Maisie

I awoke the next morning with dread in my stomach.

It didn’t matter how hard I tried to think of a way out of the summons, I simply couldn’t, and by the sun was high in the skies and the hallways were filled with students, I was literally dying from anxiety.

"Maisie, it can’t be that bad," Regina said as we waited our turn to be assigned to one of those luxury coaches. It was class by class, and the seniors went in first. "I’m sure it’ll be a walk in the park. From all we’ve heard, the Queen seems pretty... reasonable."

I didn’t know what it was. All day and night yesterday, I couldn’t get rid of the bad feeling that swelled in my chest.

I liked to think I was discerning of bad situations, but I’d had so many terrible things happen to me in the last couple of months that I could no longer tell if this was a bad situation. Or if this was simply protocol.

I mean, the entire reason why Soren had brought Brynn to prepare me was my presentation to the Queen, and the only thing I had ever been warned about was the danger in being disrespectful to the crown.

I sighed, lips parting to tell Regina that meeting a monarch could never be a walk in the park, when I caught sight of a shock of brown hair.

"I’ll be right back," I told my best friends and hurried over to the line of fourth years outside. "Lyon!"

Lyon’s back stiffened. And then, he kept walking, even if I very well knew he’d heard me.

I walked a little faster and grabbed his wrist before he could stalk off. When he turned, my breath got stuck in my chest.

His left eye was purple with a bruise and he had a stitch on his eyebrow. There was a band aid over the crook of his nose and it looked like it had only been set back in place.

His right arm was in a sling and his wrists had bandages lining them.

"What happened to you?" I asked, and when he gave me a pointed look, my fingers flew to my lips. "Mercer did this to you?"

That was five days ago. If it still looked this bad... oh god.

He made a face. "I’d rather you kept it down. The official story is I got drunk and fell off five stories. And I’d much prefer that version."

"I had no idea. Lyon, I am so sorry—"

He waved me off with his free hand. "Don’t apologize. I was the dick. You were high and I was—"

"Drunk," I finished. "And I initiated it! He had no right to do that to you—"

"Look, Mace. I like you," he cut in, and the world around us blurred into the background, and for a moment, it was his earnest brown eyes and the tension in his face and the emotion thick in his voice. "Too much, if I’m being fucking honest. I always have."

I swallowed.

"But there are a lot of things I know I can’t compete with," he continued. "I admit that for a moment there, I lost my head. I thought that maybe if I could be the one who gathered all the pieces of you together, maybe you would see me. And one day, choose me."

"Lyon, I didn’t know—"

"I would risk it, you know. I still would, if I thought I stood a chance with you. If I thought you weren’t touching and kissing me because you can’t have someone else."

A lump formed in the back of my throat. "I don’t—I can’t—that is not why I kissed you—" I shook my head, knowing that trying to explain would only make things worse. "I’m sorry. I never wanted you to get hurt."

"Hey Park!" a senior called. "You coming?"

Lyon nodded with a half hearted response, before his eyes settled on me again. He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. "This entanglement is a bit too much for me. And I think it’d be best if I kept my distance."

There was sadness in his eyes. But there was also fear.

In fact, his eyes kept darting to the crowd, like he was expecting some monster to show up out of nowhere.

My voice rose in anger. "What did he say to you?"

His expression became hard and remote. "I don’t think you want to know."

And then, he turned around and walked away from me, with a limp, and it felt for a moment like I had lost something important to me. Again. And I had so much anger I didn’t know what to do with.

Not because of Lyon’s decision, but because of what had been done to him. Because of me.

The anger became tears that filled my eyes because I didn’t know what to do with it, and I headed straight for the bathroom, not needing to have my friends worrying about why I was crying at the center of the general student body.

Just how much more would they take from me—

I had just turned the corner when I heard the sound of Lana’s hushed voice coming from the male’s bathroom.

"Cole, please. Don’t do this to me." I halted at the sound of the anguish in her voice. "You keep ignoring my texts and calls and I don’t know what to do anymore. The Braxtons will throw me out if they found out—"

"You told me you were on the pill."

"So I lied," Lana said. "Can you blame me? Your eyes were wandering, and you were acting out of sorts. Unpredictable. And the only way I knew to keep you—"

"Was to deceive me into impregnating you? Are you insane?"

Holy shit. Lana was pregnant.

"Cole please—"

"Get rid of it," Cole said vehemently. "Or I’ll help you facilitate the abortion faster. You think it’ll survive if I punched your stomach?"

Horror washed over me.

"This is your child, Cole!" Lana hissed. "And maybe you’re too blinded by Maisie’s new, flashy personality to see the fact that she’s never been the type of girl you hold down in one place for too long. She will never marry you."

Cole snorted. "It’s already done. The Council grew tired of the Crown Prince’s procrastinations and has decided to petition the Queen to override his refusal to hand her over."

My legs turned to lead and my face went hot.

The gears in my mind began to shift. Was this why the summons had come? Not because I was being presented in Court? Oh god.

Lana let out a harsh laugh. "You always were an idiot. All brawn and no brains. You know, I did exactly what you asked. You told me to make myself useful and get close enough to learn something."

"And did you?" Cole growled in annoyance. "I mean, they walk around acting like they’re better than all of us, but I guess a pussy’s still a pussy."

I couldn’t keep the wave of disgust that rolled over me.

"I tried. I couldn’t get anything out of the Prince. There is something seriously wrong with him. It was like trying to get a read on a psychopath. The redhead broke my arm. He said it was fair, since I broke Maisie’s during Combat."

My breath caught.

"The silver one told me if I dyed my hair brown and added a bit of weight to my ass like my sister, he would find me making a fool of myself around him a little more entertaining."

Jericho.

My eyes grew wider.

"The blonde was the nicest of the four. He took me for a drive along the valley. It was almost romantic. And then, he took me to dinner—"

"Did you fuck him or not?" Cole’s voice was cold and ruthless, and for the life of me, I didn’t understand what she ever saw in him. Why she ever liked him. He was a bastard. He didn’t even care about her.

There was that obnoxious laughter again. "Sometimes, I wonder if the reason you asked me to seduce them wasn’t to get information out of them, but to show Maisie that they aren’t that great."

Well, he shouldn’t have bothered. I already knew they weren’t.

Lana’s voice shook. "But here’s the thing. I didn’t fuck him, and it wasn’t for the lack of trying. For the first time in my life, a man took me to dinner without wanting anything from me. And then he looked at me across the table at the most magical spot in Ashbourne and told me that I would never measure up to my sister."

I shoved down a gasp. Then I shook my head. Doesn’t matter. Doesn’t matter. Doesn’t fucking matter. I’m done with that Chapter. I don’t care why they did it. I just don’t care.

"So your cunt wasn’t enticing enough for them?" Cole drawled. "Should’ve asked someone else to do it—"

A slap echoed in the bathroom and I knew she had slapped him. "I told you all of that to make you understand that there is something between them that we don’t understand, but as usual, you don’t care. You will take responsibility for this, Cole. You will speak to your father and fix our broken alliance. We will get married, as we should have."

Cole chuckled. "You’re desperate. Because we both know no one’s going to marry you if I don’t. And you know what? I’ll throw my lot in with Maisie. Maybe I’ll keep you as my mistress."

I heard Lana start to cry.

Then Cole came out the corner so fast, I didn’t get the chance to duck out of the way.

His green eyes flared with surprise then a cocky grin lifted his lips. "Soon, darling."

And then, he had the audacity to lean in and try to press a kiss to my mouth.

My hand swung before I could stop it, but he must’ve predicted I would try punch his disgusting face because he caught my wrist, laughing softly. "Feisty. You have no fucking idea how sexy you are."

I considered spitting in his face when the speakers located all over the school crackled and Atlas’s voice echoed through every hall way.

"Maisie Adams. Report to my office immediately with your belongings. I repeat, Maisie Adams, report here immediately."