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“London?”
“Windsor. I am only able to be there during the holidays.” He pauses, glancing at me critically as if to check whether I’m paying attention. Luke slides in and out of focus, a beautiful, radiant blur. “Lochkelvin is not my home. There are people here who want me dead because of who I am and what I represent. But there are also people here who want the very best things for me. I can only represent my family as well as I possibly can. Someone has to.”
There’s a long silence, and then Luke says something I never expected. “It is difficult being the chosen son of the chosen family. No one truly understands. The things I could have had, had I been born in another time. Once, I would have been worshiped, respected. Now they have no idea what to do with me. I am a burden now, a relic. A powerless little show-pony. It feels like mourning something I never had.” He turns his dark gaze onto me with a grim curl of his lips. “Apologies. You did not ask for any of this.”
But I’m intrigued. It’s more than I’ve ever gotten from Luke and I’m struck by the honesty in his voice.
“You’re not as much of a dick to me as the others,” I say tentatively, feeling an odd need to placate him. I pause. “As Rory.”
Luke’s eyes shutter. “I have known Rory for a long time. He is a very good friend to me, although I know at times it pains him so.”
“Pains him?” It looks like Rory’s never borne a moment’s discomfort in his life.
Luke’s mouth twists. “You do not know much about Oscar Munro, do you?”
There it is again. Oscar Munro. His question reminds me of Finlay at the library —You have no idea who Rory is, do you? Who his mother was…Why does everything in this damn school revolve around Rory?
I dig into the depths of my mind, trying to remember what Dr. Moncrieff had been ranting about at the news during our last detention. “They’re calling for a General Election.”
Luke’s eyebrows rise, his lips quirking in amusement. He seems surprised by my comment. “They have been calling for an election for years but all they ever do is switch the leader like it makes the faintest bit of difference. Like it is a game of musical chairs.” He threads his fingers together, looking more relaxed than ever. “A useful little loophole in constitutional law.”
There’s a peaceful silence after this. The world is so vast and complex, and my flying spirit feels as though it’s edging toward something immense. Like there’s a tapestry out there where I can see every glittering thread woven together to make sense of it all, to make sense of life and the influence of the people around me. Lochkelvin and its students are only the beginning of that tapestry, of powerful influence.
Above me, the stars twinkle as though they’re sharing their own private, celestial joke. I smile back at them.
Eventually, Luke glances at me, giving me a once-over. “Are you feeling better?”
A breeze blows across my face, tracing gentle whirls over my skin. “Yeah.” I gaze at him for a long while. “Why did you take me away from them?”
Luke gives me a sad smile. “Because I had to tell someone. And with any luck, you might not remember this conversation.”
I hear Danny’s voice before I see him. He’s shouting into the freezing air, “Jessa! Jessa! Where are you?” After a moment, he adds, “If he’s done anything to you, I’ll kill him!”
“Your lapdog is calling,” Luke mutters, brushing himself off as he stands.
“He’s myfriend.”
“Sorry, lap-squirrel.”
Danny skids down the grassy verge, his giant squirrel tail bobbing behind him as he glares at Luke. “Why did you take her all the way over here?”
“So I could have my wicked way with her without you gawping at us.” Luke’s voice is dry but there’s something about those words that slides a fluttery warmth into my belly, and I find myself swallowing.
Danny scowls at him. I wonder if he really believes Luke? Luke, who’s actually spoken to me for once. Who actually told me things and opened up to me… I stare at him, at every bright, shimmering sequin decorating his face.
But then Danny says something I don’t expect, snapping my attention back onto him in an instant.
“The teachers have arrived. The ritual’s about to start.”
