“Of course, Your Highness.” A girl expertly dabbed at my skin, covering me in powder. I couldn’t tell if it was out of sympathy or if they already knew. “Your Highness,” several people greeted me as I came through the doorway, curtsying and moving out of my way, all the while avoiding looking directly in my eyes. I held myself tall as I made my way down to the studio. Nothing makes you quite so aware of a person’s presence as the loss of it. The palace was eerily quiet without Mom and her ladies scuttling around and Ahren’s laughter filling the halls. You are Eadlyn Schreave and no one-literally, no one-is as powerful as you. Once I was outside the doors of the Men’s Parlor, I took a deep breath and prepared myself for what was coming. There was a chorus of murmured good-byes as I left. I wish you all the best of luck in the future.” “I hope you’ll forgive me for this group good-bye.
I’ll be ready in a moment.”Īfter he left, I turned my attention back to the boys. The crew wanted to check, um”-he made a fumbling gesture with his hand-“hair and stuff.” “Thank you so much for taking this chance, and for being so gracious with me.”Ī guard entered, clearing his throat to announce his presence. There were a few chuckles around the room. “For the record, I was terrified of you,” I confessed. I let my eyes flit across the space, my gaze settling on each of my suitors for a breath as I committed their faces to memory. Raoul placed a comforting hand on my shoulder.
Silly as it sounded, I had slouched in my chair, certain that would make her come to and correct my posture. One of the doctors said they had lost her for a minute but managed to get her back. She’d just come out of surgery, where the doctors had to harvest a vein from her leg to replace the one in her chest that had been worked to death. I understood his reluctance the instant I saw her, asleep, the metronome of her heartbeat keeping time on the monitor. “She looks … she looks pretty bad.”ĭad had been hesitant to let me visit her, but I had finally worn him down. “How is the queen?” Hale asked, swallowing hard. “I know it’s abrupt, but given my mother’s precarious condition, my father has asked me to take on more responsibilities, and I feel the only way to manage that is to scale down this competition.” The live announcement would make the elimination official, and they all had to wait until then. They’d been fair with me, and now I had to be very unfair to them. But after the last few weeks, after learning how kind, how smart, how generous so many of them were, I found the mass elimination almost heartbreaking. When my Selection started, I’d pictured it ending this way-with dozens of my suitors leaving at a time, many of them unprepared for their moment in the spotlight to be over. “I’M SORRY,” I SAID, BRACING myself for the inevitable backlash.
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