*Maddox*
Elijah peers at the map on my desk, his hands tucked behind his back. His hazel eyes shine in the gray light pouring through the windows–another rainy, foggy, overcast day.
We’re over the heat of the summer now. I’m thankful for it. It was an especially brutal summer, but given the brutality of the last year, I’m not surprised in the slightest.
Ben sits in a chair nearby, flipping through a pamphlet I gave him. He looks up at me, arching a brow. For a moment, he looks like the male counterpart to my mate, that expression so much like Isla’s when she’s thoroughly suspicious of something.
“It’s the most prestigious university in the packlands. I went there. Isaac will go there. And, you will too, if it’s what you want.” I watch as Ben flips a page and begins to read about the paths of study the Wellington Crest Institute offers. He could study law, history, art… or go the warrior route, but I doubt Ben would enjoy that rigorous course of study. I see him lingering on the history section, the college of history named after a great, great uncle of mine.
“I have another two years of school before–”
“You’ve already been accepted to Wells,” I say softly, flashing him a smile while using the informal nickname for the school. “Isla and I… we didn’t pull strings to get you in, I assure you, but she had your mother send us your old transcripts, and I may have put a portfolio together using all of the work you’ve done for me here at the castle.”
“I got in?”
“You got in,” I repeat, my heart squeezing at the blush rising to his cheeks. Pride shines behind his eyes, but he stifles it. “They have a boarding school program. A junior college, for people fourteen through seventeen.”
Ben shifts his weight at the mention of boarding school, which I was prepared for. I’d talked to Isla in length about the prospect. Neither of us want to send Ben away, but he’s a bright kid, and Wells is the best of the best. I want nothing less for him.
“It’s your decision,” I repeat, leaning back in my chair. “You’d be at the junior college for a year, roughly, then you’ll move on to the university, where you can live in the dorms if you want, or move back here, with us.” Wells wasn’t far from the castle. He’d have to drive there everyday, and possibly miss out on the parties that the school is known for because he’d have to drive home, but still.
It has been two weeks since Poppy and Antony left for Maatua. Since then, Isla has made it her mission to start tying up some loose ends with her family. Ben needed to prepare for college, and in Isla’s mind, he was far too good for his school back home. Her mother had come to visit and agreed with her, and I’d spent the better part of two days working on a portfolio for Ben to send to the headmaster of Wells.
“Think of all the women you’ll meet,” Elijah cuts in, grinning. Ben blushes and looks away from him, back down at the pamphlet. Well, Elijah’s not wrong about that.
“I’ll think about it,” Ben says with a soft, boyish smile.
“Good,” I say, pleased that he’s at least willing to consider the idea. Isla is making it seem like Ben doesn’t have much of a choice in the matter. I already caught her browsing the school’s merchandise and comparing the size of Ben’s favorite sweatshirts to the knit sweaters with the Well’s insignia and letters.
This was Ben’s future, and he has the freedom to choose that for himself. While I had a great time at Wells, it hadn’t been my choice. It had been my father’s decision, just like it had been his father’s decision, and so on, and so forth.
* * *
*Isla*
There is one thing I hate about being Luna more than anything, and that’s hiring new people for the castle. It’s not giving out jobs that’s the problem, not at all. I’ll give anyone a job, give them out like candy, especially when the salaries at the castle are so high. It’s saying no to candidates that grates on me.
I look down at the profiles of the woman who applied for the position of my lady’s maid, the head maid of the house under Hestia. Trinity printed everything out and laid it in neat piles on my desk, putting little notes on the pages to insert her opinion. I am grateful for her help, honestly. All of these women are high born with status, some with titles of duchess, or lady, related to Alphas as either daughters, nieces, or granddaughters.
“Poppy wasn’t a royal,” I say, more to myself than to Trinity.
“Well, no one knew you were a royal when she became your maid,” Trinity replies, sighing. “I know it… sucks, but the requirements for being a maid to the Luna of the Kingdom of Crescent Falls are much more involved…. Oh, this is the one I wanted to show you–” She picks up a profile and hands it to me.
I look down at the picture of the pretty redheaded young woman. She has fiery amber eyes, tan skin, and a beaming smile.
“She’s only nineteen,” Trinity says. “But she’s the only unwed daughter of her Alpha father.”
“What pack is she from?” I absently ask as I flip the page to look at the cover letter she wrote. I scan the page, finding her writing to be somewhat clipped. She is blunt, straight to the point, and a little teasing in her letter. “It’s either this or being a breeder–” I read aloud, then my eyes snap up to Trinity. “What? Is this true?”
“I highly doubt it,” Trinity laughs as she takes the profile from me and starts to read over it again. “Cindy Katherine Tawnybridge, of the Westrose pack. Nineteen, the youngest of the five children of the Alpha and Luna of Westrose. I know her sister, actually.”
“Who?”
Trinity hands the profile back to me as she begins to look through the other profiles. I look down at Cindy’s picture again, finding her somewhat familiar. There’s something about the curve of her sharp chin and those high, delicate cheekbones that brings me back to a memory I’d hoped to one day forget, at least the sting of it.
Then I realize why she’s so familiar.
Her sister was one of those… those bitches who’d been so incredibly cruel to me that day in the library when Maddox was still at least pretending to consider taking another Alpha’s daughter as his Luna. Beatrice, I believe her name was. I shake my head slightly, wishing she were here now that I am the queen so I could show her who was a weirdo.
“I found it interesting that she applied,” Trinity continues with a sigh as she flips through the other profiles, frowning. “The sisters in that family hate each other and are in constant competition. My guess is that she applied to snub the sister who was in the running for Luna Queen, not because she has no other options.”
I look down at the smug smile on the profile, those amber eyes alight with righteous pride. I kind of like the girl already just for that.
“What exactly would her duties be? Outside of following me around, fixing my hair…” I sigh heavily, leaning back in my chair.
“To keep you updated on the gossip within the ranks of the maids and servants, for one,” Trinity says playfully. “She’d also report to Hestia on your behalf, if you choose. But she’s young, so she’ll require training in matters of the house and your responsibilities as Luna. That might work in your favor, though. The rest of the candidates are experienced and have worked for high ranking families before. They will be set in their ways. You and Maddox keep a progressive court compared to most, so… a younger maid might be the right choice for you, personally.”
“Well, let’s bring her in for an interview. I think she and… this one–” I pull another profile from the pile. Trinity makes a face but takes the paper from me regardless. The middle aged crow of a woman glares at us from her grainy picture, looking more like a strict governess from a creepy novel than someone I’d want as my maid, but I needed to have options, and her experience spanned decades.
“Sounds like a plan. Hestia will want to interview them before you do, just to make sure they didn’t lie about their experience. I don’t think that will be an issue, though. Given that… Barbara has thirty years of experience, and Cindy has, well, none.”
“Thank you for your help, Trinity. I couldn’t do this without you,” I say, meaning every word. I still can’t believe I’m saying it, but Trinity has become a huge help to me in the past weeks. Having her as my royal consultant has been a good choice, all things considered.
Who would have thought? Definitely not me.
“Did you ever find out who Ella is?” Trinity asks, tilting her head toward the bundle on my desk. None of us have touched the gift left behind by Mystica.
“No… we haven’t. Poppy and Antony were going to ask around on Maatua. It might be some distant family member.” I find it odd that Mystica didn’t leave some sort of instruction about who Ella is and where to send the gift. Trinity gives me a look that mirrors my own–pure curiosity and a deep desire to know what's inside the bundle. “I can’t open it. It doesn’t feel right.”
“I know,” Trinity says with a frown, shrugging as she gathers up all the profiles and forms them into a neat stack before clutching them to her chest.
For a moment I almost tell her about the book I was given and the word that appeared on the page. Prepare. Prepare for what, exactly? But I haven't told anyone about it, not yet, and I won’t, not until we find out what exactly happened in Maatua in regard to the Diamond and the mysterious necklace the Goddess obviously wants us to find. Maddox has been contemplating how the Diamond ever got to the temple to begin with if the Moon Goddess used it at the pool. What about the pirates and all of that? None of it makes much sense to any of us.
“What will you do with the rest of your day, Luna?” Trinity asks as she makes her way to the door leading out of my office. I’d had it renovated recently, and now the dated wallpaper had been replaced with bright, floral paper with white trim and soft, white carpet instead of cold tile floors.
“Tell Maddox I’ve found a maid,” I reply, then look out the window. “Maybe take Isaac for a walk. I’m not sure.”
Why did I feel so bored?
Why was I… excited by the idea that something was coming our way?
Prepare, I think to myself. And the worst thing about it is–I can’t wait.