Two: Prince Cadoc
862 Words
Chapter Two
Prince Cadoc
“What were you thinking?” I sat in the hospital wing with Jasper, staring at my future Captain of The Guard. “You can’t punch your way through here, Jasper! You know that what you do reflects on me too. Imagine if it had been the Headmaster that had seen that! It would be my father having this discussion with you, and not me.”
“He deserved it,” Jasper said, “Addington’s a prick, always has been, and that girl wasn’t doing anything.”
“You know, if you confessed your love for Addington, it would make things a whole lot easier,” I joked.
Jasper glowered at me. “Don’t you start on that s**t. You might be the future King, but I am still trained to kick your ass.”
“I know you hooked up last summer. I saw you coming out of his guest room,” I reminded him, “things have been frosty between you two ever since. You were trying to make him jealous with Miss Peters, weren't you?”
Jasper rolled his eyes. “Please, you've no idea what you're talking about. Addington’s trash. Besides, with all these new girls here, I’ve got a whole new field I haven’t even tried yet.”
I chuckled. “You might have scared the poor girl off.”
He shrugged, running a hand through his dark, curly hair. “I’ve made worse first impressions before, and still manage to charm them after. Don’t worry, that won’t be the last that you see of Pen. Mark my words.”
“Pen?” I repeated. When I'd locked eyes with the girl, there'd been a strange sense of familiarity I couldn't place. And I hated that“You already on a nickname basis?”
He smirked. “Jealous, your Highness?”
I rolled my eyes. “Of the lowly scholarship student with small breasts? Never. f**k her, for all I care. Remember, I’ve already got Gwyneth.”
It was a lie. There was something about the girl that made my breath catch. That reminded me of last summer, of the night I’d had with a stranger, and the girl who’d left a poem on my bed…
Gwyneth Godford had been my long-standing girlfriend since I was thirteen years old. She was hell-on-wheels, as the Queen Mother called her with disdain. If the rest of the world wasn’t having a good time, neither was Gwyneth. She was the kind of girl who liked to jet off to Monte Carlo at a moment’s notice. Buy fast cars because she could and pour expensive bottles of champagne into sinks for fun. She was the only daughter of the Earl of Godford. And her mother had died young in a mysterious accident she didn’t like to talk about.
Gwyneth went to Hollow Hills sister school, Heath Hills. But when the school had decided to go co-ed Heath Hills had closed. Gwyneth would now be on campus, with me, all the time. Where my Mother couldn’t interfere with us, no matter how much she disapproved.
Yet, I found myself thinking of the short haired brunette with small breasts. It was rare someone of Penelope Peters status didn’t cower when they were around me. When she'd looked at me, there'd been fire in her eyes.
There was something about that girl, something that I couldn’t put my finger on.
“Cat got your tongue, your majesty?” Jasper asked.
I rolled my eyes. “Shut it,” I said, “it’s nothing. I’m thinking about how much your old man is going to kick your ass for getting your ass kicked.”
“I didn’t get my ass kicked,” Jasper objected, “anyway, I’ll tell him the truth.”
“That Addington was being a prick? Doubt he’ll accept that.”
“No,” he smiled, “that it was all for love.”
He had an icepack on his face, dried blood on him, and was an absolute wreck. But this was the happiest I’d seen Jasper in a long time, which was saying something. He was moody, and sullen. He might as well have been a painting entitled, “Portrait of a young man in despair”.
But there he was, smiling over some random girl. I liked seeing the people that I loved happy. And if Penelope Peters was going to do that for Jasper, then I would make that happen.
“What’s that look on your face, mate?” Jasper asked. “You’ve got your plotting face on.”
“Thinking,” I said.
“About what?”
“About how we’re gonna get your girl,” I explained.
Jasper leaned forward, despite wincing in pain. “Tell me more, your majesty. Tell me more.”
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