Royals and Rebels 2: Love and War

Three: Penelope Peters

Chapter Three

Penelope Peters

The door to my dorm was open, and Muse was blasting from it. A small, tiny, pixie of a girl bobbed around the room. She was model skinny, wearing a vintage, blue dress, her black hair in a pixie cut. She bumped into me as she was dancing around, and I winced, my shoulder still not quite right from earlier.

“Oops!” she looked at me with wide eyes, and I found myself staring at her in awe.

“Oh my god!”

She laughed, a lilting, musical laugh. “Not quite I am Audrey----”

“Andrews,” I finished, “I know, I know. You’re the lead actress in The Magic Manor franchise! Your fantastic. But…. how are you my roommate?”

She smiled. “The Magic Manor series finished filming last year. And I decided I wanted the real school experience. I’ve been working since I was ten, so I thought why not?”

The Magic Manor series was a children’s book series about three siblings. They lived with their uncle, who was a famous magician. One day, the uncle goes missing, and the kids must team up to find him. They were classics and had been my childhood.

“How’s this possible?” I said. “What the hell kind of place did I stumble into?”

She smiled. “Amazing, isn’t it? This is Hollow Hills Academy! The place that makes Kings, and the next Churchills. That’s what happens with a good education. You get to know the makers of the world before they rule it.”

“No, that’s what happens with money,” I corrected.

I put the box down on my bed, the empty one. Audrey’s was neatly made, with purple star sheets. On her wall, she had a cork board with pictures of The Magic Manor cast. In their trailers, playing video games. On vacation some place tropical. She also had pictures up of her with the author of The Magic Manor, Winslow Winters, who was my absolute idol.

I couldn’t help but stare. This was going to be a dream come true. I’d hit the jackpot of roommates.

Audrey smiled at me. “You’re not going to be a crazy, psycho stalker fan, are you?”

“Sorry,” I blushed, “no, I’m not crazy, I promise. It’s bizarre that you’re my roommate, of all people.”

“Why’s that?” Audrey asked, as she plopped herself on her bed.

“The Magic Manor series is the entire reason that I want to be a writer. I’ve read everything by Winslow Winters, even the adult mysteries she does. I came to Hollow Hill because this is my best shot at getting into Oxford, so I can be a real writer.”

“Must be meant to be then,” she said, “and I love that you’ve got goals! I couldn’t stand it if you were a Prince hunter.”

“Prince Hunter?” I asked.

“There’s a bunch of girls that only transferred here hoping to catch Prince Cadoc.” Audrey rolled her eyes. “I can’t tell you how many people have tried to befriend me because I’m friends with him. It makes it hard to know who to trust, and I can’t imagine what it’s like for him when it comes to relationships. But he’ll have his girlfriend with him this year, so it won’t be so bad. The idiots will back off.”

I laughed. “There are people that actually want Prince Cadoc?”

She raised an eyebrow. “Not a fan?”

I shook my head. “There was…well…a scuffle when I came in. One of the boys insulted me---”

Audrey gasped. “Who?”

“Someone named Addington?”

 Audrey rolled her eyes. “Oh, that’ll be Andrew Addington. He’s awful.”

“Yes, well, one of the boys that had tried to help me with my things. Jasper Jefferies. He took offense to something Addington said about me needing to shut up. There was a fight, and the Prince had to break them up. He told every bloody one that I was “not that pretty!”

Audrey gasped. “He did not!”

I nodded. “He did.”

Audrey frowned. “I could talk to him, if you like. He’s not that bad, I swear. He’s a  good guy, and that’s saying something because most people with the kind of power that he has are pricks.”

I shrugged, placing my stuff on my bed. “It’s fine. Really. I don’t care what he thinks of me, or anyone else. I don’t need to be involved in all that royal drama. I’m here for one thing only, to get my diploma so I can go to Oxford.”

Audrey tilted her head at me, suspicion dancing in her eyes. “Really?”

“Really,” I said.

“What exactly did Cadoc do after the fight?”

I brushed a curl back behind my ear. “What’s it matter?”

“Because I’m curious,” Audrey said, “Cadoc isn’t one to usually make a scene. Normally, he’ll just let things go. He doesn’t like people thinking of him as a Prince at school if they don’t have to. He just wants to be another student.”

I hesitated. “He…. he reminded people that the school was co-ed.  And that he’d have people expelled if something like this happened again. He watched me as I left.”

“How do you know?”

“Because,” I paused, feeling somehow as if this was information I shouldn’t divulge, “I looked back to see him doing it.”

Audrey clapped her hands together. “Calling it now! You two are totally going to fall in love. I should start calling you Queenie.”

I groaned. “Audrey, nothing happened.”

“Oh honey, you have no idea how wrong you are. “Do you know what he just did? By telling everyone to leave you alone?”

“He didn’t tell everyone to leave me alone,” I insisted, “he was speaking on behalf of all the girls.”

She laughed. “If that were the case, he could have gotten the headmaster. He interfered himself, and he told them that you couldn’t be touched unless they wanted to be expelled. You’re his. Not right away, but one way or another, you’re going to be.”

I chuckled. “Audrey, you’re insane.”

“Absolutely not,” she said, “I’ve known Cadoc for years. One time, we went on vacation together to his country estate. Jasper decided he liked this stallion because he was fast. And Cadoc decreed that the horse wasn’t suited for hunting. Then, the next hunting trip, he rode out on that stallion. Because he wanted it. This is how Cadoc works. He’ll pretend he doesn’t want something, so no one else will. You’re his.”

“Doesn’t he have a girlfriend?” I reminded her.

“That means absolutely nothing,” Audrey said. “For some strange reason, the Welsh Prince is completely fascinated by you. One way or another, you are going to be his Queen, Penelope Peters. Mark my words.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “I don’t believe you,” I insisted.

“Well, you should,” she said, “listen, every year, Cadoc has a welcome back party in his club house in the city. Come with me, if you don’t believe me. I guarantee you he does something to stake a claim on you.”

“What if he’s doing it because of Jasper?” I said.

“Well, then I’ll wear off the rack for a month, and eat my words,” she said.

I hadn’t even been at Hollow Hills for less than two hours. And already, I was certain that everyone there was crazy. Audrey Andrews might have been a good actress, but she had no idea what she was talking about.

Prince Cadoc didn’t want me.

“Fine,” I said, “I’ll come with you, but only to prove to you how wrong you are.”

“Excellent,” then she looked at my outfit.

I hadn’t had the change to change into my school uniform. It hadn’t seemed necessary, since school didn’t start until the next day. I was wearing a Florence + The Machine concert tee, jeans, and off brand converse.

“You’re not wearing that, are you?”

“What’s wrong with it?” I asked.

“Everything,” she replied, “but nothing I can’t fix.”

She went to her closet and started to immediately rummage through. After a few minutes, she found a black, crop top turtleneck, a black, suede skirt, and a black pair of Louboutin heels.

“This will do,” she said.

“But we’re not even the same size.”

“Trust me.”

I huffed. “Whatever. Anything to prove that you’re a crazy person.”

I changed into the outfit, only so that I could delight in proving her wrong. Whatever had happened earlier that day, it had nothing to do with the Prince staking any kind of claim. No matter what she thought.

After we spent the evening getting ready, Audrey ordered a car for us, and we drove into the city. Cadoc had some sort of club house there for Hollow Hills students. And that was where the welcome back party was going to be.

Which I only knew about because Audrey had told me. I wasn’t supposed to be there, I realized. If Audrey hadn’t been my roommate, I never would have known about the party. I wondered how many other girls hadn’t gotten invited.

Hollow Hills only allowed in 1300 students. Of those, there were only a handful of scholarship kids like me.

As we rode in the car, I couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if I’d been able to check in without trouble. I’d be in my dorm, getting to know Audrey, not worrying about what some stupid Prince did or didn’t think about me.

The car pulled to a stop, the driver got out and opened the door. We went into the club house. It was dimly lit, filled with smoke, and pulsating music. There were haughty rich boys. And haughty rich girls, drinking, dancing, in a multitude of compromising positions. Some of which I wished I had never seen, like the guy doing coke off a girl’s stomach.

The music was loud.  Audrey took my hand and pulled me through the crowd. Until we were in an area with a bar, a pool table, and several couches that were black, leather, and expensive.

On one of them, in the middle of the room, lounged Prince Cadoc and Jasper Jefferies. Jasper sat, drinking and looking moody. While Prince Cadoc had a skinny, brunette girl sitting on his lap kissing his neck.

I coughed and pointed, “See?”

Audrey only smiled. “Cadoc!”

Cadoc grinned, “Off.”

He ordered the girl sucking on his neck off his lap, then stood to hug Audrey. “Hello, Andrews. Settle in?”

“Of course! I see you’ve already made quite the impression on my new roommate.”

Cadoc glanced over at me, his expression cool, and aloof. “She made quite the impression herself. She got my future Captain of The Guard hit.”

“Not on purpose” I hissed, “besides, I didn’t ask for anyone to get involved on my behalf. Jasper did it on his own, and I tried to break the idiots up. Besides, you’re the one that was an asshole.”

The words slipped from my mouth before I could take them back. I winced. Jaspers head jerked up, and Audrey’s eyes widened in shock. Cadoc looked at me, his grey eyes swirling with the same kind of quiet anger that I had seen earlier.

“Interesting assessment,” he said.

“You called me not pretty. In front of everyone.”

He stood up, towering over me, making me aware of exactly how short I was. “I’m sorry, was I supposed to compare you to the Mona Lisa? Or would Juliet be better? Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! I ne’er saw true beauty till this night!” There was mocking in his eyes, and I could feel rage coursing through me.

Prince or no Prince, King or no King, I had never hated anyone the way that I hated The Welsh Prince Cadoc of house Banes.

“You are an insufferable, privileged git like the rest of them. You might have issued a little decree, your majesty, but it isn’t going to keep things like that from happening. There are young women studying in Hollow Hills now. Not only wealthy girls. At least five others like me that are scholarship students. Girls that do not belong, who were never supposed to be able to afford the price tag on tuition, that are here now. You’d better open your eyes to that and keep them safe, because threatening your peers won’t do anything. It will only make things worse.”

I stormed off, away from the little group, needing fresh air. I found a balcony, and closed my eyes, taking deep, shallow breaths to calm down.

“Bit of a prat, isn’t he?” There was a skinny brunette leaning against the balcony smoking a cigarette. I recognized her as the one that he'd dismissed from his lap earlier.

I raised an eyebrow. “How---”

“I recognize that look,” she said, “I’ve worn that look many times. It’s the one that says I’ve faced off with the biggest Prick of all time, known as Prince Cadoc of House Banes.”

“Who are you?” I asked.

“Gwyneth,” she answered, “Gwyneth Godford. I’m his girlfriend. Well, for now anyway.” She looked me up and down as if sizing me up, playing with a lit cigarette between her fingers.

She wore a dress of blue velvet, a black choker, and kitten heels. “We’ve been together off and on since we were teenagers. He keeps on trying to get me to be his Queen, but he knows I don’t want that.”

“What do you want, then?”

“To be the First Female Prime Minister of Wales,” she answered, “I can’t let myself get distracted by him. As good of a distraction as he is. He’s going to leave me one day, but I always knew that would happen. Didn’t think it would be for some little upstart, scholarship student though.”

I tilted my head. “What are you talking about?”

“He pushed me away when you got here,” she said, “he never does that. Usually, he enjoys having girls watch to get them jealous. But he didn’t want you to get the wrong idea about us.”

“Everyone’s crazy,” I said, “you, Audrey----”

Gwyneth smoked on her cigarette. “Of course, Audrey noticed. Always very observant, that one, and aside from me she gets a say in the girls that come around here. If you weren’t wanted, do you think you’d be part of this club house right now? You’re in his world now, his orbit, and one way or another, you’ll be his. Mark my words. We always are in the end, whenever he wants a new trinket.”

She leaned her head back, blowing a perfectly formed smoke ring. “What are you majoring in?”

“Literature,” I answered.

“Good,” she said, “you’ll need all the 100-point words you can when dealing with him. He’s not an easy one to love. If someone has to be Queen, I’d rather it be you. At least you’re intelligent. I can see that. You’ve got that look in your eyes, like you’re always questioning the world.”

I was questioning everything. I didn’t know what sort of world I’d stumbled into, but they were all wrong. The Prince wasn’t pining for me, and I had no interest in being Queen. Nor did he want to make me his.

“You’re wrong,” I said, “nothing’s going to come from this. I didn’t do anything. I’m not remarkable. Besides, school has only just started. He has yet to meet the other girls. Someone else, snooty and upper class, will catch his attention.”

She puffed on her cigarette again, that annoying, knowing look on her face. Whatever Gwyneth was, she was clearly ambitious. That was probably why she was with Cadoc in the first place. To get to where she wanted.

“The other girls won’t stand up to him,” she said, “you did.”

I paused. She hadn’t been there when I had stood up to Cadoc back inside. I had no idea what she was talking about.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“When you first met him, earlier today,” she supplied, “it was all he would talk about on the way here. ‘Who does that girl think she is? She just talked to me so directly. Never seen anything like it before.’ “

“That sounds more like he was infuriated,” I replied.

She smiled. “Oh, he was. But he was also impressed. I could tell. It’s a rare person that can impress the Prince. Jasper did too. I expect you’ll probably be with him before it happens, to ease you into the world. He won’t want to scare you off. Might even give you two a fighting chance.”

“I could walk away,” I said.

“You could,” she said with a nod, “but you won’t.”

She stabbed out her cigarette on the nearby wall. “Anyway, I want us to be friends. I don’t want you to see me as a threat. I’m not. At the end of the day, Cadoc and I know what we are to each other.”

She slipped through the sliding glass doors. Leaving me alone on the balcony to contemplate everything she had said. It was impossible. The only persons I that I might have caught was Jaspers, and even that didn’t matter. Because I had resolved to keep my head down, and not get involved.

I walked over to the balcony, and I leaned against the railing, staring out at the city of Owain before me. The capitol of Wales was everything that I’d imagined to be. Bustling, filled with bright lights, and so much opportunity. We were thirty minutes from England. If I played my cards right over the next three years, I’d be able to go to Oxford like I’d planned.

I’d get to be a writer.

Whatever the rest of them thought they had planned for me, I didn’t care.

A slight, fall breeze had started up again. A little bit chilly, I turned to go inside, only to find the door sliding open. I expected it to be Jasper, or Audrey even. Instead, standing there in front of me, was Prince Cadoc himself.

He wore a crisp, sapphire blue button up shirt, expensive slacks, and a dinner jacket. His grey eyes were staring directly at me, a little hesitant. “Hello,” he whispered.

“I’ll just be going---” I started, and I tried to sidestep him, but he blocked me. I blushed. “Look, whatever you think you have to do right now, you don’t. We’re two very different people, from two very different worlds. There’s no written rule that we have to be friends. We just have to survive the next three years together. That’s it.”

He smiled, a low chuckle coming from him. “See, that’s exactly why I need us to be friends.”

I stared at him. “You need us to be friends?”

He nodded. “Look, you coming here, it shakes up every foundation that this institution has been built on. You were never supposed to be here. You’re something different, someone different. It’s not going to be an easy journey for you. You need protection. I can offer you protection. Just…be my friend. I need honest people around me if I am going to be a good King, you see, and I have a feeling that you are one of them.”

I took a breath. “That’s all this is. Friendship, nothing more?”

“Well, actually, I was supposed to come chat you up for Jasper too. He’s completely smitten, and really you should give him a chance. He’s trained in ten different languages. Three different forms of martial arts, and pretty funny when he wants to be.”

I smiled. “So, you just came out to vouch for your friend?”

“Pretty much,” he said, running his hands through his blond hair nervously. “Listen I just…I know this world can be a lot. I know I can be a lot, and I’m part of the package when it comes with Jasper. I just didn’t want you to not give him a shot because of me. That’s all. I swear.”

He seemed so sincere in his answer, but at the same time there was another look on his face. A wistfulness that I couldn’t quite place and didn’t want to. Not yet.

“Sure,” I said, “sure I’ll…I’ll give Jasper a chance.”

He stood there, staring at me. “You know, if we’re going to know each other, we should know about each other. Can’t have any scandals getting out.”

“Is this your way of seeing if I’m good enough?” I challenged.

“Maybe,” he said. He leaned against the railing, his arms crossed, and his blond hair falling into his eyes. If we were art, he was a Leonardo statue, and I was the kind that belonged in a hotel that had been bought off EBAY.

I leaned up against the railing with him. The cool, fall breeze brushed against my face. “What do you want to know?”

“Favorite song?” he asked.

“Young Folks,” I answered.

“Never heard of it,” he said.

“It’s by Peter Bjorn and John. Kind of dreamy. Sounds like wistfulness. What about you?”

He stared me directly in the eyes. “If I tell you, you can never, ever divulge this information.”

“Closet Nysnc fan? I knew it.”

“Hardly,” he said, “Moon River.”

“Moon River? Like Breakfast at Tiffany’s?”

He nodded. “When I was little, it was my Mums favorite movie, and she used to hum it when I couldn’t sleep. I weep like a baby every time I hear it.”

“That’s so sweet,” I gushed.

“If a single word of that gets out of the tabloids, I will make your life a living hell,” he told me. The easy-going manner that we had earlier gone. I wondered how many times that had happened. If he had a single soul that he could trust.

For all the privilege that he had, he must have been very lonely. Unable to stop myself, I reached over and took his hand. It was my biggest mistake. Or my best one. Who knew if I would ever know?

“I’m not going to exploit you, Cadoc,” I said, “look, I’m grateful for whatever friendship you’ll extend me, but I’m not here for that.”

“What are you here for then, Penelope Peters?”

“I want to be a writer,” I confessed. “I want to write about life, and love, and to make people look things straight in the eye that they normally wouldn’t.”

“Noble profession. You’ll be flat broke.”

I glared. “Thanks for the encouragement.”

“I mean it in the best of ways. Besides, now that you have rich friends like me to be you patron, you’ll never have to worry your pretty little head about anything.”

I grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him around to face me. “Cadoc, listen to me very seriously.”

“Yes?”

“You don’t have to buy me,” I replied, “if you want to be friends, just be my friend. That’s all it takes.”

“Really?”

“Really,” I answered, “this world, it’s not my real world. We’ve got to make it through the next three years, then we’ll probably never see each other again. You’re the Prince, and I am the girl that will be forgotten.”

“Don’t be dismal, Shakespeare,” he said.

“Don’t try to romanticize this, Charming,” I retorted.

He raised an eyebrow. “Charming?”

“You are a Prince, after all,” I said, “it is practically an unwritten law that I should call you Charming.”

He chuckled. “If you insist.”

The sliding glass door slipped open, revealing Jasper. Looking sheepish, as if he’d interrupted something. “Hello. Audrey was worried and wanted me to make sure you hadn’t killed each other yet.”

“Don’t lie!” I heard Audrey’s voice from behind. “I had nothing to do with this buzz kill.”

I rolled my eyes. “We’ve agreed not to hate each other for the next three years. I’ve agreed not to dismiss you because he’s a complete t**t. All’s well in the world.”

Jasper blushed. “Good, good….”

He stared down at his feet, then up at me again. “So, does that mean that you’re interested?”

I hesitated. I wasn’t a Prince Hunter. I hadn’t come to Hollow Hills to find a rich man. I’d come for an education, and someone like Jasper, and the Prince’s group could be a distraction.

Prince Cadoc nudged me, as if sensing my hesitation. “Come on, Shakespeare. It’s all fodder for the tell all, right?”

Audrey groaned from behind Jasper, where she stood. “You’re all going about this wrong. Idiots. The lot of you.”

“Shut up,” Jasper hissed.

I smiled. “Alright, alright. I’m interested.”

He coughed. “Good. Good.”

I was pulled into this world by a boy with a handsome smile. I had no idea if I would survive it or not, but I was alright with going along for the ride.