Page 2 of Be My Traitor

I waved at the teacher and led Amber out to the staff car park where my driver was waiting. I could have driven myself to school, but I loved sitting in the back with Amber, hearing about her day. That little girl was my whole world and I hated being away from her during the day, but I’d made a decision when she was about a year old that I wanted to go back to work. We had more than enough money for me to be a full-time mum, but it was important to me to set a good example to Amber. She needed to know that she could have a career of her own and I loved teaching, even if not everyone in my classes shared my enthusiasm for the classics.

Besides, Amber gave me a good excuse to say no to Nigel. After my own kidnapping, I was very cautious about who I left my daughter with and I didn’t like to ask my parents to take care of her too often. Much as they were always delighted to see her, I was trying to teach Amber a different way of living and my parents were still very much immersed in House politics. Ivy’s example had shown it was possible to throw caution to the wind and ignore tradition. While I didn’t see myself ever finding myself one man to love me, let alone three, I was rebelling in my own quiet little way. I’d resisted telling anyone who Amber’s father was, despite the pressure from my parents, and I’d ignored their not-so-subtle hints that they could arrange a suitable marriage for me to bring respectability back to the Knights. They kept telling me how hard it was to raise a child, which was why I finally caved and hired a part time nanny to help me out. With Claire’s help, I was fine.Wewere fine. Amber didn’t need anyone else in her life and most definitely not a man who was only going to let me down sooner or later.

Amber chattered away about all the things she’d done at kindergarten that day. I was only half-listening, as I wondered who the new head was going to be. I’d seen some of the candidates coming in for interview and they all seemed to be from out of town. It was no real surprise it had taken so long to find the right person. Anyone leading the Academy needed to have an in depth understanding of the way the Houses worked and how they influenced the town. House affiliations affected friendships between pupils, their behaviour, their academic performance. Unless a Head understood all those nuances, they weren’t going to last long.

The Board had approached me to take over before they gave the interim position to Jenny, but I turned them down flat, knowing full well they were only asking me because I was Knight heir. I didn’t have the experience to run the school and besides, I didn’t want to do more hours. Right now, my days mirrored Amber’s and she could stay at the after-school club when needed for those all-important staff meetings. If I’d taken on the headteacher position, it would mean I’d be away from my daughter for longer and that wasn’t going to happen.

Amber came first. Now and for always.

That Friday, I squeezed into the last remaining chair next to Nigel in the staff room, late for the meeting after needing to break up a disagreement between two girls from different Houses. Jenny was standing at the front of the room, droning on about how much she’d enjoyed being head and how it had opened new horizons for her.

“Have I missed anything important?” I leaned over and whispered to Nigel.

“Nah,” he whispered back. “Just Jenny going on about how amazing she is and how great her career is going to be now that she’s got head of King Academy on her CV. I think it’s actually a case that the Board were so unimpressed by her performance they’ve told her to find another school and she’s trying to put a positive spin on it.”

“So no sign of the new head then?”

“Not yet. You’d think he was headlining Glastonbury the way they’re keeping us waiting!”

I sat patiently, waiting for Jenny to introduce the new head, but she loved the sound of her own voice too much and it was a good ten minutes before she finally got round to what we were all waiting to hear.

“I asked him to wait in the kitchen so I could tell you how much you’ve all meant to me during my time leading the Academy,” Jenny said. “I want you to know that your support and encouragement has meant the world to me and helped me realise that it really is my true calling to lead. But the time has come to introduce you to the man who will be taking over the helm.”

She got up to open the door that led to the staff kitchen where we made our teas and coffees and microwaved our lunches.

“Talk about milking it,” Nigel muttered to me out of the corner of his mouth. “I bet she goes home and cries into her vodka about not getting the head position permanently. I heard she interviewed but the Board weren’t interested.”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “I reckon she made the new head hide in the kitchen so she could have our undivided attention for as long as possible. I feel sorry for whatever school she ends up with after this.”

“What’s taking her so long?” Nigel frowned and peered at the kitchen door. The rest of the staff were getting restless as we werestillwaiting to find out who the new head was.

“Maybe she had him tied up so he wouldn’t interrupt her speech,” I suggested. “And now she can’t undo the knots.”

Nigel spluttered, as he tried to hold back laughter. I laughed with him, but my smile fell away when Jenny walked back into the room, a big fake grin plastered across her face, as a familiar man followed her.

“Everyone, I’d like you to give a warm King Academy welcome to Lucas Donatello, our new headmaster.”

Chapter 2

Lucas

A polite smattering of applause greeted me as I walked into the staff room. The teachers looked about as bored as I’d been waiting around in that kitchen. Jenny’s goodbye speech had filtered through and I could see why the Board had wanted to replace her. The woman was about as suited to being head as a dead fish.

“Thanks for the welcome.” I looked round the room, smiling as I made contact with each and every one of the teachers. My smile lost a little of its lustre when I saw Milly sitting there, but I quickly moved on to the guy sitting next to her.

Damn, she looked as good as she always did. Better, even. Was that man her boyfriend? There was something in his body language that hinted at an attraction between the two of them.

If that was the case, good. Milly deserved some happiness in her life. Growing up in her brother’s shadow and then having to take over as heir had done a real number on her. She never had appreciated how amazing she was.

But it wasn’t my problem. Not now, and not in the past either.

“Look, I know you’ve all got homes to go to, so I’ll keep this short.” The sense of relief when I said that was palpable. I had planned a longer speech, but after the way Jenny had gone on, I knew that the best way to start building rapport with my new team was to respect their time and not give them some empty motivational speech I’d cribbed together from a quick Google. “I went to this Academy myself and I know what a special place it is. As some of you may know, I was briefly married to Ivy Archaic and was mentored by her father, so I have an understanding of the kinds of things we have to deal with here that aren’t an issue in other more traditional schools. I’ve been fully briefed on the current state of play as well as the ambitions the Board has for the Academy and I think you’re going to be really excited about some of the initiatives I’ve got planned. I’ll reveal more about them when the time is right, but for now I want you all to know that I have an open-door policy. If there’s anything you need to talk to me about, anything at all, please just come and see me. I won’t bite.” I grinned, deliberately not looking anywhere near Milly. Knowing her the way I did, she was likely to be way too shy to approach me unless she absolutely had to and that was fine by me.

“But for now, all I want to say is that I’m honoured to have been appointed head of this fine establishment and I look forward to working with all of you to build a positive learning environment to support all our pupils to excel both while they’re with us and after they leave. Thank you and see you all next week when I officially takeover.”

I nodded an acknowledgement of the slightly more enthusiastic applause before the teachers started to disperse, grateful I hadn’t kept them there any longer.

Jenny appeared at my side, a frosty look on her face. “Why did you let them go? I thought you were going to brief them on all the changes we discussed,” she said. “I was going to bring out a cake to celebrate my new job.”

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