“Teams are made up of five,” she retorts.
“Hmm,” I look up at Lucas. “Anyone you trust?” he’s about to speak when Mrs Donovan beats him to it.
“James.” She nods. “Yes, you can trust James. He’s my son.”
My mouth drops open. “As in Seb’s best friend?”
“One and the same.”
“Okay, yeah, he can be in the team? But will he want to? I mean after…” I break off, not sure what else to say.
“James is torn between believing Sebastian did have an underlying heart condition and thinking there’s something corrupt going on, and his finger is pointing at the council. Unfortunately for him, he is his mother’s son, and I haven’t trusted the council since your father took his place on it as King.”
“So, he’ll be okay with it?”
She nods. “I need to catch him up on all of this, but I have to say, I’m glad you came and talked to me. I wasn’t sure whether you were to be trusted, but now you’ve opened up to me, I know you are your mother’s daughter, and I thank the Superiors for that. Tell Jacobi he can come back to school tomorrow.”
I breathe out a sigh of relief. “I’m glad we talked,” I tell her, feeling like a slight weight has been lifted. “By the way, my mum told me she’d been promised to my dad,” I say, and Mrs Donovan frowns.
“Oh, I didn’t think she’d ever tell you about that. I assume she’s happy with him, but I wouldn’t know, because he stopped us talking to each other years ago. I’ll make sure to contact her today.”
I shake my head sadly. “No, she’s not happy with him, and she’s annoyed he’s trying to get me to leave Caspian. She’s staying with me at Jacobi’s place and doing goodness knows what, trying to figure out the situation. She also told me I’m promised to another council member’s son.”
Mrs Donovan taps her lips with her fingertip. “Michael Wilmot,” she muses.
“Huh?” both Lucas and I reply.
“Taya Wilmot’s older brother by two years.”
“Oh, that guy’s a complete twat,” Lucas announces.
“Yes, that’s who you’re promised to.” Mrs Donovan confirms.
Fuck.
“Welcome to the tournament.” King Ambrose stands on a stage before us in all his regal glory, addressing the students assembled in our school playing field. Many of them are looking up at him with awe.
If only they knew the truth about the King’s nature, especially towards his own daughter. But it’s not him I’m watching, it’s the person standing next to him. The King’s newly appointed advisor, Michael Wilmot. The man Juniper is betrothed to. Over my dead body will the marriage take place. I won’t let it. Juniper is mine.
Michael looks out from the stage and his eyes meet mine, his sparkle with the promise of mischief, whereas mine are probably glaring daggers. Juniper is next to me, watching her father with a look of contempt on her face, and I pull her close to me as a sign to Michael he’s going to have to fight to the death if he wants her.
“Your first challenge will be a game of hide and seek. Two members from each team will be hidden, and the remaining members will have to follow clues to find them,” the King announces.
My team of five consists of me, Juniper, Emmie, Lucas and James. Mrs Donovan was able to convince James to join us, so we can all work together to find out what is happening at Caspian and ultimately discover what caused the death of his best friend, Sebastian. It took a bit of persuasion to get him to work with me, but his mum assured him I was on his side and also another victim to what was happening. I never thought I would say this, but Mrs Donovan is actually an okay person, even if she is a headmistress.
When the King finishes speaking, we huddle together as a team to decide who gets hidden.
“I stay with Juniper at all times,” I inform the rest of my team. I’m not going to risk being apart from her while her father is here. I saw what happened the last time, when he beat her.
“Agreed,” everyone instantly backs me up.
“Emmie and I will be the ones to get hidden,” James volunteers. “We also get to stay together so I can protect her. Lucas, you assist Jacobi with Juniper.” He steps forwards and pulls Emmie to his side. Despite James’s recent absence from school, it’s clear he still cares for Emmie and doesn’t want her hurt.
We tentatively agree on the plan just as King Ambrose and Michael reach us, along with Mrs Donovan.
“Have you made a decision on who plays what part?” the King questions.
“Yes, sir,” I appoint myself as the spokesperson for the group, making sure to keep Juniper behind me so she’s protected. “James and Emmie will be hidden and the rest of us will seek.”
Michael’s lip curls up in a sadistic smirk, and he whispers into the King’s ear.
“I agree,” King Ambrose declares. “I think another partnership would be better.”
Before I can say anything, Juniper and Emmie disappear from the playing field.
“No.” I step forwards, menace on my mind as I get in Michael’s face. “That is not the choice we made.”
Lucas and James pull me back, but it’s a struggle.
“It isn’t, but this one is more fun.” King Ambrose gets between us and hands me a sheet of paper. “You’re first clue.” He walks off with Mrs Donovan to the next team, but Michael stays behind.
“Follow the clues wisely. You wouldn’t want anything to happen to Juniper, now would you?” Michael sneers. He’s in my face, and there’s nothing Lucas and James can do to stop him. “You dumped my sister for the woman I’m going to marry. You’re not going to keep her, though. Juniper Ambrose has been mine since birth, and I won’t let anyone else have her. You might as well crawl back to my sister with your tail between your legs. She’s the only one stupid enough to want a freak like you.”
I clench my fist ready to send it flying into Michael’s face. I can feel the anger within me growing again. The spell from before still hasn’t fully left my body. I need to calm down. I think back to the little boy I cured from cancer and his face when he saw me watching him. I focus on the fact I did a good thing and saved him. I’m a Guardian, not a freak as Michael is implying. He shouldn’t even know what I am. My mind instantly clears. He’s made a mistake by revealing what he knows, and that gives me an advantage over him.
I relax my fist and take a step backwards with a smug smirk on my face.
“What does the clue say, Lucas?”
Lucas reads out the clue, “Where the wind whistles softly around the mountains of the night, there is a place where a flower of the brightest purple grows. I haven’t got a clue. James, what do you think it means?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see James shrug his shoulders. I’m still staring down Michael, neither of us stepping back from our contest for superiority.
“I know where it is. That clue is far too easy,” I say as I finally turn away from Michael, the need to find Juniper more urgent. I place a hand on both Lucas and James’s shoulders. “Hang tight. This might be a rough ride.”