Page 23 of Take My Crown

After the chorus, he went straight into a second verse as if the song is an old favourite of his. Improvising lyrics, what he came up with is way better than anything I could have written. Frantically, I scramble about in my bag for a pen and paper so I can note down his words and use them as inspiration later.

“What do you think?” he asks after finishing.

“It’s amazing,” I breathe, and I mean it. “Just what the song needed.”

“We can submit it to Metcalf instead of the one we’ve been working on if you want,” Declan suggests.

I blushed. “No, we can’t. It’s something I wrote years ago. I was trying to remember how it went when you walked in. I was just too embarrassed to tell you I can’t remember my own stupid song in case you thought I might let you down when it’s time to perform our song to the class.”

“Don’t be daft,” Declan laughs. “Everyone forgets stuff. It’s no biggie. And I really like that song. Nobody would know it is something you wrote before you came to the Academy.”

“But that would be cheating.”

Declan laughs again, but something like guilt flickers across his eyes. “Don’t you get it, Ivy? This is King Academy and you’re the first queen it’s ever had. You can do whatever you want.”

Being called the Queen of King Academy reminds me of my mother telling me an odd story about kings and queens once. I wonder if when she walked around in this school she was someone or no one until a king like my father noticed her.

I want to ask my dad about my mum but I feel like I couldn’t trust anything he told me.

“I still think we should focus on our new song,” I suggest, clearing my throat. “I’m not really comfortable lying about something as important as music.”

“If you say so.” There is a twinkle in his eye that suggests he is mocking me but with his charm, I soon forget it.

Somewhere in the depths of my heart, a warning bell rings clear. Declan is dangerous to me after all.

Chapter Eleven

Ivy Archaic

Just as Archer had predicted, my father thought it was a great idea for me to go to Romy’s party when I got brave and asked him if I could go. He said it would be a perfect opportunity for me to “assess the opposition.”

So now my driver is pulling up outside The Knight mansion and it is very different from my father’s house, all boxy with big windows. I think it is the ugliest building I have ever seen, but I don’t plan on telling that to whoever the woman and man are waiting in the door frame. Gathering from their age, I would guess they are Milly and Archer’s parents. Well, one of them is. I remember Milly telling me her step mum was pregnant with twins, but I never did ask what happened to their actual mother.

Milly’s stepmum has thick black hair, gathered up in a bun on top of her head and slim black glasses rest on her nose. Her cream dress screams designer as well as her tall heels. Her baby bump is quite large, and she keeps her hands rested on top of the bump.

I focus on their dad as the car comes to a stop and my driver gets out.

The head of the Knight house is an imposing man who looks just like an older version of Archer. His skin is a tad darker, possibly from spending more time in the sun, and his suit is a dark blue colour, which makes his eyes almost brighter.

“Miss Ivy,” my driver says, holding a hand out for me. I ignore his hand as I climb out on my own.

“Thanks,” I tell him and walk up to Mr and Mrs Knight with my head held high. I won’t bow down to them because they run this goddamn town.

At some point I have to accept I’m Ivy Archaic and I have my own damn crown in waiting. And when I get it? I’m not going to be pushed over and commanded around like a slave.

“Ivy Archaic. We are happy to welcome you to our home,” Mr Knight speaks first and holds his hand out for me to shake. Every moment with him I get the sense I am being highly scrutinised. I shake his hand as hard as I can to make a point, but he doesn’t let go. “I remember your mother well and she was a great woman. I am truly sorry for her loss and I wish she had come to me in the end.”

“You knew my mum?” I ask as he lets my hand go and stares at me.

“Well enough to see her in you. We should talk when you wish to know where your mother came from and how she changed King Town,” he suggests and not giving me a moment to get over my shock, he takes his wife’s hand and they walk back into the house. I stumble after them into a giant hallway with a monstrosity of a winding glass staircase in the middle of it. The walls are all white and the bright lights in here hurt my eyes.

“Wait!” I call and they halt. Mr Knight turns back to me, his eyes meeting mine.

“You are not ready to hear what I have to say,” he warns and then he leaves me in the hallway, my head full of a million more questions about my mum than I had to begin with.

“Ivy! You came!” Milly squeals, running down the stairs and jogging to me. She hugs me tightly.

“I said I would,” I tell her as she lets me go. “Did you really think I’d ditch you?”

---