First Sight

Warning – this contains spoilers for The Heir!

This is a scene from Keridan’s point of view of the first time he sees Sarah on his first day at high school. Of course, love was not on his mind. He was thinking of the success of his mission.

 

Fortunately, few students had arrived for our French class by the time I got there. I took a seat in the back row and put thoughts of the other students aside.

I recognized her as soon as she entered the room, even though she was standing behind a group of students who were taller than her. She quickly made her way to a seat on the other side of the room and a few rows in front of me. Perfect.

I continued to watch her in my peripheral vision, pleased that I was finally close enough to hear her and see her at the same time.

Sarah Fenhardt was not tall – another trait she had inherited from her mother. Now that she was so close to me, I could see anew just how much like her mother she was. The only real difference was the length of her hair and slightly more angular features.

Throughout the entire lesson I looked at the front of the class and watched the Heir out of the corner of my eye. Fortunately, French required little more than a good memory, like most languages, and although I couldn’t give it my full attention, I caught on quickly. This allowed me more time to watch.

Not that there was much to see. The Heir didn’t answer any questions, nor was she asked any. She didn’t say anything to anyone for the entire lesson, although the girl sitting across the aisle from her did make a couple of remarks that made her smile.

So there wasn’t a great deal to learn from this distance. I would have to try and sit an aisle closer next time. And I would need to talk to Jillandrina about the best approach to take as she tried to reach out to her. She was not as astute as I was at discerning character.

I managed to find a good seat in the cafeteria and watched the Heir for the entire time while pretending to read a book. I was pleased to note that Jillandrina was sitting in the small group with her. Sarah seemed to like her too.

Nothing else even remotely interesting happened all day. I was overcome with boredom by the end of it, anxious to get back to the mobile observation room so that I could ensure that the Heir got home safely after school. I took my car to our home first, then traveled to the observation unit on foot under a cloaking shield. It made it difficult for anyone to see us.

Bessania was there when I arrived. “How was the day?”

I sat down. “Dull. Really dull. Apart from the Heir, of course.”

She leaned forward. “What’s she like?”

“I’m worried she’s too much like her mother.”

“There’s plenty of time to make a leader of her.”

While we were talking, the door opened and Hajitis came in, an unrelenting glower on his face. He threw himself dramatically into one of the chairs.

“I can’t do this,” he rumbled.

My eyebrows shot up. “You have no choice.”

He turned his glare on me. “Oh, I’ll do it. I’ll just hate every minute of it.”

“They’re only natives, Haj.”

He growled something under his breath before turning to me, his eyes pleading. “Couldn’t I kill one of them?”

“No.”

“All right, but I tell you, this is going to kill me!”

I didn’t see Jillandrina until later, and her report was pretty much the same.

“They’re all so boring and predictable. They’re all over me at the moment, mainly because I told them how well my parents were doing. You could see the difference it made to them. The look that came into their eyes, even with the teachers!”

“But you spent a lot of time with the Heir?”

She nodded. “Absolutely. At least she’s slightly entertaining. I sat next to her in every class we shared and at lunch, in case you didn’t notice, and I made sure she knew I was interested in being friends with her.”

I thought about that. “How did she seem to you?”

“What do you mean?”

I decided bluntness was best. “Just how much like her mother is she?”

She laughed. “A lot, that’s for sure. She’s quiet, but I can work on that. I’ll have her out of her shell in no time.”

I considered that. “You know, I noticed that students who take English are often involved in debating. I wonder if we could get Sarah to do that.”

“It’s voluntary. I don’t think she’s going to take it up. She’s not the type.”

“Maybe we could make it not so voluntary?”

“What?”

“I mean, maybe the school’s new English teacher can suggest it becomes compulsory.”

She looked at me. “You want Hajitis to force Sarah into debating? That sounds like loads of fun.”

I shrugged. “You’re in Hajitis’s class with her at the moment. You can help her out.”

Hajitis was listening to our conversations and nodded. “Debating will certainly be a useful skill for her to learn. She’ll need it at home.”

Jillandrina folded her arms. “Whether she likes it or not is another question.”

“Regardless, she needs to learn it,” I said. “See what you can do.”

So apart from the realization of how mindbendingly boring attending this place would be, things seemed to be going well. I saw no reason why our mission would not be a complete success.