and when he looks up, we both just smile at each other.
“I’m sorry, I was a prick,” he says first.
“And I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you. Besties still?” I ask, and he nods as I wrap my arms around him and hug him tightly. “I know this is all stressful, but we need to stick together to make it out of this. No matter how nice this academy is, they are hiding the fact they don’t care about our lives. Remember the students that didn’t catch a horse?”
“I remember, and I won’t ever let anyone hurt you,” he firmly states.
“Same here, bestie,” I whisper back.
“You guys are so sweet. Did you ever think about dating?” Vesnia asks as I let go of Riley.
“Nope, dating would be weird. Riley and I grew up together,” I answer the same thing I always say to anyone that asks, and usually, Riley would agree, but he doesn’t say anything. Thankfully, one of the professors I haven’t seen before walks to the middle of the staircase. This teacher is much older with a withering figure, wrinkles marking her dark skin, and her grey hair looks bright in contrast.
“Hello, new students, my name is Professor Bates. I will meet you all later this week, but for now, I am to guide you to the dining hall for a special welcome dinner,” she says and turns around, no doubt expecting us to follow. We head through the long corridors and through the greenhouse until we get to the dining hall. This room is just as massive as I expected it to be with several doors going off to the kitchens behind them. With deep brown walls and real wood flooring, the room looks too polished, like it’s not even real. The smell of really good food finds me as I look around the dozens of white circular tables in the room. Each table has a little candle in the middle, and they are already set up with cutlery.
“Find a seat. The food will be served, and the entertainment will start soon,” Professor Bates instructs.
“Entertainment?” Vesnia whispers to me as we find a nearby empty table and sit down. Riley sits on the other side of me and no one else sits with us, giving us a clear view of the stage at the front of the room. Two bright lights shine on the stage as everyone finds their seats, and silence drifts over us all. Very slowly, piano music starts to play, a deep haunting tune that takes my breath away as the curtains of the stage slowly pull back. The first person I see is Henry at the side, his hands quickly moving across the piano, expertly playing the song without missing a beat. Like he can sense me staring, he looks up and finds my gaze, holding it for a long time.
And I feel like I don’t breathe. I don’t exist. I am thoroughly caught in an angel’s gaze.
“Aren’t the dancers amazing?” Vesnia asks me, and it gives me enough strength to look away and remember that there is actually a performance going on. Five angels dance with each other using expressive hand movements as they spin around, but never once touching each other.
The dance is a game. A game spoken with more than touch, and I’m starting to think playing this kind of game with a king might get someone killed.
Chapter 9
“Ready for equestrian studies?” Vesnia asks as she walks into my bedroom this morning after putting her tray back in her room. I frown at myself in the mirror as I take in the skin-tight black riding pants, the thin white T-shirt and tall boots. “Okay, you look incredible! Who knew you were hiding that kind of body!”
“I wasn’t hiding, I just never wear things like this,” I reply.
“Want me to French plait your hair out of the way?” she asks. “And yeah, you’ve been hiding. Or more likely, a certain bestie was hiding you away from all the other fish in the ocean.”
“Riley just sees me as a friend, Ves,” I remind her as I sit on the floor in front of where she sits on my bed, and I grab a packet of Parma Violets to chew on as she does my hair. Who knows what I’m going to do when I run out of my sweets? Have a mini-breakdown maybe? She slowly brushes my hair before starting the plaits, and I try not to wince from how hard she