It could be everything to me, yet he was being the king he was and forcing me to choose between my future and what I knew probably wasn’t right.
I shouldn’t go anywhere with Royce, especially not alone.
But if I didn’t, I would be sitting at this table, waiting for something to literally drop in my lap and solve all this for me.
At this rate, I would be taking the curator’s job in a few years.
Pushing my hair out of my face, I shoved my stuff back into my bag, my jaw set. I would run it by Johanna and Arthur. After all, they were the ones that knew the entire story. Maybe they could give me some advice about if I should trust Royce or not.
Who was I kidding? I couldn’t trust Royce at all. He hadn’t given me any reason to, making my life a living hell from the moment I stepped across that threshold.
Why remained to be seen.
**
I didn’t have a chance to run it by either of them until the next afternoon, grabbing Arthur after lunch and dragging him to my dorm room. “If I knew you needed me this much, I would have come prepared,” he joked as I opened the door.
I didn’t bother to answer, walking in and finding Johanna seated at her desk, her wireless earbuds in her ears. She looked up and removed them slowly. “What’s he doing here?”
I shut the door behind Arthur. “I need to talk about something with both of you.”
“Okay,” she said slowly, crossing her arms over her chest.
I dropped my bag on the floor and looked at them both. “I had a conversation with Royce.”
Arthur’s eyes narrowed. “What kind of conversation?”
“He knows something,” I continued, ignoring the jealous tone of his voice. “Something about my father and why I am here at Weissmore. He wants me to allow him to help.”
“That’s bullshit,” Arthur said immediately, his fists balled at his side. “Don’t trust him, Anna.”
“Why?” I asked, mimicking his stance. “Why shouldn’t I trust him? He can’t be much different than you.” I knew I was throwing old business in his face, but it was the truth. I had trusted him, and he had lied to me. It wasn’t like I wanted to have Royce help me. I knew all the kings were trouble and I needed to keep my guard up against all of them.
Arthur glared at me. “If he wants to help, then I will be there to watch him.”
“No,” I said with a quick shake of my head. “He said I had to do it alone.”
“You’re kidding me, right?” Arthur asked, his gaze incredulous. “Anna, you can’t trust him.”
“I agree with Arthur,” Johanna finally spoke up. “Royce is an asshole and he’s been nothing but nasty to you, Anna. Why would he want to help you? What’s his motive?”
That I didn’t know. I too was surprised that Royce all of a sudden wanted to help me, but at least he was offering.
No one else was. “I need to give it a shot,” I said, clearing my throat. “This could be what I was looking for.”
Arthur let out a frustrated breath, walking over to gently cup my chin in his hand. “Anna, please,” he said softly, his eyes boring into mine. “I’ve known Royce a long time. He doesn’t do anything remotely nice without wanting something in return. You need to trust me, but never him.”
I stepped out of his touch, mainly because I couldn’t think when he was that close to me. “I appreciate your concern, but honestly I was just trying to keep you in the loop.” What Arthur didn’t know was I hadn’t made up my mind until that moment, when he had asked me to trust him. I had tried repeatedly to trust him and all Arthur had done was either let me down or try to distract me.
I was finding it hard to trust anyone.
Arthur made a sound of disgust as he brushed past me and wrenched open the door, stalking out of the room. “Well he sure is pissed off,” Johanna remarked as I shut the door. “What does Royce have, Anna? Is it really that good?”
I drew in a breath, leaning against the door. “He thinks that there is something here at the academy that forced Isauros’ hand into keeping me here, something along the legal lines.”
Johanna’s eyes rounded. “Legally? But I thought you were …”
“A bastard,” I finished for her, the word bitter on my tongue. “Yes, but why else would she even entertain the idea of me being here? Would you?”
“No, I wouldn’t,” Johanna replied softly. “Do you think Royce is telling the truth? What does he know?”
I ran a hand over my face wearily. “I don’t know. He refused to tell me unless I made the bargain to go with him alone.”
“It sounds fishy.”
I agreed, but what else could I do? He would likely just continue to taunt me relentlessly until I finally gave in.
“But I don’t feel the same way as Arthur does,” Johanna continued, giving me a sad smile. “I believe Arthur is still out to marry you, Anna. His family needs your connections and I wouldn’t put it past him to give into the pressure from his own family to get you to marry him.”
Yeah, I knew that too and it worried me. Arthur had made it a point to go out of his way to try to please me lately and I knew he wasn’t giving up on any chance of us being together. “So, what would be the harm in seeing what Royce has found?”
“A
