Royals and Rebels 2: Love and War

Eleven: Penelope Peters

Chapter Eleven

Penelope Peters

The dance was at the end of October. September had been rushed. Studying, interspersed with dates with Jasper. Until, towards the end, he up and vanished without a word. I still hadn’t heard anything from him. According to Gwyneth, he wasn’t allowed to have his phone during basic training, and they usually went some place remote. She knew because she’d once dated one of Jasper’s brothers.

He’d be back, she said, in November, just before finals. Since the day that I’d found out he’d left, I hadn’t really spoken to Cadoc. I’d pretended that he hadn’t existed, even in English class.

During my time there, Audrey had become my best friend, but Gwyneth had gone out of her way to befriend me since the party. So had Winnie Wright, who was Cadoc’s half-cousin from an affair his uncle had had when he was younger. I suspected Winnie had done so because Cadoc had told her to, but either way I’d developed a close group of friends since coming to the school.

I hadn’t had that back home. Back home I’d had one friend, Becca Jameson. But Becca was keen on becoming a singer and had no desire to go to a posh college like I did. She hadn’t come to Hollow Hills with me, instead going to the Pendragon Performing Arts Academy. I missed her, but we talked on the phone all the time, and it was nice to have friends that understood what I was going through.

October passed in a haze of me being mad at Cadoc, studying, and trying not to think about Jasper. Andrew Addington was still an asshole, but since I’d become friends with Gwyneth he seemed less inclined to target me.

I’d decided not to go to the ball. It seemed weird, since I didn’t know what was going on with Jasper, and I didn’t want people saying things about Cadoc and me. The day before the ball, Audrey was flitting around our room trying to find the right outfit. She’d gone shopping specifically for the event and had decided nothing she had was right.

Which meant at that moment she had her entire closet out on the floor of our room, while I was sitting on my bed, blaring the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs “Maps” on repeat at full volume using the Alexa my Mum had gotten me for Christmas the year before.

Audrey stood over me, her hands on her hips, and her face scrunched up. “Okay, this has got to stop. This is ridiculous. You barely know Jasper. It’s not like he’s the love of your life or something.”

I pushed myself up off the bed, and sat cross legged, looking up at her. “Yes, I know that, but I’m never going to get to decide that if I don’t get to actually date him. We went on a few dates, and then he got shipped off to who knows where. I still haven’t even gotten a text from him yet.”

“Okay, but just because his life is on hold doesn’t mean that you have to put your life on hold,” Audrey told me, “and you shouldn’t be mad at Cadoc. He doesn’t have any control over it anymore than you do. Besides, he’s been absolutely miserable without you.” 

“He’s fine,” I said, “he’s still playing tonsil hockey with Gwyneth, and for the last time, he’s not my boyfriend. It doesn’t matter what we are to each other, because we’re nothing.”

Audrey frowned. “Well, I mean, that’s not technically true.”

“How do you figure?”

“Well, you’re his subject. He cares about his subjects. You are one of them. And he’s your Prince, you should want to see him happy.”

“This isn’t Ever After. I’m not a serf, Audrey. He might have a crown, and a title, but at the end of the day he’s still just another, annoying teenage boy. Who I would like very much to stay away from me right now.”

Audrey laughed. “I sincerely can’t wait to watch you fall in love with him. It’s going to be very epic.”

“We’re not epic,” I said, “and I wish you would stop acting like we are.”

“I just think you would be really good together,” Audrey said.

“Yeah, well people thought that Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber were a good idea. Look at how that turned out.”

“Extreme comparison.”

“But I’m not wrong,” I said.

There was a knock on the door. Audrey bounced over to answer it. “Cadoc, what are you doing here?”

“I’m here for Pen,” he said. 

“Go away,” I ordered.

“You can’t avoid me forever, you know,” he said, “I am your Prince. I could just order you to speak to me.”

I stood up off the bed, walked over, and crossed my arms over my chest. “You’re going to order me to speak to you?”

He shifted uncomfortably from side to side. “Yes.”

“Okay. Go ahead. Do it.”

He hung his head. “How long are you going to be mad at me?”

“Forever sounds about right,” I told him. I looked him up and down, taking in his appearance. He wore no suit. He wasn’t dressed up the way of someone who was about to attend a private school ball would.

He wore jeans and a maroon sweater.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“I came here to take you somewhere,” he said.

“We’re not going to the ball,” I told him.

“I’m not here to take you to the ball,” he said, “I’m here to take you to Jefferies.”

I stared at him. “What do you mean? He’s at basic training. They don’t let anyone in basic training unless you’re a soldier or you.”

“They’re making an exception,” he told me, “I pulled some strings. Look, I already told Jasper about it, so if you don’t want to go, the only person you’ll be hurting is Jefferies. Not me. I’ve got a plane waiting for us, and we’ve got a full day off for Jasper and you.”

I blinked. “How…why?”

“I don’t want you to hate me,” he muttered.

“I wasn’t…I didn’t hate you.”

“You were getting there,” he told me, “the moment that you found out that he couldn’t go to the dance because of the obligation to my family, I could see the hate filling your eyes. I don’t have a shot in hell with you if you hate me.”

I bit my lip. “This really isn’t some kind of ploy to get me alone or anything?”

“I’m taking you to your boyfriend,” he said, “my best friend. That’s it.”

I glanced back at Audrey. “If I’m not back in one day, you call the cops.”

“And tell them what? That you went with the Prince?” Audrey asked.

“Point taken. Don’t call the cops. Call my Mum.” I grabbed my purse, and my jacket, and then I left with Cadoc.

Cadoc was driven around everywhere in this black, armored car with two guards who had about as much personality as Storm Troopers. In the entire time that I’d known them, they’d never once said anything to me. They just kind of lurked off in the distance.

I realized then that they were probably related to Jasper in some way, and I noticed one of them wink at me as I got into the car. But then, I was alone with Cadoc in the back of the car. The drive to the airport was the longest that we had been together in ages.

“You didn’t have to do this, you know,” I whispered.

“I did,” he said, “I could feel you slipping through my fingers.”

“You don’t have me.”

“No, no,” he said, “but you know you are one of the few people in the world that isn’t intimidated by me. You don’t treat me like a Prince, Shakespeare. You treat me like a person. Do you know what it’s like when your classmates are worried that you can order them around?”

“I wasn’t worried,” I told him.

“I know,” Cadoc answered, “that’s why I need you, Pen. You’re rare.”

“What, like a steak?”

“No,” Cadoc said, “I’m not trying to compare you to a piece of meat. It’s just that if I’m going to be a good man, Penelope, a good King, a good leader, I need good people around me. Even though I haven’t known you that long, I know that you’re a good person. I don’t want you to just be some old classmate standing in the background. Or a footnote. When people ask who made me a great man, I want them to say your name. Penelope Peters. I don’t care in what capacity you’re associated with me, but I want you there, in my life. Because you’re a good person. You’ll keep me honest. That’s why I had to do this, to get you to him.”

“Did he really have basic training?” I asked.

He nodded. “But…. he did text you. He gave me his phone to keep safe, because he’s not allowed to have it. I was the asshole that deleted it.”

“Cadoc,” I didn’t bother to hide the annoyance in my voice.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized, “I know I shouldn’t have. I understand your choices. I respect your choices. But that doesn’t mean I have to like them. Besides, you’re the one that’s always telling me to act sixteen. What’s more sixteen then deleting someone’s text?”

The car pulled to a stop. We arrived at the airport, where I was ushered onto a private jet. Cadoc pretended to do his homework, and I slept the entire time. When I woke, I was taken in another armored car to a location that I wasn’t told the name of.

It wasn’t the military base. It was somewhere in the Welsh countryside, in the middle of nowhere. There were green tents set up everywhere. I walked through the area, with Cadoc by my side, followed by the two Storm Troopers.

We didn’t stop until we got to a tent that was guarded by a tall guy, with a buzz cut, wearing a black beret and camo. He had a tattoo on his neck, and he smirked when he saw me. He was holding a gun.

“You Shakespeare?” he asked in a gruff voice.

“I’m Pen---”

“Shakespeare,” he corrected, “can’t have anyone knowing your real name, sweetheart. If you’re close with Jasper, you’re close with our Prince here. Don’t want you falling into the wrong hands. Hope you like the code name, cause you’re stuck with it.”

I glanced at Cadoc, who had a s**t eating smile on his face.

“Go on,” he said, “I’ve got people to see. Technically, I’m here on official business. Even if that official business means drinking with my cousin.”

He left me alone, and I was ushered into the green tent. I didn’t know what I expected to see. Maybe a few cots, duffel bags, some guns and Amo. Instead, the cots had been pushed to the side. In the center of the room stood Jasper, wearing his dress blues.

Someone had set up an old cd player, and a crooning, achey, male singers voice said, “The world was on fire, and no one could save me but you, it’s strange what desire will make foolish people do…”

Jasper smiled sheepishly at me. He looked like a man standing there, not like the boy that I had last seen sitting across from at a Nandos. His curly hair was gone, replaced by the buzz cut similar to the soldiers from outside.

“Hey, Shakespeare,” he said with a smile, “sorry I missed the ball.”

I ran to him, and breathed him in. That good smell. Gasoline and beer, now mingled with the faintest hint of leather and shoe shine. “You didn’t text,” I sobbed into his shoulder. I had no idea why I was crying. The only thing I could think of was that I had genuinely thought that I would never see him again.

Or that he wouldn’t want me when he came back.

“Sorry,” he said, “not allowed. Cadoc was supposed to tell you, but um…. well…I know things have been awkward between you guys.”

“Sorry,” I apologized. I pulled away from him, wiping tears from my face. “We haven’t really been talking. I was so mad when I found out you left, and then he told me the truth about your family, how it works….”

“It’s okay,” said Jasper, “my cousins told me that you were giving him the cold shoulder.”

“Cousins?”

“Tommy and Grant,” he said, “they’re Cadoc’s security guards. The guys that drove you here.”

“Is everyone here family?” I asked.

“There are three families that make up the guard. The Jefferies family, the Mercers, and the Masons,” he explained, “some are servants, some are guard, some are in the church. But we’re all bound by blood and country. If you leave, you can’t go back. Ever.”

“What about outsiders?” I said.

“Well, we have to have outsiders,” he said, “but anyone who marries us becomes part of the family business. We can’t have any distractions.”

“Do most future Captains go to school with their Princes?”

He shook his head. “No, but Cadoc and I have always been close. It’s never been easy for him to make friends, so when the Queen noticed how well we got on she arranged for me to come to Hollow Hills. But normally, I’d get my education from the guard.”

“I should have asked,” I said.

He shrugged. “I should have told you.” He wrapped his arms around my waist and pressed my forehead against his. “God, you smell good. I missed your smell. I missed this. Can I kiss you?”

“I’m going to have to demand it.”

He kissed me firmly, running his hands through my hair. We stayed in the tent for a long time, kissing, and swaying to slow song after slow song. It was the best night of my life, and yet…

It wasn’t Jasper that the night made me long for. It was Cadoc.