Chapter Seven
“APPARENTLY SHE dropped out of Uni,” Barve said.
Fal swore. The girl they had seen at the Vice-Chancellor’s introductory talk on Monday had been the only other Nean at the university and Fal didn’t doubt that she had been pressured into leaving. He and Barve had received racist comments and unfriendly looks from most of the students and several of the professors since they had arrived and Fal had been told a couple of times that he had better leave or end up in hospital. He remembered that a bearded professor had refused to help the girl when she had asked for advice. “They’re not bloody well getting rid of us,” he swore.
“No,” Barve agreed. “They’ll get used to us in time.”
Fal wasn’t so sure of that but it wasn’t the point: this was the first year of Neans studying alongside Saps and, if no Nean stuck it out, the new law that their people had worked to achieve could be repealed. At the moment his people were gradually gaining basic human rights but, faced with so much prejudice and hatred, he could imagine how easily they could lose everything.
“Are your classes going okay?” he asked. They had been home-schooled before coming here and the confusing work and hostile crowds of people were getting to him.
“I never know if I’m doing things right or wrong, but we’ll figure it out.”
Barve seemed more confident than Fal felt. He had never written an essay in his life before and, even having got copies of the leaflet Callie had recommended, Fal didn’t have a clue how to go about writing one. He had been considered smart by his family – they both had – but Fal was afraid that that wouldn’t be enough to catch up with everything they didn’t know here. And that was without including the shoves, threats and general harassment against them.
“Let’s get some breakfast,” Barve suggested in a bright tone and Fal frowned, knowing he wanted to see Elliot again.
“Be careful with Elliot. He might not be as bad as the others but he’s still a Sap: we can’t trust him.” He might not have been lying about wanting to be their friend – or Barve’s friend anyway – but he was far too curious, wanting to know things about Neans and magic that had to be kept private.
Barve changed the subject. “Why won’t you do magic with him again?”
“Why won’t you agree that he can’t be trusted?”
Barve grimaced as he picked up his room keys. “I’m going to the kitchen.”
Fal locked up the room and followed, predictably finding him and Elliot chatting away to each other as they made toast and got mango juice out of the fridge, because orange juice was far too common a drink for Elliot to buy.
“What do your parents do for a living?” Barve was asking Elliot and Fal paused, curious as to how they’d made what had to be a fortune, judging by Elliot’s car and lifestyle.
“My dad owns an international investment company and my mum’s a politician. Jasper, my older brother... well, he’s a bit useless,” Elliot said, pouring out the drinks. “I think he’s just waiting for someone to hand him a job where he doesn’t have to do any real work but can make a large salary.”
His mother was a politician? Fal knew his surname was Rivers so... “Bloody hell!” Elliot looked round, startled, having not noticed Fal’s arrival, and his eyes narrowed, showing he was still annoyed over their argument yesterday. Fal had actually felt bad about being rude to him but Elliot had been deceiving them all along. Bile rose in his throat. “Is your mum Nicola Rivers, the most anti-Nean politician in the whole soddin’ country?”
Elliot dropped his eyes, cheeks darkening, and he put down the carton of juice he was holding. “Well, yes.”
Barve crossed his arms awkwardly across his chest and frowned.
“Was this whole friendship thing just an act?” Fal demanded. He should have guessed something like this. How could he have been so stupid as to begin to think that Elliot was actually on their side? “Did she want you to find a way to sabotage our lives here so we’d lose the right to public education?”
“No, of course not.” Elliot stared at him. “Are you insane? That’s the most paranoid thing I’ve ever heard.”
“So it’s just a coincidence that your mum loathes Neans and you befriend a couple?”
“No, it’s... I don’t believe in any of that anti-Nean rubbish. Remember my magic? I’m part-Nean too.”
“Only a tiny part. No one’s blood is one hundred percent Nean or Sapiens after thousands of years of intermingling. It’s only the appearance that people really care about.” He ran a finger along the brow ridge above his eyes and saw Elliot’s gaze follow the movement.
“I hate my family’s beliefs,” Elliot said and he looked and sounded sincere but Fal wouldn’t let himself be fooled again. “I moved this far away from them because I didn’t want to have to listen to that crap anymore. I’m your friend because I want to be.”
“I know,” Barve said and Fal threw his arms in the air.
“Seriously?” he exclaimed to his brother. “If he held a gun to your head, would you still insist he was on our side?”
“Probably. I trust Elliot and the Spirits of the World guided us here...”
“Shut up about that!” he snapped, going cold. For Elliot to find out their biggest secret and share it with his mother would wreck more than just their lives.
“Fal...”
“... I have to get out of here.” He turned and hurried away. He walked down the corridor, out of the building into the car park and, beyond that, into a grey residential street and just kept going.
* * *
“I’m sorry,” Elliot said to Barve as they stood opposite each other in the kitchen. For once he couldn’t blame Farlden for getting angry and stalking off. “I should have told you at once about my family. I swear, I’m not like them.”
“I know,” Barve said again. “Fal will calm down. It was just a shock – everyone knows that your mum wants to bring back Nean slavery.”
“I’m completely opposed to that – I don’t agree with any of her political opinions.” Elliot stared at the empty doorway, then he glanced at his watch and grimaced. “I’m so sorry. I know you probably have more questions but I have to get to a lecture. Do you need a lift to one of the campuses?”
“No. I don’t have a class until this afternoon, so I’m going to stay here and work on a painting this morning.”
“Do you want to meet for lunch?” he asked, uncertain of what Barve would say.
“Okay.”
Elliot smiled, letting out a relieved breath. They arranged a time to meet at the main canteen. “Would you tell Farlden that I’m sorry and that I’m genuinely not his enemy?”
“Yeah, of course.”
Elliot was distracted during the lecture by the thought that, instead of Farlden changing his mind, he might instead convince Barve not to be friends with Elliot anymore. Barve was the only person here that he got along well with, the Nean’s easy-going nature and kindness making him a comfortable person to talk to. Elliot liked Callie but she lived in a different residential hall, so he had only seen her twice since Tuesday.
After everything Farlden had said and done since they had met, Elliot should have at least been glad to have him out of his life. Farlden had been rude to him, constantly annoyed and had the widest range of glares of anyone on the planet. The refusal to do magic together again should have been the last straw, but Elliot found he didn’t want to walk away. He had no idea why – perhaps it was just a stubborn streak that refused to give up on making Farlden like him – but he didn’t want them to stop spending time together over something as pointless as a misunderstanding.