Princess at Heart (The Rosewood Chronicles)

The purpose of a Partizan was to protect. They didn’t ask questions or get upset about orders. The only thing they concerned themselves with was keeping their master safe – whether their master liked it or not. Jamie had repeated this to himself over and over again while trying to read in his room. Usually he could rely on Louisa May Alcott for an easy distraction, and yet he’d not been able to absorb a single word. Instead he’d spent the last hour trying to understand what possible reason there was for him to be excluded from this meeting. And not just him, but Nikolay and Simien also. Surely if he was to protect Ellie and Lottie, he should know about any danger?

Something had disturbed Lottie and Ellie during the meeting, that much was obvious. Lottie had appeared outside his bedroom door earlier than he’d expected, and he knew her well enough to spot the cloud of gloom looming over her, although there was something else too. She looked as though she were chewing over whatever had happened, trying to pick out some vital piece of information, and, strangest of all, she’d stared at him like he was part of the puzzle.

A thoughtful quiet followed them on the journey back to Rosewood after the two girls filled him in on Ingrid’s cryptic words, Ellie’s parents and their state of denial, and the news about the Flower Festival.

But the truth was there was more to Jamie’s desire for knowledge than the simple need to protect Ellie and Lottie. He wanted revenge.

Ever since he’d let Ingrid go, he’d been overcome by a bloodthirsty longing to find his real enemy: the person who’d caused so much trouble for Lottie. Thinking about how he’d found her in the woods, cut up and so changed from the sweet naive girl he’d met two years ago, his muscles rippled like vipers beneath his skin, eager to be used. He didn’t want petty little fights with pawns like Ingrid and Julius any more; he wanted to find the person who was really responsible, and make them pay.

‘Well.’ Ellie threw her hands in the air, disturbing the quiet they’d established on the final part of their journey to Rosewood.

‘Well what?’ he asked in a low voice, sneaking a peek in the rear-view mirror at Lottie, who was curled up half asleep on the back seat like a house cat. She looked so peaceful and small, a little ray of light in the dwindling evening sun.

‘Aren’t you curious about what Ingrid asked Lottie?’ Ellie tried to match his tone. ‘The one about why you’re a Partizan? Doesn’t that strike you as weird?’

Lottie stirred, her eyes opening so suddenly it was as if she’d been tuned in, waiting for this exact conversation to spring up, like some kind of Leviathan information radio tower. ‘Yeah, it’s strange, right?’ she said, no hint of sleepiness in her voice.

Part of him found it funny how she sat up so quickly, but mostly it made him sad to see her so consumed by the conversation, her moment of peace quickly over.

‘No, I don’t think it’s weird,’ he replied frankly. ‘Should I?’ His lips curved slightly and he was surprised how easy it was to make jokes with Lottie again, only she didn’t smile back. Her brow furrowed. ‘It’s the same question I’ve always heard,’ he added quickly. ‘People want to make me question whether I want to be a Partizan, and I can assure you both it’s not going to work.’

Lottie didn’t seem convinced, and she watched him, eyes, clear as a blue sky, searching his face like there was a secret there even he didn’t know. It was just a flicker, but he saw it, her eyes drifting to his chest where his wolf pendant was still absent, and he tensed at the thought of fastening the clasp round his neck again.

Feeling uncomfortable, he turned instead to his real princess. Ellie was the exact opposite of Lottie. Her pale skin was purple in the blue light outside, violet bags under her dark, crescent eyes. She’d become subdued since the news about Claude – that he was the man behind Leviathan – and she’d been more comfortable staying in the shadows. She’d become even more of a closed book than usual, like everything was on her shoulders and she was refusing to share the burden.

Ellie didn’t bother to respond to his loyal declaration. They all knew how she felt about him being a Partizan.

And, right on cue, Lottie sensed the drop in mood and put on a smile that cracked through the gloom. ‘Well, it will be nice to be back at school at least, back home.’ She turned, dreamy-eyed, to the car window, pushing her forehead up against it, and Jamie waited for that look of untainted wonder she always got when she saw the school approaching, only it didn’t come. Before he had a chance to catch it, two figures walked out in front of the vehicle, causing Jamie to make an abrupt stop.

Falling back into their seats with a thud, Jamie looked out at the two men in black jackets who’d gestured for them to slow down. On instinct his brain searched the car, making a note of every escape and the easiest way to neutralize attackers.

‘What’s going on?’ Ellie asked, her eyes going wide.

‘They have Rosewood emblems on their jackets,’ Lottie announced, trying to calm herself, yet she still moved into the middle seat away from the approaching men.

They were close to the school, near the drop-off zone. In the distance, like a beacon, the golden gates of Rosewood shone amber in the late afternoon, calling them to safety, but now that he had stopped Jamie saw something else: dark shapes moving around like bugs. Squinting, he saw that they were more men in black, pacing the entrance to Rosewood like an armed guard.

One of the men tapped on the window, signalling for him to roll it down, which he did, but only by an inch.

The man on the other side looked more tired than threatening, his thin moustache retaining a stream of sweat.

‘Are you students?’ he asked, a formal note to his voice putting Jamie at ease.

‘Yes, sir – is something wrong?’

‘Can we have your names, please?’

Ellie reached into the glove compartment to pull out their documents and passed them to Jamie.

The moustached man surveyed the paperwork through the window before nodding. ‘OK, go on ahead. Have a good evening.’

Jamie rolled the window back up and started the engine again.

‘What the hell was that?’ Ellie asked, and Jamie could see she’d been preparing for a fight.

‘I’m not sure, but look.’ Jamie pointed in front of them.

Both Lottie and Ellie looked to where they were usually greeted by a clear cobblestone path and dewy roses in full bloom – there were more men in black jackets, right up to the gate.

‘I don’t like this,’ Lottie said, and something flickered across her face, as if she knew something but didn’t want to say it out loud.

At the gate, Jamie climbed out first. ‘Wait here,’ he told the girls, leaving them in the car while he went to see what was happening.

Trapped behind the gilded bars, Rosewood Hall, usually standing so tall and proud at the end of the path, looked humbled. The setting sun behind the aged stone towers sent long crawling shadows across the grassy banks on either side where the roses blossomed, while dark areas bloomed like bruises across the old building. It looked misshapen and twisted in the odd light.

Jamie flipped an internal switch, putting on his most commanding and persuasive voice. ‘Can someone please explain what’s going on here?’

The man in front of him let out a long sigh, clearly tired of answering the same question all day. ‘There was an incident last night so we’re handling security checks for everyone entering the school. We’ll need to take your car keys in order to give your vehicle clearance, but you’ll be able to find it in the car park later.’

It wasn’t a clear answer, but Jamie figured their best option was to get inside and then find out what had happened. He waved the girls out of the vehicle, making sure to stand between them and the men.

‘Did you find anything out?’ Lottie whispered, and he shook his head as they followed the man to the entrance. The heavy gates moaned on their hinges. To Jamie it sounded like they were angry, each squeak a scream at being handled by the rough hands of the security guards.

Once in the school grounds they were left alone, the men in black shutting the gate behind them again with a metallic clang, only it didn’t feel like something was being locked out; it felt like they were being locked in.

An eerie silence followed them to reception, and it became more peculiar when they opened the door to find the hall empty. There was no one, no receptionist at the desk, no admin staff jostling about with books and documents, no students waiting in a line by the office door, and as they walked through into the courtyard there was nothing but dust floating in the strings of light through the caged cherry tree in the middle.

Jamie opened his mouth to say something when he heard commotion beyond the courtyard, hundreds of footsteps and the low hum of chattering, and beyond the archway, like a vision into some strange other world, they could make out students heading across the lavender-lined paths towards the field like a migration of birds.

Ellie scratched her head, and the three of them watched as students from all houses pushed past them to cross the bridge. ‘This is really weird.’

A few students stopped to stare at them, pointing and whispering, as if whatever was happening was somehow their fault, and Jamie was ready to pull a girl from Conch House over to the side for questioning when a familiar bird-like voice caught their attention.

‘There you are.’ Binah shot up from a bench by the bridge where she appeared to have been waiting for them, her tiny frame allowing her to squeeze through the hordes of students with ease. ‘You’re just in time for the emergency assembly.’

Up close, Jamie could smell sun cream on her skin and see the summer glow that still clung to her, only her face was pulled taut, no hint of a relaxing holiday left in the serious look she gave them.

‘The what?’

‘Hey, watch it.’ A girl from Ivy House pushed past Lottie, muttering something about her hair while giving her a venomous stare that made Jamie grind his teeth.

‘Something happened last night while you guys were away,’ Binah relayed, pulling Jamie’s attention back from the girl and already marching them in the same direction as the other students. ‘Someone broke into the school …’ She trailed off and Jamie knew there was something she wasn’t saying.

‘What happened, Binah?’ Jamie asked, keeping his voice low.

Fiddling with her yellow Stratus prefect sash, Binah glanced sideways at Lottie from behind her round glasses. Her already large eyes seemed to double in size, heavy lashes making her look like a wise owl. ‘The person who broke in –’ she shuddered, clearly not wanting to repeat it – ‘they were a reporter; they grabbed one of the boys from Year Eight, Dom Nguyen, and they threatened him. It was really traumatic.’

‘That explains the security,’ Lottie replied, her eyebrows knitting together with worry.

They were just outside the sports hall, a smell of lemon-scented cleaning products washing over them as students filtered in to find a seat on the tiered benches.

‘What aren’t you saying?’ It was Ellie who asked the question, grabbing Binah’s arm to get her to look at them face on.

Binah let out a long sigh, ushering them over to the side of the doorway and out of earshot. They regrouped by one of the water fountains, away from the other students who were gossiping among themselves.

‘The guy who broke in,’ Binah began, pushing up her glasses, and Jamie noted how her lips pursed, like she was trying to hold back the story. ‘He was deranged. Dom said he was like a zombie, that he could hardly communicate with him.’ She paused, letting the information sink in, all of them thinking the same thing, that the symptoms sounded dangerously like the effect of the Hamelin Formula. ‘And he kept saying the same thing over and over again.’ Binah gulped, looking at each of them in turn. ‘He kept saying he wanted a picture of the princess’s pretty new hair.’