"Professor Gemstone. Can I speak with you?"
Ezera looked up from the water to face the first knight of the royal guard.
The first half of the day had gone by without a hitch. The students had worked well and they had been sent to the baths, including Ming. Ezera had found himself a seat on the stone of the big fountain in the middle of the courtyard. Seeing Dereck now, he jumped back on his feet against the white tiled floor and greeted him.
"Of course. Is anything the matter ?"
"Not anything in particular. I simply wanted to have a small chat with you. And I also wanted to tell you your students are great children. You taught them well."
"Aren't they?" he smiled. "Don't put it on me, they became great all on their own."
They exchanged a companionable glance. They had after all just become co-teachers.
"In any case, they're still a bit green, so I'd rather they didn't train all day."
Ezera nodded approvingly.
"Oh," he said, "That reminds me. Do you think you could allocate me a room for class in the afternoon? That would be great."
"That could be done. In general, the level of study they've reached at that age would be quite enough to last them a lifetime here. But I did hear from Her Majesty that the lot of you wished to go back home at some point."
"Yeah. They'll need superior degrees if they want to make a real good life on Earth, and I don't want them to be penalized for something they had no hand in."
Dereck was surprisingly understanding. Ezera examined him discreetly. He was an imposing man, with well defined muscles and strong shoulers. His throat and chin were viril, with a scar in his neck. But he wasn't big, nor was his face's bones too strong by any say. Epars strands of light brown-red hair fell limply before his eyes. The rest of it was drawn back in a centered pony tail which ends teased the back of his neck. Ezera couldn't deny he was very handsome, in a way that made him look a bit older.
The way he held himself as well as the way he looked straight at people with his eyes denoted a certain experience and maturity that naturally made Ezera trust him.
Well. Of course, one was never too careful.
"I'm worried," he admitted lightly. "Killing in our world has long been outlawed. I'm not sure they could handle it if you asked them something like that."
"It's always difficult at first.," Dereck winced sympathetically. "But we'll try not to turn them into murderers if we can help it. Mostly they should be asked to kill monsters, not anything human. At least, that's the theory."
"Got any experience with that?" Ezera guessed, seemingly innocently.
"... Yeah. Some. We've all been beginners. They sell it like you'll be a hero defending the population against monsters. The first kill I've made was that of an assassin came to kill the princess. He was very much human, I can tell you that," there was an edge to the natural Dereck was trying to keep in his tone.
Ezera respected a few seconds of sympathetic silence.
"How did you begin?" he questioned eventually.
Dereck hummed.
"Actually, I lucked out. As soon as I started, the instructors were convinced that I had a gift. We were in a bit of a crisis. I remember they didn't have any soldiers to send to any small village. So, I was put in the princess' escort. We were only two, then. All three of us were about fifteen."
Ezera catalogued all the new informations for later. He was surprised, though.
"You've been with the Queen for twenty years? You're basically childhood friends," he remarked, which made Dereck laugh.
"Us, childhood friends! That's a funny one. Well, perhaps you're right."
"Is it something I shouldn't be assuming ?"
"Nah, it's fine. I just never asked myself what our relationship qualified as before. Childhood friends, huh... That would never have crossed my mind. I hope you're right though."
Dereck sighed, exhaling in one very long breath. He came closer to look down at the clear water in the fountain. His face reflected in it, with the sky in the background.
Just like Lenacia, he looked older than he was, Ezera thought solemnly.
The mood seemed to have tilted in an unknown direction.
"If it's something like childhood friendship, you might be tempted to believe that I am biased... But I see you're worried, so I can at least assure you that."
He turned back to meet Ezera's serious eyes with his own grave gaze.
"Her Majesty is a good woman. You can trust her."
No, Ezera thought just as he had before. Queen Lenacia wasn't a bad person. And he could feel Dereck was a good man too.
But to go as far as to say he could trust them?
"I see," was all he said.
Dereck searched his eyes meaningfully, then nodded, if only half-satisfied in what he found in there.
"Apart from that," Dereck changed topic, trying to go back to a more lighthearted atmosphere, "I've got to hand it to you. It's hard to imprint so much on teenagers without being remembered as the bad guy. But those kids, they really like you a lot."
Ezera perked up, curious.
"What do you mean?"
"You haven't heard them talk when you aren't there, have you? It's always 'Professor Gemstone said' and 'just like Professor Gemstone does'. They're kinda cute. You're lucky."
Ezera felt his heart warm like a bubble-bath. He made a show of concealing his smile and huffed.
"Well, they say that, but they're still a handful. I swear I'll never be taking another class of teens after that. All troublemakers."
Dereck bellawed with loud laugher.
"They sure sound like it! Musn't be easy every day. I hope the salary was worth it?"
"Not one bit!"
It was as easy as rain, to slip into a friendly conversation with Dereck. Ezera wondered what it was that made it so easy.
It felt good.
"So, I've heard that you spend all your time dealing with troublemaking brats? Have you had time to explore a bit yet?" Dereck joked.
"Are you offering?" Ezera asked, only half-kidding.
"Sure am!" Come with me. I'll show you around here. Might prove useful. Also, I'll talk to her Majesty about your request. I'm sure it'll be possible in two days' time."
"That's good, thank you. Lead the way!"