“For the royal family,” he says simply. “I’m one of them, actually.”
“What? You’re not royal,” I sputter. I can feel a lump forming in my throat. “You were raised on a farm. You said you ran away.”
Jax plucks a sprig of basil off its vine. “That was part of my cover. This is a reform school. I needed people to believe I hated the royals and this school as much as anyone did, but the truth is, I’m actually Rapunzel’s brother.”
I feel my hands begin to tremble. He’s one of them?
“We’ve long suspected there was a traitor in the castle,” Jax tells me. “We’ve had too many close calls with the princesses to not think someone is feeding villains information.”
“Villains?” Images of three possible people enter my mind. There’s Gottie, Rapunzel’s captor. (Happily Ever After Scrolls once posted what they claimed was a grainy picture of her and said the photographer was killed taking the image.) Alva, Sleeping Beauty’s dragon of a witch, is the next baddie I imagine, but no one has heard from her in a decade. I bet she’s even worse than Gottie. And then there is Rumpelstiltskin, the trickiest and most dangerous of them all. “You’ve heard Flora,” I say. “No one’s seen them in years.”
“They’re out there biding their time ’til they can rise again. Who do you think sent those gargoyles to the school? They’re after something or someone at FTRS,” Jax says, and I feel a chill go through my body. “We just don’t know why. Are Flora or the other teachers working with them? Who was Flora meeting with that day we spotted her in the Hollow Woods? Is Harlow wicked again? That trance she was under was too perfect. Who could put the Evil Queen under a spell?”
Jax picks a piece of rosemary from its stem. “It was my father’s idea to get someone close to the villains to learn what was up.” He smiles. “What better place to do that than among thieves and crooks at FTRS? I’ve been getting myself in enough trouble to stick around without students getting suspicious for a year. It helps that I act like I don’t care about anyone but myself.” He grins. “I had you fooled, didn’t I?”
I don’t believe this. He tricked me! Now it makes sense—his expert dancing skills, royal name (Who has a name like Jackson?), and the way he was up on royal doings. I thought we were friends, but friends don’t keep secrets this big. “But you don’t act royal! You’re not spoiled. You’re not selfish. You’re not…royal!”
“We’re not all made from the same shoe mold, Gilly.” His violet eyes seem deeper somehow. “You should know that by now.”
I hang my head shamefully, thinking of all the royal put-downs I’ve said in front of him. I feel like a fool. If Jax is royal and a totally great guy who gave up going to the Academy to hang out in a reform school to help his family, could I be wrong about other royals too? My head hurts at the thought. “If you’re royal, don’t people know you’re Rapunzel’s brother? The princesses didn’t even give you a second glance on Royal Day. You let me save them.”
“And my family is most grateful for that.” Jax runs a hand through his hair, which is the color of corn. Like the corn I know now he obviously doesn’t sow. “You saved me from blowing my cover. But no, the princesses don’t know who I am. Before FTRS, I was away at boarding school since I was five. The princesses wouldn’t recognize me if they tried, and Rapunzel, well, she had that whole locked-away-in-a-tower thing for a while. No one’s seen me on royal grounds in years.” He looks at me carefully.
“That’s where you come in. I’ve been watching you the last few weeks. You’ve got the skills to get out of jams and fight fire with fire. You could help me stop the villains from the inside.” I give him a look that could fry fish. “I’m serious!” he protests. “You’re a royal hater. None of the teachers would suspect you of working with the royals.”
No. Way. “I’ve got my own family to worry about. I could care less what happens to the royals.”
“But don’t you care what happens to this royal?” he asks quietly. “I thought we were friends.”
Jax really thinks of me as a friend? It’s been a long time since I’ve had one that isn’t related to me. My family is all I’ve had for so long.
“You’re not the first to hate me because of my title,” he adds as a breeze makes the vegetables in the garden sway. “It doesn’t say anything about who I am. I care about my family just like you do, and I want to stop these villains before they can destroy our kingdom.”
“That’s just it,” I complain. “I can leave. This week! Get out of here and go home where my family is safe. Why should I stick around and help you?”
“If you think they’re going to stop at our school, you’re wrong,” Jax says darkly. “Even if you don’t care about Kayla, Maxine, Ollie, or the other kids here, think of your family. They’re not safe ’til we stop the villains.”