Chapter 9: Campus

Something was wrong. Rhys had woken up alone, and instead of the feelings of love and contentment he usually felt in the morning over his mental connection to Jade and Kat, he felt concern and upset. Neither woman was in the bed either. He quickly rolled out of bed, threw on the dressing gown he’d worn the previous evening and exited the bedroom, looking for his lovers. He found them, after looking in several upstairs and downstairs rooms, in the study. Kat was sitting at the desk, head in her hands, crying. Jade was kneeling next to her, comforting her. Both wore their dressing gowns.

Jade looked up as Rhys entered. She beckoned him over, and he knelt next to Kat, on the opposite side to Jade. “It didn’t work,” Jade said to Rhys, quietly. “The reading lesson didn’t work. She was so keen to try it that she dragged me down here.”

Rhys put his arm around Kat’s back, and she swivelled round in her chair to face him. He moved in for the hug, still kneeling; she threw his arms around his neck and pulled him in. She cried onto his shoulder. “I was so hopeful,” she sobbed, “but it didn’t work. I pulled a book down at random, and I can’t read it. I recognise the letters, but they don’t make sense. I can guess at a few of the words, and one or two simple ones make sense, but nothing more than that.”

Rhys pulled back from her. “Can you show me?” he asked.

Kat looked up at him in surprise and stopped crying, turned back to the desk and opened the book she’d previously selected from the shelves in the study. She started to scan down the random page she’d opened. She pointed at a word. “That one. I think it might mean ‘Friday’?”

Rhys nodded. “It does.”

“It looked like it did, but the spelling isn’t right,” Kat added. “You spell ‘Friday’ as ‘af – er – eh – da – aye – ee’, and that’s not what that says.”

Rhys stared at her for a moment. Then he told her, “Wait right there,” stood up and left the room. They could hear him running up the stairs and, shortly afterwards, back down again. He burst into the room carrying another book. He handed it to Kat. “Try reading that,” he told her.

Kat opened the book at the first full page of text. Her eyes opened wide. “I can read that!” she said, excitement plain in her voice. It says, ‘It was a cold night. The stranger stood on the edge of the forest and...” She stopped when Rhys started to laugh. Jade knelt up to look at the book, and she also began to laugh.

Kat started to get annoyed. “What’s so funny?” she demanded.

Rhys composed himself. “I’m sorry,” he told her. “So, when you spelt ‘Friday’ out just then, you said the letters how someone from Seibjerg would say them. And you spelt it how it’s spelt in Seibjern and not in Reijik. They are similar languages, which is why you understood some of what the book said, but they’re not the same. The book I just gave you is one I brought with me from home – it’s a collection of short stories. It’s written in Seibjern.”

Kat looked at him steadily. “And?” she said.

“You can read Seibjern. I sent you my memories of learning to read, but I learned to read Seibjern, and now so can you!”

Kat frowned. “I mean, that’s kind of cool, but not very useful for me,” she said. “No offence intended, of course.”

“No, no, no, no,” said Rhys. “None taken. But it means the technique worked! I can send you memories, and you can process them into your own knowledge and use them as you see fit. You now have the same starting point for reading that I had; we need to proceed with the next step now. We’ll have another session like last night’s, and I’ll send you the memories of me learning Reijik as a foreign language.

“There is one more thing, though. Can we see if you can also write in Seibjern? If you can, that would be of some use, as you can write notes for yourself and us as well. Maybe even start a diary?”

Kat nodded and found a pencil and some paper in a desk drawer. She held the pencil, moving it around in her hand until she found a comfortable way to grip it. She already knew how to hold a pencil, as she’d already shown she was a talented illustrator, but she had to work out a compromise between the information she already had on how to grip it and the new knowledge that Rhys had given her. Then she started to draw, slowly and deliberately, with her tongue peeking out of her mouth as she concentrated. Rhys found that really cute. She put the pencil down with a flourish and looked at what she’d written. Rhys and Jade also looked and saw, in handwriting that was almost identical to Rhys’s, “My name is Katarina Wildwood, and I can write in Seibjern.”

Jade squealed in delight and made Kat jump slightly. “It’s perfect!” Jade said excitedly. “I’m so proud of you!” and pulled Kat into a hug, the chair moving round on its own so the two women faced each other. Rhys moved to join in from the side.

Kat sat in the chair, her face wearing a strange expression – a combination of delight and embarrassment. She was saved by the bell ringing for breakfast. The hug broke up, and the three lovers, all wearing dressing gowns, made their way into the dining room where breakfast was waiting for them.

They usually had a relatively light breakfast, sometimes consisting of bread rolls with cheese or ham, fruit, or occasionally sweet pastries. They were typically set in the orangery, but today they were in the dining room, where a cooked breakfast was served. Rhys looked at Kat and Jade, smiling with one eyebrow raised. Kat shrugged. “We don’t know whether we’ll get time for lunch,” she said. “It seemed better to be prepared.”

Rhys kissed her on the top of her head and then kissed Jade on her forehead. “Thank you for looking after me,” he said. “I sometimes think you two know what’s best for me more than I do.” He smiled to show he was joking, although he wasn’t sure that he was. They ate a hearty breakfast, washed down with fruit juices and herbal tea, before there was a knock at the dining room door. Kat called whoever it was to come in. It turned out to be Louisa, the ladies’ maid.

“How was your time off?” asked Kat.

“Very good, thank you, Miss Kat,” she said. “I’ve taken a room on the second floor here, and the transport crew you sent – and thank you very much for that – will bring my belongings over today. I’ve given notice on my lodgings, and I hope to be staying here from tonight.”

Kat clapped her hands in delight. “That’s great news! However, please remember that just because you’re staying on the premises doesn’t mean you’re on duty all the time. When you’re not working, you’re not working, and you can come and go as you please.”

Louisa nodded. “Thank you again,” she said. “This will make a big difference to my life. But, begging your pardon, I am on duty now, and you asked me to help you and Miss Jade dress in time to go out today? We ought to be making a start, if you’ve finished your breakfast?”

Jade stood up. “Thank you, Louisa,” she said, and Jade and Kat followed Louisa out of the room. Rhys still sat at the table with the remains of his breakfast in front of him. He looked down, frowned slightly, then picked up his knife and fork again and finished his breakfast. Once he’d finished, he put his cup, plate and cutlery on the sideboard and then made his way up to the main bedroom. He opened the wardrobe doors and lifted out his favourite smart-casual outfit: a pale blue button-up shirt, light brown trousers, and a brown belt. He moved to the window and drew the curtains back. The weather outside looked better than yesterday – cloudy but not actively threatening rain. He selected a light sweater and a pair of casual brown shoes, put both on and wandered back down the stairs.

There was, as he had expected, no sign of Jade or Kat yet, so he opened the front door and stood on the threshold, looking out to Rowan Tree Road. There were a few carts delivering goods, including one delivering to his own house. A man and a boy appeared at the top of the steps from the basement door and headed to their cart. The man picked up a wooden tray laden with assorted vegetables; the boy picked up a sack of potatoes. The sack looked much too heavy for him, but he hoisted it onto his back and staggered up the path and down the steps. The man followed him, noticing Rhys for the first time as he headed up the path. Rhys nodded a greeting to him, and the man nodded back before also descending the steps. At another house, two men were unloading sacks of coal and emptying them into a hatch in the house’s wall. Rhys went down the steps and looked for one on his home. He found it. The hatch had, logically, a cover with “coal” written on it.

He looked around again and saw that the delivery cart had moved further down the street, and the crew were offloading supplies into another house. A carriage pulled up outside his home. It was similar to the Hackney cabs they’d been using to get around the city, but somewhat grander. The carriage had two horses in front, and a driver sat on the front of the passenger compartment’s roof. The wheels were shod in rubber, and the suspension was more advanced. The passenger cabin had large windows and, well, it just looked fancy.

Remembering the paperwork he’d completed that he needed to take to the university today, Rhys went back into the house and then into the study. He gathered the documents together and put them in a satchel, which he slung over his shoulder. He sensed that Jade and Kat were approaching, so he went out into the hallway to wait for them. The two women came down the stairs side by side. They wore black cloaks with hoods up over their heads, and the hem of the cloaks swirled around their ankles as they walked. Rhys noticed that Kat was wearing high heels; Jade was also wearing heels, but hers weren’t as high. The difference went some way to equalising their height.

They saw Rhys and stopped at the foot of the stairs. He approached them; they looked at him, levelly, waiting for him to say something. It was obvious to him that they were wearing the cloaks for a reason, and he knew they’d let him in on the secret when the time was right. He just said, “Shall we?” Both women nodded and followed him out of the house.

Rhys helped each woman up into the waiting carriage. Jade went first, but Kat needed a little more help due to the height of her heels, her shorter stature and the size of the step up into the carriage. “I’ve been practising in these heels,” she muttered as Rhys pushed her up and into the carriage from below while Jade pulled her up by her hands. “I’ve never worn anything like these before.”

The ride across to the university was uneventful, and the women were careful to keep their cloaks wrapped tightly around them, even though the day wasn’t cold or wet. The carriage pulled into a turning circle where three cabs were already waiting, and their passengers were getting out. A young man wearing a large badge that said “Welcome to the University of Chatamor” in white text on a black background, and carrying a clipboard, approached and opened the carriage door. Rhys climbed out first, turning round to lift Kat and then Jade down.

The man introduced himself. “I’m Matthew,” he said. “I’m a student guide. Are you here to enrol today?”

Rhys noticed that he’d only addressed him and had pretty much ignored Jade and Kat. He nodded. “Yes, that’d be me. I’m Rhys Niain, reading General Studies.”

“And who are your companions?” Matthew asked. Rhys was about to answer when he sensed movement from Kat and Jade, who were standing behind him, one behind each of his shoulders. He turned around to face them. They both smoothed their cloaks down and then, simultaneously, reached inside their necklines and each pulled out a lightweight chain with a leather loop at the end. They both held them out to him.

He realised they were leashes. He gave each woman a questioning look and received nods of confirmation back. He realised his chances of pulling today’s deception off would be greatly helped if he appeared confident, assertive and stayed calm. He pushed the thought to the ring he wore on his right hand, then turned back to Matthew and reached both hands back. Each woman placed the end of their leash into the relevant hand. “They’re with me,” Rhys told Matthew, firmly.

Matthew just nodded. He looked through the papers attached to his clipboard until he found Rhys’s name. “If you go up to the main square,” he said, pointing through a grand arch, “look for someone wearing a badge with a light blue background. They’ll guide you through the registration process and explain all you need to know about the School of Humanities.”

Rhys thanked him and slowly started to walk towards the arch. Jade and Kat followed, keeping pace a step or two behind him, allowing their leashes to remain slack. He’d been surprised to see the leashes but immediately understood. They’d need to present themselves as his slaves today so they could get their university passes. He also suspected this was something that both of them wanted to do and, indeed, he could feel excitement and horniness from both of them, especially from Kat.

The university’s entrance arch was, indeed, grand. It formed part of the university’s walls that enclosed the main campus and stretched away on the left and right. The walls themselves were made of a creamy coloured stone and were high, maybe five times Rhys’s height and topped with coping stones. They went through the arch and emerged onto a broad paved street between two rows of impressive buildings. They reminded Rhys of the townhouse he was staying in, except these were terraced and the front doors opened directly onto the street. If people had lived in them at one time, they no longer did, as the buildings had plaques on them outlining their current functions, such as “Personnel Administration”, “Office of the Bursar”, and “Marketing Department”. There was a small, single-storey building between the first of the houses and the perimeter wall marked “Gatekeeper”, even though there didn’t appear to be any actual gate. Opposite it, there was another similar building marked “University Guards”.

Rhys led Jade and Kat carefully up the road, very aware that Kat was new to high heels and not wanting to pull her off balance accidentally. They emerged into a vast square surrounded by tall buildings. Some of the towers and spires that they had first seen from the Spencer house were here. The square itself had a paved area around the outside with a large lawn inside that and a fountain in the middle, throwing a plume of water into the air. An army of tall, square tents had been put up on the lawn, and people were milling about. Linnae had been right; most of the people there were male. Remembering Matthew’s instructions, he started to look around for someone who could help. He saw a woman wearing a pale blue badge, and they headed towards her.