Elizabeth Lennox

The Prince’s Secret Intro

The Prince's Secret - Introduction

The Prince's Secret - Cover 2A

Emma’s story…

 

“We need to shut down the biology labs!” a speaker up on the stage called out to the crowd.  The youngish-looking professor gripped the podium so hard, his knuckles turned white.  “They are trying to create babies in the laboratories!”

Emma’s eyebrows shot up at this declaration.  She turned to her best friend and college roommate, Amanda.  “Is this guy for real?”

Amanda’s mouth fell open in mutual shock.  After a moment’s recovery, she slapped a hand over her mouth, covering her laughter. 

“I work in the biology lab,” Amanda whispered back.  “And I can guarantee that we’re not creating babies.”   She paused, tilting her head slightly and a sparkle of amusement lit her eyes. “Correction,” she said, lifting her forefinger into the air.  “There might be baby-making-practice happening.  But I don’t think it’s of a sinister nature.”  Emma laughed as Amanda continued.  “It’s the old fashioned baby-making-process happening. 

Emma snorted with laughter, but a movement off to the side caught her attention.  “Hey,” she said, nudging Amanda’s gaze towards the left of the stage.  “Isn’t that Dean Culberg standing off to the side?”

Amanda turned her head, looking in that direction.  “Yeah.  Why?”

Emma considered the man.  There was a smug, satisfied expression to his chubby features.  “Why does he look like he’s smirking?”

Amanda’s eyes narrowed on the creepy guy.  “Yeah.  You’re right.”

Emma lifted her phone out of her purse and tapped a few of her favorite websites.  Entering the dean’s name into the criminal background database, she gasped. “Look at this!  Dean Culberg was arrested for soliciting a prostitute three nights ago!”

“Oh, gross!” Amanda hissed, shuddering with revulsion. 

Emma stepped forward, lifting her phone into the air.  “Dean Culberg,” she said, interrupting the speaker.  Immediately, the dean’s eyes shifted from the speaker, to Emma.  The man’s smug expression dissipated as he adjusted his glasses higher onto his nose. Now that she had his attention, she continued, “Care to explain to the rest of us why you were arrested for solicitation a few nights ago?”

The dean’s mouth fell open and, for a moment, everyone froze.  A second later, the dean shoved his way up onto the stage, grabbing the microphone.  “We’re not here to discuss the false accusations that are inaccurately loaded onto fake internet sites.”  He pushed his glasses higher up onto his nose. “We’re discussing horrendous activities that are happening in the biology labs.”

“Why aren’t we discussing your arrest?” Emma called out, not bowing down to his attempt to intimidate her.  “And I’ve been in the labs,” she continued.  “I haven’t seen anyone making any test tube babies in there.”  She glanced down at her phone again. “Also, I’m looking at the police database.  Are you claiming that the police didn’t arrest you?’

“Ms. Giani, please stay on topic!” Dean Culberg demanded.

“Answer the question!” someone from the gathering crowd called out.

“I haven’t seen any babies in my lab either!” another person announced with a confused tone.

And another student yelled, “Hey, is Dean Culberg trying to create an outrageous story just to distract us from the fact that he was arrested for soliciting?”

“Yeah!  Are you manipulating us, Dean Culberg?” yet another student demanded. 

Dean Culberg’s face suffused with angry color.  He looked out over the crowd, trying valiantly to shift the topic back to the “baby factories” in the biology lab.  “You need to pay attention.  This is outrageous!”

“And not true!” someone else argued, her voice booming over the growing murmurs of anger. 

Emma had pressed record on her phone, filming not just her question and the dean’s reaction, but also the anger in the crowd.  This was going to be an outstanding story, she thought, itching to get back to her dorm room so she could write up the details! 

 

Rayed’s story…

 

Rayed rushed into the classroom and sat down in the back row, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.  This professor was a stickler for attendance and hated tardiness.  Rayed doubted that the professor would care that one of his students was late because he’d had to sit in on yet another conversation with a prime minister.  The professor’s only concern was the math problems he assigned to his students. 

Opening his notebook, he looked around.  Everyone seemed to be working on something.  There was a problem on the board behind the professor.  Muttering under his breath, he wrote the problem in his notebook and started working.  Twenty minutes later, he felt something buzz in his pocket. 

He didn’t bother to look at the caller.  The other students were standing up and turning in their answers to the one problem.  This was a hell of a problem!  But he worked through each step, finally finishing.  There were only three other students in the classroom when Rayed finally looked up.  With irritation at the complexity of the problem, he ripped the page out of his notebook and walked to the front of the class.  Just as all of the other students in front of him, he waited in line, then slapped the paper down on the stack and walked out.  Glancing at the clock, he noted that there were still ten minutes left in class. 

It was a good thing he’d actually made it to the class.  The syllabus hadn’t mentioned a test today, but that one problem had been enormously challenging.  Rayed felt a thrill of exhilaration at the complexity.  In fact, even as he walked out of the building and headed towards the school coffee shop, he wondered if there was a simpler, more elegant way to solve the problem. 

He bought a cup of coffee for himself as well as the three bodyguards that constantly surrounded him.  He wasn’t the only person on the Oxford University campus with bodyguards, and he hoped that he wasn’t the most famous.  There were other members of royal families studying here at the university as well as the children of extremely wealthy families. 

Still, he felt…obvious…as he walked to his next class. 

The following day, he rubbed his eyes as he rolled over and grabbed his cell phone.  Reading the message, Rayed blinked as he tried to absorb the meaning of the words.  His math professor wanted to speak with him?  What the hell?  Had he completely bombed the test yesterday? 

Damn!  He’d thought that his solution to the one math problem had been spot on! 

Still, he dressed and raced to the professor’s office. 

“Sir, you asked to speak with me?”

The professor turned and smiled at him.  “Come in, Rayed,” he called out, gesturing to one of the old, wooden chairs in the corner of his office.  “Have a seat.”

Rayed sat down, still wondering what the professor needed to discuss with him.  “Did I do something wrong?”

The professor chuckled, smoothing a lock of grey hair off of his forehead.  “On the contrary.  The solution you turned in yesterday was…” he sighed, chuckling softly.  “Well, it was brilliant.  It was a solution I hadn’t thought about yet.”  He tilted his head, folding his hands over his wool-covered knee.  “Can you explain why you chose the Roberian method for solving the problem?”

Rayed shifted, not sure why he was asking him about his solution.  “How did the other students solve the problem?”

He chuckled.  “The problem on the board yesterday wasn’t the test,” he explained gently.  “Because you arrived late, you didn’t hear that I’d asked the students to explain Finard’s theory.  The problem on the board was an example of a time when someone had used Finard’s theory and failed to solve the problem.”  He leaned forward, his eyes sharp.  “Please, I never would have considered using the Roberian method.” 

Rayed’s mind whirled.  “So I failed the test?”

The professor laughed, waving a hand in the air dismissively.  “On the contrary.  Anyone who is able to solve the problem I wrote on the board yesterday will receive a perfect score for the class. You don’t even need to show up for the final exam, Your Highness.”  He shifted again, his gaze eager now.  “So…how did you do it?”  He nodded towards the problem that was on the white board in his office. “No one else has ever solved that problem before.”

 

 

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