Chapter Twenty-One
“HOW’S YOUR head?” Barve asked Elliot when he appeared in the doorway of the kitchen the next morning, dark hair damp from the shower.
“A lot better than it was, thanks.”
Which meant that the headache wasn’t gone yet and that bothered Fal. He had never felt ill at all from using his own magic, but the two of them were testing it to see what they could achieve together and had obviously pushed it too far. It was important to find out what they could do but not if it caused Elliot pain. He shouldn’t have suggested trying to find Nolan’s mind amongst so many others.
“Maybe you should skip your lectures today and rest,” he said as Barve made drinks for the three of them.
Elliot stared at him with an almost comically appalled expression as he took a seat the other side of the kitchen table. “I can’t do that. Besides, it’s just a slight headache. As soon as I get some fresh air it’ll go.”
Fal wasn’t convinced as Elliot’s complexion was still paler than usual, which suggested he felt worse than he was admitting, but as long as he could crawl out of bed he clearly wasn’t going to miss any lectures. Stubborn idiot.
They ate breakfast, Elliot just having a mug of coffee and, when prompted by Barve, a slice of toast with less margarine on it than usual. He did get a bit more colour outside, but Fal found himself worrying about him during his morning lecture.
“How are you feeling?” he asked when they met up again at lunchtime to go and pick up Barve.
“Fine.” Elliot’s bright smile convinced Fal that this was the truth and he relaxed. For a while. It turned out that he had been worrying about the wrong person.
They drove through a downpour of rain that turned the sky and streets slate grey to the smaller campus, arguing in a teasing way about whether TV or radio was the better medium. Elliot pulled into the car park as Barve came out of the main doors and even from a distance Fal could see something was wrong. As he got into the car Fal saw that his expression was a blank mask that failed to hide the emotions churning in his eyes.
“What’s happened?” Fal demanded.
Barve’s shoulders slumped and he said in a mumble that was barely audible above the sound of the rain pounding onto the car, “The lecturer for this class is threatening to fail me because I didn’t hand in a finished painting today.”
That didn’t make sense. Barve loved to paint and never got behind with the work. “Why not?” Barve bit his lip and Fal prepared himself to hear something bad. “Tell me now.”
“Some of the other students have been... difficult. They destroyed two of my paintings.”
Fal’s fists clenched. “Did you tell the lecturer this?”
“She said she didn’t believe me but she definitely saw what they did.”
Fal turned and reached out to the back seat to squeeze his brother’s arm as he contemplated beating up various students and threatening Barve’s lecturer. “We’ll sort it out.”
“We have to go to the Vice Chancellor about this,” Elliot said, brow furrowed.
“Like he’ll give a damn!” Fal exclaimed.
“He doesn’t have a choice,” Elliot insisted. “Neans have a legal right to receive a fair education now so he has to do something to rectify this.”
He sounded so sure of himself that Fal nodded and then looked round at his brother to make the final decision.
“All right,” Barve said.
They returned to the other campus in a subdued silence and Elliot led them to the office of the head of the university. He knocked on the door and they went inside.
The ginger-haired man behind a large oak desk looked up and his eyes widened at the sight of the Neans. He stood up and spoke to only Elliot: “Can I help you, Mr Rivers?”
Elliot nodded to Barve, who explained what had happened, going into more detail about the fact this trouble had been building up for weeks.
Why hadn’t he told Fal what was going on? They could have done something before it got this bad. One look at his brother’s flushed face answered the question: he’d been embarrassed at not being able to handle it himself and, before this, probably hadn’t wanted to make a fuss. Sometimes Barve was far too easy-going for his own good.
When Barve came to the end of his tale, they all looked expectantly at the Vice Chancellor who remained silent for a few seconds, long enough to give them hope, before saying, “The lecturer was in the room when this alleged sabotage took place and saw nothing. Mr Rivers is clearly more gullible than I am because I don’t believe a word of this story.”
Fal opened his mouth to begin yelling, when he felt a hand on his arm, the firm grip belonging to Elliot.
“Do you still have the two paintings that were ruined?” Elliot asked Barve.
“I threw the first one away but I’ve got the other here.” He began to get it out of a long carton but the Vice Chancellor waved his hand in a dismissive motion.
“That hardly proves your story.”
“Why would he destroy his own work?” Elliot asked.
“I have no idea how Nean minds function. Perhaps he knew the painting wasn’t good enough to get a high mark and came up with these lies to hide what he’d done.”
“Can we have your assurance that you will at least speak to the lecturer involved and investigate this complaint,” Elliot said and, even as he glared at the Vice Chancellor, wishing any number of unpleasant afflictions on him, Fal couldn’t help but be impressed by Elliot’s perseverance.
“As I see it, the lecturer has already given a fair response.”
“Fair?” Fal exclaimed and the grip on his arm tightened.
“Sir, as you know, I’m the son of a politician,” Elliot said, “and my mother frequently has other politicians visiting our home, some who agree with her beliefs and others who don’t. I am well acquainted with a number of MPs who fought to get Neans the right to an education and I imagine they could cause this university a great deal of trouble if they believed you were deliberately undermining their work.”
The Vice Chancellor’s lips tightened into a thin line as he and Elliot locked gazes. Fal held his breath and he could feel his brother motionless beside him as they waited.
“I’ll look into the matter and see if it can be better resolved,” the Vice Chancellor said shortly then, as Fal began breathing again, a smile coming to his face, the man continued. “You’ve chosen your side, Mr Rivers, and you’ll have to live with the consequences of that. From now on it looks as if the three of you will survive or fail together.”
Fal went cold. He turned to look at Elliot who seemed unaffected by the words.
Before they left, Elliot said, “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
When they got out of the room, Fal didn’t know whether to hug Elliot or yell at him in frustration. The Sapiens didn’t have any idea how much prejudice and violence his own kind were willing to inflict on anyone who supported Neans so openly. The Vice Chancellor wouldn’t forget this and plenty of other lecturers and students were just as prejudiced as him. The lives of the three of them were about to get more difficult than ever.