Princess at Heart (The Rosewood Chronicles)

To the Goat Man,

Thank you so much for your very generous clue, and for humouring your silly little niece. Nothing says ‘I care’ quite like blackmail.

While I am indeed familiar with folklore and fairy tales (how kind of you to notice), the crowned stag seems out of place; my upbringing tells me it should be a wolf instead.

Now, with all things considered, I think it would be acceptable for me to ask a question myself, and I’m sure, oh great and wise uncle, that you will be happy to answer.

So I must ask, with morbid curiosity, why do you want my Partizan?

Regards,

Your ever-charming young niece

The glue tasted bitter against Lottie’s tongue where she dragged it over the envelope, sealing away the letter with begrudging acceptance. Writing each word had felt like she was making a deal with the devil. It sickened her to think that it was meant to be Ellie in her place.

Shoving the letter in her bedside table, Lottie locked the drawer, dreading having to take it out again and give it to Haru, like a dog bringing their master the daily newspaper.

The bathroom door opened, and from a cloud of steam and the mellow scent of the men’s body spray she used Ellie emerged in a black hoodie and ripped jeans, rubbing her hair with a small towel. It still made Lottie’s stomach lurch in a distinctly pleasant way to see Ellie out of her armour, no dark eyeliner or lipstick, just her bare skin. It was so soft and pale it looked almost transparent.

‘You ready to go?’ she asked, not quite meeting Lottie’s eyes.

‘Yep,’ Lottie said with a tight-lipped smile, thinking no.

Anastacia and Saskia were waiting for them in the Conch dorms for their meeting of the people-who-know-Ellie-is-the-real-princess-and-Haru-is-a-member-of-Leviathan gang, or ‘the inner circle’ as Lottie was calling them in her head. But her mind was a tangle of anxiety, all of which she couldn’t let Ellie see, because today was also the day Haru had requested his first hour alone with Jamie, something she absolutely did not want to think about.

Anastacia’s room was like something out of a luxury interior design catalogue, combined with a fluffy pink teenage fantasy. Indeed, it had featured in Toffy magazine when they’d run a piece on the ‘Best Rooms in British Boarding Schools’. Lottie had the very page pinned up in her old bedroom.

The room had been titled The Catwalk Queen of Conch House and had an equally over-the-top copy to accompany it.

Classic Parisian-style decor with a plush twist. Note the mix of plum reds and rich pinks to complement the delectable walnut furniture, each piece selected carefully, from the antique canopy bed frame to the mirrored armoire, all blending effortlessly with the personal touches. Chanel memorabilia, designer make-up over the dressing table and gold-framed photos above the headboard, all telling of the edgy but innocent pizazz of the elite youth. Even the view of the sports field from the twin alcove windows, with the athletic students in their matching uniforms, looks more like a scene from a renaissance painting. This room is everything you’d expect from the elusive and exclusive Rosewood Hall.

The picture had been added to since then, with Anastacia’s Rosewood Lancers fencing gear and jacket proudly displayed by the door for all to marvel at.

Standing by the bay window that looked out over the field, Saskia peered out through the curtains, eyes glazed.

Anastacia turned to them from her dressing table, hairbrush still in hand. ‘Good, you’re here,’ she said. ‘We have a problem.’

‘Don’t we always?’ Ellie moaned, throwing her open backpack haphazardly to the floor, contents spilling out. The action was a little too aggressive, like a wolf letting out a warning growl.

Saskia finally turned to them, gesturing with her chin for them to look at something.

Lottie went over and could smell Anastacia’s Chanel perfume on Saskia – and a completely unwarranted thought came over her: how would it feel to have Ellie’s scent lingering on her in the same way? She quickly shook the thought off, embarrassed.

She saw what Saskia had been gesturing towards. Like a bronze statue in the afternoon light, Jamie stood on the field, stretching and looking more like he was preparing for a battle of the gods than a friendly race. Next to him, also getting ready, were Raphael and Haru.

Ellie let out a curse in Maravish, sucking in a breath so hard it sounded like a snake’s hiss. Lottie’s words dried up in her mouth. She’d allowed this.

‘They’ve been out there for about twenty minutes so far just … playing.’ Saskia shrugged. Through the window, they saw Haru lean back, guffawing, while Jamie rubbed his forehead, the silent laugh on his lips obvious. ‘I guess we can safely assume Raphael has made a terrible joke – again.’

It was such a strange sight because it wasn’t strange at all. Three young men laughing and joking in the hot sun, sweaty and content. Haru had promised Lottie that Jamie would come to no harm if she followed his rules, and, whether she liked it or not, it seemed the most relaxed Jamie had been in a long time.

She turned to Ellie, and by the way her fingers had curled into fists she could tell she was thinking the same thing.

‘I was going to go out and intervene, but, and I hate to say it,’ Saskia said, running her hand through her thick blonde curls, ‘my Partizan instincts are telling me there’s no threat. I think they’re just having fun.’

Ellie said nothing. The only indication she’d even heard her was a small twitch in her jaw.

‘We can keep watch over them from here at least,’ Lottie offered, knowing if any of them intervened it would get them in trouble anyway.

‘If Haru isn’t presently trying to kidnap anyone, shall we get on with talking about what we’re going to do with him please?’ Anastacia demanded from her throne at the dressing table. ‘I have to get started on my Balthazar Conch tribute and I have absolutely no idea where to begin, not to mention Saskia’s being watched like a hawk by those miserable security guards. All this is causing me more anxiety than I care for and, if I’m not careful, it’s going to make my skin break out.’

Lottie and Ellie’s eyes met, and like opposing ends of a magnet they quickly flickered away again. There was a tight feeling in the air, everyone waiting to see how Ellie would react, but she was hardly moving, still staring daggers out of the window.

‘We need to make sure Haru and Jamie aren’t ever alone,’ Ellie said at last, and Lottie’s self-preservation burned up in a panicked blaze.

‘Maybe it’s a good thing,’ she spluttered, words tumbling out of her.

A voice in Lottie’s head immediately demanded to know what on earth she was even saying, which the looks on everyone’s faces seemed to mirror.

‘I mean,’ she continued, grappling for some sense, ‘maybe if we can control a small amount of time for Haru to interact with Jamie, we can ask Jamie what they talked about and try to gain some new information – maybe even figure out why they want him?’

Lottie felt like a complete traitor, each word burning her throat like poison, while her brain tried to reason with her that this was for everyone’s good – and might even save Jamie’s life.

‘Wouldn’t that be easier if Jamie was in on it too?’ Saskia countered, with Anastacia nodding along in agreement, and Lottie’s face went hot in a way that had nothing to do with the temperature.

‘Sayuri is counting on us,’ Ellie said. ‘Haru is her Partizan, and she wants to keep his involvement with Leviathan under wraps.’

The room was starting to feel very small, and Lottie squirmed with guilt.

‘I believe that was only because they were using him as an unwitting source to farm information,’ Anastacia said, and every word made the room shrink another inch. ‘That doesn’t apply now.’

‘Not to mention these are completely different circumstances. People are in danger,’ Saskia added.

Lottie agreed. They should have revealed Haru’s duplicity the moment they’d arrived in Maradova. But Lottie had made the one mistake the king had warned her about all that time ago – she’d put Ellie’s desires before Ellie’s safety and now they were trapped.

‘Lottie, are you OK?’

It wasn’t until Saskia’s words hit her that Lottie realized how rapid her breathing had become. The air felt too thin; just when she was sure she was going to burst into a million pieces, a soft tap came from the door.

‘Hello! Sorry I’m late.’ Binah’s cheery face peeped through the door and it took Lottie a second to remember she was the one who’d invited her. ‘I forgot to get the time we were meeting from Lottie, and I had to deliver a gift to Lola and Micky.’ Binah came in, pulling off her canary-yellow beret and hanging it by the door, completely oblivious to the tension in the room. ‘Actually, after we’re done discussing Haru, perhaps we could think about something we could do for them in this difficult time, maybe bake them a cake; you know they love –’

‘You told Binah about Haru?’ Ellie’s voice was a spark, turning the whole room electric, a storm flashing in her eyes. Upon instinct, Saskia stepped protectively in front of her girlfriend.

‘I had to.’ Swallowing her anxiety, Lottie fumbled for the best way to de-escalate the situation. ‘She can help.’

‘Help?’

‘Yes, I –’

Ellie turned on Binah like a storm at sea. ‘Help with what? Help solve all the problems my stupid family caused?’

Lottie knew that she had to speak up. ‘Ellie, you don’t understand. None of you do.’ She looked to Anastacia and Saskia now apologetically. ‘I … I …’ Binah gave her a soft nod, signalling for her to go on. ‘Haru knows we know.’

The whites of Ellie’s eyes flashed, and she took in a choked breath like she’d been winded.

Lottie continued. ‘He’s put rules in place and, as long as we stick to them, everyone at Rosewood, including us and Jamie, will be safe.’

No one moved, and the only sound in the room was a mumbled expletive from Saskia.

‘What happened to Dom, the extra security stopping anyone from leaving, all the little problems that have been cropping up, I think that was all him. It was a warning. He said we have to just go about our normal school life, and he wants one hour a week with Jamie,’ Lottie relayed, filling the silence; yet the one thing she couldn’t mention was Claude’s letter. It was as if Claude’s hold on her was too strong. She felt like her skin was covered in slime, and it was catching in her airways, stopping her from saying more.

‘How long have you known this?’ Ellie’s voice was distorted, grating against Lottie’s ears like sandpaper. ‘When did you agree to this?’

There was electricity in her words that jolted an answer out of Lottie. ‘Since Monday, but Binah only found out the other day.’

‘OK, what I think we all need to do is –’ Anastacia stepped forward, but, before she could continue, Ellie pushed her aside, coming right up to Lottie where she blocked the light completely.

‘Hey, don’t –’ Saskia snarled, but Ellie wasn’t listening.

‘You told Binah about this? Before me?’

‘No, I … It wasn’t like that. I couldn’t. It was an accident – those were the rules. I –’

For a second Lottie thought Ellie was going to shout at her, but instead she pulled back, her hands clawing at her face.

‘This is all my fault,’ she gasped, eyes darting from side to side. ‘I did this. If I’d just let you tell my parents about Haru … If I hadn’t been so stubborn and thought that I could fix everything myself … And now …’

She burst out into a string of expletives in Maravish that made Lottie wince. The way Ellie looked, coiled in on herself in anguish, felt wrong.

Lottie stepped forward. ‘Ellie, it’s not your fault. I just want to help you. I’m sorry –’

Ellie held up her hand. ‘Briktah, Lottie, I know,’ she snapped, but it felt more like a scared dog than an angry bark. ‘Please just stop apologizing. I’m the one who should be apologizing. We always do this to you.’ She righted herself, glancing around the room, a twisted hint of a grin spreading over her lips, as if she’d finally understood some terrible joke, and, just like that, she pushed back her hair and the mask was on again. ‘I’m gonna go and cool down,’ she said with a great sigh. ‘I’ll see you back at the dorm tonight. Everyone just forget this stupid meeting, forget Haru and Leviathan, and go back to your lives. I’ll deal with this.’

‘Ellie –’ said Lottie.

She was stopped by a roguish half-smile, an echo of the one her princess used to wear with such ease.

‘It’s fine, Lottie. I said I’d deal with it. See you later.’

The door thudded shut behind her, hardly a slam, yet Lottie felt it reverberate through her like an earthquake.

‘What about Jamie?’ Saskia’s voice was gentle, a fragile plea for a fellow Partizan.

‘All I know is that we have to keep him in the dark about Haru,’ Lottie admitted, clutching the wolf pendant at her chest. Some unspoken decision had been made by Ellie just now, and she could tell by the way her heart thudded painfully that this was different from her usual outbursts.