‘Ninety? That’s half the school!’
‘Yeah, it’s way more than we expected,’ Zoe said.
‘I’ve already spoken to my dad,’ Rachel said. ‘Even they weren’t expecting that many to go. They’re having meetings about it now.’
‘But some will stay… right?’ Allie said.
It was Carter who replied. ‘Out of the ninety, she thinks ten are willing to stand up to their parents. I mean, most of these kids aren’t Night School and they have no idea what’s really going on here.’
Allie’s heart thudded as their words sank in. Ten students. It was nothing. Half the school would be gone. Nathaniel would get his shock and awe moment.
‘Based on what her parents have told her, she believes it will happen this week,’ Sylvain said. ‘Perhaps as soon as tomorrow.’
Too soon.
‘No no no…’ Allie pressed her fingertips against her temples. ‘We’re not ready. What are we going to do?’
‘We told her our plan for those who want to stay – places to hide. Ways to avoid being found.’ Carter’s voice emerged from the dark. ‘Katie’s passing them on to those she trusts. Rachel and Raj talked about it and he knows everything we know. Did you discuss it with Lucinda?’
‘She said…’ Pulling the too-large jacket more tightly around her, Allie tried to remember exactly what her grandmother had said. ‘She said she’s working behind the scenes with the board – lobbying those who are unsure who to support. If she can get most of them to side with her, she has a chance. If more than half the board side with Nathaniel…’ Her voice trailed off. Lucinda hadn’t gone into what would happen if most of the board sided against her but the danger of that had been clear. ‘The thing is she needs time to convince them.’
She looked around the open stone structure. The others formed a rough circle around her, their breath rising in clouds. Everyone looked tired and defeated. There were so few of them. How could they stop this?
‘Time is the one thing she hasn’t got.’ With a sigh, Carter leaned back against the stone pillar behind him, staring up to where the ceiling of the summer house disappeared into a high peak, lost now, in the darkness. ‘What happens if Nathaniel moves quickly? What happens if he comes tomorrow?’
The sleeves of Sylvain’s jacket hung down below Allie’s hands. When she held up her empty hands, they slid back just far enough to reveal her fingers.
‘She also told me if students refuse to leave, Nathaniel could send the police.’ She laughed with bitter irony. ‘Isn’t it funny? The police will come if students don’t want to go, but we can’t call them if there’s a murder. It’s just like… the world’s gone crazy.’
‘Clever tyrants are never punished.’ Sylvain’s voice was so low only Allie heard him. She glanced over at him. As he leaned back against the stone balustrade he seemed tense and tired.
‘So what happens now?’ Rachel asked.
‘Now, we work on our plan.’ Carter sounded grim. ‘And get ready.’
Just before seven, they headed back to the main building for dinner. Nobody was hungry but attendance was required.
Sylvain swung into step beside Allie as they left the summer house.
‘How were things with your grandmother, really? Were you glad to see her again?’ His eyes searched hers.
‘I was,’ she said. ‘I like her, you know?’
He nodded. ‘She’s intimidating,’ he said. ‘But she is also charismatic.’
It was weird to think that Sylvain understood her grandmother better than she did. But his parents were French billionaires. Sylvain had known people like Lucinda all his life.
‘Still,’ she said, ‘it was worrying, too.’
‘Why was it worrying?’
She pulled his coat tighter around her. ‘Because I think she’s scared.’
Behind them she could hear Zoe and Carter talking quietly and she remembered her conversation with Jules. She had to tell Carter before they went inside – he needed to know.
‘I’ve got to talk to Carter for a second,’ she told Sylvain, noticing as she did so that in the light of the stars his eyes were the precise colour of his dark blue sweater. ‘I’ll see you inside?’
He inclined his head with cool politeness, his face betraying no emotion.
Allie slowed her pace until she was walking beside Zoe and Carter. She turned to the younger girl. ‘I need to talk to Carter alone for a second. Is that OK?’
Unbothered, Zoe shrugged and ran to catch up with Rachel. Allie heard her say ‘Did you finish your chemistry assignment?’ as if today were a perfectly ordinary school day.
When everyone was out of earshot, she turned to Carter, slowing her pace. ‘Have you seen Jules since this afternoon?’
He gave her an odd look. ‘No. Why?’
‘I ran into her after class…’ Allie started then she corrected herself. ‘Actually, she came to find me. She was really upset.’
Carter stopped and turned to face her. She saw that the cold had made his cheeks red.
‘About what?’
Allie’s stomach tightened as she tried to decide how to tell him.
‘She knows… she said…’ She exhaled a cloud of warm air. ‘She knows you don’t have detention. She wanted to know why you were working in the garden with… me.’
His jaw tight, Carter looked out into the darkness ahead of them. His cheeks were redder now.
‘I didn’t know what to tell her.’ Allie shoved her hands in the pockets of her skirt and looked down at her shoes. ‘She thought you were cheating on her with me.’
He didn’t look at her. ‘What did you say?’
‘I told her we weren’t, of course. That you’re my friend and you look out for me and that she needs to accept that.’
He exhaled. ‘Thank you.’
‘And, look.’ She tried to catch his gaze but he was looking past her. ‘I just wanted to say… thanks. I mean… it was hard work and… I didn’t know you… I mean, I thought you had to…’
She hated her own stumbling words. He’d got out of bed, three days a week, at five thirty in the morning to spend two hours in the freezing cold doing hard work, just so she wouldn’t be alone. Why couldn’t she think of the right thing to say?
Finally he met her eyes.
‘It’s OK. You don’t have to thank me.’ Unexpectedly, he flashed a rakish grin. ‘I just didn’t have anything better to do.’
As Allie gaped at him, trying to think of a response, he turned and loped towards the school.
In the dining hall, most of the other students had already gathered by the time Allie arrived. She paused in the doorway to take in the scene. Carter stopped with her and followed her gaze.
White linens covered tables topped with glittering candles, crystal glasses and white china plates, all bearing the Cimmeria crest. Above their heads in the cavernous room, the chandeliers glowed. A warm fire crackled in the gigantic fireplace. The room smelled of roasted meat and wood smoke.
This was Cimmeria at its very best. It seemed too beautiful – too perfect – to be destroyed.
What will it be like if Nathaniel wins? Allie wondered as her eyes swept the room. Who will be here tomorrow?
‘I’m going to sit with Jules tonight.’ Carter said.
‘Oh.’ Thrown, Allie fumbled for a reply. They’d all been sitting together every day since the group had formed but of course after everything that happened he’d need to sit with Jules. ‘I mean, great. That’s a good idea…’
She watched as he walked to the table where Jules sat with Katie and other friends. She saw Jules’ face light up when she spotted him and realised he was coming to her. Watched her leap up to wrap him in a hug. Saw his lips brush hers as he bent to whisper something in her ear…
‘Take your seats, please!’ Zelazny’s roar startled Allie so much she jumped.
She walked to where the others sat at their usual table. Sylvain’s cashmere coat was lined in expensive silk; it slipped easily fro
m her shoulders. When she held it out to him he accepted it with a guarded look, as if he was afraid of what she might say.
But all she said was, ‘Thanks for the loan. I hope you didn’t get chilblains… or whatever you get from the cold.’
‘You’re welcome,’ he said. ‘I don’t know what chilblains are but I don’t think I have them.’
‘What are chilblains, anyway?’ Nicole asked, looking around the table. ‘People only seemed to get them in Dickens.’
‘I don’t know.’ Allie dropped into a seat next to Zoe. ‘And I don’t want to.’
Zoe, who had opened her mouth to explain chilblains, snapped it shut. ‘I know what they are,’ she said. ‘But if you don’t want to know I won’t tell you.’
‘Where’s Rachel?’ Allie said, suddenly noticing her absence.
‘Sitting with Lucas.’ Nicole gestured to a nearby table. Lucas had his arm across Rachel’s shoulders and their heads were close together.
‘And Carter is with Jules tonight.’ Looking thoughtful, Sylvain glanced over to where the two seemed to be sharing a private joke then back at Allie again. She avoided his eyes.
‘It must be date night.’ As she spoke, Nicole’s doll-like eyes studied Sylvain and Allie, missing nothing.
‘At least there’s still us.’ Oblivious to the unspoken drama happening around her, Zoe was so peppy and normal Allie wanted to squash her under something heavy.
She thought about telling them the things she’d learned from Lucinda, what Orion really was, and why Nathaniel was doing this. But it seemed weird to tell only a few of them and leave out Rachel and Carter.
Besides, nobody seemed very interested in that stuff right now. The idea that the school could be emptied tomorrow – that Nathaniel’s plan could work – had drained the energy from them all. Everything felt futile. It was as if, instead of readying for battle, they’d begun preparing themselves for defeat.
Holding up her water glass, Allie watched the liquid swirl. Remembering her history lesson that morning, she thought about Napoleon’s plan – the way he defeated a larger army through cunning and deception.
But who is Napoleon? she wondered. Is it us? Or Nathaniel?
THIRTY
But Nathaniel did not make his move the next day. Or the day after that.
Or the next day.
As time passed, the school fell into an uneasy sort of normality. Students went to class, studied, played games… and waited.
When a week had passed without any sign of Nathaniel, Allie began to allow herself to hope that maybe they were safe after all. Perhaps Lucinda had got to the board in time. Maybe they’d stood up to him and he’d been forced to back down.
When she asked Isabelle about it, though, the headmistress just shook her head. ‘He’s letting us get comfortable. Hoping we drop our guard.’
After the Night School instructors returned to the school, the group met less often. Raj and Isabelle had ordered them to stop looking for the spy and, under the circumstances, they had little choice – the teachers watched them like hawks. Now there was nothing for them to do but wait. Jules and Lucas began joining them for meals again and conversations about lessons replaced Nathaniel and spies.
It was a kind of false normality and Allie hated it. It felt like they were all pretending something awful wasn’t about to happen. But what else could they do?
She found she missed the adrenaline rush of meeting in secret out of hours, of sneaking into locked rooms and searching for evidence. She missed the feeling of actually doing something. They were back on the outside of things again. On some level, maybe they always had been but, at least for a while, it had felt like they’d had some control.
Without the daily gatherings, she found it easy to keep her distance from Sylvain. And she wanted to do that. She needed time to think about things.
Every so often, though, she’d look up and find him watching her from across a room, a lost look in his bluer than blue eyes. And her heart would twist inside her.
Each time it happened she remembered what he’d said: ‘I won’t wait for ever… It hurts too much…’
Sometimes, when he made no effort to pursue her, or he didn’t laugh at one of her jokes, she’d worry he’d decided not to wait any more and panic would unfurl in her chest unexpectedly, making her heart stutter.
He just… had to wait. Just until this thing with Nathaniel was finished. After that…
For his part, Carter never returned to the walled garden. Allie had suspected he wouldn’t after their talk, but she still felt bereft that first sunrise when he didn’t appear.
Still, though, at least they were getting along better. He treated her like a normal friend – not a good friend – but a friend, nonetheless.
Baby steps, she told herself.
The weirdest development was she was starting to like gardening. She remembered something Jo had told her once about falling in love with the gardens after she’d been given weeks of detention. At the time Allie hadn’t understood but now she could see what Jo meant. There was something therapeutic about the smell of damp earth; about dropping seeds into it and covering them up. It was calming.
It helped that the cold was less biting now. March had arrived in the midst of all this and green shoots appeared everywhere, all at once, as if someone somewhere had pressed a button marked ‘Grow’. The neat, straight furrows she and Carter had made that morning in the rain were already lined with tiny green plants that would someday be carrots, cabbages and potatoes. Looking at them, she felt a sense of accomplishment – she’d helped to create that.
Mr Ellison had become less fierce once he and Allie were alone again, as if he felt sorry for her. Most days, he brought out a thermos of hot sweet tea and packets of biscuits, and they’d take a break, sitting on a bench, munching the biscuits and watching the birds work. They talked about a lot of things then – about his childhood in London, and how he came to Cimmeria to escape the city. He never told her the story Carter had told, about making a mistake and losing everything, and Allie didn’t ask. But she found herself telling him things she wouldn’t have wanted to tell anyone else. How she and her mum couldn’t talk any more. How she missed her dad. There was something about him – a kind of thoughtfulness and wisdom – that made her feel she could really talk to him. He’d made mistakes in his life, too. And so he, perhaps alone among the adults she knew, was unlikely to judge her.
Lately, Allie had been having long talks with Isabelle, too. After Lucinda’s visit she’d plied her with questions about Orion and Nathaniel and Gabe.
It was Isabelle who told her about the other secret groups like Orion elsewhere in the world. That the one in Europe was called Demeter. The one in America, Prometheus. That Orion was the oldest but no longer the biggest or most powerful.
The headmistress also told her more about Nathaniel’s plan. As they sat in her office one Friday after the day’s classes ended, Allie asked her about Nathaniel.
‘What does he really want?’ she said. ‘I mean, I know he only wants me to get back at Lucinda. And I know he hates you because of the inheritance. But why is he really doing this?’
As if she’d felt a sudden chill, Isabelle pulled her navy cardigan off the back of her chair and draped it over her shoulders. Under it she wore a white polo-neck top and slim, grey trousers. There was no way you would look at her and think she was organising a fight – preparing for an attack. She just looked like a teacher.
‘For the last few years, Nathaniel has travelled the world seeking support for his plan to overthrow Lucinda and take full control of Orion,’ Isabelle explained. ‘Some of the reason is personal, as you know, but some of it is pure hunger for power and wealth. To be richer than his father ever was. Better. On his own, he hasn’t got enough support within the organisation to do it so he’s looking for international backers. He visited Demeter in Zurich in January and I’m told they sent him packing.’ Her gaze hardened. ‘But I fear he received a warmer reception from
Prometheus.’
‘America?’ Allie blinked. ‘Why would they listen to him? He’s crazy.’
‘They’re not really listening to him,’ Isabelle said. ‘They want to use him. You see, there are people in Prometheus who have been arguing for precisely what Nathaniel is offering for many years. They see in him a potential ally. With Britain on their side that would tip the balance. They could have what they’ve always wanted – more control, more power. Unimaginable wealth. The return of the oligarchs. An end, I fear, to the modern experiment with democracy.
‘If they can rid themselves of the shackles of laws designed to protect people… just think of the money they could make. They would be kings.’
Allie looked at her doubtfully. ‘But that’s bonkers. Surely there’s no way it would happen. People wouldn’t accept it.’
Isabelle’s expression held an odd mix of cynicism and melancholy. ‘People wouldn’t even notice,’ she said.
‘Of course they’d notice – everything would change.’
‘Yes, things would change. But not obviously,’ Isabelle said. ‘And most people aren’t paying attention. They’ve got jobs and children, mortgage payments and problems… they don’t have time to notice little changes in the law that don’t seem to affect them anyway. Look at what Orion’s accomplished already – it has infiltrated every major branch of British leadership from the government to the media to the courts. It has never overtly tampered with an election as far as I know, but it could if it wanted to. And if it did, no one would ever find out.’ She leaned back in her chair. ‘Because Orion controls the organisation that monitors elections.’
Allie stared at her open-mouthed.
‘Are you saying Nathaniel could actually do what he wants to do? He could –’ she didn’t even know the word for what he wanted to do – ‘take over?’
‘I’m afraid he could,’ Isabelle said. ‘That’s why this matters so much. That’s why people have died. Because what’s at stake is everything.’
With so little action, Allie had no choice but to catch up on her school work. Every afternoon she and Rachel could be found in the library studying at Rachel’s favourite tucked-away table, sitting in soft leather chairs in the glow of the green-shaded desk lamp. Just like the old days.
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