The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy

"If I'm dismissed from the Academy now," I interrupt, holding up a hand and conjuring up my blue flames, which make him take a step back in surprise. "Then the military of Moon Valley loses the opportunity to train and make use of its most powerful weapon. Which, if you ask me, is far too much of a loss when the solution is simply to make a slight adjustment to the rule book."

He snarls at me, teeth flashing. "Obviously we value your powers, Ariel, which is why I suggest you return after your...confinement. It is far too dangerous for a pregnant woman to train at the academy!"

"Eh," I say, glancing at my fire and then vanishing it away. "If I leave now I don't think I'll ever come back. I'll be far too busy caring for my children, building a home for my family, learning my place. You know," I say, giving him my prettiest smile - one that likewise shows all my teeth. "Women's work."

Jackson growls softly behind me, giving me his full support.

"That is not what I mean," the Captain growls, unhappy to be put in this position.

Another voice drawls from the door. "Then what do you mean?"

I gasp with delight, my head spinning to see my favorite professor leaning

casually in the doorframe. Neumann gives me a little half smile in greeting before turning his eyes back to the Captain.

"What's the problem here?" Neumann asks, the little smirk still curling his lips. "Are you presuming that pregnancy has rendered the girl unable to read?"

“Don't speak to me like I'm a fool, Neumann,” the Captain growls, his anger growing and becoming more palpable in the room. "Obviously this has nothing to do with her intellectual capacities. It is the physical training which puts her in danger and makes us liable, not to mention the continued threat of insubordination -"

“Oh, Ariel's talents never leaned towards the physical anyway,” Neuman says on a sigh, waving a lazy hand to dismiss the Captain's concerns. "She's always been crap at that."

"Hey!" I snap, straightening up with a frown.

"Ariel, any Alpha in this room could knock you down with a flick of their finger and I refuse to be impressed simply because you can pull a trigger with moderate accuracy."

"My accuracy is more than moderate," I growl. To my surprise the Captain nods along with me, still glaring at Neumann.

"It doesn't matter," Neumann says with a sigh, waving that lazy hand at me in turn as he refocuses on the Captain. “The point is that the girl's education plan was always individual anyway. We'll simply keep her away from the knives. Yes?"

The Captain sighs, clearly outmatched here, and ducks his face into his palm even as he shakes it. "God damn Sinclairs," he mutters. "I...need to talk to Roger and Dominic about this."

I nod, accepting this, recognizing that even his willingness to talk to my dad is a victory. Neumann smirks at me and nods, silently agreeing that we've taken the cake on this one.

"Okay, me now!" Midnight says, jumping up from Rafe's chair and striding over to us, her hands firmly planted on her waist. "I'm going to enroll! Please make me a uniform!"

Neumann's face bursts into a delighted grin. "What on earth are you?" he asks, bending down a little to see her better.

The Captain groans, lifting his face from his hand. "No. Absolutely not. No little girls in the Academy - you have to go." He points at Marigold. "That one too."

Jesse gasps dramatically and cuddles Marigold closer. "How dare you, this is a Princess of our realm -"

"Oh, no she is not," the Captain scoffs, folding his arms over his chest.noveldrama

I bare my teeth at him, growling, and he turns to me, blinking with surprise. "What!?"

"That is my daughter, Marigold," I say, raising my chin, quite proud. "You will take care to show her the respect she deserves."

"Come on, Goldie," Jesse murmurs, his big smile clearly betraying how much he's enjoying this. "We're too important to deign to debate your royal status." He stands, holding her close and wandering over to the window.

"I'm still primarily interested in this creature," Neumann murmurs, pointing at Midnight.

"No other girls," the Captain growls, turning to glare at Neumann and Midnight in turn.

"No, you have to let me in," Midnight says, tossing her hair back over her shoulders, přim and smug. "I'm very important. No one can do what I can do. You will let me enroll and I will

study Chemistree and be a spy."

"I said -"

"All right," Neumann says, blatantly ignoring the Captain. "Go on, kid. Show us

what you've got."

Midnight grins, wicked and gleeful,

and then her shadows erupt from her. I gasp, a bit shocked to see her completely fade from sight in a cloud of darkness, her edges blurring into darkness. She dashes away then to the dark corner of the room where she becomes indistinguishable from the wall.

"Fantastic," Neumann murmurs, smiling widely, shaking his head.

“Oh god,” the Captain says, sighing heavily and looking up to the ceiling. “This is

becoming a finishing school for incredibly dangerous magical girls."

I burst into a grin, absolutely loving that idea.