LEO AUREUM

Chapter 4

“Cadet Alexander” I inwardly cursed.

Colonel Patrick had gotten to class before me, he had made it crystal clear that he didn't side with the House that granted me the pardon.

“You have decided to grace us with your presence.” Colonel Patrick's voice dripped with sarcasm.

Colonel Patrick was a stubby man with pale skin and blonde thinning hair. He looked like he had spent his days in battle absent from the battlefield. It was not an erroneous assumption to make, considering the fact that even from his cadet days he was handpicked to work in leadership and strategy.

Although, with the way he was always committing blunders that were costing the academy, it was a mystery that he was always getting promoted.

“Where have you been? Or are your speaking abilities as impaired as your morals?” he asked.

I couldn't even make out the words to reply.

“ I will take my seat now, Colonel Patrick.” A deep voice rambled, grasping my attention as well as the Colonel's.

The voice sounded like it was informing the Colonel rather than requesting.

Mr. Sable eyes.

I forgot he was standing there. It was a wonder how I was able to do that considering the fact his presence pretty much filled the room.

He was tall, and looked about 6”4 or 6” 5, with tanned skin. A long slender nose. He had short dark hair and the darkest, prettiest eyes I had ever seen. He was so breathtakingly beautiful. He had the kind of face that inspired marble statues.

In the academy, I saw many faces. There were extremely good-looking men and women, but I had seen none like him. He was ethereal, nothing we were used to when roguish handsomeness was the standard.

However, the condescending smirk that adorned his face told me everything I needed to know. He knew the attention he attracted from ladies and men alike, but most especially the ladies, and he came from power. He reminded me of fire. Very beautiful from afar but it was best not to venture close to it.

“Cadet Solaris, of course,” Colonel Patrick replied. The animosity projected towards me completely vanished.

Solaris. The name sounded vaguely familiar.

The confirmation was not necessary as Mr. Sable eyes had already started making his way towards the seating area.

I was waiting for the Colonel's reprimand towards Mr. Sable eyes for not waiting for the Colonel to allow him to sit down. It never came. The Colonel just kept on staring at sable eyes like he single-handedly achieved world peace. It was clear that Sable eyes came from power and, just like that, the burning bush became a raging inferno.

Sable eyes made his way to the elite circle. A seat had already been kept for him. Marcus Redwood introduced Sable eyes to the inner circle. Lieutenant General Redwood was Marcus' dad. Lieutenant General Redwood, Lieutenant General Starling, Peter Starling, another member of the inner circle's dad, and Lieutenant General Erickson, Vern's dad, were the second highest actively ranked officers. Stacey Ramirez, Melanie Highwater and Forest Danbury were the children of Major General Ramirez, Brigadier General Highwater and Major General Danbury. This was the inner circle of the Leo Aureum Cadet Level 2 Elite.

Sable eyes had managed to do in 5 minutes what a lot of cadets had spent their first year and part of their second year trying to do. I was stunned as well. To be part of the inner circle, you had to be extremely loaded, extremely good-looking and with extreme collections. Yes, they were shallow like that. The inner circle were all childhood friends so even when all these extremes were met, they didn't let anyone in. It was as though before we were already enrolled in the academy, the social orders were put in place, and they couldn't be altered.

The fact that they were letting a stranger in, no matter how good-looking he was and looking at him as if he was doing them the privilege, meant that he had gone far above and beyond the extremes.

He had to be trouble.

The starstruck look the Colonel had looked at Sable eyes with was gone when his eyes found me.

“ The locker room floors have not been as shiny as they should be, Cadet Alexander.” The Colonel started,“ Seeing as attending classes is not your priority, polishing the locker room floors shouldn't be too hard for you to do before the end of today.”

There were 4 locker rooms in the academy. They were not small in any sense of the word. They were in different wings of the academy. With how vast they were and juggling between classes, it would take me a minimum of three days to polish the floors completely.

“Obviously, this means that you will have to miss your classes today, but that should not be too much of an issue, right?” Colonel Patrick continued.

Colonel Patrick knew just how many missing classes mattered. I was already walking on a thin line. Any hint of truancy and I was out. I didn't know what to do. If I didn't polish the floors, I would be disobeying his orders. He would be more than happy to show me exactly where he thinks I belong, if I polished the floors. I would miss 5 pivotal classes, ultimately dooming my GPA.

I felt helpless, and he knew it, they all did. Tears pooled in my eyes. I was surprised I still had more to shed. I couldn't let them see me cry. This was what they wanted, Colonel Patrick, Vern, the rest of my rank mates who were sniggering in the seating area.

The thought of seeing them happy in my misery immediately dried up the tears from my eyes. I knew I was going to break down. Not now. Not in front of people that were the cause of it.

With all the willpower I could muster, I raised my head and looked Colonel Patrick dead in the eyes. The hatred I saw swimming in the pools of his eyes was nothing new.

“Colonel, I would like to request that Cadet Alexander take me on the tour.”

I could have sworn I heard someone gasp.