Dr. Geller was typing something on the computer, so I closed the door quietly and took a seat across from his desk. His salt-and-pepper hair made him look older than his forty-two years. I set my bag on the floor and tried to not shift in my seat. I was nervous, the want-to-puke kind of nervous. I was about to possibly make the biggest mistake of my life.
“Hey, Sam.” He looked over at me and smiled, still typing. “Heard you had some crazy classes yesterday.”
“Certainly wasn’t my normal Tuesday routine.” I pulled some of the tests I had graded out of my bag and set them on his desk. “They didn’t do too poorly on Monday. A healthy average.”
He looked through the tests quickly, glancing at a few of the questions and answers. “Good, good. They seem to have grasped that chapter rather well.”
I didn’t say anything, just gave him a tight-lipped smile. He set the papers down and looked at me expectantly.
“Did the dean tell you why the classes were so crazy yesterday? Or was he just upset I had caused an ordeal on campus?”
“On the contrary, he wanted to know why I hadn’t told him one of my graduate students was from a royal family. I had to explain I didn’t know myself.”
“To be fair, I didn’t know until Monday night.”
Dr. Geller laughed. “Now that has to be a crazy story and is probably better than all the ones floating around.”
“You know, it is pretty nuts.” I shook my head. “I thought when they invited me to dinner they were planning on making a donation to the program. I knew David hated talking to the donors, so I thought maybe you had forgotten to tell me. Or I had missed the e-mail.”
“So you went to dinner expecting to represent the school only to be blindsided with this?” Dr. Geller chuckled. “I bet your face was hilarious.”
“Hey! What would you have thought in my shoes?”
“Oh, I agree, it was a logical conclusion. So what does this mean? You’re descended from royalty, but why did they look you up?” He leaned forward, his shrewd gaze pinned on me.
“They want to reinstate my title.”
“Ah.” He folded his hands on the desk in front of him. “And that would mean you would have to take up a seat on the Queen’s Council and move to Lilaria.”
“Yes.” I couldn’t help being surprised he knew so much about the country. “You seem to have a good grasp on it.”
“I have a friend who works for the FBT and another that went on to teach falconry in Lilaria.”
“I didn’t know that.” I fiddled with a hangnail and tried to decide how to broach the next part. “I have to decide if I’m going.”
“And have you? Will I have another friend in Lilaria?” His words eased some of the guilt in my heart.
“I believe so.” I paused, the words stuck in my throat. “I need to at least go and see if it’s where I belong. If I’m a right fit.”
“Well, we can unenroll you for the semester and I can give the classes you’ve been handling to one of the other grad students. If you decide to make it a permanent move, then we’ll make it final.” He smiled sadly. “I hate to see you go, Sam. You’re one of the most dedicated students I’ve had in a long time, but I understand that at times life takes us in different directions than we planned.”
“I still want to finish my master’s, Dr. Geller. It just might take longer than I wanted.”
“If nothing else, I will give you the name of my friend. Perhaps you will find a way to still work with birds.” He stood up and moved around his desk.
“That would be great.” I frowned. “I’m really sorry it’s turned out this way. I know… I know you’ve put a lot of time into my degree and I feel like I’m letting you down.”
“Nonsense. If anything, you’ll take a great deal of information with you. Lilaria’s noble houses have been aligned with birds for centuries. Maybe you were meant to do this all along.”
Something in my stomach loosened and for the first time I felt good about my decision. He seemed to understand what I was thinking because he laughed.
“Did you think I was going to yell and try to guilt you into staying?”
“Not really. I just hated to leave like this. It felt wrong.”
“When will you be going?” He leaned against his desk.
“I’m not sure, but I probably shouldn’t come back to the school. I’m causing too much trouble.” I sighed. “In fact, I should probably clear out my desk today.”
“If you need anything, let me know.” He looked at me seriously. “I mean it. Anything. We’re all going to be rooting for you.”
“Thank you.”
After I left his office, I went straight to the one I shared. Everyone was in there, and they all looked up when Becca and I came through the door. I walked over to my desk before stopping and turning to look at everyone.
“Well, looks like someone else is going to get the window desk.”
“Oh my God, Geller kicked you out of the program?” Mary looked at me with wide eyes.
“Um, no. I’m withdrawing. I can’t teach classes and uphold my course load if there are eight news vans following me everywhere.” I started pulling stuff out of my drawers and shoving it into my bag.
“What are you going to do?” David spun around in his desk chair and looked at me seriously. “Are you going to finish your degree somewhere else?”