by Connie Glynn
Another shiver ran through her body and she hugged her knees close. She didn’t know how she’d find her way out of the woods or what she’d say when she saw Jamie and Ellie. She didn’t want to think about anything; she just wanted to curl up under the tree and be alone.
‘Lottie!’
Her head jerked up at her name, not sure how much time had passed. Her whole body was shivering and she could feel the chill in her bones.
The voice called louder. ‘LOTTIE!’
She slowly got up, damp earth sticking to her clothes.
Someone was approaching on the other side of the tree, and she looked round the trunk to see Jamie standing there – with her coat and a blanket.
She rubbed her eyes, feeling the embarrassment creep back over her. How did he find me?
‘I can follow tracks.’
Lottie blinked at him, her eyes sore and misty.
‘Come on,’ he said, holding his hand out. She took it and he tenderly wrapped the coat and blanket around her. His arms lingered on her shoulders and she was surprised by how comforting it felt to be close to him after the awkwardness following the pool incident.
‘We’re sorry. We should have remembered what today is for you. That was a significant oversight on my … I’m sorry.’
Lottie sniffed. ‘I’m fine.’
A soft rumble of laughter escaped Jamie’s throat. ‘You always say that.’
There was a hint of regret in his voice that forced Lottie to look into his eyes. The tree cast a huge blue shadow over them, as if they were in their own milky world. His expression had a sweet ache to it and she knew she was witnessing something rare.
‘I really miss her. But I don’t want her to worry about me.’ Somehow it didn’t feel strange to be sharing this with Jamie.
Jamie nodded, his face solemn, and Lottie truly believed that he did understand. Yet there was something about his empathy that struck her. Did he have a sad secret from his past too? What happened? And there was that question again: How did you become a Partizan?
‘Come on! It’s time to go back now – Ellie’s got something for you.’
Lottie let him lead her through the woods. He was so sure of where they were going, not troubled at all by the density of the trees.
She ran inside as soon as they reached Ivy Wood, eager to change out of her dirty clothes and wash her face. Clean at last, she paused by her bedside table and pulled out her tiara from the box Ellie had given her. She put it on her head and took a deep breath. Be brave.
‘Do you want to go to the hall?’ Jamie asked when she came back downstairs.
Lottie considered it for a moment: the other students in their pretty Valentine’s Day outfits, everyone smiling and laughing. The promise she’d made to her mother echoed in her head, and a melancholy smile crept on to her lips. ‘I want to see Ellie.’
Lottie followed Jamie to the main dining hall, where the Valentine’s preparations were truly under way. Big bouquets of red and pink roses lined the tables against the walls, with strings of heart-shaped bunting across the sides and ceiling. Lottie couldn’t even begin to imagine how they’d been strung up so high. In the centre of the hall, where there were usually large tables, was an enormous white chocolate fountain surrounded by an array of fruits and sweets, all emblazoned with TOMPKINS CONFECTIONERY.
As if on cue, Lola’s voice squeaked from behind her. The twins stood beside each other, dressed smartly for the occasion in matching white and red. They both held wicker baskets filled with loveheart cupcakes.
‘We’ve been looking for you!’ Micky held out a pink cupcake topped with a loveheart that said PRINCESS LOTTIE.
‘Everyone gets a cupcake. Except Jamie.’ Lola said his name like it was poison. ‘He’s banned from having cupcakes because he said he doesn’t like sweet food.’
‘Which is sacrilege,’ the twins said in unison.
Lottie blinked at them, taking in their serious expressions, then laughed. She’d been so sure that all she wanted to do that day was hide away from everyone, but here with the sugary-sweet twins she found it impossible to feel sad.
‘Well, that’s fine anyway,’ Jamie said sarcastically, appearing at Lottie’s side, ‘because cupcakes are disgusting.’
Lola gasped as if she’d just received a blow and Lottie snorted.
‘Blasphemy!’ Micky replied. They both shielded their cupcakes as if protecting them from Jamie’s harsh words.
‘Thank you so much for mine,’ Lottie said cheerily. ‘It looks as sweet as you two.’
Lola instantly regained her composure and grinned at Lottie. ‘You are most welcome.’
The two then skipped off happily to hand out the rest. Lottie turned back to Jamie, but her eye was caught by a sight in the doorway that made her heart skip a beat.
Ellie.
She spotted Lottie and came racing over, nearly knocking over a Stratus girl, who was carrying a plate of sugar cookies.
‘Ellie, I’m sorry about earlier …’ Lottie blushed as she said the words.
Ellie shook her head. ‘No, Lottie, you have nothing to apologize for. I’m sorry.’ She gave Lottie a tender look. ‘I was so stupid. I know this is an important day for you …’ Her voice trailed off and she ran a hand through her hair bashfully. ‘I know this won’t fix anything, but I got these for you.’ From behind her back, she revealed a small bouquet of marguerite flowers, the flower Lottie’s mother was named for. Lottie felt a wave of emotion hit her as she looked at them, and couldn’t stop a tear escaping.
‘That’s …’ She had to pause to take a breath. ‘Thank you so much, Ellie, I love them.’
Jamie coughed, reminding them he was there. ‘I’ll catch up with you two later,’ he said, and left them on their own.
Ellie and Lottie sat on the veranda outside, overlooking the rose garden, with their cupcakes. Lottie still felt raw. She realized she’d never opened up to anyone like that before, but Ellie and Jamie hadn’t been mad at her or told her she needed to calm down. They’d both been so comforting. Thinking about it sent a warm feeling through her body.
‘It’s a blessing that Jamie doesn’t like sweets really,’ Ellie mumbled, her mouth filled with frosting. ‘Because it means I always get to eat his dessert.’
Lottie giggled as she watched Ellie shove half the cupcake in her mouth at once, leaving a trail of frosting around her nose and lips.
‘Let me get that for you!’ Lottie leaned forward and gently wiped a bit of frosting off Ellie’s cheek then licked it from her finger. Ellie grinned at her, shoving the rest into her mouth before starting on the next one. Lottie was about to take a bite of hers when she noticed something odd in the icing. There was a small dent in the decoration where a piece of paper had been poked into the frosting. She was about to tell Ellie when that feeling of dread that she’d become so familiar with lurched in her stomach, telling her to keep quiet. She pulled the paper out, making sure Ellie didn’t notice, and carefully unfolded it, wondering if was from a secret admirer. It was not.
Roses are red.
Violets are blue.
Watch your back, Princess.
I’m coming for you.
She quickly shoved the paper into her skirt pocket, trying to hide away from the words. Her gaze went blank and she felt dizzy.
‘Are you OK, Lottie?’
Ellie’s voice startled her back to reality. Her friend’s eyes were wide with worry, her concerned smile providing a small amount of comfort.
‘It’s nothing, I …’ The message blinked in Lottie’s mind and the writing blurred. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t tell Ellie. She couldn’t deal with another threat, not today. ‘I’m just a bit emotionally rundown, but this cupcake will help.’ She beamed her best reassuring smile.
She couldn’t tell Ellie. If Jamie found out, and her family thought they were in danger, they might take Ellie away.
‘Are you sure?’ Ellie asked again, still looking concerned.
Lottie stare
d at her, face covered in frosting, strands of black hair falling around her comforting features. She couldn’t lose her.
‘Just peachy,’ she lied.
41
Easter break was not much of a break at all. Lottie once again threw herself into studying for her end-of-year exams as an escape from thinking about the threatening message she’d received in the cupcake. There were no more scary messages and she was almost able to persuade herself there was no problem at all. As term wore on, everyone fell back into the routine of study sessions and revision groups. Rosewood Hall was not a place for students who weren’t willing and ready to work hard.
Soon the trees around Rosewood were filled with colourful blossoms and the flowers and trellises bloomed, a flamboyant indicator of the approaching summer exams. Yet for all the colourful displays around the grounds, a lavender-scented calm enveloped the school, which accompanied a twitchy anticipation something big might happen. For most students this was the end-of-year exam results, but Lottie had another looming event: the summer ball.
Study leave began on the first day of May and Lottie’s last exam was maths on the twentieth. They would get their marks on the final day of the month: 31 May. Once Ellie and Lottie had their results, they would fly back to Maradova and begin preparing for the ball – so long as they did well in their exams.
Lottie shot out of bed on results day, pulling herself out of a nightmare in which her grades had been so bad that she was not only banned from being a Portman and expelled but she had to become a court jester and perform circus tricks for the Maravish royal family. She clutched her hand to her chest, panting heavily, and looked up to witness the most shocking thing she’d seen all year. Ellie was awake before her.
‘I’m nervous about the exam results,’ Ellie said frankly as they left the Ivy dorm, chewing the cuticle on her thumb.
‘Hypothetically, Ellie, if we had failed them … Couldn’t your family just, I don’t know, pay someone to change your grades?’
‘Ha!’ Ellie cackled. ‘I wish. A wolf never cheats, Lottie.’
They met Jamie by the gate and Lottie noticed that his eyes were more sunken than usual, suggesting he hadn’t slept well either.
Could he be nervous too? She couldn’t imagine Jamie getting nervous about anything, but she felt too awkward to ask him about it. Ever since he had come to find her in the Rose Wood, she couldn’t seem to look him in the eye, and she was sure he was avoiding her too.
They stood in the queue with all the other anxious students who’d woken up extra early to collect their results.
This was the make-or-break moment. If she’d failed, she’d not only have her bursary revoked but she’d no longer be allowed to continue her role as Portman.
Ellie was fidgeting, rubbing her fingers together as she chewed her lip, all the while gazing into the distance. This was equally terrifying for her. If she didn’t get adequate grades, her parents would consider the Rosewood Hall experiment a failure and pull her from the school.
Lottie took a deep breath and held it. They were in the grand oak-walled reception hall, which she’d walked through on her first day of school and had thought so magnificent, but this time it felt overbearing and intimidating.
They took one final step forward in the line. Sitting in front of them was the Year Twelve Stratus head of year Angus Berkeley, the merlin symbol of his house visible on his yellow sash.
‘Name – Oh! Lottie, we have your file here.’
Princess perks!
Angus reached to the side and pulled up a green hardback file with the three-rose symbol of the school on the front. ‘Also your phone can be returned now,’ he said as he handed everything to her.
‘Thank you,’ Lottie said, taking the file with shaking hands.
They stood together in the courtyard by the entrance next to the large archway. Binah had come to join them and her enthusiastic energy only made Lottie more nervous.
‘I’m so excited!’ Binah trilled, opening her file with no hesitation. Her expression turned into one of disappointment, though, as she glanced at the grade summary on the first page. ‘Oh.’
Lottie’s heart sank. If Binah had done badly, then how terribly had Lottie and Ellie done? But her worries quickly turned to groans when Binah added, ‘Top marks in everything. How very boring.’
Ellie had to stop herself from snorting. ‘You ready?’ she asked Lottie, putting her fingers on the cover in readiness to open it.
Lottie puffed up her chest and nodded resolutely. ‘Yep.’
They opened their files together, and Lottie saw Jamie twitch out of the corner of her eye. She shuddered at the thought of what his reaction would be if she’d failed. She felt sick. She felt like she was going to pass out. She finally looked down at the page before her.
She’d done it.
She’d passed everything with seventy per cent or higher.
She was in the top five in her year for English! Her heart skipped a beat as she took in her most difficult subjects. Maths, chemistry and physics were all in the top fifteen grades. She felt tears sting her eyes as she looked up at Jamie and nodded, then turned to Ellie who was still staring at her grade summary, her face blank.
‘Ellie?’ she asked apprehensively.
Ellie shook her head. ‘I can’t believe this,’ she said slowly. ‘I’m ranked seventeen in grades for the whole year. I made the top twenty.’
Lottie felt a huge wave of relief. She’d seen Ellie’s exam results from previous years. ‘Lacking effort’ would have been an understatement.
‘Of course you did!’ Binah tutted, rolling her eyes. ‘If any of you weren’t in the top twenty per cent I would be furious.’ She smiled at them. ‘You’re some of the smartest, most hard-working people I know.’
Ellie was still stunned at her grades. She looked at Jamie, who was struggling to suppress a smile.
‘See what you can achieve when you actually apply yourself?’ he said sternly, but then his expression softened and he nodded to both of them. ‘I’m proud of you.’
Lottie grabbed a chunk of the huge celebratory cookie that was on the main table in the Ivy common room, with CONGRATULATIONS in big purple frosting. She sidestepped out of the way as two Year Thirteen Ivy girls came dancing into the room, singing and shouting with excitement at passing their exams.
‘But I wanted top marks in everything – a B is not good enough!’ Another Ivy girl was crying down the phone to her parents about her one ‘bad’ grade, and Lottie gave her a comforting smile.
Ellie and Lottie sat back in the purple chairs of the common room, watching and laughing at everyone celebrating. They were having their luggage flown back to Maradova the next day and would have a short stop in Paris to collect their dresses for the ball, so they were happy to spend the evening enjoying themselves before their next adventure.
While everyone packed and said their teary goodbyes for the summer, Lottie had one more thing she needed to fix before going to Maradova for the summer.
She excused herself, went to her room and turned on her phone for the first time since she had arrived at the school. It felt weird to have it in her hand again; she’d got so used to being disconnected from everything outside the Rosewood walls that it almost felt overwhelming to see it come to life in her hand.
Messages from Ollie appeared on the screen. The first was from the first day of school.
I know you can’t use your phone until the end of the year, but I wanted you to get this message when you finish your exams. I know I tease you a lot, but Mum and I are really proud of you and I’m sure you’ve done amazingly.
The second was from three weeks ago.
I don’t know what’s going on with you but I hope you’re OK …
Lottie shook her head and opened up Ollie’s number. It rang six times before he answered.
‘She lives!’ came the humorous voice on the other end.
‘Ollie!’ She almost choked on his name as she uttered it. So much had h
appened since she had last seen him, and here he was, innocent Ollie, her best friend from a simpler time in her life, and she was going to have to let him down again.
‘I assume you’re calling to ask us to meet you at the station tomorrow? Which we’d obviously be happy to do.’
Lottie’s heart sank. She hated having to keep things from him.
‘Actually, Ollie, I need to tell you something.’
The other end of the phone went silent and she could feel the disappointment and anger radiating through the speaker.
‘OK,’ he said at last.
Lottie took a deep breath. ‘I can’t come home for the summer, or at all … I’ve written to Beady about it. I don’t know when or if I can come back …’ Her voice trailed off and she was met with silence again.
‘Lottie, what aren’t you telling me?’
Lottie almost gasped at how serious he sounded. It was so unlike him. He made everything into a joke. ‘Are you in trouble?’
‘No, Ollie, I’m fine. I can’t tell you right now, but I promise I’m fine and I promise I’ll come and see you as soon as I can.’
She heard a groan on the end of the phone. ‘Fine!’ He sounded hurt. ‘If you’re not going to explain to me what’s going on, then …’ His voice petered off and she heard him make an annoyed noise. ‘Whatever. Just have a good life.’
The phone went silent in Lottie’s hand and she looked down, tears trickling on to the screen. She’d done it. She just had to hope it was the right thing to do.
42
Lottie had grown up knowing the name Madame Marie’s, dreaming that one day she might be lucky enough to see the white-pillared shopfront where the world’s most glamorous gowns were sold. And yet Lottie found herself not just marvelling at the outside but actually inside the shop, trying on dresses as if she herself were someone special. It was a sunny Tuesday morning and the girls had been shuttled to Paris to collect their dresses for the ball. From the window in the consulting room, Lottie could see the Eiffel Tower glittering away – floating specks of dust caught in the sunlight, making it look like a statue within a snow globe.