Page 9 of Crown of Steel

“I’m afraid, I mean, I don’t know—” He stammers.

“Pierre, how are you, pretty boy?” Louis quips from behind me. I don’t hesitate, instead grab my suitcase and fling my backpack over my shoulder, then walk straight on and into the corridor, absolutely not knowing where I’m heading. I don’t care. Anywhere away from there will do for now. Fuck Louis. I’ll wait for them to get their key first, then I’ll talk to Pierre again. Surely this huge castle has single rooms. I nearly grin at the thought, forcing myself to see the irony of the situation. It works, because I start to calm down. Unclenching my fists, I take a deep breath. Yeah, no biggie. I’ll just…

“Régis?Salut, how are you?”

“Jesus,” I yelp, body jerking from the sudden voice. I take in a deep breath of air, then slowly make my way around, lettingmy poker face effortlessly slide back into place—a boring scowl I have mastered over the past months. But Dominique, Gaël’s boyfriend, somehow has a way of looking right through my facade. Not that he’d say anything of it, he would never. He’s too timid to do so, or perhaps just too much of a nice guy. The few times I’ve met him, he has come across as friendly, and I have no clue why he is with Gaël, the twin’s cousin. The master of puppets. Talk about a devious character…

Dominique’s leaning across from me in the other corner, surrounded by heavy suitcases, his dark hair mussed and an apologetic look in his eyes. The school uniform suits him well, and if I hadn’t known he is a scholarship student, I would have thought him to be a rich prick just like the others.

We’ve met a few times over the past months, here in Monterrey Castle, when my mother wanted me to come over and “get used” to my new surroundings. A hot flash zaps through my insides, feral and unwanted.

I toss both thoughts mercilessly into the emotional bin in my brain and grab tighter hold of the strings of my backpack. Now’s not the time.

“It’s room twelve, by the way,” he says.

“Come again?” I ask. Dominique gives me another reluctant smile, then holds up a dangling key. “The dorm we share. In case you were wondering?” His face flushes and he nibbles on his bottom lip as he looks away. When his gaze finally flits up, I shake my head, needing to clarify this misunderstanding.

“Oh yeah, no. No, no. Thanks for letting me know, but I’m not sharing a dorm with you guys. It’s nothing personal, but I just need my privacy, you know? My peace and quiet.”

Dominique frowns, looking genuinely surprised. “Is it the piano? I can move it out and play in the designated rehearsal rooms…”

“Absolutely not. It’s just that I have no intention of—”

“Ah, there you are!” Someone calls out, and I take a step back as the others approach, my back hitting the wall.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t our little stepbrother.” Louis’s dark, wide eyes are set on mine, and with a tilt of his head he grabs my chin between his digits. I try to jerk away from his hold, but it only seems to tighten. “We haven’t seen you for ages, dude. When you weren’t at home during the summer, I wasn’t even sure if you were still going to join us this year.” His gaze sears through me, searching in their strike, and I flinch, the gesture making me feel small, and vulnerable. “But it’s good to have you here now, little stepbrother. I say we start the year off with a party.” He sends me a fat wink, taking us both back to that moment in the car on a whim. Licking my lips, I shake his fingers off. This time he lets me.

"Yeah well, I came here to study,” I mutter.

Louis gives me a pout. “Come on man, don’t be like that. We don’t want another Arthur, do we boys?”

Some of the guys snicker, their unfamiliar faces making my stomach dip with nerves. They’re all looking at me, and I’m still with my back against the wall.

Grabbing my suitcase from the floor, I shoulder my way through the crowd, practically bumping into Gaël, who’s the only one not wearing his navy-blue college uniform. The long fur coat is obnoxiously soft when I collide with it, his stare fiercely green with black eyeliner to create cat-shaped eyes he uses to gaze at me over the edge of his tipped-down sunglasses. The color reminds me of my mother’s eyes. The thought has my heart stuttering and it’s making my nerves even more on edge.

His eyes roam over me then move to behind my head where they linger, shimmering brightly. “There you are, beautiful, I thought I’d lost you,” Gaël sings, latching onto Dominique and pulling him in and against his fur. He murmurs something, the words being lost by the soft kiss he plants on his lovers’ lips.

“Come on, guys, let’s go.” Louis pushes himself off the walland walks back toward the reception hall, not bothering to turn around to check and see if we follow. He doesn’t have to either, with Gaël operating as some goose herder, admonishing his flock to follow. As if receiving the unspoken message, their friends all dart off once we’re back into the large entrance, leaving us once more together.

When I catch sight of Pierre, I wave at him, determined to fix this misunderstanding here and now.

“This way.” Gaël motions to me, his face cracked into a smile that doesn’t reach those painted eyes. It’s one of those predator smirks I know all too well. But no matter how, they always have the same effect on me. I feel small and insecure, and the need to puff up my chest and defend myself, skyrockets.

“Pierre will get me a single room,” I bluff indignantly, forcing myself to keep his stare. The suitcase feels heavy in my palm, and the backpack stings the flesh of my shoulder, but I don’t look away.

“Yeah, he told me to let you know that there are no available single rooms,” Louis says. He grabs me by my other shoulder and pushes me forward. “Now come, let’s go. Leave your suitcase here, little Régis, Amadou and Didier will bring them up. Room twelve, right?”

“Uhm, yeah,” Dominique replies, flashing me an apologetic look as he hands over the keys to Gaël.

Ignoring my sputter, Louis simply pushes me forward and toward the large, double spiral staircases. When he also tries to pull the backpack off my shoulder, I grab the strings and squeeze them tight, not ready to let go. Unlike the expensive suitcase carrying equally expensive clothes, the bag was a gift from Dad for my sixteenth birthday. It’s mine.

The hand on my shoulder squeezes a little tighter, lightly pushing me forward and onto the stairs. Louis doesn’t insist, and with a final crooked smile, he grabs the keys from Gaël and starts climbing the stairs. I stumble at the realization that this isnot the same touch as the one from before, the one who’s holding me steady. No, this one leaves a mark of heat and tingles.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were hiding from your big brothers,” Arthur mumbles right behind my ear, brushing his lips against the tender skin there as he steadies me onto the steps. Goosebumps erupt and I swallow thickly while keeping my stare ahead, more of the straps of my backpack now cramped in my hand. “Don’t worry. I’ll find you anyway.”

His words are followed by the ghost of a chuckle, or perhaps it’s my nerves imagining it. Whatever it is, is enough for my defence mechanism to kick in.

“Leave me alone.” I snarl over my shoulder. When his hold doesn’t loosen, I turn around, only to find Arthur’s brow winged up, his mouth twitching as he holds back a smirk.

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