“Hello” Vincent said immediately the person picked the call.“Mr. Vincenzo, what a pleasant surprise” The man on the other end answered with hints of cheer in his voice.“I suppose” Vincent replied “I really need your help” “What seems to be disturbing you?” The man asked.“It’s something I would like to discuss in person,” Vincent replied with desperation in his voice.“Okay, come by my place at 5:30 on Friday”Vincent agreed before he cut the call.The next day was a Friday and the last working day of the week.Lectures ended earlier on fridays and the lecturers didn’t do much either.As soon as the day’s lectures came to an end, Vincent hopped into his car and drove off to meet the man he had agreed to meet with the previous day.When he got to his destination, he was met with a giant building almost as big and tall as his. When Vincent arrived at Mr. Issac’s mansion, the gatekeeper instantly opened the big gates for his car to dive in. He had been informed beforehand about the a
Ms. Anna wanted to ask him what he wanted to do with a sub-company when she remembered that she was only supposed to follow instructions and not ask stupid questions.Richard didn't know what was coming at him and he definitely wasn't prepared for it.Vincent ran some investigations on Richard's company, making some enquiries to find out their weaknesses, any setbacks they were experiencing and recognise any loopholes that had .Back at school, an all white Range Rover pulled into the parking space.Richard alighted from his car and shut the door hard stepping out with a tight frown that spread across his entire face.With his car keys in his left hand, he squeezed his right palm into a tight fist and launched a punch into the air "Dammit" clenching his teeth, he muttered under his breath.Richard had a habit of expressing rage whenever little things didn't seem to be going his way.He took his bag from the car and hung it on his right shoulder, putting his car keys in his pocket bef
The rest of the board members finally started to come downstairs after a long chatter.To avoid any form of contact with anyone else, Richard walked straight out of the building into his car and drove off straight to his Father’s place.He angrily muttered words to himself as he approached the mighty gate that fenced the white coloured mansion.He honked twice before a gatekeeper opened the gate for him as he drove through.He stormed into the house ignoring the greetings of the domestic workers.“Dad! Dad! Dad!” Richard called out as he searched from room to room before one of the domestic workers walked in and told him that his father was in the garden.“Why didn't you say so before? '' Richard turned to her as he spoke harshly with a raised voice.She rolled her eyes when she turned back to walk away.The domestic workers in his fathers house were already used to his attitude by now. Richard was rude and very demanding. He had no iota of respect for anybody that seemed lower than h
After so much persuasion and consideration, Richard’s father finally gave in to the idea of forming partnership with this company.He took a quick glance at the banner in Richard’s phone again as he heaved a heavy sigh before he picked his phone to place a call.Before any operations with company partnerships and shares were made, the company's stalker holder was to be informed beforehand.So as to review and run a complete background check on the partnering company, its reputation and and its financial history with the government.Richard’s father dialled the number of the company’s stalker holder as the phone continuously let out a beeping ring while they both waited patiently for the man to pick up the call.Unfortunately, he did not answer the call.Richard persuaded his father to try dialling the man’s number again, without hesitation he obeyed his son and they were fortunate enough to have him pick the call this time.Mr. George and the stalker holder exchanged pleasantries over
Immediately after Richard left Chez Corporations that afternoon, Vincent was informed about his visit. Vincent was in the lecture hall that Monday afternoon when his phone suddenly started to vibrate in his pocket.He immediately declined the call by pressing a button mounted at the top right of his phone.The phone began to vibrate again and he repeated the previous action again, automatically declining the call.Vincent didn’t want to distract or disrupt the class in any way, he went on with his lectures when suddenly his phone started to vibrate again.This time, Vincent brought it out of his pocket to know who it was and to his surprise, it was the man he had hired to portray himself as the manager of his fake sub-company. Knowing that the call was important and he had to pick it, Vincent decided to walk up to the lecturer so that he could take permission to excuse himself from the class.He could have easily excused himself from where he was seated in the middle row of the lect
The Varsity’s final exams were fast approaching as a tense atmosphere seemed to be casted over the school.Students found themselves consumed in their studies every now and then as the school’s library was always occupied.Late night study sessions became the norm in the school during that period as the dorms light didn’t seem to be put out yet even at 3am.All the students were bent on passing their exams once and for all because they couldn’t wait to finally graduate and get over with Varsity.Nobody was prepared for a carry over that semester, even the most unserious student who barely attended lectures.Vincent on the other hand didn’t seem too bothered about the forthcoming exams.He had always been an A student, reading was never a problem for him as he usually studied ahead of the class and read extensively before the commencement of every lecture.All he had to do was revise and review all what they had been taught during that session.The evenings were the only time he had to
The invigilator, Mr. John was a ruthless lecturer in the university.Unlike his fellow lecturers, he was not close to any student and he never smiled with anyone either.He always wore a serious look on his void expressionless face.Some students believed that he hated children, while others believed that he was just a disciplinarian.He was very strict when it came to matters concerning tests assignments and examinations.A late submission of his assignment or project by even one minute could land you a fail in the assignment or a deduction of half the total mark.Because of this, his course was taken very seriously by even the most unserious students in the school.Even the students who came late to lectures were very punctual whenever it came to Mr. John’s lectures.A Lot of students didn’t like him and tried to avoid crossing paths with him at all costs. Normally, a lot of students would have easily backed out of his lectures a long time ago, but hsi course was compulsory and wit
A promenade dance which is usually referred to as prom, is a dance party for students.It is usually offered in formal or informal suits for boys and evening dresses or dinner gowns for girls.This event is usually held at the end of the school year right before graduation.Although it was a high school event, the students were willing to celebrate it.The high demands of the students to celebrate the event had pushed the head of The Students Union to write a letter to the HOD, seeking permission to celebrate the event.The head of The Students Union took in a deep breath as she walked into the HOD’s office just a few minutes after Mark David’s incident had subsided.She knocked twice on the door and a voice followed suit “Come in”She walked in and greeted the man “Good afternoon sir”Hearing her voice, the man dropped the pen he was using to scribble something on a sheet of paper and took off his glasses.“And how may I help you?” He asked.“I want to enquire about your final decisi
Closing her eyes, Irene unspooled her magic into a gentle, probing thread, and laid a palm on that splattered star atop his spine.The cold slammed into her, spikes of it firing through her blood and bones.Irene reeled back as if she’d been given a physical blow.Cold and dark and anger and agony—She clenched her jaw, fighting past this echo in the bone, sending that thread-thin probe of power a little farther into the dark.The pain would have been unbearable when it hit him.Irene pushed back against the cold—the cold and the lack and the oily, unworldly wrongness of it.No magic of this world, some part of her whispered. Nothing that was natural or good. Nothing she knew, nothing she had ever dealt with.Her magic screamed to draw back that probe, move away—“Irene .” His words were far away while the wind and blackness and emptiness of it roared around her—And then that echo of nothingness … it seemed to awaken.Cold filled her, burned along her limbs, creeping wider, encirc
“Will it be hours every day that you work on him?” Nesryn’s words were steady, almost flat, and yet … The woman was not a creature who took well to a cage. Even a gilded one such as this.“I would recommend,” Irene said to Nesryn over a shoulder, “that if you have other duties or tasks to attend to, Captain, these hours would be a good time for that. I shall send word if you are needed.”“What about moving him around?”The lord’s eyes flashed at that.And though Irene was predisposed to chuck them both to the ruks, she noted the lord’s simmering outrage and self-loathing at the words and found herself saying, “I can handle most of it, but I believe Lord Westfall is more than capable of transporting himself.”Something like wary gratitude shot across his face. But he just said to Nesryn, “And I can ask my own damn questions.”Guilt flashed across Nesryn’s face, even as she stiffened. But she nodded, biting her lip, before she murmured to Vincent , “I had some invitations yesterday.”
Vincent shot Irene back an equally displeased look the moment Kashin paused to sip his wine, and then launched question after question to the prince regarding his life. Helpful information, he realized, about their army.He was not the only one who realized it. Arghun cut in while his brother was midsentence about the forges they had constructed near their northern climes, “Let us not discuss business at dinner, brother.”Kashin shut his mouth, ever the trained soldier.And somehow Vincent knew—that fast—that Kashin was not being considered for the throne. Not when he obeyed his eldest brother like any common warrior. He seemed decent, though. A better alternative than the sneering, aloof Arghun, or the wolflike Hasar.It did not entirely explain Irene ’s utter need to distance herself from Kashin. Not that it was any of his business, or of any interest to him. Certainly not when Irene ’s mouth tightened if she so much as turned her head in Vincent ’s direction.He might have calle
Vincent waited until Nesryn had been gone for a good thirty minutes before he summoned Kadja. She’d been waiting in the exterior hallway and slipped inside his suite mere moments after he’d called her name. Lingering in the foyer, he watched the serving girl approach, her steps light and swift, her eyes downcast as she awaited his order.“I have a favor to ask you,” he said slowly and clearly, cursing himself for not learning Halha during the years Levi had studied it.A dip of the chin was her only answer.“I need you to go down to the docks, to wherever information comes in, to see if there’s any news about the attack on Rifthold.” Kadja had been in the throne room yesterday—she’d undoubtedly heard about it. And he’d debated asking Nesryn to do some searching while she was out, but if the news was grimhe didn’t want her learning it alone. Bearing it alone, all the way back up to the palace. “Do you think you could do that?”Kadja lifted her eyes at last, though she kept her head
She’d known his age, but Irene had still not expected the former captain to look so … young.She hadn’t done the math until she’d walked into that room and seen his handsome face, a mix of caution and hope written across the hardened, broad features.It was that hope that had made her see red. Had made her ache to give him a matching scar to the slender one slicing across his cheek.She’d been unprofessional in the most horrific sense. Never—never had she been so rude and unkind toward any of her patients.Mercifully, Hasar had arrived, cooling her head slightly. But touching the man, thinking of ways to help him …She had not meant to write the list of the last four generations of Towers women. Had not meant to write her mother’s name over and over while pretending to record his information. It had not helped with the overwhelming roaring in her head.Sweating and dusty, Irene burst into Hadiza ’s office nearly an hour later, the trek from the palace through the clogged, narrow str
He tried not to flinch. Even Nesryn blinked at the frank question.“Yes,” he said tightly, fighting the heat rising in his cheeks.She looked between them, assessing. “Have you used it to completion?”He clenched his jaw. “How is that relevant?” And how had she gleaned what was between them?Irene only wrote something down.“What are you writing?” he demanded, cursing the damned chair for keeping him from storming to rip the paper out of her hands.“I’m writing a giant no.”Which she then underlined.He growled, “I suppose you’ll ask about my bathroom habits now?” “It was next on my list.”“They are unchanged,” he bit out. “Unless you need Nesryn to confirm.” Irene merely turned to Nesryn, unruffled. “Have you seen him struggle withit?”“Do not answer that,” he snarled at Nesryn.Nesryn had the good wits to sink into a chair and remain quiet.Irene rose, setting down the pen, and came around the desk. The morning sunlight caught in her hair, bouncing off her head in a corona.She
So Vincent had, half paying attention to the meal unfolding before him, half monitoring every word and glance and breath of those around him.Despite their youngest sister’s death, the heirs made the meal lively, conversation flowing, mostly in languages Vincent did not know or recognize. Such a wealth of kingdoms in that hall, represented by viziers and servants and companions—the now-youngest princess, Duva, herself wedded to a dark-haired, sad-eyed prince from a faraway land who kept close to his pregnant wifeand spoke little to anyone around him. But whenever Duva smiled softly at himVincent did not think the light that filled the prince’s face was feigned. And wondered if the man’s silence was not from reticence but perhaps not yet knowing enough of his wife’s language to keep up.Nesryn, however, had no such excuse. She’d been silent and haunted at dinner. He’d only learned that she’d bathed before it thanks to the shout and slamming door in her chambers, followed by a huff
Hadiza ’s face darkened. Not with ire, but memory. “I was once asked to heal a man who was injured while evading capture. After he had committed a crime so unspeakable … The guards told me what he’d done before I walked into his cell. They wanted him patched up so he could live to be put on trial. He’d undoubtedly be executed—they had victims willing to testify and proof aplenty. Eretia herself saw the latest victim. His last one. Gathered all the evidence she needed and stood in that court and condemned him with what she had seen.”Hadiza ’s throat bobbed. “They chained him down in that cell, and he was hurt enough that I knew … I knew I could use my combat to make the internal bleeding worse. They’d never know. He’d be dead by morning, and no one would dare question me.” She studied the vial of blue tonic. “It was the closest I have ever come to killing. I wanted to kill him for what he had done. The world would be better for it. I had my hands on his chest—I was ready to do it. Bu
Of all the rooms in the Torre Cesme, Irene Towers loved this one best.Perhaps it was because the room, located at the very pinnacle of the pale-stoned tower and its sprawling complex below, had unparalleled views of the sunset over Antica.Perhaps it was because this was the place where she’d felt the first shred of safety in nearly ten years. The place she had first looked upon the ancient woman now sitting across the paper- and book-strewn desk, and heard the words that changed everything: You are welcome here, Irene Towers.It had been over two years since then.Two years of working here, living here, in this tower and in this city of so many peoples, so many foods and caches of knowledge.It had been all she’d dreamed it would be—and she had seized every opportunity, every challenge, with both hands. Had studied and listened and practiced and saved lives, changed them, until she had climbed to the very top of her class. Until an unknown healer’s daughter from Benjamin was appr