Princess at Heart (The Rosewood Chronicles)

Brush, brush, brush.

Every night before getting into bed Lottie brushed her hair in the bathroom mirror, a ritual that Ellie would watch from the door frame while she cleaned her teeth. It was hypnotic the way the yellow light made Lottie’s hair look like sunshine, the soft humming from her lips, and the serenity that overtook her features, except none of it was calm now, only anxious.

Brush, brush, snag.

Ellie wanted to ask her what was wrong, what she was hiding, but that meant getting close to her, which was dangerous, and besides it wouldn’t matter soon anyway.

Catching Ellie’s eye in the mirror, Lottie beamed, a smile that would have fooled anyone else – and Ellie’s stomach began to burn, the Maravish word she’d had written into her ribcage still not healed. She winced, putting a hand to her torso.

‘Ellie,’ Lottie said tentatively, ‘I hope you don’t mind me asking, but … did you get a tattoo?’

Ellie couldn’t meet Lottie’s eyes, but nodded silently. She could tell Lottie wanted to know more but she wasn’t prepared to share any details. This tattoo, and what it meant, was for her alone.

Lottie understood the silence. ‘It’s so cold now –’ she gave a little shudder to emphasize her point – ‘might be time to sleep with an extra blanket.’

Lingering in the bathroom, Ellie could sense the plea in Lottie’s tone; her Portman was desperate for her to make one of her classic quips, to prove everything was still normal. Ellie complied, always weak for that puppy-dog look. ‘Doesn’t Mr Truffles and your mountain of other stuffed animals keep you warm enough?’

Lottie’s eyes lit up at the perceived olive branch. ‘They need a blanket too,’ she said, smiling.

Lottie finally headed to her bed, satisfied that Ellie had been appeased – but they both knew that things were anything other than normal.

There had been an unspoken discomfort hanging in the air since Lottie’s decision to cut her father out of her life. The very thought sent a fresh wave of hot-needle pain over Ellie’s tattoo, and she tried her best to cover up the wince, both she and Lottie pretending not to notice.

‘Night, Ellie,’ Lottie cooed, cuddling up with her stuffed pig.

It was too much seeing Lottie snuggled and sleepy with the squishy soft toy, the kind of cute that makes your chest feel like it’s going to explode if you don’t squeeze something.

‘Sweet dreams,’ Ellie murmured, rolling over to get the sight of Lottie out of her head before it made her tattoo hurt any more. And so she prepared for another sleepless night.

She could tell when Lottie was out cold, her breathing deep and whistling like a lullaby – the trigger for Ellie to begin her nightly routine. Sometimes she’d manage to sleep for a little while, but now that winter had arrived, with the Christmas holidays and time with her family slowly approaching, Ellie found her mind endlessly buzzing. So she did what she always did now, and got up and went to the bathroom to rub salve on the puffy area where the henna was slowly fading.

‘Why do you hurt so much?’ Ellie whispered to herself, staring at her reflection in the bathroom mirror.

Stephanie had been adamant that the tattooed area would eventually heal, yet so far no amount of creams or salves kept the flaring down for long. Ellie was starting to become used to the sting, the tattoo her conscience, reminding her of the pain she’d inflicted upon everyone by getting them tangled up in her family’s messes, warning her against crossing the line with Lottie into a place they couldn’t go back from.

One day you’ll be queen and they’ll be far away from the Wolfson sickness, she told herself.

Rubbing her hands through her hair, Ellie prepared to head back to the bedroom, knowing it would smell of roses and lavender and Lottie, Lottie, Lottie. As she left the bathroom, she heard the telltale squeak of the Ivy Wood gate. No one was allowed in or out of the dorm area this late at night, especially not since the doubled-down security.

Peering out of the corridor window, Ellie could see that the figure was tall, waving at the night guard as he made his way down the path towards their building, drifting with a ghostly gait. There was something in his arms, something Ellie couldn’t make out. It wasn’t until the mystery person stepped into the light from the path, that his signature fluffy hair and glasses gave him away. It was Haru, and he was heading towards the boys’ dorm.

Before Ellie could see what was nestled under his arm, he moved out of her sight. She knew she had to find him and stop him.

Ellie crept back to her room and switched her nightclothes for black T-shirt and leggings. As she passed Lottie’s bed, the rose-pink bedsheets rising and falling with Lottie’s steady breathing, her lips parted slightly indicating she was in a deep sleep, Ellie wondered if she should stay behind, that maybe doing this would only cause more trouble for her friend. The storm inside her began to calm until she saw a flash of metal winking at her from beneath the pink bed. Liliana’s sword.

The storm bellowed inside her once more, directionless and confused – a great hurricane that had no understanding of its target or why it raged, only that it needed to unleash itself, and it had to be now. Ellie grabbed the sword, feeling the singing metal greet her, and together they flew down the stairs.

Sticking close to the shadows, Ellie tiptoed round the back of the building. Sure enough, she found Haru skulking at the back door to the boys’ dorm where the emergency exit light shone bright crimson against the twisting ivy. There was none of that malleable and accommodating charm that Haru usually wore, no lulling summer-breeze smile. Only pure concentration.

He was on a mission, and Ellie was going to put a stop to it.

‘Put your hands up!’

Before Ellie could utter another word, Haru effortlessly dipped under her blade, twisting with the slick movement of a shadow until he was out of the way. He shot his leg out, tripping Ellie, before grabbing her with his free hand and pinning her against the wall with such force that the air flew out of her lungs.

Haru blinked at her, confused, before quickly righting himself. ‘I am so sorry.’ He bowed low, and the moment he let go Ellie rolled forward, desperately gulping in air. ‘It is my Partizan instinct to attack intruders.’

Ellie watched the Partizan-trained member of Leviathan raise his head, and this time she couldn’t breathe for completely different reasons. There was something behind his mask, the illusion broken, and for the first time she saw what was hiding there and it was terrifying.

Is this what Lottie had been dealing with? The thought was so awful it made her feel sick.

‘Your little princess should have made it clear to you not to interfere with me.’ He spoke calmly, more like an adult affectionately telling off a naughty child, and it was so disarming that she nearly didn’t register how sinister his words were. ‘Unless you are intentionally trying to make things difficult for her?’

Ellie tried to hold her ground. ‘What are you doing skulking around?’ Her lungs still ached from being winded. ‘You said we’d be safe if we behaved.’ She was about to ask what he had in his hand when she saw the Christmas-pudding wrapping paper.

It was a Christmas present.

‘I was going to leave a present for Jamie-kun. I wanted it to be an anonymous surprise. Something to take home with him when term ends.’ He cocked his head to the side in faux innocence. ‘Has your little princess got him anything yet?’

‘She … What?’ Ellie was thrown by the question, and she tried to move to the side where there was a clearer chance of escape, but Haru’s hand shot out, holding her in place.

‘Of course she hasn’t – probably hasn’t even crossed her mind.’ The mask slipped further and his face tilted upward as if he were about to take a bite out of her. ‘Jamie has told me about you and his princess.’

Ellie froze, shocked that Jamie would talk about her and Lottie at all, let alone with Haru … except Jamie didn’t know anything about Haru, thanks to her. If she’d just let Lottie tell her parents when they had the chance, but her stupid obsession with having one up on her parents had ended up hurting everyone. She always ended up hurting everyone.

‘You are a troublemaker,’ Haru continued, squeezing her shoulder so hard that she winced.

‘What are you talking about?’

‘You and the princess you are so close to,’ Haru went on, his voice not matching his cold expression. ‘Your relationship seems to cause a lot of drama for everyone. Of course, this is only an observation.’

This time Haru didn’t need to squeeze her shoulder to make her flinch. The words were painful enough. Everything she’d feared about herself, everything she knew to be true, was spewing out of her enemy.

‘And you talked about this with Jamie?’ It came out ragged and defeated.

‘It has come up,’ Haru replied.

It was the last push and sent Ellie over the edge.

‘I know what you’re doing,’ she snapped. ‘I know you’re trying to get inside Jamie’s head. I’ll kill you before I let you do that.’

Haru took a step back. ‘What do you mean?’

‘I’m not going to let you get away with this,’ she snarled. ‘We’re watching you too.’

When Haru narrowed in on her this time, he looked less like a mischievous fox and more like a bird of prey, who would swoop down at any moment and eat her alive, and deep, deep down there was just a hint of something human. ‘Does Jamie know?’

Ellie hesitated, hot panic making her realize how stupid she’d been, that she was only digging herself further into her own grave. ‘Maybe.’

Relaxing, Haru leaned casually against the stone wall, the gift still nestled under his arm. ‘I didn’t think so, although it’s strange that his princess never told him,’ he pondered, passing the present from one hand to the other.

Ellie gulped. ‘Maybe you don’t know her as well as you think you do.’

‘Let me assure you,’ Haru mocked, ‘we know the princess of Maradova better than she knows herself.’

Haru took a step towards her now, and she bared her teeth, preparing to strike if she needed to. ‘If I were you, I’d get as far away from the princess as possible.’ His words came with a warning. ‘She is not good for anyone.’

If only he knew who really needed protecting, Ellie thought, part of her wanting to laugh. The other part wanted to scream and destroy something.

‘You think you know her, but actually it is you who is the most oblivious.’

‘What are you –’

Haru patted her on the head condescendingly. ‘It’s simple, really,’ he began. ‘Every important choice she’s ever made, everything she’s ever done – it’s all been laid out for her.’

‘What?’

Haru smiled, pleased with her reaction. ‘We started the rumours about her reckless behaviour that kept her locked away and desperate to leave. We sent her the information about this very school. We are the reason she went to Japan. The Maravish royal family are as predictable as the changing seasons; all we had to do was give them a little push and –’

‘Stop it,’ Ellie barked, not wanting to hear a single word more. The sword went slack in her hand, her shoulders dropping. ‘I don’t want to hear any more.’

‘So,’ Haru said, seeming satisfied, ‘will you keep your distance?’

Head still spinning, Ellie mulled over everything, from the moment she’d set foot in Rosewood, meeting Lottie, inflicting the Portman job upon her, Leviathan, Jamie, all their friends and what they’d been through. There was not a sliver of doubt left about what she needed to do; she just hoped she’d have time.

‘Yes,’ she said at last, the tattoo on her chest screaming like a fresh wound as she stared herself down in the black window behind Haru. ‘I think it’s time everyone kept their distance from the princess of Maradova.’