Sacrifice

Chapter 19 - The Talks

Shaking slightly, Kalli raised herself from the curtsy and sat down. What had possessed her to speak so liberally to the Crown Prince? And on top of that, what was she getting herself into spending time with him? She looked blankly at the star diagrams that sat on her desk. In so many ways, he could ruin her life, yet she still felt compelled to try and find out who he really was.

# # #

Kalli was able to catch Miriam as she was about to leave for a meeting. "Could I talk to you quickly before you go?"

Kalli shift from foot to foot as Miriam raised an eyebrow, then nodded and let Kalli into her office.

"What do you need?" Miriam asked.

"I need to cancel our next class," Kalli answered. Her heart sunk at Miriam's expression.

"Is there a good reason for this? If I recall correctly, I sent you a message saying I wished to review your progress at our next meeting."

"I know," Kalli said, shamefaced. "Normally I wouldn't ask, I enjoy class far too much. However, the Crown Prince has asked me to spend time with him that morning."

Miriam nodded slowly. "I suppose you dare not tell him no."

Kalli hesitated, not wanting to leave an unjust impression of the Prince.

"I think," Kalli said, "that he might protect me from those who would harm me. But even if he won't, I've tempted fate too much already. It would be unwise for me to displease someone so powerful."

"I understand," Miriam said, circling her desk and taking a seat. "I guess we'd best review your progress now then. In case we're unable to reschedule later on in the week."

Kalli collapsed into the chair in front of Miriam's desk. "But I thought you had a committee meeting to attend."

"Word from the wise," Miriam said with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Committees never accomplish anything in the first three-quarters of the meeting—best to arrive as late as possible."

Kalli grinned but straightened up as Miriam had Kalli's progress chart displayed on the largest screen.

"I had two things that I wanted to cover concerning your progress. The first is your timeline with regards to the astrophysics studies. I'll admit to being singularly impressed by the speed at which you are moving through your readings and assignments."

Kalli bushed slightly in pleasure but had to confess. "I've read a good number of the papers in my previous studies."

Miriam sat back and watched Kalli. "That material is far beyond the regular school certificate level let alone the farce that they call the lady's school certificate."

Kalli just shrugged. "I was interested in the subject, so I did some more advanced readings."

"But I expect you were less interested in social studies and grammar?" Miriam asked.

"They have nothing to do with astrophysics," Kalli pleaded, already knowing that it wouldn't fly.

"Perhaps not, but there's a certain all-around level that is expected at this point in your scholastic career. My second point is that I need you to put some more work into those areas. You're passing, but barely."

Kalli nodded. "I'll work harder at them," she promised.

Miriam gave her a crooked smile. "I'm starting to believe that you will."

# # #

Kalli's second night on Raphiel's roof transpired a bit differently. For one, she didn't see much of Makiel who was kept hopping and out of the way by his disapproving parents. Also, Helena had thought that it would be better that Kalli and Raphiel ate supper on the roof "to better keep an eye on the equipment."