فصل 18

CHAPTER 18

“ALL RIGHT, YOUR HIGHNESS, WHENEVER you’re ready.” The makeup girl did a last check, and I corrected my posture, reviewing the names in my head. I nodded, and the light on the camera turned red, telling me we were filming.

“You’ve seen the extravagant tea party, you heard about the delicious food, and you saw all the breathtaking fashion; but who did you think should be eliminated?

“Yes, Sir Kile looked somewhat less than manly in my tiara, and Sir Hale nearly swept me off my feet . . . in a bad way,” I concluded with a grin. “But, after much deliberation, the two Selected leaving us today are Kesley Timber from Whites and Holden Messenger from Bankston.

“How is your favorite doing? Dying to learn more about the remaining contestants? Hungry for more Selection-related news? Tune in to the Report each Friday night for updates from me and the gentlemen themselves, and don’t forget to look out for exclusive programs dedicated to the Selection exclusively on the Public Access Channel.” I held my smile a few seconds longer.

“Cut!” the director called. “Excellent. Sounded perfect to me, but let’s do one more for good measure.” “Sure. When will this go out?”

“They’ll edit all the footage from this afternoon’s party tonight and get it on air tomorrow, so this should be out on Monday.” I nodded. “Great. One more time?”

“Yes, Your Highness, if you don’t mind.”

I swallowed and went over my speech again before pulling myself up into the exact same pose.

At ten past nine I heard the knock on my door, and I skipped over to answer it. Kile was there, leaning against the doorframe, tiara in hand.

“I heard you were missing this,” he said jokingly.

“Come in, loser.”

He passed through the doorway, looking around again as if I redecorated my room daily. “So am I getting cut yet?” I grinned. “No, it’s Kesley and Holden. Don’t let that spill though. I can’t send them away until after the garden party airs.” “That won’t be a problem. Neither of them really speaks to me anyway.” “No?” I asked as he handed me my tiara.

“I’ve heard they thought me being a part of the Selection was unfair. And then seeing our kiss plastered everywhere sealed that opinion.” I placed the tiara on the shelf with the others. “Made a good call then, didn’t I?” He chuckled. “Oh, I brought you another present.”

“I love presents!”

“You’ll hate this one, trust me.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out that spectacular disaster of a tie.

“I figured if you were having a bad day, you could take it to the garden and burn it. Get your aggression out on something that won’t cry. Unlike Leeland.” “I wasn’t trying to make him cry.”

“Sure you weren’t.”

I smiled, taking the wound-up fabric from his hand. “I actually really like this present. It assures me that no human will be forced to wear it ever again.” Looking over at him, at his hitched-up smile, I was able to push away everything for a minute. It felt like the Selection wasn’t even happening just then. I was a girl with a boy. And I knew what I wanted to do with that boy.

I dropped the tie on the floor and put a hand on his chest. “Kile Woodwork, do you want to kiss me?” He let out a whistle. “Not shy at all, are you?”

“Stop it. Yes or no?”

He pursed his lips, pretending to think it over. “I wouldn’t mind it.” “And you understand that me kissing you doesn’t mean I actually like you and that I would never, ever marry you?” “Thank goodness.”

“Right answer.”

I wrapped my hand around his head, pulling him to me, and an instant later his arms were around my waist. It was the perfect balm for a long day. Kile’s kisses were direct and slow, and he made it impossible for me to think about much else.

We toppled onto the bed, holding each other as we laughed.

“Of all the things I thought would happen when my name was called, I never dreamed I’d ever kiss you.” “I never dreamed you’d be good at it.”

“Hey,” he said, “I’ve had a bit of practice.”

I propped myself up on my elbow. “Who was your last kiss?” “Caterina. When the Italian family visited in August, right before I left.” “That doesn’t surprise me at all.”

Kile shrugged, not ashamed in the slightest. “What can I say? They’re very friendly.” “Friendly,” I repeated, rolling my eyes. “That’s one word for it.” He chuckled. “What about you?”

“Ask Ahren. Apparently everyone already knows.”

“Leron Troyes?”

“How did you find out?”

We lay there, laughing so much we were nearly crying. I played with a button on his shirt, and he twirled a piece of my hair between kisses, and the world shrank to just the two of us.

“I’ve never seen you like this,” he commented. “I didn’t know it could be so easy to make you smile.” “It’s not. You must be in rare form today.”

Kile wrapped an arm around me and placed his face inches from mine. “How are you feeling? I know this has got to be a crazy time for you.” “Don’t,” I whispered.

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t ruin this. I like having you here, but I’m not in need of a soul mate. You can be quiet and go back to kissing me, or you can leave.” He rolled onto his back, silent for a few minutes. “Sorry. I just wanted to talk.” “And you can. But not about you, not about me, and definitely not about you and me together.” “But it seems like you must be lonely. How in the world do you deal with all this?” I huffed, standing and pulling him to his feet. “If I need advice, I talk to my parents. If I need a friendly ear, I have Ahren. You were helping for a minute, and then you had to start with the questions.” I turned him around and pushed him toward the door. “Do you realize how unhealthy that is?” he asked “Are you the model of adult behavior? You can’t even get your mother to cut the apron strings.” Kile rounded back, staring me down. I was sure his anger was reflected in my face. I waited for him to scold me again, as he’d done a thousand times growing up. But his eyes softened, and before I knew it, his hand was at the base of my neck, pulling me to him.

He crushed his lips to mine, and I simultaneously hated and adored him for it. All I could think of was the way his mouth moved and how I seemed so fragile in his hands. The passion slowed, until the kisses were so soft they tickled.

When Kile finally pulled away, he kept his fingers teasingly close to my hair, rubbing the skin absentmindedly.

“You are so spoiled, and you are so obnoxious . . . but I’m here.” With a final kiss, he opened the door and left.

I gazed around my room, dizzy with confusion. Why was he trying to get me to open up when he clearly couldn’t stand me? And I didn’t like him either! Sometimes he could be just as bratty as Josie.

I went toward my closet to get ready for bed and saw his ugly tie on the floor. I’d be doing everyone a favor if I threw it away now.

Maybe I would set it on fire the next time I was having a particularly wretched day. For now I tucked it into a drawer.

My thoughts the next morning were a mess. I kept wondering what Kile’s goal was last night. And I couldn’t shake off how it made me feel similar to when Hale asked too many questions. They were such different people with vastly different understandings of me, yet they’d both quickly figured out how to make me back away. Would all the boys be like that? Was that something they all knew how to do?

“Neena?” I pulled the brush through my hair, trying to tame it as my maid walked behind me in the steam-filled bathroom, picking up the pajamas I’d left on the floor.

“Yes, Your Highness?” She caught my eyes in the mirror as we spoke.

“I feel like it’s been a while since we’ve talked about your boyfriend. What’s his name again?” A smile crept up on her face. “Mark. Why do you ask?” “I’m surrounded by a million boys. Just wondering how it is when you only have to deal with one.” She shook her head at me. “One boy on a string is a wonderful thing,” she said, her happiness forcing me to smile along with her. “He’s doing great. He finally got into a university, and he’s studying all the time. I get a call from him maybe once or twice a week. It’s not much, but we both have pretty full schedules.” “I do need constant supervision,” I said with a wink.

“Amen.”

“Does he mind much? That you’re far away and busy?” She straightened the clothes looped over her arm. “No. His program is very demanding, so for now it’s actually helpful.” I leaned my head to one side, continuing to brush. “That’s interesting. What’s he studying?” “Mark is a chemist. He’s studying biochemistry, specifically.” My eyes widened. “Really? Such a range in your professions.” She frowned. “There’s no caste system anymore, Your Highness. People can date and marry anyone they want to.” I turned away from the mirror to look at her directly. “That’s not what I mean. It’s simply intriguing to me the dynamic you must have. You have my laundry in your arms, and he might cure a disease. Those are two incredibly different roles in the world.” Neena swallowed and dropped everything on the ground. “I won’t be doing your laundry forever. I made a choice to come here, and I can leave whenever I like.” “Neena!”

“I don’t feel well,” she said abruptly. “I’ll send someone else up to help you.” She didn’t even curtsy.

“Neena, I was simply talking!”

The door slammed, and I looked after her, shocked that she so shamelessly left without permission. I hadn’t meant to offend her. I was merely curious, and that one observation didn’t even begin to touch on the things I truly wanted to ask about.

I finished my hair and makeup on my own. When the substitute maid showed up, I sent her away. Just because Neena was in a bad mood didn’t mean she could get out of her work. I could take care of myself, and she could clean tomorrow.

I picked up the applications for the remaining boys in the Selection. Whether I liked it or not, I knew what was expected of me. All I needed was to find situations that kept things as close to the surface as possible.

Ean was certainly captivating, but his charisma was almost too overwhelming. I wasn’t sure I was prepared to spend time alone with him. Edwin was harmless enough. I pulled out Apsel’s sheet and looked it over. Nothing extraordinary there. I was tempted to send him home for being so bland, but after the reaction over the first elimination, I didn’t think I could get away with that. Kile’s form came up next, but he was a no at the moment. Winslow was, I hated to say it, considerably unattractive. The more and more I looked at him, the easier it was to see. I didn’t think I had a type, but he made me wonder if I had an anti-type. Ivan . . . was this the guy who smelled vaguely of chlorine?

Near the bottom of the pile, Jack Ranger’s picture jumped out at me. I had caught him staring at me a few times at the party, but we hadn’t spoken. I took that to mean he might still be intimidated enough for me to get through an evening together without him leaving me feeling as unpleasant as some of the others had.

I wrote a note out on my stationery inviting him to watch a movie with me tonight. That was an easy enough date. No unnecessary talking. I’d have a butler deliver it to him once Jack had joined the others. I was planning always to announce dates by sending a letter into or drawing the boys out of the room. That should make things interesting.

I sped through breakfast, ready to work. Looking at these endless requests and bills and budgets and proposals wasn’t exactly my favorite thing, but it kept me busy, and I liked having my mind occupied all day. My nights and weekends for the next three months would belong to those boys, but the rest of the time I had a different job to do.

“Eadlyn, dear,” Dad said, taking a break for some tea. “I didn’t get to tell you, but I thought the garden party was a success. I saw some of the stories in the papers this morning, and it was very well covered.” “I glanced at a few myself. And I caught a little of the special they did, and it all looked nicely done.” I stretched in my chair, achy from sitting still.

He smiled. “Indeed. I think you should try to do another event like that soon—something with the group that people can see.” “Something that might have an elimination afterward?” “If you think that would help.”

I walked over to his desk, pouring myself some of his tea. “I think it adds something. Like people might be more interested if their favorite might be on the line.” He considered that. “Interesting. Any thoughts on how it would be structured?” “No, but I thought, since we’re supposed to be looking for a prince here, it might be good to test them on the things they would need to know as a prince. History or policy. I think there’s a way to make it playful, kind of like a game show maybe?” He laughed. “The public would eat that up.”

I sipped my tea. “See, I have great ideas. I don’t need a prince.” “Eadlyn, you could run the world on your own if you needed to. That’s not the point,” he said with a chuckle.

“We’ll see.”