Page 12 of Take My Crown

“Wow. You guys sure have a big family.”

“It’s pretty normal for the four houses,” Milly shrugs. “In fact, House Archaic is unusual in only having one heir. Our families are big in case of any… accidents. If anything does happen to you, that would be the end of your house and your father would have to watch his back because someone would be bound to stage a coup.”

“I see.” It looks like my father had been telling the truth about keeping his distance to protect me.

But that doesn’t excuse the way he is treating me now. Why can’t he have just spoken to me like a normal person? He didn’t have tokidnapme and treat me like a prisoner. Maybe he thought what he was doing was for the best, but if this is what having a family is like, I’m better off back in foster care.

A bell rang, interrupting our conversation.

“That’ll be lunch. You wanna eat with me, Ivy? I can fill you in on all the gossip. Call it a thank you for rescuing me.” Milly is ridiculously perky, but there is something endearing about her constant positivity, especially now I have seen the way the other kids treat her.

“Actually, Mills, do you mind if I grab Ivy for a second?” Archer sweetly asks. “I just want to see how she’s settling in.”

“Sure. Do you want to bring her to the cafeteria when you’re done? I’ll grab a table for us.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Archer smiles.

“Actually, can you do me a favour?” I ask. “I dropped my rucksack in the hallway by the lockers when I heard what was going on in the common room. Can you pick it up for me?”

“Of course. I’ll take it to the cafeteria for you.” Milly practically skips out of the room, seemingly overjoyed to be able to do this little thing for me.

Now that his sister is gone, I don’t have to pretend to be civil to Archer anymore. “You’ve got some nerve,” I hiss.

Archer shrugs with a cocky grin. “What can I say? I owed your father a favour.”

“So he claps and you follow him like a puppy dog?” I mockingly ask, keeping my voice low so the other students won’t overhear. My business is private. I’m already going to be the subject of school gossip after my fight with Ally. I’m not going to give them anything else to talk about. “There are a million different ways you could have handled the situation. God, Archer, all you had to do is ask and-”

I caught myself before I could put my foot in it any further, but it is too late.

“And what?” There is a little twinkle of amusement in Archer’s eyes.

“Nothing?” I shrug, a little embarrassed and hoping he will drop it.

“Nothing, huh?” He steps closer and I take one step backwards, only making him look more amused. “Let me guess…foster kid so desperate for attention you would have fallen for a few pretty words whispered in your ear and a space on my bike?”

“Fuck you,” I snap.

“Nah, I don’t fuck my sister’s friends,” he replies. “Considering she has so little of them.”

“I wouldn’t say we are friends exactly…”

“That’s not how Milly’s going to see it,” Archer tells me. “In case you hadn’t noticed, Milly’s not like most people at the Academy. She’s a sweetheart. That girl doesn’t have an evil bone in her body. It makes her an incredible human being, but it also means she’s nothing but prey to the Houses. You standing up for her like that will have won her undying loyalty. You’ve got a friend for life in my sister, whether you like it or not. But it would mean a great deal to me if you don’t break her heart by turning your back on her. I might even watch your back for you. Trust me, you need some help.”

“I don’t owe you anything or want anything,” I remind him, but even as I speak, I knew I wasn’t going to ditch Milly. Much as I hate her brother, I need all the allies I can get, especially now I have seen first-hand the cutthroat nature of this place.

“Make your mind up, sweetheart,” Archer teases.

“Fine,” I nod. “Maybe you can do my detention for me when I get busted for beating up Ally.”

“Detention?” Archer laughs. “Don’t worry about that. I think you’ll find the teachers will be secretly applauding you for taking on Ally. They understand the politics of the houses. And Ally would be far too ashamed of losing to a noob to tell on you. You have no idea how important it is you established your presence with a show of violence. You’re more Archaic than you know. Trust me–no one’s going to challenge you.”

“I guess I just have to watch out for the knife in my back, huh?”

Archer grinned, making a little dimple appear in his left cheek. “See? You’re already learning how things work round here. Now come on, Milly’s waiting for us in the cafeteria. Leave her too long and someone’s bound to steal the table from her.”

“How is she your sister?”

He smirks over his shoulder, and it’s too sexy for my own good. “Milly will snap one day. You best be on her good side when she does. Knights never get knocked down for long.”

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