Royal Hearts by Ruth Ann Nordin Page A

was writing something on a piece of paper, his
book open to a page with facts about the solar system containing
Earth.
    Hathor briefly caught the number of planets
that had been discovered in what Earthlings referred to as the
Solar System. He’d forgotten they didn’t know about the three that
were cloaked. He was amazed at how little they actually knew about
magic.
    “Did you want something?” the young man
asked, his curly black hair falling into his eyes. He quickly
pushed his bangs aside and adjusted his glasses. The rest of his
hair was short. Only his bangs got in his way.
    Taking his eyes off the strange hairstyle,
Hathor nodded. “Yes. I was wondering where movies are played in
this building.”
    “Over there, behind the large doors,” he
replied. “It’s a total flop though. I saw it in the theater and
fell asleep. So bring a pillow if you go.”
    “Then it hasn’t played yet?”
    His eyebrows rose. “Not until seven tonight.
That’s when all movies play here on Saturdays.”
    Well, good. At least he knew the day. But if
it was Saturday, then Ann wouldn’t be in school for two days.
    “You don’t get out much, do you?” the student
asked.
    “What?” He forced himself to focus on the
student.
    “It’s just that it’s towards the end of the
school year and you didn’t know about the movies. They have fliers
up everywhere announcing the movies here. It’s a total waste of
paper but no one’s asking me.”
    “Yeah, well, this is my first quarter here,”
he replied, recalling something he’d skimmed in the paper about
graduation coming up for those in their final quarter.
    “My name is Kent.” He extended his hand.
    “Hathor.”
    After a moment of indecision, Hathor put his
own hand out and waited to see what the student would do. As it
turned out, Kent shook it.
    “Nice to meet you,” Kent said. “Want to sit
down and take a break? I can always brief you on other things about
this campus if you’d like.”
    As anxious as Hathor was to find Ann, he
realized things might go faster if he had someone to help him
navigate the area, so he sat down.
    “What’s your major?” Kent asked.
    His mind drew a blank. Major?
    “I’m going into Physics Education,” Kent
offered.
    Hathor recalled how Ann would talk about how
she studied Psychology in college. “Psychology,” he blurted out.
“My major is Psychology.”
    “That’s a good one for this school. Are you
thinking of any particular branch of Psychology?”
    His mind rushed through everything Ann ever
told him about what she learned in her psychology classes. He
recalled one instance where she confessed she thought he was crazy
and needed psychiatric help when they first met.
    “Psychiatric help,” Hathor finally said.
    “Psychiatry?”
    “Yes, that’s it.” Hathor felt so dumb. He
didn’t know anything about this stuff. He should have paid more
attention when she talked about this world.
    Kent grinned. “You have a cool way of saying
things.”
    Hathor returned the smile, uncertain if Kent
suspected the truth or not. If he didn’t know about the cloaked
planets, he’d panic if he knew he was talking to what Earthlings
called aliens. Now that, he did remember from what Ann had told
him.
    “You want a tour of the campus?” Kent
offered. “I’m stumped on a question and could use a break from the
homework.”
    “What question?” If it was something about
the solar system, Hathor was sure he could help him with it.
    “It’s about the material in the rings on
Saturn and why they are important.”
    “I know the answer to that.” Now they were
discussing things that he had been trained in. He quickly answered
the question for him.
    Kent’s eyes widened. “Wow. You sure you want
to go into Psychology?”
    Hathor beamed from the compliment. “I haven’t
dedicated myself to anything yet.”
    “Great. Let me write down the answer, and
then we can take that tour. Thanks to you, I’m now finished with