by Nora Cobb
Johanna found us a spot and I sighed as I sat in the grass, tipping my head back to allow the sunshine on my face. “This is nice.”
“Yep,” Johanna said, pulling her expensive sunglasses over her eyes. “Unfortunately, it isn’t Cannes or the Maldives.”
I laughed. “Yeah, I wouldn’t know what those are like.”
Johanna pursed her lips. “Well you will have to come home with me this summer then. I will make you a world traveler, Anna, no doubt about it.”
“I would like that,” I said softly, thinking about all I had left to see.
Which was literally everywhere.
“We will rent a boat,” Johanna continued, like we were discussing lunch. “My father will be more than happy to have someone keep me entertained during the break. Just think of the parties we can have together! Oh, I have a fabulous dress that would look perfect on you.”
“Aren’t you jumping the gun?” I asked, grinning. “I mean, we are nowhere near summer.”
Johanna shrugged. “One must always be prepared for their next adventure. Once I finish this academy, I plan to take a year off and do nothing but blow my father’s money and travel around the world. I want to see it without my title, without the pressure of my father at my back constantly. I mean, he has two sons. Why is he interested in what I do anyway?”
I kept my grin, though inside I was envious of Johanna’s issues with her father. Had things been different, would I have had the same issues with my own father? Would he have lavished me with presents, with a fine education, and treated me like a true princess?
I would never know, unfortunately.
Johanna grabbed my arm suddenly. “Don’t look.”
That could only mean one thing. Despite her warning, I looked anyway, seeing the kings and a cluster of senior girls up the path a ways. Arthur was in the center, his easy grin tugging at my tortured heart. He looked carefree, like nothing had ever happened, and I imagined he looked like that a lot.
All the kings looked like that.
“You okay?” Johanna asked cautiously, her grip tightening on my arm. “We can leave if you want.”
“No,” I blurted out, turning away from the scene and focusing on the water in front of us. I wasn’t just going to run and hide because they didn’t have a soul and could carry on like that.
Drawing in a breath, I forced the thoughts away. I wasn’t going to waste my time with them any longer.
“So, let’s talk about something else,” Johanna said, tossing her hair. “What about your father?”
“What about him?” I asked, clearing my throat. It was another subject I wasn’t so sure I wanted to discuss, mainly because I didn’t have much to talk about. I had tried to do an internet search on him, hoping that I could find out what I wanted to know and find a picture of him to see if the rumors were true.
I hadn’t found anything helpful. Normally you could find anything on the internet, but of course it would be my own father that I couldn’t find anything on.
It was very frustrating and completely confusing. It was like he never existed according to the internet and I wondered if it was because they didn’t want me to find out.
“I was just wondering if you had reached out to the curator here at the academy,” Johanna explained.
I stared at her. “We have a curator?”
She nodded. “At the archives. I’ve heard he knows literally everything about this academy and the students that pass through here.”
“Why would he know about my father?”
Johanna laughed. “Because, you idiot, your father probably passed through this academy. I mean, if my father and grandfather did, there’s no way your father didn’t. Especially if he’s who Headmistress Isauros says he is.”
I hadn’t thought about that. I could be sitting in the very spot that my father had sat in the past.
Was that why I was here? There was only one way for me to find out and the thought of actually finding something this time around both terrified and excited me. I wanted to learn that he was a kind man, but since I knew that he had married the headmistress, I imagined he wasn’t a pushover.
Or else she would have eaten him for breakfast.
I looked up at the blue sky, my thoughts heavy. I would go to the curator and see if he had anything meaningful and if he did, I needed to be prepared for what I might find.
***
That night, the freshman hall threw a party celebrating the fact that most of the exams were finished. I dressed for the occasion, taking a page out of Johanna’s book. My skirt was shorter than I would have cared for it to be, my shirt tight against my boobs. Pairing it with a killer set of boots, I felt powerful in the outfit.
Maybe this needed to be the new me. I needed to exude confidence even if I didn’t feel very confident most of the time.
We walked into the commons room and drinks were pressed into our hands, the music vibrating throughout my body as I greeted some of my fellow classmates. My time here had truly transformed into something that could be my future. If I was who Katarina said I was, then these people were who I would be dealing with in the future.
I needed to make connections.
Johanna pulled me into the cleared space that was being used as a dance floor and we danced to the pulsating music, taking sips of our drinks and laughing. My heart was light, my mind clear for the first time in a long while.
I was actually having fun. I had forgotten what that felt like.
The room became crowded really quickly, the drinks continuing to flow, and I found myself amused by the fact that there was no difference in the academy and a regular college scene.
Well, maybe just the fact that the liquor was top shelf and there were more diamonds in the room than most would ever see in a lifetime.
Still, there were smiles all around and I felt the sweat slide down my back from the dancing, throwing my arms around a laughing Johanna. “You are such a good friend,” I said, feeling tipsy.
“And you are too,” she sang out, giving me a hug. “We shall be friends forever!”
I laughed and we spun around with the other dancers on the floor, laughing and carrying on like we had nothing to worry about.
It wasn’t until a hush fell over the crowd and a hand landed on my back that my laughter died. A body pressed up against mine and I shivered at the familiarity. “Anna.”
I didn’t want to turn around. I knew who was at my back and after avoiding him successfully over the last few days, I realized it was all for naught.
He was a king and he could do whatever he wanted to.
Drawing in a breath, I turned and faced Arthur. “You don’t have any right to touch me, Arthur.”
He held up his hands, a hint of a grin on his face. “You’re right. I don’t.”
I eyed him, crossing my arms over my chest. “Why are the kings in the freshman hall?”
“We love a good party.” Royce stated, appearing at Arthur’s side and draping an arm over his shoulder. “You look nice. Doesn’t she look nice, Arthur? Almost like she belongs.”
“Fuck off,” Arthur growled at his friend. Royce winked at me before sauntering off into the crowd, leaving me to face off Arthur in the midst of the dancers. I really didn’t want to talk to him, not when everything had been going so well.
“Why are you here, Arthur? This is a far cry from your mansion parties.”
“I figured you would be here.”
I laughed hollowly. “Since when do you care where I am? Since when do you care at all?”
“Anna,” he said, losing some of his bravado. “That’s not fair.”
“Life’s not fair,” I shot back. “And I found out the hard way. So if you don’t mind, I would love it if you and your little friends left this party and let me get back to my life.” There. I had said it. After days of wondering if I could go toe to toe with him, I had actually been able to do so.
Arthur’s gaze narrowed. “You have to talk to me at some point, An
na. This is starting to get ridiculous. The least you could do is hear me out.”
I pointed my finger into his chest, not believing that he was making demands after everything that had happened. “I don’t owe you anything. If anything you owe me a hell of a lot more than what you gave me.”
He looked around, noting the way that some people were eyeing us with curiosity, probably half hoping that we would get into an argument that they all could talk about and spread rumors. “This isn’t the place to do this.”
“That’s the first thing you have gotten right tonight,” I laughed, stepping back.
Arthur captured my hand before I could move it, bringing it up to his mouth. “We will be having this conversation at a later time, Anna, but I will give you tonight to take for yourself.”
I snatched my hand away, feeling the heat rising to my cheeks. I didn’t want to have these feelings about Arthur. He had tried to ruin my life, to direct my future without my knowledge. He had stolen my innocence and my heart, only to crush it in the end. “Leave, Arthur,” I finally said, my voice weary.
Arthur pasted on his famous grin before melting into the crowd and it wasn’t long before he and Royce exited the room, leaving the freshmen to discuss what had happened.
Johanna grabbed my arm and pulled me to the corner of the room, her eyes wide. “Are you okay? Arthur looked like he was about to murder somebody.”
“I’m fine,” I said, believing myself. I had stood up to him, showed him a side he wasn’t used to seeing, and I had survived the encounter.
Now I would have to bide my time until the next time that we came together, which meant my armor needed to be securely in place.
The party went on well into the night and I finally had to drag Johanna away from the dancing and the booze, wrapping my arm around her waist as we made our way back to our room. “God, that was fun,” she replied as I pushed open the door. “I needed that.”
I looked over at my bed, shocked to find a bundle of white roses on top, their blooms barely opened.
“Wow,” Johanna slurred as she took in the roses. “Arthur is stepping it up. He never did this for me, and I was almost his wife.”
I deposited Johanna on her bed before carefully walking over to the bed, picking up the roses. They were lovely and I traced the velvet petals with my fingers, smiling to myself. There was no card, but I had it narrowed down to three kings.
Royce would likely give me black ones, so maybe I had it narrowed to two.
Max’s face flashed through my thoughts and I shook it off. No, he wouldn’t send roses. He had given me no indication that he even liked me.
So, they had to come from Arthur. I wasn’t completely thrilled at the thought. Was he trying to woo me so that he could continue with his plan or was this something else?
What if it was something else?
Johanna’s gentle snore caught my attention and I found her lying across her bed, sound asleep. I too wanted to go to bed, my earlier energy now zapped from the partying. I gazed at the roses for a little longer before laying them on my desk and covering Johanna with the throw she loved so much. What a crazy night. I didn’t even want to begin to process it or the fact that Arthur had sought me out again, wanting to talk to me.
I knew I would have to. He wasn’t going to give up and I really needed to decide if I was going to allow our … whatever … to continue or if I needed to set him aside and move on. I still had feelings, of course, but most of them were of hurt and not the warm and fuzzy ones I had experienced before I had learned the truth.
This was all so complicated. My life had never been this way before.
I stripped off my clothes and climbed into my bed, pulling the covers up to my chin. While I needed to finish whatever with Arthur, there were more pressing things I needed to do first, like visit the curator and see if I could find any information on my father. That was my top priority.
After I did that, then I would try and figure out what to do with the king that wouldn’t go away.
Chapter 18
I had to wait to go to the curator until my exams were complete and I had free time to do so. It was a few days before I could walk to the archives, the academy emptier than usual now that exams were complete. Apparently, according to Johanna, many parents sent money to reward their kids for getting this far.
Those that received the money took the weekend and went to parts unknown to spend it, leaving only a handful of freshmen. I didn’t mind. I liked the quietness of the academy, the empty halls and rooms as I passed by. It gave me a sense of peacefulness.
The archives were on the second floor, a rarely used floor for the freshmen. The upper classmen patrolled these halls, as many of their classrooms were up here. I passed by both the sophomore and junior halls before finally arriving at the massive oak doors that housed the archives. I hadn’t been in it yet and felt the excitement start to build as I pulled one of the heavy doors open. The smell of leather hit me full force as I stepped inside, gasping as I looked upward. There was a stained glass dome above me, the sun shining through and causing a prism on the stone floor below. As far as I could see, there were books everywhere, lining the walls as they arched toward the glass dome in all sorts of colors and heights.
It was an amazing sight. The dark wood of the room complemented the books and I wondered how many were in the archives. I loved books. They were the items that had given me comfort throughout my foster life, taking me to another place and time that could help me forget what I was going through.
This room, I could spend all day in it.
There was a desk near the center, with a wiry little man seated behind it, his pen scratching over the paper in front of him. He looked very much like someone who would be in the archive, one of those characters that was picture perfect.
That and it helped that he looked approachable. After an academy full of people who weren’t, I was glad to see that there was at least one person who wasn’t frightening.
I approached his desk and he looked up, giving me a warm smile. “What can I do for you, lass?”
I smiled at his heavy Scottish accent. “I’m looking for information on former students.”
His eyes widened and he dropped his pen. “You’re the American that has this academy all in a whirl, aren’t you?”
Blushing, I wondered exactly what he had heard about me. Had he heard the rumors with the kings or something else? “Um yeah, I am.”
He continued to stare, like I was some sort of enigma to him. “I canna remember the last time we had an American in our academy.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing, lass,” he said quickly, his grin widening. “I’m just glad that we finally do. You said you had an interest in former students?”
I let my guard down a bit, liking the man immensely. “Yes. I have a project to do on former students.” It was all a lie of course, but I figured he wasn’t just going to let me snoop around school records without a damn good reason and I wasn’t about to tell him who I thought I was.
I kind of liked the fact that he saw me as just an American.
His eyes twinkled with laughter. “A project, you say? Well, I guess I can’t stand in the way of your schoolwork, lass.”
He didn’t believe me. “Are you going to help me?”
The curator’s wrinkled smile was all I needed to know, and he pushed his chair back, standing. “Come,” he stated, crooking a finger at me. “Let’s see what kind of trouble you can get into.”
I followed him past a spiral staircase that led to the second level, deeper into the archives until there was a section of shelves filled with ledgers and leather-bound books. “Do you have a time frame you are looking at?” he asked, pausing before the shelves.
I thought about it for a minute, quickly calculating my age and plus or minus ten years. When I told him the time frame, his bushy white eyebrows lifted. “That’s a lot of records, lass.”
“I can look through
them,” I said quickly, hoping that he wouldn’t change his mind about giving them to me. “I’m ready for the long haul.”
The curator looked me up and down before giving me a half shrug. “Okay, it’s your afternoon.” He then pointed to a few shelves, where carefully labeled books lay. “You can start here. That’s every ledger, yearbook, and accolade from every student in this academy.”
“Really?”
He nodded. “You can’t take the books out of the archives though. The headmistress is very strict about that rule. This information, it’s on some of the most prominent political leaders of our world and we don’t want to ruin their good names with their actions at the academy. There are some that don’t want others to know that they were even here.”
