Snippet #2623378

Kyle gave a weary smile when Tallyho reached out to him. That was all he wanted. He didn't expect to be best friends right away, if at all. He attempted to wipe his sweaty palms with the similarly sweaty cravat tie and stuffed it in a pocket. Then he too moved toward her. For a time he debated whether to kiss her hand like he did with Dae or shake it. Eventually he wiped his sweaty hands again and shook hers. She might not be comfortable with a more intimate gesture, and there was also Dorian to consider. The April warrior knew he could be no threat to a relationship between two of his teachers, and they also knew his weaknesses. His peers, they were a different story. Besides, he didn't want to give Dorian a reason to be upset with him, especially after all the mess he already submitted him to. "Thank you."

After the announcement party, they finally seemed to have a reprieve, and Kyle took full advantage of it. He set himself personal goals to resolve all the issues he caused during the fiasco, but he doubted his success in meeting those goals. The group seemed more splintered than before and weird things were happening that spooked him, but he refused to give up. One of his few virtues, determination.

That determination also helped him in other ways. He found multiple exits to the palace and escaped all the fake people for hours at a time, either in the city proper or the garden. The garden was an excellent forum for him to strengthen his skills, and actually interact with 'real' people. People that didn't pretend to like you because you were famous. Truthfully, he hated being famous.

Nikita discovered the problem soon enough when she found Haru passed out drunk. She knew he had a smoking problem, but she didn't remember a drinking problem. Biting her lip, she realized that perhaps the recent pressure pushed him to drink. She called for assistance to carry him to his room, because she was both shorter and lighter than Haru, and knew she couldn't hold him on her own.

A week later, the man himself knocked on her door and asked her to come to a meeting during lunch. Hastened by both concern for his health and curiosity, she was happy to oblige. She prepared for the meeting as much as possible, well before the appointed time. When she heard the message, she forced herself to hold her tongue. She wasn't Haru's mother to harangue him about the stupidity of going in front of government agents and enemies by himself, but it did validate her concern for his health.

"The problem is, I don't think we can trust either of these parties we're now tangled up in. Amber and his supernatural warriors destroyed the Academy, yet didn't physically harm our warriors when they were weak and logically would be in his best interest." She grimaced against how cold she sounded. "And the government agents here pretty much tied our hands with their demands of accompaniment. If anything happens to the accompanying party, we'll get the blame, and end up back in the dungeon." She shuddered at the word. "Honestly, I think it's in OUR best interest to target Amber directly, not even this book whether it exists or not. Chasing the book should draw the threat away from major cities and reduce civilian casualties at least. That doesn't resolve the issue of nosy government officials though." Crossing her arms over her chest, she dropped her head and frowned. It sounded like they were damned if they do, damned if they don't.