Lottie agreed. They should have revealed Haru’s duplicity the moment they’d arrived in Maradova. But Lottie had made the one mistake the king had warned her about all that time ago – she’d put Ellie’s desires before Ellie’s safety and now they were trapped.

‘Lottie, are you OK?’

It wasn’t until Saskia’s words hit her that Lottie realized how rapid her breathing had become. The air felt too thin; just when she was sure she was going to burst into a million pieces, a soft tap came from the door.

‘Hello! Sorry I’m late.’ Binah’s cheery face peeped through the door and it took Lottie a second to remember she was the one who’d invited her. ‘I forgot to get the time we were meeting from Lottie, and I had to deliver a gift to Lola and Micky.’ Binah came in, pulling off her canary-yellow beret and hanging it by the door, completely oblivious to the tension in the room. ‘Actually, after we’re done discussing Haru, perhaps we could think about something we could do for them in this difficult time, maybe bake them a cake; you know they love –’

‘You told Binah about Haru?’ Ellie’s voice was a spark, turning the whole room electric, a storm flashing in her eyes. Upon instinct, Saskia stepped protectively in front of her girlfriend.

‘I had to.’ Swallowing her anxiety, Lottie fumbled for the best way to de-escalate the situation. ‘She can help.’

‘Help?’

‘Yes, I –’

Ellie turned on Binah like a storm at sea. ‘Help with what? Help solve all the problems my stupid family caused?’

Lottie knew that she had to speak up. ‘Ellie, you don’t understand. None of you do.’ She looked to Anastacia and Saskia now apologetically. ‘I … I …’ Binah gave her a soft nod, signalling for her to go on. ‘Haru knows we know.’

The whites of Ellie’s eyes flashed, and she took in a choked breath like she’d been winded.

Lottie continued. ‘He’s put rules in place and, as long as we stick to them, everyone at Rosewood, including us and Jamie, will be safe.’

No one moved, and the only sound in the room was a mumbled expletive from Saskia.

‘What happened to Dom, the extra security stopping anyone from leaving, all the little problems that have been cropping up, I think that was all him. It was a warning. He said we have to just go about our normal school life, and he wants one hour a week with Jamie,’ Lottie relayed, filling the silence; yet the one thing she couldn’t mention was Claude’s letter. It was as if Claude’s hold on her was too strong. She felt like her skin was covered in slime, and it was catching in her airways, stopping her from saying more.