The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy

Chapter 34

I gape a little as we walk down the long, dark tunnel towards…

I mean, I don’t even know what we’re walking towards.

“Where are we going?” I ask Rafe, a little breathless with intrigue and excitement.

“Into the Academy,” he hisses back, like it’s a secret, but I know he’s kidding even before I glare up at him.

“Uniforms,” Jesse says smoothly, running a hand through his hair like he’s very suave. “We’ve got to get fitted, because Academy cadets always look good.”

“What?” I say, a little confused. “Honestly, that can’t be first –”

“His dad,” Rafe says, “the vainest man in the world –”

“Um, justifiably,” Jesse counters, grinning.

“Yeah, whatever,” Rafe says, grinning, “anyway, Uncle Roger really did decide that all of the cadets enrolled here need to look their best at all times. So, yeah,” he shrugs, “first thing is fittings for uniforms.”

“Whoa,” I say, and my awe is not simply for Uncle Roger’s semi–predictable flare for looking good, but also for the cavernous room we walk into next. Because, I mean, the tunnel was literally just that a tunnel, with rough walls and low lighting.

But this?

“Damn,” Luca says, a smirk on his face as he comes up next to Jesse. “Looks like this city boy has finally made it, haven’t I?‘

I nod as I stare around the room, with its three–story arching stone ceilings and polished floors. And I mean, this is the bottom of the castle, where I assumed the dungeons were. If this is here, what the hell is upstairs?

“This way,” Rafe says, tugging me along towards a line of professors waiting at a set of tables ahead of us, a set of boxes in front of them.

“Ah, Cadet Sinclair,” one of the professors says, smiling at Rafe as he steps forward. “Naturally we thought you’d be one of the first to appear, but now I see that you

Chapter 34

he peers beyond Rafe and blinks a little at Ben and 1, clearly having no

says blandly, smiling at the professor and putting on his best Prince and Heir persona. “Is there something here we need

the professor says, smiling and lifting a box into Rafe’s arms, “sized according to your candidate apparel. Also within the box is your dorm information and key, the Cadet Handbook, and a map of the parts of the castle which you’ll need

Rafe, listening interestedly, and I jump a little

name.

strange orb this afternoon. I move eagerly towards him, seeing he has what I assume is my box in his hands. “Congratulations, Cadet.” he says, his voice dry and amused in a way that makes me look up into his eyes as I

I hesitate because…I mean, he’s just staring at me

he says softly. “I’ll look forward to seeing much,

Princess training that taught me to be sweet to anyone who says they look forward to seeing me again, but my reaction just makes his own smile deepen. And

am on much shakier ground here, and under a great deal more scrutiny, as a cadet in the Academy than as a candidate in

don’t know, masculine. “Thank you, sir,” I say seriously. “I’ll look forward to you seeing

clearly pleased and entertained, and nods

Chapter 34

boxes, my mind racing as I follow Rafe

has walls covered in mirrors. I look around passively, my mind still reeling from

teach? They’re so different – I can’t imagine, at all, that they’d teach

and I go very still in shock before I suddenly burst out laughing, realizing that I’m looking at myself in the mirror

Jesse asks, coming to my

little, observing my plain face with no makeup, my hair tucked

at me for a second and then looks across the room like I’m doing, his face bursting into a

Because honestly, I do look like a boy, but I’m sure that I’m the smallest,

laughs a little too and waves me forward. I mean, it’s not like I recognize the voice or anything – it’s just….a girl. “A

round platform in front of which she kneels on a little ottoman. “Come forward,” she says. “I’ll take your measurements, and we’ll have you looking dashing in

realizing suddenly that this

to touch

form. And while my baggy candidate uniform conceals

SUN, LU Mar

Chapter 21

some details I

you’re shy, I can take someone else