The Pride of a Slave

Hey again everyone. This chapter isn't as huge as the first one but I hope you like it just as much, be sure to rate and send me comments. Also another thank you to my editor, and I swear I will learn his screen name. He is amazing and getting the editing done almost as fast as I can get the chapters to him.

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The alarm sounded and I groaned and slapped at it, getting quickly out of bed before falling back asleep. I stumbled into two walls before I remembered where I was and walked into the bathroom, quickly splashing frigid water on my face to wake me up. I quickly brushed my teeth and showered, before putting on a smart pair of slacks and a nice blouse, exchanging my underwear for lighter colored ones so that they weren't visible underneath my shirt. I braided my hair to the side, so the braid sat on my shoulder and slipping a pair of comfortable looking shoes, I grabbed my bag and schedule and walked into the hall way.

I was immediately assaulted by the smell of cheap perfume as Dimitris door opened and his night partner walked out, looking as if she had spent the last three hours getting ready. She looked down at me waiting for me to do something, and when I didn't she narrowed her eyes at me.

"Slaves should remember their place."

I shook my head and walked around her, "As if we are ever given a chance to forget it." I said loudly to her as I turned the corner.

I was half way down the stairs when I heard Ryder bound up behind me and drop an arm onto my shoulders, "Its fun seeing you first thing in the morning, although I don't think you have to get so dressed up for breakfast."

"Classes start today Ryder."

He made a face, "Mine doesn't start until late morning."

He assaulted the bag on my back pulling the schedule out and whistling, "You have two classes before I have one."

Dimitri's night partner walked past me and I felt Ryder stiffen away from me immediately. I looked at him curiously and saw him watch the girl walk past. I snatched my schedule from Ryder and continued down the hall and into the small dining room for breakfast. The girl was already seated and I sat on the other side from her, putting as much distance between me and her as possible.

Ryder walked in a moment later looking at where I was sitting and then where the girl was sitting. He seemed to pause for a minute before grabbing a seat right across from her and sitting down. I watched with interest as he talked with her, he was flushed and I could tell instantly that he liked her.

Dimitri walked in fully dressed and with his bag as well, and made it a point to sit right next to the girl and I instantly felt uncomfortable at the situation. The two boys were locked in a glare and the girl was rattling off about how pretty the palace was, and I was watching the whole thing like some strange little peeping bug, and that was how Victor found us that first morning.

He cleared his throat and we all looked at him as he sat down at the head of the table, which happened to be to my right. He looked from the boys and the girl taking in the overall situation and then smiled at me.

"Its not very often that I am graced with such company for breakfast." I smiled and opened my mouth to say something when the girl giggled at Victor.

"Well thank you Your Majesty. I just wish I could say that about all of the company here."

Victor looked up at her sharply and both boys froze staring at Victor. I snorted in disgust and stood up with my glass of juice, "I need to get going, if Im not going to be late."

Dimitri looked from the girl then to me and back, and I realized the perdicament I had just put him in. I shook my head and rolled my eyes and bowed slightly to Victor. He held a hand up to stop me.

"I would prefer you went with one of the boys." He emphasized the word boys and even Ryder winced.

"No need, I want to walk to get rid of some of the nerves." Victor paused acting like he wanted to say something to me but with a sideway glance at the breakfast guest he thought better of it and nodded, dismissing me.

I bowed slightly again and walked out, finishing my juice and dropping it off in the kitchen. The cook saw me and shook her head waving her spoon at me, she was a slave who had lost her husband at the palace and when it was found that her food happened to be the only thing Dimitri would eat after his mother had passed, she was quickly made head cook.

She continued to wave the spoon as the other servants dodged her large body as she moved towards me, "You are not going to leave for your first day of school without food young girl."

I smiled, "The breakfast guest was toxic for my appetite."

The cook snorted, "Yes, well, I expect she wont be the last, so either your appetite will grow in strength or I will expect you here to grab something to eat."

I smiled and grabbed the apple she handed me and waited patiently as she wrapped another apple in a bag and put it in my back, "Just in case that one isn't enough. Now, off with you."

I laughed, biting soundly into the apple as I left the Palace. I waved at the gate guards, who both waved back at me and winked at me as I left wishing me a quiet good luck. I thanked them and turned myself in the direction of the University.

It was habit to keep my eyes trained low, so that I didn't offend any of the immortals around me. I made my way quickly to the University steps and then I looked up and took in the large buildings main gate entrance. I fumbled with my I.D. noticing the guards glaring at me.

I finally produced it and they swiped it quickly then grins broke out onto their faces, "You wouldn't imagine how many we have been getting trying to pretend to be you this morning."

I tried to smile but probably only managed a grimace and the guard patted my shoulder, "Don't worry, we know how ya look now, so there won't be problem anymore."

"well, thank you." They nodded and let me in and I paused and turned around and walked back to them.

"Any chance one of you gentlemen could show me where I might find this particular class?"

They both looked at my schedule and then pointed in the direction I should take, explaining exactly how to get there. They then drew a map to help me get to all of the classes, and I was so grateful I nearly burst into tears.

I thanked them profusely and they just shrugged and wished me good luck before turning their glare to another student, demanding I.D. I turned and walked quickly to the way they showed me and following their directions exactly I found myself at my class with plenty of time to spare. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths before opening the door and walking in.

The professor was already at his desk, reading through a series of notes. Also there were a few students there already seated, and making sure there wasn't assigned seating, I took my favorite spot, in the front row, next to the windows and waited quietly. I kept my attention outside, watching the lush green grass as the class begin to fill with students, all coming and going, laughing and greeting each other. I longed for that kind of school life but I had never had that, and this wouldn't be any different.

I listen to the door open and close and turned my head enough that I could watch the student file in from the corner of my eye while continuing to look out of the window. I looked at the time and centered my vision to the blackboard as there was just a minute remaining before the class started. I was acutely aware that not a single person sat next to me and it didn't bother me until I saw Dimitri walk in with the girl from this morning on his arm. He looked at me briefly before letting the girl pull him away, to two available seats on the other side of the room.

It was the first time I ever had a class with Dimitri and I was more than upset that he had chosen this moment to be conscious of his status versus mine. I reached into my bag and pulled out an extra pen and wrapping my hair off of my neck, pinned it up. It both got rid of the heat that I was starting to feel from my nerves and I knew it would upset Dimitri, even if it was only a little bit.

"Ah, good, well, it seems that everyone is here." The Professor paced in front of us clearly noticing the space the other students were putting between them and me. He raised an eyebrow at me and rolled his eyes and began the lecture.

I took notes carefully, noting the pages and chapters and the title of the books I needed to get. When the class was over he left a syllabus on the desk with the titles of all the books that would be needed, as well as what he expected us to bring to class. I walked out of the class and ignoring everyone around me I put the syllabus into my bag and grabbed my schedule and the notes the guards gave me and walked calmly to my second class.

I arrived early and making sure I didn't see a seating chart picked my favorite seat again. I looked out of the window again, spotting Ryder jogging out to the field that the window looked out of. He was laughing and waving to a group of friends, and I couldn't help but to smile and sigh. I turned my attention forward and noticed people start to file in, again I was the only human in the class.

A few minutes past the start of class the professor walked in carrying piles of papers and books, all haphazardly stacked and barely managed to get them to his desk before they toppled over. He straightened up and looked at his watch and then the clock on the wall above the board, then back to his watch. He listened to his watch for a moment before muttering and adjusting the time.

He turned and looked at the class and noticed instantly the whole row of empty seats surrounding me. He leaned very close to me, causing me to lean back a bit, his bright blue eyes squinting for a moment before putting on a pair of glasses and standing back looking at me, "Your human!"

He sounded surprised for a moment before wagging his finger and turning to his desk, began to lift up various papers until he brought one to his face and read quietly, "Oh, ha, alright, good then. Well, lets see who else is here."

He turned his attention back to the rest of the students and noticed how crammed together they were. His face frowned and I had to hide a smile behind my hand as I looked at the blackboard, "How is it we have a Prince in the class and hes jammed with the lot of you, and then the human gets all the space."

I winced and looked over quickly to see that Dimitri was indeed in the class with me, and again had ignored me, "Well luck is with the human and not the Prince, take a look at everyone beside you, if your desk touches a person or desk, they will reflect your grade. It wont matter if you get a perfect score on your grade, if your neighbors fail, best you can hope for is a barely passing grade."

He chuckled to himself and turned back to his pile and pulled a letter directly off the top, "And I should warn you that if this seating keeps up, the headmaster has insured me that this new form of grading will continue in every single of your glasses."

He cackled evily and put the paper back on his pile and began to discuss what he expects from the class. I quietly took notes and again, at the end of the class grabbed a syllabus off of his messy desk. He stopped me and waited until the rest of the class filed out, Dimitri being pulled along by the same girl as before, only this time he looked back at me concerned.

"Well, two classes, thus far, how fares it?"

I smiled, "Quiet, I prefer them leaving me alone to bullying. But I am sure my luck wont hold out much longer."

The professor chuckled, "Yes, well we are all on very high alert about your safety, and I am happy to see someone actually paying attention in my class. Hopefully you attention continues through out the year."

I smiled, "Im sure it will. If you please, sir, I need to find my next class."

"Oh, heavens, right, that's reminds me, need assistance?"

I shook my head, "I took advantage of some help earlier. I would like to be as on myself as possible."

The professor nodded and winked at me, "Just as well. Off with you then."

I thanked him and quickly darted out of the class and taking a look at my schedule I realized I had an hour before my next class. I decided to go outside for fresh air, my first two classes had been very long, and I hadn't had a chance to look over the syllabus in the classes. I walked outside and felt a gently breeze and closed my eyes, dropping my hair down and letting it blow my hair around.

I crossed the campus lawn and spotted Ryder walking towards me with a group of girls swarming him. He wasn't looking at them, and at first I thought he was looking at me until I got close enough to realize he was staring past me and I turned around and saw the same girl as before, draped on Dimitri's arm. I didn't like the way Ryder got when he saw them, and when I looked back, I didn't particularly like the look the girl was throwing both of them.

I shook my head and walked off, silently to the tree and taking the apple out of my bag, looking over the syllabus.

The rest of my classes were exactly like the others, until I got to my drawing class. There were no tables, just stools sitting on in front of the empty easle. I sat at one in the corner and watched as only a handful of people came in. In all there were six of us, and when the professor walked in, I was startled to recognize him as a human.

He cleared his throat and greeted everyone by name then stood in front of the easels, "Well its good to see everyone again, but, I was told we had another student..." He spotted me and pointed at me, "There you are, out of the corner and sit next to Sioban, so I can look at my students together."

I stood up reluctantly and sat at the easle that he pointed to, shying away from the Werewolf sitting on my left, the whole room was quiet and I looked up to see the professor staring at me, "Been that rough huh?"

I shook my head and looked back down and heard him sigh, "Well just in case you were wondering why a freshman is in this advanced class, I show you THIS!"

And much to my horror, my drawing of the two princes sitting together was in his hand. The other five students stood up and each looked at the drawing, all commenting on it mostly with approval. I blushed and smiled, listening to their critiques.

The teacher nodded in approval and grabbed it and with much gusto stapled it to my easle, "By the end of my class, I want you to surpass that, in technique, and emotion."

I nodded and watched as he pulled another picture out, this time it was a photo of a painting, and like the rest of the class I stood up and looked at it, noticing for the first time that the other students had no problem pressing against me to look at the photo.

He repeated the process for everyone and by the last drawing I was openly debating with Sioban about the importance of shading versus color. Eventually the entire group got into the debate and when the time was over, we had only managed to get a little done, even though the teacher said that we got a lot more done than normal.

He handed each of us a syllabus with a list of the supplies we needed and wishes us all a good day. I walked out with Sioban who had decided to walk with me to the gates, both of us not having any more classes. We chatted with each other about artists we liked, and I was surprised to hear that she liked a great deal more human artists than immortal.

As we walked through the main area of lawn, we saw a crowd and I got a very bad feeling in the bottom of my stomach. I walked over to a set of stairs and climbed them and saw that in the circle was Ryder, Dimitri and the girl. Both boys were yelling at each other, but neither had a fighting stance, so I left them alone to their conflict, deciding that if they were stupid enough to fight over that kind of girl, they could deal with the embarassment, and their parents scolding later.

I got down and realized Sioban was with the crowd watching, and I shook my head and turned the other way and walked off.

I barely got through the front door when I heard Victor roar my name. I sighed and walked into his main floor study, knowing I would see Dimitri in the room and probably Ryder. I sighed when I also was Mariah and collapsed into a chair unceremoniously.

Victor and Mariah both looked at me curiously but ignored my informal entrance and instead both started yelling at their sons at the same time. Finally when asked what the argument had been about both boys shut up tightly and that's when Victor turned his attention to me.

I looked between the two boys and snorted and shook my head, "it isn't even worth noting."

"Did you see them fighting?"

"I saw them yelling at each other like idiots in the Quad is what I think its called." I said disgusted.

"And you didn't see fit to save them from embarrassing themselves?"

I looked at the King and shook my head, "No, I was pretty much completely ignored by them, so why should I go out of my way to save them? Seemed to me they knew exactly what they were doing."

I stood to go and looked over my back, "And the argument was over a girl."

And I left, not caring to see the four sets of shocked eyes. My day had been thoroughly exhausting, emotionally and mentally, and the only saving grace was my art class.

I walked into my room and opened my bag and laying each syllabus out side by side and began to write down the things I needed. It was going to be expensive, very expensive, most of my professors required a digital tablet to take notes in, and one professor made it point to say that if he saw a pen and paper in his class again he would expel the student.

I slumped even lower when I saw the obscene list for my art class and by the end I had two pages full of books and supplies that I had no idea on how to get a hold of. I pulled my knees to me and hung my head in them wanting very much to cry.

I had to get out of the building and into the garden, I needed to ask my mother for advice and even if it was a cool tickling breeze, I still needed. I threw open my door to see Dimitri standing there looking pissed. I ignored him as I walked passed him and he grabbed my hand, the hand that was holding the two page long list of supplies.

"What the hell was that in there!"

I tried to yank my wrist free but he held on, "Let go Dimitri."

"Not until you explain what the hell just happened back in my fathers office." He squeezed in frusteration and I cried out as the pain lanced up my arm and I collapsed onto my knees.

He let go immediately kneeling down next to me, I held my wrist against my chest and stood up wobbly and ignoring him and the dropped list, I ran through the halls and down the staircase and out to the garden. I collapsed behind the bushes and laid there flexing my wrist to make sure it wasn't broken.

I mentally cursed Dimitri and finally let the tears fall. I felt a breeze blow over me and lifted my hand, feeling the breeze caress in between my fingers, "What do I do Mom, I don't have the money for any of this stuff."

I sighed and sat up, and walked back into the Palace, avoiding Victors different offices. The front of the Palace door opened as a curior walked in with a stack of boxes and the butler signed for them. Curiosity got the better of me and I peeked at the name on them, and seeing that they were Isadorre's packages I offered to run and get her.

I knocked on her apartment door only briefly before she flung the door open, and I saw another Vampire in the room with her, older, so I assumed it was her husband the Duke. She gasped in surprise when she saw me and I realized she had a desperate look on her face, "Oh thank heaven I didn't know if you would be around. I need your help."