Page 41 of The Last De Loughrey Dynasty (The Legacy of Aquila Hall #1)

CHAPTER FORTY

DOROTHEE

“Mister Berkshire, if you’re so fond of mocking your classmates’ way of dancing, why don’t you replace him and show us all how the waltz is danced with Miss Alderidge instead?” Mrs Fanning prompted Jesse and waved him onto the dance floor in the marvellous ballroom of the school. “Go, go, Mister Berkshire. Your time to shine on the dance floor.”

Jesse pushed off the wall where he had stood next to me and replaced Nathaniel, taking Maisie’s hand in his. “Miss Alderidge, I’m delighted to dance with you,” he curtsied before her, making her belly laugh.

“I do have to say I’m quite disappointed not to finish this dance with my beau, Mister Berkshire,” she joined his game, making the class break out in chuckles.

“Quite the scandal that you prefer the oil boy over me, Miss.”

“I weigh two billion, Mister Berkshire, I’d like to see your net worth if we’re starting to compare ourselves in front of my lady,” Nathaniel shouted from where he had joined our group and taken a seat on the windowsill.

Jesse turned his head to face him. “I’d like to remind you that your father weighs two billion, Mister McConnell. You’re just an oil boy at this very moment.”

“Hush with the nonsense money talk, boys,” Mrs Fanning, who had the difficult task of teaching each class the variants of dance for us to represent the school as nothing but perfection at the ball of Aquila in almost two months, snapped her fingers in a command for Julian to start the music on the radio again, but he wasn’t listening. Mrs Fanning sighed, and even though she was the calmest teacher we had at Aquila, she looked one wrong footstep away from an outburst.

I leaned forward and pressed play on the old thing before she would lose it.

“Thank you, Miss De Loughrey. It appears that Mister Hendrickson should consider seeing the nurse to get his hearing problem checked.” Julian blushed, embarrassed at her words. “Now, now, may Mister Berkshire show us if he’s as talented at dancing as he is at running his mouth.”

“I’m flattered you think I’m a talented speaker, Mrs Fanning,” Jesse grinned, taking the lead in harmony with the music.

“That wasn’t a compliment, Mister Berkshire.”

Maisie had told me that at the actual ball there would be pianists and violinists attending, playing the music live for the dance. The ball was a far bigger thing than I had imagined. A woman claimed she was the mother of a student from last year, when in fact she was a journalist looking for drama for the papers. I guess finding a scandal at a ball where England’s most known families attend is a perfect opportunity.

Too bad the press isn’t allowed on school grounds…

And still, apparently, every year a story makes it to the press.

Nathaniel and Maisie had been a harmonic couple when it came to dancing. They had grown to be one with the harmony of the instruments playing a song. Meanwhile, Jesse and Maisie danced like two cats fighting for the last piece of cheese.

“Stop with the nonsense, you clumsy ducks! Get off my dance floor,” Fanning commanded and waved at the students who weren’t dancing to move onto the dance floor. “The girls line up on the left and the boys walk in from the right and stop in front of their chosen partner. And this time I expect none of you to fall over your own feet like toddlers. You’re graduating next year, and I dare say you’ll be eaten alive by society if you can’t even walk properly.”

I pushed off the wall with a laugh and made my way to Maisie, who was the first in line, as we placed ourselves like soldiers facing the giant windows. She leaned over to whisper in my ear, “she’s this dramatic every year. As if dance is so important in the twenty-first century.”

“Perhaps she’s read one or two historical romances a little too often and imagines this as our debutante ball,” I replied, and my friend snorted a little too loudly, which gained Mrs Fanning’s attention.

“Anything you’d like to announce to the class, Miss Alderidge?”

Maisie nodded confidently, and I stilled, already seeing the afternoons of detention this would cause us.

“I’m keen to know what the dress code for this year’s ball will be. My mother is already pestering me with questions about my dress and those of my sisters.” I released the breath I was holding at her answer. I somewhat always forgot that Maisie was the most natural liar I had ever met.

Our teacher grinned knowingly. “If you act surprised when Headmaster Shaw announces the theme next week, I will tell you.”

The girls crept closer to listen, and even the boys quieted down.

“I hope it’s not a masquerade ball again. My mother called the school out on such a cheap theme that’s rather fitting for elementary school than an elite academy,” Rebecca complained to one of her friends.

“Right? My hair got stuck in my mask last year and I had to cut a strand off,” Serena joined the quiet conversation.

“Is there a problem, Miss Tanner?” Mrs Fanning asked in a kind tone. Rebecca quietly crossed her arms in front of her chest and shook her head. Mrs Fanning smiled friendly at her. “Splendid, then I would welcome it if you shut up instead of talking to your classmates who actually care to listen.”

I bit my lip, trying not to laugh as Rebecca’s cheeks turned the colour of a tomato. Honestly, I loved classes with Mrs Fanning.

“As some of you may already know, it’s been three hundred years since Aquila Hall opened its gates to the world. And since the school is named after a constellation of the stars…” She started grinning in excitement. “The ball will be called Aquila Hall, a Celestial Soirée. The dress code involves everything celestially themed, and in the invites that will be sent out next month, there will be a more detailed list of accessories you’re allowed and asked to wear for the dance.”

A dozen different ideas crossed my mind for my dress, and I physically couldn’t wait to get back to my room to sketch the first draft I had in mind.

“That sounds so magical, do you think we’re allowed to wear whatever colour we like as long as it somewhat fits the theme? I have this emerald dress I’d love to wear, and I could ask my mama to sew some tulle on my arms so it would look like a nebula.” A girl from my class asked.

“Can your mummy even afford the extra tulle she’d need, Cassie?” a boy laughed.

Cassandra was the only other ginger in our grade. A sweet girl, honestly, and if it weren’t for our group holding so many dangerous secrets, I would have asked her by now if she’d like to sit at our table. She received a scholarship for the academy, and most students saw her as lesser than them.

“Detention after school hours for inappropriate behaviour towards a classmate, Mister Laurent,” Mrs Fanning scolded, before turning to Cassandra, who looked like she was about to cry. “And I’m afraid I can’t say any more about the dress code, since Headmaster Shaw commissioned someone else with that task.” She twirled around and pushed us back to our starting position. “It’s time to dance, ladies and gentlemen, even though most of you aren’t worthy of these titles.”

I leaned over to Cassandra, who stood beside me, giving her a gentle smile. “I, personally, think the nebula idea for your dress would look fabulous on you.”

The slightly younger girl blushed a little. “Thank you, Dorothee.”

“White is such a delicate colour on you.” I smiled at the face in the mirror that belonged to the boy standing in the doorway of my room. “You almost look like a lost soul flying beyond the veil between the living.”

I turned around, pursing my lips at him. “Do you go around often telling girls they look like the dead?”

My eyes moved down his body. Archer wore a black suit with a white shirt and a black tie that hung rather loose around his neck. A white rose peeked out of his breast pocket. I could lose myself in his image if I weren’t careful enough.

Without a word, he reached out for my hand and slipped a flower wrist corsage from his arm to mine. I inspected the flower on my wrist, and a smile grew on my lips.

“It’s a tradition at Aquila to give a person of value to you a white flower on May Day,” Archer explained. “While we honour the dead today, as a form to soothe the younger students from the fearful rumours of Aquila Hall being haunted, we also honour the living people we are grateful for existing in this life together with.”

I looked from my bracelet to the boy who had become so dear to me. “I don’t have a flower for you.” If I had known that today, we weren’t only celebrating the lost souls in an attempt for peace between the living and the dead, I would have bought him a flower.

The corners of his lips tilted up, and he stepped closer, picking the rose out of his breast pocket, holding it between his thumb and index finger. “I wear this rose in an attempt to convince the dead souls haunting us that I’m not of ill intentions and not worth their time praying for my doom. But if you’re so desperate to give the boy you’re longing for a flower, it’s all yours.”

Laughing, I snatched the rose from him. “Now, you’re putting words into my mouth, Mister Kingstone.”

“I am afraid your face is betraying you today, Miss De Loughrey, because longing is what your eyes speak when they lay on me.”

I narrowed my gaze as I felt heat rising to my cheeks, and when I looked at Archer again through my thick, black, tainted eyelashes, he grinned wholeheartedly. “My apologies. Am I making the lady blush?”

It took me a lot of self-control to not break out into a smile myself, so I simply pursed my lips, a little arrogantly and said, “I’m just hot.”

“Is it because of me?”

And I lost it. Hitting his arm playfully as I snorted. “You’re so arrogant sometimes.”

Archer’s face cringed in disapproval. “Don’t insult me, I’m always arrogant. Now, don’t you have something for me?”

I gave him a confused look and acted as if I hadn’t a clue what he expected from me. “No, I don’t remember wanting to give my rose to a stunningly arrogant man… there was this grumpy starboy I, however, planned to equip with a rose, but where did my starboy go…?” An amused smile crept on my lips as I tiptoed up and held him my rose under his nose. “Have you seen my starboy, or do I have to keep my rose until he returns to me?” I teased.

Archer pushed his tongue against the inside of his cheek. “Perhaps I should ask back for the flower I gifted you, I mean, if you don’t approve of the stunningly arrogant man who gifted it to you…” He made sure to emphasise the word stunningly .

“Nuh-uh, you can’t ask back for a gift. But until my starboy returns, I guess you can treasure his rose for him?” I put the rose back into his breast pocket and gently arranged the rose petals. “There you go.” I patted his chest and stepped back.

“Thank you, what a surprise, I didn’t expect a flower for myself today,” he said, holding out his arm for me to take. He led me outside, where the celebrations were in full swing. The younger students danced around a tree with white ribbons in their hands or played games, while the students who were part of the music programme the school offered, played their instruments so ethereal it felt like the melody was going right under my skin.

“I’m not a floral expert,” I said, looking down at the flower around my arm. “Why not a rose?” I wasn’t complaining, simply curious, since most of our classmates were running around with white roses as bracelets or in their hair.

Archer leaned his head down to me as we walked, so I could understand him better over the loud music. “It’s a camellia. The flower was far more fitting for us than a simple rose.”

My eyes moved away from his face to the beautiful flower that spread yellow from its centre, only leaving the ends of the petals in a bright white. “And why is that?”

A cold breeze brushed through my hair and pushed the straps of my dress off my shoulder. I kept pushing them back in place. Even though I didn’t want to acknowledge how much this whole situation was gnawing at me, I noticed the physical consequences. My appetite had diminished to the point where my dress wasn’t fitting as well as it did a month ago when I bought it. Most mornings I woke nauseous and in a cold sweat from the dreams and anxiety that haunted me.

“Roses stand for love, camellias symbolise longing.”

My heart skipped a beat.

Suddenly, I wished there existed another reality where he could have gifted me a bracelet with a beautiful rose at its centre instead of a camellia. A reality where I didn’t feel myself looking at him with such longing in my chest. To rest in his arms and never let go of him again. We tried so hard to be friends, but the unspoken truth burned our very souls, torturing us.

“Is it cruel that I had moments where I wished that this fate would have been heaped on someone else than us?” The words tasted rotten in my mouth. I felt disgusted by this selfish thought, but at night, when the stars were calling our names for us to admire their beauty, the wish of someone else bearing this curse lay on my tongue more than once.

“No, Doe. It’s human, and you’re not alone with that thought.”

May Day at Aquila felt similar to a fever dream. Everyone danced and games were played that were rather entertaining to the youngsters. Entertaining to the oldest were the champagne that some students had bought in the city. I’ve only ever tried alcohol at family events when my older cousin gave me a sip of his drink.

We sat outside in a group with our classmates and sipped from our champagne that was hidden in plastic cups. Since today was also a holiday, the professors let us mostly be to ourselves and sat in their own little circle where they kept an eye on the first-years.

“Everyone knows, Mrs Fanning can’t shut up for the life of her. You wanna know what I’ve heard?” Nieko asked from his seat on the outdoor sofa, his legs lying over those of his friends.

Jesse groaned, annoyed, “Spit it out, Kemble. You know, we’re all noisy.”

Nieko chuckled and took his time as he emptied his cup, having the others kick his legs off them. “Alright, alright. My sister, who’s in second year, has heard how Mrs Fanning talked to Headmaster Shaw on the phone about dinner.”

Rebecca rolled her eyes with a scoff, “and? My father has dinner with his colleagues too. Most people use dinner or lunch as an opportunity to talk about business.”

She certainly wasn’t wrong. My parents used dinner often to talk to colleagues about their cases.

Nieko rested his elbows on his knees and grinned cheekily. “Do colleagues say, ‘I can’t wait for the fun part’ ? For me, it sounds a lot like getting it on after dinner.” My jaw dropped in surprise, and whispers broke out about how Mrs Fanning was married and much younger than our headmaster.

Looking up, I eyed the darkening sky, night calling to take over as red hair caught my attention and I noticed Cassandra watching us keenly from one of the balconies in the girls’ dorms. Compassion took hold of my heart. Everyone from our year was here except for her.

I turned to Jesse, tapping him on the shoulder to gain his attention. “I’m right back, need to use the restroom.” I gave a quick explanation and handed him my drink before I hurried inside and down the corridors towards the dorms. Cassandra wasn’t spending her evening watching us having fun from afar. She would join us, and I won’t tolerate anyone hating her presence.

I saw her standing near the staircase leading to the bedrooms for the older...and wealthier students. While Aquila Hall claimed everyone here would be treated with equality, it was clear that this claim was nothing but propaganda. Archer could own a room all for himself, while others lived together with three other people in a smaller room.

“Come on, Cassandra, you don’t have to keep your distance,” I told her, holding out my hand to show her that she should come down with me to join us.

Cassandra didn’t move, her eyes narrowing to the stairs before she sighed sadly. “They don’t want me there. And if I go anyway, I’m only making myself a target against my will.”

Closing the distance between us, I gave her a sad smile. “I know how it feels to be targeted just because you’re you. But I won’t let that happen tonight, alright? And if it happens anyway, you can spend the rest of the night with Maisie, Naomi and me in our room.”

The expression of the sixteen-year-old girl brightened. “Really? I always admired your friendship with them. The way you laugh together seems so honest. I dreamed of having something like that with someone. Just one friend would be enough.”

Reaching out, I took her hand in mine. “Friendship comes when you least expect it, perhaps I can–” I frowned at the feel of her hand in mine. “You’re freezing.” Her skin was so cold, it felt like she was burning my own.

“I don’t feel cold. I feel… nothing.”

My breath suddenly became quicker as my eyes darted from our hands up to her face, where her hair was falling down on her shoulders in the sway of the veil. I gasped in horror and threw my hand over my mouth, letting go of her.

Cassandra’s young features looked at me with confusion, before she moved her head to look at the stairway. I followed her gaze to a limp body hanging there.

For a moment I couldn’t move–I couldn’t breathe.

“I wish you could have talked to me sooner,” the spirit whispered, and I screamed as the reality of her death hit me. But not a sound could pass my lips as a strong hand came up around my mouth and dragged me away into the shadows, before heavy footsteps stalked down the corridor where I had just come from.