Page 21 of The Prince of Broken Crowns

“Really?” I question since she looks like she belongs here.

She nods, flicking a glance toward me. “There was this incident in high school, and a lot of people who go here now were involved in it.” She swallows hard but doesn’t elaborate.

While I want to know what happened, with how upset she looks, I’m not about to pry.

“Is everyone here like this?” I ask as my shoes scuff against the polished floor.

“No, but a lot of them are.” She pauses as she stops at the end of the hallway. It enters into a massive circular room with black and white checkerboard floors, a high-arched, cathedral-like ceiling, and walls painted with splashes of color. In the center of the room is a colossal statue of some man donning a crown, and around that are stone benches where people are sitting, laughing and chatting. “My brothers aren’t,” she adds as she glances at a blond guy sitting on one of the benches.

They make eye contact, and his lips kick up into a smirk.

She hurriedly looks away and shakes her head. “Let’s get to the orientation room.” She power-walks in the direction of a hallway just adjacent to where we’re standing.

Four hallways in total branch out from the quad-like room, and this is one of the many buildings that make up the campus. It’s overwhelming to think about how easily I could get lost.

Sighing at the thought, I hurry after Lily, wondering who on earth that blond guy was.

“Are you okay?” I ask as I jog up to her.

Her jaw is set tight. “I just hate that guy; that’s all.” She forces a smile onto her face as she spots a girl with auburn hair heading down the hallway in our direction. She has her hair down and curled at the ends, and she’s wearing a black dress, fishnet tights, and an oversized army jacket. She almost looks like she’s from northside except for her perfectly manicured nails and the platform designer shoes.

“Wren!” Lily waves at her. “Oh my God, I thought you wouldn’t show.”

“I almost didn’t.” Wren stops in front of us. “My parents were dead set on sending me overseas, but then they learned that the prince of East Kensford was going to attend here, and you know, they thought they’d work on getting that arranged marriage they’ve dreamed about since I was born.”

“Wait … arranged marriage?” I don’t mean to say the question aloud—I don’t even know this girl—but what the hell did she just say?

She looks at me with puzzlement etched across her features.

“Sorry,” I apologize. “I’m Maddison—or, well, Maddy. I’m here on a scholarship, so I don’t get how everything works here.”

Her confusion deepens. “I didn’t realize they were letting scholarship students in.” She pulls a remorseful face. “Sorry, that probably sounded ruder than I meant it.”

“You’re fine,” I assure her, trying to pick up on her vibe. Is she nice or mean? I can’t tell.

“No, it’s not fine.” She sighs heavily. “Sorry, I’m just having a shitty day. My parents just dumped this whole arranged marriage idea on me right before they dropped me off here.”

“Arranged marriages are kind of a thing in this social circle,” Lily explains. “It’s not necessarily spoken about a lot in public, but privately, things are set up by our parents. Then they send us here so that we can make these ideas happen.”

“What if you don’t?” I wonder, fiddling with a leather band on my wrist.

Lily and Wren trade a solemn look.

“Then you end up like Ava B.” Wren is the one to answer. She scratches her wrist while peering around as if she’s nervous to speak about this aloud. “Her parents sent her here so she could hit it off with this specific prince, but she fell in love with another one. When her parents found out, all her money was taken away, and rumors say that she lives on the streets of northside now.”

“That could be a rumor,” Lily stresses as she fiddles with a heart-shaped pendant attached to her necklace. “No one knows for sure.”

“No, but I think we all know that if we don’t do what our parents say, even when we’re grown-ass adults, they’ll cut us off. And then what? We’ve been raised to be dependent on them.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Lily’s shoulders slump.

Wren sighs. “Sorry for bumming you out. I’m just having a bad morning,” Wren tells her then looks at me. “So, northside, I’ve always wondered if parents are better over there. I mean, I know it’s poverty-stricken and everything, but you guys don’t have arranged marriages, right?”

I laugh, but it’s humorless. “No, no arranged marriages. We have to worry more about our parents doing shit like getting in trouble with drug lords and us taking the fall.”

Her brow arches. “Are you speaking from experience?”

I shrug, wondering if I’ll scare them off. But Wren looks more curious than anything else, and Lily looks shocked, her eyes wide.

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