Golden Crown (Arthur Academy Book 2), page 1
Golden Crown
An Arthur Academy Novel – Book Two
Paxton
A Novel
By Kathleen Maree’
Synopsis
"If the world is full of monsters, how do we know who wears the crown…?”
Hendrix:
In the dark of the night he bared his soul, delivering a shocking event that should’ve changed everything.
So why in the light of day, does everything appear the same…?
The further I’m immersed in this world he calls the ‘elite’, the more I don’t understand. It’s not only his world I’m afraid I’m falling for, but the Golden Crown himself as well.
But Pax still has secrets.
And I want him to trust me, like a flame wanting fire.
Because despite his world being nothing as it seems, I’m not sure I could walk away even if I wanted to.
If the truth be told, I don’t want to.
I want him.
Paxton:
In the dark of the night I revealed a truth, delivering the brutal reality of what the elite really means.
So why in the light of day, does everything appear the same…?
It’s the same cat and mouse games, and the same political, power tricks where the Golden Crown is all they see. It’s all they want to see.
Except for her.
But there are things I can’t tell her. There are things I don’t think she’ll understand yet.
And I need her to trust me, like a fire needing flame.
Because despite me knowing what this world does to those who fall victim to it, I’m not sure I could walk away from Hendrix, even if I wanted to.
If the truth be told, I don’t want to.
I want her.
Copyright © Kathleen Mareé 2021
License Notes
No reproduction without permission. All rights reserved.
This title is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This title may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this title with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Disclaimer: The persons, places, things, and otherwise animate or inanimate objects mentioned in this novel are figments of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to anything or anyone living (or dead) is unintentional. The author humbly begs your pardon. This is fiction, people.
**This novel contains possible triggers and sensitive topics**
An important note from the author…
This book is NOT a standalone and you must read Broken Wing before reading this book. To request a free copy, please email me here.
I thank you for your support.
Always,
KM xo
Before
A golden crown is only what’s seen on the outside…
It’s funny the things you notice as a child.
Like the way people easily glance kindly at me whenever I catch their eye.
Or the way a stranger seems to smile awkwardly at other children, but when I say hello, their smile looks deliriously happy like they’d just won a prize.
That’s how my life is at home, but not when I come here with my mother.
Not with these people in this town anyway, which is much different to the place we live.
The streets here are much dirtier than the wide streets outside our home, and they aren’t lined with the big palace-type buildings or manicured gardens I was used to seeing outside my window either. Instead, the streets are filled with rubbish and large holes that cause our drivers car to bounce over every single one, and fragile-looking homes made of wood instead of brick. Everything here had a strange smell too, the same as day-old bread before Nancy, our housekeeper, tosses it out. And even after I catch a glimpse of a family of eight coming out of their much smaller house, I wondered how a family that size would even live in there. Our house was at least a hundred-times that size and it barely had enough space for our family and staff. My mother said this was where she grew up, in this town a few hours away from ours. It was where my aunt still lived and where we came to visit her sometimes. My mother said she was lucky to fall in love with my father and that he saved her from a life she would much rather forget. She said she was happy that she could give me, her son, an actual future instead of what would have lied ahead for her otherwise.
I didn’t really understand all of it. The only thing I did understand was that whilst the people here looked friendly enough, especially when I glanced at them, it only made my mother grip my hand much tighter in her own.
“Where are we going mother? Isn’t Aunt Poppy’s house the other way?” I asked, as she tugged me briskly down the street.
“To the store first Pax, I want to grab your Aunt Poppy some food to fill her pantry.” I nodded in understanding. The two times we visited my mothers sister, we were met with no butler, or housekeeper, and barely enough food to feed themselves let alone their guests the same way we would when my parents had visitors. I guess without staff, you were unable to buy such things I suppose.
“It would be nice for them to have more food in their house,” I muttered, before eagerly adding, “Can I get some chocolate to share with Tucker?”
My mother chuckled. “Of course you can. I like how nice you are to him Pax. You’re a good boy, and Tucker well….” she pauses, causing me to glance up at her worried face. “He’s troubled is all,” she finishes, offering me an easy smile. My eyes fall to the dirty sidewalk ahead of me when I spot a tiny girl with her mother heading toward us. When the mother doesn’t seem to see us and doesn’t smile warmly like most other people do, but continues walking toward us like she was in a daze or something, my eyes couldn’t help but fall to the girl again. Her long, black hair fell in long waves down her back, swishing back and forth as her small legs scurried quickly to keep up with her mother. Her tiny hand struggling with the grocery bag she was tugging behind her.
“Hi,” I chirp as we approach one another. Her big hazel eyes widen in surprise, and an automatic smile crosses her petite face. In that moment, her eyes trail down my body like she’s looking at something much more interesting than just me, and so I take the opportunity to do the same. My eyes crinkle when I see the bruises down her legs and the bloodied toes on her bare feet.
“I like your shirt,” she whispers kindly, causing my eyes to move back to hers. She had such an innocent expression that it took me by surprise. The kids I played with at home didn’t look at me like that, let alone complete strangers. We were taught not to show emotion as my father says that makes us weak. The only thing my friends looked at that way, was their new 5000-piece lego set that the stores didn’t even have yet. But this girl? I got the feeling that she didn’t have the shiny new things that I did and that alone made my heart ache for some reason.
“Paxton,” my mother hisses, shuffling me to her other side, which meant I was farther from the girl and her mother than before. I stole a glance at the girls mother, noticing that she too was hissing something at my mother when her teeth bared angrily. But when we pass, I can’t help but look over my shoulder to the girl once more and feel a shift in my chest when she does the same. Her smile – it was so open and vulnerable; infectious even. For someone who didn’t even have shoes on her feet, it was like I was the sun shining down on her or an exhibit at a museum she just couldn’t look away from. The only person that ever smiles at me that way is mother when we are away from my father. She had a different kind of smile on her face when he was home. Those smiles didn’t glow like the ones I got when we had our long chats at our cabin. But this girl was making my skin heat with a warmth that only my mothers affection gave me. In response, I couldn’t help but beam widely at her too, before seconds pass and the girl trips, landing heavily on her knees and crying out in pain.
“Mother wait!” I cry, tugging on her hand as my eyes stare down at the girl weeping on the ground. The girls mother snaps angrily, yelling at the girl who is cowering before her as she bends and starts tossing the discarded groceries that were now scattered on the ground – back into the bag. I see the girl start grabbing the groceries too, crying and saying sorry over and over again, until she glances up at me once more. But the warmth I saw before? It was gone. There was no affection in her eyes that stared up at me because something in her gaze had gone cold. It had gone numb.
“Mother?” I ask softly, not understanding what I was seeing.
“Oh Pax,” my mother whispers sadly. “Come on, we can’t stay here.”
“But…?” I ask, glancing from the sad eyes of my mother to the broken girl on the pavement. I didn’t understand what I was seeing, but I knew what feeling completely helpless was like. It was that feeling of being in the shade when the warmth from my mothers smile had dimmed.
It was a feeling I felt when my father yelled at her. When he yelled at me too.
It was a feeling I got when I walked into the kitchen and saw him take a backhand to her cheek, whilst I stood there shocked into nothing but silence.
And it was that same feeling now, as the girl with the huge, heartfelt eyes gazed at me with nothing but pain. As it was that intense pain from inside that I knew was not from her grazed knees. But after she pulled her eyes away from me when her mother tugged harshly on her hand, I felt her fire fizzle out with every step she took in the opposite direction.
And that alone made me wish I was still the sun that had shone down on her.
Chapter One
Paxton
“You wanted to see me?”
I held my breath as my father barely turned at the sound of my voice. You never knew what mood you caught him in these days, but since I was big enough to fight back, he only tried hurting me when he knew he could get away with it.
Which was when I let him.
“Sit,” he all but commands. I grind my jaw, knowing full well when to bite my tongue and when to let it unleash, so I do as he says but don’t bother shutting the door behind me. It’s small, but I know it pisses him off when his eyes narrow and he all but stalks slowly to the door behind me and clicks it closed.
“So, as you are aware, we have a bit of a mess to figure out.”
I keep my face stoic; not letting him in on the fact that I knew what he was referring to. But when the image of Ambers lifeless body flashes suddenly in my mind, I find it hard to keep my façade as uninterested as I need it to be.
“I’m not sure I’m following,” I mutter as he stops mid-stride, standing over me to force my eyes upwards and trying to exude his power over me like the bully he is.
“So you mean to tell me that you haven’t noticed your fiancée absent from blowing up your phone all weekend? Yes, I do know how much that girl is obsessed with you. In fact, speaking of such things, she was last seen in the afterhours of your stupid game. Friday. With you.”
I ignore his statement and straighten my shoulders confidently. “She may be my fiancée on paper, but I don’t give a fuck what or who she does. So, no. I haven’t noticed.”
We stare at each other heatedly, waiting for one to crack first. But nothing gives. The silence is deafening for a moment until he takes the seat in his leather chair, and steeples his hands in front of his chin as he reclines thoughtfully.
“I see.”
I settle back in my seat, feigning comfort, widening my legs arrogantly like I haven’t a care in the world. “So, is this why you called me in here? To ask about some missed phone calls all weekend? I didn’t realise you used your stalking abilities on me and took such a keen interest in my social life.”
I could tell he wasn’t sure if I was telling the truth or not. A skill I actually have him to thank for. But after another moments silence, he seemingly goes along with my bluff.
“No, it wasn’t to ask you why that girl hasn’t been around. I know why she hasn’t. This meeting was actually to thank you for making the Westwood deal stronger than ever now.” The sinister smile that crossed his lips caused shivers to ripple down my arm.
“I don’t follow.”
“Yes, well, it’s one thing for me to think you had tried to wiggle out of this deal you wanted no part of now that your mother is in her facility, but even I wasn’t heartless enough to end the poor girl.”
That flash again came at me hard, and my cool façade cracked another fraction. Thankfully he chose that moment to pour a glass of bourbon at his bar, before stalking back to his seat. To anyone else this would be an odd conversation for their father to converse over a glass of whisky with, like we were discussing basketball or the latest business deal he had accomplished, but sad to know that in my world it was more than normal.
“End? As in… Ambers….” I start, not sure I could utter the words a second time to my father without completely losing it. I only showed the real me to a few people, the newest one being the first to hear me utter those words mere nights ago now.
“Dead yes,” he states, picking up a piece of paper in front of him and beginning to read from it out loud. “Severe force to the skull with a blunt object or a likely fall, yada-ya. Deceased from bleed out of the skull, yada-ya…. Let’s see what else…? Found in her home’s pool house by the cleaner in the early morning of Saturday.” He tossed the paper on the table in front of him and then brought those vacant eyes to me.
“No cameras?”
“Down for renovations apparently. Whoever did this had probably spent a many rendezvous’ with the girl in that pool house to know as such. Especially since the only way out was through a bathroom window due to an issue with the door that locks automatically from the inside.”
“So, it’s obviously not just me who finds her hard to deal with then,” I add coldly, whilst my stomach churns.
“Potentially not.”
The silence descends on us once more, before I take a breath and continue. I needed to know what my father meant by thanking me for strengthening this deal, but I couldn’t just come out and ask him a question like that. He’s far too cunning for that shit.
But I’ve learnt from the best.
“Well, I can imagine the chaos at the academy when the girls realise there is a vacancy for Arthurs queen-bee.”
He slams his fist on his mahogany desk with such force that I jump slightly in my chair. “There will be no such thing. No talk of this. To anyone! Do you understand?!”
“I’m pretty sure everyone will hear about this. The gossip spreads faster than the legs of the cleat-chasers, and she’s the only heir of the Westwood name.”
“Not anymore.”
I ignored the threatening smile on his face that appeared a second time and shook my head.
“I don’t follow.”
He stands, stalking to the front of his desk and leaning back on his hands when he gazes down at me.
“The Westwoods’ are more than keen to proceed as planned, as it means their future as an elite, will be backed by the other four families. Including the power that comes with the Reed name.”
“And how does that work without our union, because I draw the line at marrying a corpse.”
“No one will hear of this. Amber was due to leave the school anyway this semester to hide her growing baby bump, and the Westwoods have paid off the police to ensure this doesn’t get out. To anyone.”
“So, the Westwoods are more interested in their status than finding out what happened to their daughter? And I thought we Reeds were cold.”
“Paxton what have I taught you,” he scolds, rolling his eyes like he finds this conversation redundant. “It’s business. If anything, you should be happy. You can still fuck around and not have to deal with the girl you couldn’t stand. It’s an easier transaction on your side now, which is why I called you here to thank you for making this more seamless.”
I couldn’t take faking this rigidness anymore, so I stood and stretched to my full height. He straightens and tries to look me in the eye, but since I turned eighteen almost three years ago, I had inches on him. All over.
“Seamless? So, the school carries on thinking she’s left for Paris for the semester and the Westwoods can carry on binding themselves to the Reed name, and…”
“And you? Can continue on your merry way drinking, fucking and playing football to your hearts content. It’s really a win for everyone you see.”
A win?
I don’t know why I’m surprised because my father has always been this cold son-of-a-bitch. How my mother ever fell for him I will honestly never understand. Yeah, where she grew up was no picnic, but I could imagine no place worse than this hell here with him.
“Great. I’ll be sure to get right onto that then.” I breathe through my nose before turning and heading for the door and that’s when I hear him call out.
“Oh, and Paxton.”
I don’t turn, but I stop and wait to hear what last thing he wants to hit me with.
“Be sure to remember that in public, you are still engaged to Ms Westwood and that nothing is to get in the way of that. I would hate for this deal to fall through, and to have the Westwoods blame a certain someone for the death of their daughter. Did you know it’s common knowledge that your sister did not get along with Amber, and aligns herself with the outcasts of her year? The gays, low-life family members and scholarships who don’t belong. Especially a certain scholarship girl who was gossiped about trying to steal Ambers fiancée here. It wouldn’t be hard to get testimonies from other students to confirm that gossip and I would hate to see something happen to her or your sister.”
