Page 159 of The Prince of Broken Crowns

River wanders over to a nearby tree to call his family. I try to calm my heart rate.

“Maddy, are you okay?”

When I glance up, Lily is standing in front of me, her blonde hair looking nearly white against the bright sunlight. She looks like a mess; her clothes are wrinkled, and she has a scratch on her cheek.

“I’m okay.” I point at her cheek. “Are you?”

She delicately touches her cheek. “Yeah, I just got pushed into a column while I was trying to get out.”

I sit up straight. “That mob was crazy. I had to duck into an alcove. River found me hiding out, and we waited together.”

“You and River.” She muses over this. “Seems like you and him are together a lot.”

“Well, we are dating.” Fake dating, but she isn’t aware of that yet.

She plops down beside me. “How is that going?”

“Good.”

I loathe lying to her. She was the first person at the academy to be nice to me, and it makes me feel like crap. But if I want to keep myself safe, I have to. Plus, if she knew the truth, it could put her at risk.

“Just good?” she questions with an arch of her brow.

I sigh, picking at my chipped nail polish. “I like him, but the problem is, I can’t like him too much because of the betrothed thing.” As if sensing our conversation, Isla appears in front of us.

She has long blonde hair and rarely wears a lot of makeup. Today, she has on a silk skirt and sweater, along with heels. She’s staring out at the parking lot.

Curious about what she’s looking at, I twist around. Nothing appears out of the ordinary other than people are everywhere. Although, I do spot an older car that looks out of place amongst the other expensive and lavish vehicles.

Lily turns and tracks my gaze. “What’re you looking at?”

“Nothing really. Just that car.” I give a discreet nod at the car parked near the curb

She eyeballs the dinged-up car with faded blue paint. The windows are rolled up so the driver’s face isn’t visible, but I can tell it’s a guy. I’m not gonna lie, part of me worries that Drew is in the driver’s seat, that maybe he didn’t really mean that he’d lift the bounty on me.

But then the door opens and a taller guy, around my age, with dark hair, dressed in worn clothes and a beanie gets out. He glances around, and when his eyes land on Isla, he smiles.

When I peer over my shoulder at her, she’s jogging toward him, but she doesn’t appear happy. In fact, she looks panicked as she rubs by us and over to him. Once she reaches him, she says something that causes the guy’s smile to fizzle. Then he jumps back into his car and peels away, the tires squealing.

Everyone turns and stares at the scene.

Isla spins on her heels and rushes toward the side of the academy, disappearing as she rounds the building.

“What the hell was that about?” Lily wonders, glancing at me.

“I’m not sure.” I pause as an idea comes to mind. “Is she maybe dating someone from northside?”

Lily’s gaze darts to me. “Why would you think that?”

I shrug. “I don’t know. That guy just looked like he was from there.”

She considers this with a crease forming between her brows. “That’d be so weird if she was.”

“River’s dating me,” I remind her, unsure if I should be offended by her surprise or not.

“Sure, but you attend the academy. I know Isla well enough that I have no clue how she’d meet anyone from northside.” She scrunches her nose. “I need to ask Wren if she’s heard any rumors about this.”

“Well, she probably has now,” I say as I note the hushed whispering flittering through the air. “I feel bad for her.”

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