Page 38 of The Rest is History
Nothing.
3 weeks. ‘This is how long it took from the first time we have actual evidence that Henry had begun to turn against his wife to herconvictionin the highest court in the land. On the 25thApril, he referred to her in a letter to Rome as his ‘entirely beloved wife’. On the 15thof May, she was sentenced to death.’ I pause for effect. ‘That is astaggeringlyshort period in which to bring a case against a reigning queen consort and topple her and her entire faction.’
I look at a sea of give-a-fuck expressions.
Fine.
I have a trump card up my sleeve. One that’s most definitely not on Charlie’s mind-numbing lesson plan. But one that should light a fire under these kids’ arses.
I delete my two phrases.
I type two words.
I sit down against the front of the desk, arms folded.
And I wait.
One of the girls notices first. It’s Martha Fisher, the eldest of the school’s insanely large Fisher family. She snorts into one hand and points with her other.
‘OMG! Look.’
I give her a little nod that saysyou’re not imagining this.
There’s a slow but steady rise in the noise level as the kids clock what’s on the screen. The ones near the front turn around and snigger with their friends. The sniggers are definitely awkward in tone. No one knows how to take this.
Or how to take me.
A studious-looking boy at the front looks up at me earnestly. ‘Miss Peach? What on earth isreverse harem?’
‘Name?’
‘Dan.’
‘Good question, Dan. I suspect, from the reactions around you, some of your classmates are familiar with the concept. You know what a harem is?’
He flushes. ‘Yeah.’
‘This is the opposite. One woman, multiple men.’
‘Oh. Ok.’ He sinks lower into his seat.
There are more sniggers around him.
I look at the amused faces. ‘Anyone read any reverse harem?’
There’s a studied silence till one brave soul mutters,‘Dark Fae.’
I frown. ‘Is that a paranormal romance?’
‘Yeah. Shifters,’ the same girl says.
‘Perfect. Any other examples?’
Silence again. But they’re looking a hell of a lot more interested now.
‘Look, I don’t want to embarrass anyone. Okay? And this isn’t an English lesson. If it was, I doubt you’d be covering these kinds of books.’
This earns me a few more sniggers.
