Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
Given that she’d attacked me the day before, I decided to skip Sparring with Elaine to refocus on the supplies I’d gotten from Miss Alice.
Inside my room, I headed to the bathroom to get some toilet paper and clean off the picture.
The door was locked.
I scanned the bedroom. “Izzy?”
Her muffled voice came from the bathroom. “In here!”
After a shuffle, groan, toilet flush, and running water at the sink, Izzy appeared in the doorway. With flushed, clammy skin, she looked paler than usual.
“Are you feeling okay?”
Wrinkling her nose, she swiped a hand over her face. “Not really.”
“You don’t look so good.”
She stuck her tongue out at me. “Thanks. I threw up at three in the morning, and it’s been non-stop since then.
Probably something I ate. My stomach has been cramping like crazy.
” With another groan, she wrapped her arms around her middle and stalked over to her bed. “Morgan and Angela feel sick, too.”
“Oh, shoot. I’m sorry.” I eyed her lumpy form under the covers, wanting to help. “I should tell Miss Alice. Need anything from the kitchen while I’m there?”
I took her moan into her pillow as a resounding no.
Walking over to Morgan and Angela’s door, I knocked a few times, but they went unanswered.
I called out, “Are you two alive in there? Izzy said you all got sick. Just checking if you needed anything?”
A loud groan came from the room, but I couldn’t tell who it belonged to.
“Okay, I’m taking that as proof of life!” Another groan. “Feel better. I’ll check in on you later.”
I returned to the kitchen to hunt Miss Alice, but I didn’t find her. Since he’d be the next best person to notify of a potential food poisoning outbreak, I went in search of Kingston instead.
He sat at his desk in his office, holding a familiar book.
“You’re finally reading it?”
He lifted his head, smiling when he saw me standing there, and nodded before closing The Princess Bride and setting it aside. “It felt like time.”
I smiled, walking over to his chair. “I hate to be the one to burst your small moment of peace, but we have a problem…”
“What’s wrong?”
“Izzy, Morgan, and Angela are all in their rooms. Sick with food poisoning, from the sounds of it.”
Kingston pressed his eyes shut. When he opened them again, he forced a tight smile. “I’ll handle it. Are they alright?”
“Miserable, but they’ll survive.”
“Well, I’m glad to hear the latter. I’ll see what I can do about the former. Do you feel alright?”
I nodded. “Now that I think about it, I skipped breakfast and lunch with the girls yesterday. I’m not sure if that helps narrow down your search for what caused it, but it might.”
“Thank you, love. I’ll take care of it. You go through your lessons with whoever isn’t sick and use the free periods to work on your clues. I’ll be here if you need anything.”
With a quick kiss, he sent me on my way, and while my distraction over the girls had offered a reprieve from my thoughts over my interaction with Max, I couldn’t avoid them when I walked back into the hallway.
His strained voice came from down the hall, like he was trying to stay quiet but his temper had flared.
I hesitated, my footsteps stuttering along the carpet before I gritted my teeth and stalked forward.
As much as I needed to focus on my lessons and clues, if my chance to find out what was going on with him was down that hall, I refused to miss it.
“They’re growing uneasy, Maxwell.”
“That’s not my problem, Dad.”
Unable to hear what Merle said next, I stepped closer to the bedroom. They were inside the larger of the two rooms where I’d met Morty.
Max growled, and a chair squeaked. “No.”
I jolted backward, not wanting to be found lurking in the hallway like I had once already, but before I ran away, Morty’s muffled voice followed, as if manifested by my thoughts.
It dripped with glee. “Victoria suggested an alternative option. Perhaps her boo Maxie will be more open to that?”
“Don’t fucking call me that.”
“Why not? Everyone keeps calling me Morty.”
Merle sighed, his exasperation loud enough to reach outside the room. “That is your name, son. And Max, if you won’t agree to their plan, then maybe hearing the alternatives is my only option.”
“Anything to save your skin, right?”
Impact sounded, and I covered my mouth with my hands. I couldn’t distinguish the source or target of the blow, but I wanted to barge into the room out of concern for Max.
I forced my feet still.
“Oh, boohoo.” Morty’s snide tone curled my lip. “Mommy Dearest passed away and left you with everything. Poor baby.”
“Fuck you.”
“Ooh, sorry, babe. No can do. I’m into blondes right now.” Morty laughed. “Maybe a hint of something exotic. Keep the family line from getting too light. We are the rebels, after all.”
Merle cut off his rant. “Your brother is right. Whether or not you like it, your mother’s inheritance falls to you, Maxwell, and Le Redoute Vin has flourished over the last two decades.
It holds more capital than most of Camelot Court’s consigned assets, and the Valencourts see it as a means to an end.
They want it. Drake D’Arthur wants it. And I want to make sure it stays in our family’s control. ”
“What? You’re a hot commodity, bro!” Morty crowed. “Live. It. Up.”
“I’m not marrying her.” Max growled. “You don’t know—”
“That’s enough.”
The finality in Merle’s tone surprised me.
And both his sons heeling to it.
“Maxwell, you’ve had your fun, but this is out of our hands now.
You went to the Valencourts before The Quest began.
Out of some misguided revenge plan, out of love, it makes little difference to me.
You made Percy Valencourt an offer, and they expect you to make good on it.
They’re threatening what you hold dear in one way or another. ”
Two taps on the desk, then a beat of silence.
“Fine,” Max growled. “We’ll do it your way, and see how that plays out.”
“It better play out with everyone happy, and my position at Camelot Court secure. After the lengths I’ve gone to through the years, I won’t let one insignificant girl threaten all that.
You were tasked with keeping her out of their hair, keeping her happy and distracted so she didn’t cause problems.”
I strained to hear Max, but he muttered under his breath.
“Regardless, now she’s become a problem. And she won’t be the first or last girl at Camelot Court who thought she had power, only to learn her lesson and wind up with nothing.”
“How many times—”
“Yeah, yeah, little brother. We’ve heard you.” Morty adopted a whiny, mocking tone. “She means nothing. She’s just a pawn. I’ve been using her the whole time. Blah. Blah. Blah.”
Furniture scraped across the floor, and the sound of bodies hitting each other followed. Max and Morty went after each other, while I tried to hold onto what they’d just said.
For one brief moment, my hope had soared.
Then, like a clay pigeon fancy rich people shoot on holiday, Morty blasted it to the ground.
“No one buys your act, little brother. Or hers. Pretending all this, you as the villain and her as the Ice Princess, hasn’t been a way to get the two of you out of here?
” Morty scoffed. “So you and V can ride off into the sunset and live a normal life? It’s getting old.
Using the outsider as misdirection was clever, I’ll give you that. But it doesn’t matter.”
I waited for Max to say something.
Anything that proved Morty was lying.
But thoughts of our night in the forest filled my head, and when Max broke the silence, his smug tone crushed any remaining hope I had.
“Jealous, big brother?” Footsteps came closer, and Max’s voice sounded right by the door. “I’m done talking about this.”
My stomach rolled, and I needed to get away from there before he saw me.
I ran.
As my mind circled the mess of information I’d just overhead, I went to Sparring and waited for Vivian to arrive. I had every intention of calling her out.
But as I stretched and regained control of my emotions, I locked up my Resting Skeptic Face.
Instead of revealing my move, I watched her, thinking through how she played into things with Max. The idea of her being his true choice this whole time, I couldn’t believe that.
I refused to believe it.
He’d gone to the Valencourts and made a deal, one that involved her. Vivian had gone along with it because it got her what she wanted. But then Max had changed his mind. He hadn’t wanted to go through with it.
Now, her parents were forcing the issue, and she was either complicit or standing by while it happened.
He’d said no. Told her he didn’t want it. Told all of them.
No one listened.
As much as I wanted to call her out, the words wouldn’t come. I wanted to talk to Max before I reacted, especially in front of Vivian. Fear that I might be wrong persisted, but fear that I was right kept the words at bay.
Because if I made things worse by saying something, I’d just be another pawn she manipulated on the board.
Another means they used to control him.
That thought trapped my outrage inside my throat.
“Are you okay?”
I snapped my gaze in her direction.
She stared at my side, where I clutched the spot Elaine had punched me while I breathed through my burst of anxiety.
Eyes narrowing, I said nothing. If she thought she could get in my head by being nice, I’d prove her wrong.
I’d do exactly what she’d done to me and refuse to react.
When she entered the ring, I stared straight at her. Impassive. Focused.
We circled each other, like Paul had scrutinized me during my Succession lesson. As if we were sizing up the other soldier’s worthiness before going into battle.
We both got a few shots in, but no solid punches. Neither of us even tried to land one hard enough to do actual damage.
I wanted to, but I’d locked up my emotions tight enough to keep my head.
Almost made it through the whole lesson, too.