“I’m afraid I must leave now; I need to get my exam results.” There was a sudden breeze, and as she turned she saw rose petals float through the air, a trail of them drifting down to welcome her. Glancing back over her shoulder, she added, “I’m expecting excellent grades.”
Lottie’s gaze was fixed on one person only. Aimee Wu. Light glinted off Aimee’s glasses, her eyes cast down to where she was writing in a notepad. With each flick of the pen, a thick ball of dread settled uncomfortably in Lottie’s stomach.
Samuel’s arm draped protectively over her shoulders, his large body shielding her from any further questions. Samuel had eased the golden gate open. “Come on,” he said, quietly encouraging her. She began to follow him, but she couldn’t tear her gaze from Aimee, who now stared hypnotically back. And just as Lottie stepped through the gate, she tripped.
The ground came hurtling up toward her, and she threw her hands out to break her fall. Cameras clicked. Samuel’s voice called out.
A strong hand effortlessly pulled her up. The sting on her knees told her she’d scraped them, and her arm ached where she’d landed on it. Soon there would be bruises, but that would be the least of her troubles.
Limping up the pathway, confused and hot with embarrassment, Lottie could still feel Aimee Wu’s eyes burning through the back of her head, people sniggering and most likely comparing photos of a princess groveling on the ground.
I’ve really messed this up.
2
“WE SHOULDN’T BE HERE—AH . . . AH . . . ah!”
“Here!” Lottie held out a tissue for Ellie just as she let out a huge sneeze.
“Atchoo!” Ellie hid her face in the tissue and noisily blew her nose, before lifting her head, eyes streaming as they took in Rosewood.
At the end of the rose-lined path stood the home to the righteous, resolute, and resourceful. It towered over them, sunlight glowing around its edges like rays from the face of an ancient god and demanding just as much respect. Every step up the path felt like a step closer to safety.
Only, something was off. It wasn’t just her fall and the ravenous glances that followed her, but for a second the scents that usually felt like home had turned sour. She was glad Ellie couldn’t smell it.
Handing her another tissue, Lottie noticed her friend’s eyes. Darker, deeper, a midnight ocean that might pull her down. The two of them were almost the same height now, the distance closing in as Lottie grew taller. She could look straight into her eyes now, falling fast into those dark pools whenever their gazes met.
“Thanks,” Ellie grumbled, blowing her nose again, the moment swiftly over. “We should have gotten our results sent to us at the palace. Then we’d be safe.” Hesitating, just long enough for Lottie to notice, her princess added, “Safe from those reporters. Look what they did to you.” Her face darkened. “I should teach them a lesson.”
Dressed in an oversize black sweatshirt and ripped fishnets, Ellie was neither dressed for the warm British summer nor for a common cold. Lottie had to assume she was delirious if she thought she’d be able to take on anyone in her current state.
She was right about one thing, though. Coming back to Rosewood was starting to feel like a bad idea.
Rosewood Hall was Lottie’s home in more ways than one, or so she’d recently found out. She’d uncovered a secret to rival even her highly confidential Portman agreement. In an entirely unlikely turn of events, it had become apparent that the founder of the school was the runaway princess Liliana Mayfutt, and that same princess just happened to be Lottie’s ancestor. She had passed down her tiara like a shining puzzle waiting to be solved by none other than Lottie.
All her life Lottie had dreamed of being a princess. She’d thought they were the childish fantasies of an ordinary girl obsessed with fairy tales. When the opportunity had arisen to play the part of a princess on a professional level, in order to protect Ellie’s identity and give her the freedom denied to most of royal blood, none of them had imagined Lottie might actually have a real royal connection. This school was in her blood.
So why had she floundered just now, as she’d stepped through the gates? This was meant to be her safe harbor, not the scene of her humiliation.
“I’m completely fine, and I doubt anyone noticed,” Lottie lied. “Besides, it’s good to get out and about, and it’ll be nice to stay at Binah’s for a few days.”
In reality, there was more to this trip than collecting their exam results. If it had been up to Lottie, they would have stayed at Rosewood after their last exams like most of the other students. Ellie needed to get out of the palace. It was making her ill, literally.
As if on cue, Ellie broke out in a new fit of coughing before she recovered and smiled weakly.
“Let’s go and find the others. Get as far away as possible from those reporters,” Lottie suggested.
“Atchoo!”
“Bless you, Ellie. Hello, Lottie.”
Both girls looked toward the giant stone arch of the reception doorway. Beneath it stood a girl with dark curly hair and a yellow cloak, the rosy tint of a holiday illuminating her radiant brown skin.
“You have a cold, Ellie!” Binah’s glasses glinted in the sunlight. “I’ll have to make you my honey-and-ginger tonic when we get back to my place. It can cure anything.”
“Yeah, maybe. I’m fine, just . . .” Ellie caught the look in Lottie’s eye and immediately looked away. “I’m fine. Let’s just get our results.”
Indicating for Nikolay Olav and Samuel to wait for them outside, Ellie stepped into the reception hall, trying to be inconspicuous, which was not easy when she was dressed like an eighties punk rock star and Lottie like a princess on display.
The hall greeted them with a creak
