The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy



All the blood leaves my face.

She twists her lips, regretting the news. "He's sending me today."

"What!?" I gasp, sloshing my coffee onto the floor as I lean forward towards her in shock. "Faiza, no!"

"We need the intel, Ari," she says, holding my eyes and shaking her head sadly at me. "If it were a time of peace we could spare me at the front, but with everyone gone and me the best..." she holds up a hand, asking me to see that this is the only path.

"Faiza," I say, my voice croaking on her name, suddenly desperately afraid for her and not wanting her to go. "Please..."

"Aw, kid," she says, shaking her head at me and leaning back in her chair, taking a casual sip of her coffee. "I know you're not going to ask me to stay. Ask me to do something you yourself absolutely would not do, if you were called to do the same."

I hang my head, knowing that she's right, my fingers clenched hard around my slippery mug of coffee. "We're just not...done here..." I growl, angry at the world for taking her away. "And I don't want to lose you."

"You're not going to lose me," she says, too brash, too casual. I lift my eyes to meet hers again, taking in her confident smile. "I'll be back in a few weeks to kick your ass again."noveldrama

I sigh, shaking my head, hating it. "Where are they sending you?"

"That info is above your paygrade, kid," she says, giving me a wink and pointing a finger-gun at me.

"Come on," I sigh, tilting my head to the side, begging her.

“Fine,” she says, laughing with a shrug. "It's not public knowledge, so please keep it under wraps but....they're sending me deep behind lines to see what I can learn about military plans. I'm actually taking a leaf from your book," she says, her smile deepening, “dressing like a boy."

This news sparks a grin as I let my eyes sweep over her feminine form, her deliberately tantalizing outfit. "You're going to hate it."

She bursts out laughing and nods. "I know," she sighs. "But...just for a short time. I'll get through it."

"And you'll be safe?" I ask, my eyes going wide.

"Oh, we're not doing the whole sentimental thing," Faiza says, waving a hand at me as she pulls

her feet from the desk and scootset

her chair forward. "I'll be fine, Ariel

I wouldn't be a Neumann if I couldn't do this. But what we have to talk about is what you're going to do in my absence."

I open my mouth to protest, to beg for more information, but the look she gives me - hard and pleading in its own way - begs me to let it go. To let her go and do her job without a big fuss or any declarations. Slowly I close my mouth, and clench my jaw, and nod to her.

She smiles and nods back. And in that quite simple gesture I know that I not only have a professor that I trust, but a friend for life. That what is between us runs much, much deeper than a job.

Even if we don't talk about it.

Slowly, a smile takes my lips.

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"There's the nation's princess," Fazia says, giving me a smirk. "Now, lean in and eat some of these pastries with me, she says, picking up a muffin and tearing off a piece before handing it to me. "We've got future lesson plans to discuss, and I'm going to be pissed if I come back and you haven't been doing your homework."

"Yes ma'am, yes ma'am," I sigh, leaning forward and taking the proffered muffin. Then, as I take a bite, Faiza lays out her plans for what I'm to study in her absence.

And my eyes again go wide with surprise.