Look, Yvessa, I’m sorry for lying to you, but I didn’t do it out of malice. The main reason was because Farris asked me not to, because he thought it was funny, and, I admit, it was. But it did benefit me to come here and surprise Sam. It helped me appraise him as a person, and it helped him act more naturally towards me. But it doesn’t matter. You’re right, I lied to you, and I am sorry about that.”

  Yvessa’s deep frown was suddenly replaced with a smirk. “You didn’t lie, you just haven’t told me the whole truth and corrected me on my false assumption. Plus, don’t apologize for doing something we both know you would do again in a heartbeat.”

  Erianna broke out in a smile of her own. “Fine, I won’t. I take it back. It was damn funny and I’m proud of it. Especially since there was no chance you could’ve kept that secret from Sam. And as funny as surprising you three was, waking him up before dawn was even funnier.”

  “Hey!” Sam called. “Now I’m angry and want an apology.”

  “Well, I never stopped being angry and wanting an apology.” Sarah raised her eyebrows at him.

  Sam lowered his head. “Sorry, Sarah.” He nudged the princess to his right.

  “Sorry, Sarah,” she said.

  “Apology accepted.” Sarah waved them off. “If Yvessa’s not mad, then I have no right to be. Now, will you please give us the detailed explanation for why you’re here, Your Highness?”

  “Oh shit,” Felix muttered. “We should’ve been calling you that? We haven’t been that courteous to Farris at all.”

  “And I hope that you won’t be with me,” Erianna said. “Sam certainly hasn’t. It took another person showing me courtesy for him to realize that he hasn’t.”

  “I wouldn’t be so sure.” Sam shrugged. “Could be I knew the entire damn time I wasn’t giving you the proper respect and willingly chose to behave like that because of my staunch anarchistic beliefs.”

  “Detailed explanation,” Sarah slowly said.

  Sam and Erianna exchanged glances. Again, she took the lead. “It all boils down to the fact that both of us get something out of this arrangement. I get to come here and experience a new environment, a world that I have always wanted to visit. While also getting away from my old environment and all the obligations and annoyances it details. And while Sam won’t get the best bang for his buck in terms of a teacher of threads, I am more than good enough to serve as one for a variety of reasons. What he does get from me, however, is my unique viewpoint that is the closest to his as possible, and my help in other subjects not directly related to threads.”

  “Why do I have the feeling that when you two talked about this, it took way longer to go over all of these reasons?” Felix asked.

  Sam chuckled. “You don’t know the half of it, buddy. But that’s alright, Erianna doesn’t need to convince you. She only needed to convince me.”

  “And are you convinced?” Sarah asked.

  “Well… she’s a little weird. Like, she keeps making references to stuff that no one but her understands. And she sometimes doesn’t take things as seriously as she should; making jokes in the middle of a sincere conversation. But I think could manage to ignore those parts of her personality, seeing as my benefits from taking her as a teacher are sound.”

  “I also need to be convinced to stay here,” Erianna reminded him with a dark stare.

  “Really? But I thought that I had already won you over with my charming personality? Everyone else at this table came around to me by the end of our first day together.”

  “Not true,” Yvessa lied.

  “Still hasn’t happened.” Felix shook his head.

  “So what did you two do today?” asked the only truthful person at the table.

  “Well, she woke me up early as fuck, as you already know,” Sam said. “Then she decided that she wanted to see a ‘day in my life,’ so to speak. So we started with working out, which was when I was forced to bend the truth in my message to you. Then breakfast, early lessons with Dan because he was already up, probably even earlier than me, and aware of Erianna’s arrival.”

  “Just since today,” Erianna assured them.

  Sam nodded. “And that’s pretty much it. She kept me company during the lessons and… I don’t know, would you say you had a fruitful day?”

  Erianna shrugged. “Yes, overall. Written reports aren’t as good as seeing the real thing in person. I have a much better idea of what your training actually looks like. And it was fun, mostly. During the times when Sam didn’t speak.”

  “Yeah, those are always the best, I’m told.”

  “Wait,” Felix said, “you’re here to teach Sam about threads. And you haven’t taught him anything about threads the whole day? Isn’t that counterintuitive?”

  “Now hold on.” Sam held up his hand. “She’s also here to study. That’s the actual official reason, see? Here to experience the Terran educational system in person.”

  “Criticize it more like,” Yvessa said.

  Erianna nodded. “Yeah, that would come at the end of my stay here. At which point Farris and the Terran General Staff could make whatever reforms they’re planning to carry out seem like a response to my pre-written criticism. But I am here to study. I’ll be enrolling in classes, just the same as you guys.”

  “Well, that’s a given. You still haven’t finished your education. Although God knows you tried.”

  Erianna rolled her eyes. “We don’t have to go back to the same song and dance straightaway. You could let it build up for the next couple of weeks until the new year starts.”

  “You also get those kinds of comment?” Sam leaned in to ask her.

  “All the time.” She sighed. “And the people closest to me are the biggest culprits.”

  Sam nodded in disgust. “Yeah… it’s always those bastards.”

  “Blegh,” Felix made a pained face. “Now there’s two of them.”

  Yvessa shook her head with sadness. “I’m afraid you have yet to see the worse of it. Wait until she understands and can respond with her own to Sam’s obscure references.”

  “Hey, I resent that,” Sam said.

  “Indeed,” Erianna said, “that’s quite an exaggeration.”

  “Exactly. She only understood half of my obscure references. She doesn’t know anything besides Terran pop-culture. Politics, history, philosophy… woosh. Flies right over her head.”

  “How dare you?! I know a fair amount about Terran history.”

  “Just because you’re not as ignorant as these two peasants doesn’t mean that you’re not an ignorant pissant.”

  “I don’t think I have ever been called that once in my life.”

  “Surely you have. Behind your back?”

  “Hm… maybe. What do you think, Yvessa?”

  Yvessa shrugged. “I’m sure plenty of people cursed you in private. That exact word… I don’t know, but it does seem likely. Probably not in English, though.”

  “Well then, I’d gladly take the honor of being the first to describe you as such in the Queen’s Proper,” Sam said.

  “What about Felix’s question concerning actually teaching Sam about threads?” Sarah said.

  “I’m still making up my mind on how and when to do that,” Erianna said.

  “All the Ws, really,” Sam added.

  “But we’ll see. Before the end of the week, though, that’s for sure. You don’t need to worry about him, Sarah, I’ll make sure he’ll get the best education possible.”

  Sarah leaned back with a chuckle. “I wasn’t worried. But please, keep us updated, and let us know if and how we can be of help. To the both of you.”

  “I didn’t agree to that,” Felix said.

  “You were planning to come with me to spear-fighting lessons tomorrow.” Sam rolled his eyes.

  “Oh what? Just because I was coerced into agreeing to help you, I now have to help everyone else?”

  “Just your future boss.” Erianna smiled. “But don’t worry, I doubt I would require much help. Not to mention that the helping relationship goes both ways.”

  “Huh. I haven’t thought about that.” Felix then furrowed his brows. “Are you talking about in the present or in the future?”

  “In the future, of course. What help could I possibly give right now to a bright young cadet such as you?”

  “Finally, someone who gets it. I like her,” he said to Yvessa.

  Yvessa rolled her eyes and asked Erianna, “So, what do you have planned for tomorrow?”

  “I’ll be joining Sam’s morning lessons. So I’ll be relieving you from that duty, Mr. Polaris.”

  “Consider me relieved.” Felix saluted.

  “After that… we’ll see. Maybe the same thing as today.”

  “Really?” Sam asked. “I get that you want to adopt that whole teacher persona, but you don’t have to go full hog and mimic Dan by spending an ungodly amount of time by my side and doing nothing.”

  “A day or two of mimicry won’t hurt. I still need to get the full picture of where you are in your studies. And it’s not like I have a lot of other things to do.”

  “Cultivating. Studying. Practicing.” Sam counted on his fingers.

  “Spending time with other people,” Felix said. “Just to make sure no one’s jealous.”

  Yvessa laughed. “What are we, twelve?”

  “I was talking about me.”