The Luna Choosing Game

“How long did you wait, Piper? A week? Two? It couldn’t have been long.”

He sounds like he’s jealous. Or was that an illusion? He doesn’t care about me and is just mad at me.

Maybe the latter is more logical.

His dark eyes burned into me, leaving my heart in scorched tatters. Never in a thousand years would i

have thought Nicholas would be so vicious to me.

“It wasn’t like that.” I said, to try to defend myself.

He crossed his hands over his chest. He wasn’t going to listen to me,

“Why even come here?” he asked me.

“My application was selected…”

“Why even apply? Were you trying to get to me?”

“No,” I said.

“Maybe you regret your child’s father. Maybe you want me back.” He laughed once, bitterly. “Like you

have a chance.”

The words sliced into me as surely as if he’d been holding a knife. He had changed since I’d known him.

Three w

years ago, he’d been kind and patient. I’d given him my heart and he’d gently cradled it. So many

nights, we’d laid under the stars, trading kisses and stories.

Once, when he’d spent all night looking at me, I had told him, “You’re missing the

starlight.”

He’d replied, “I can see it in your eyes.”

The man before me now was nothing like the one I had known. The man here was arrogant, indifferent. and imposing in how he carried himself.

Breaking up with him had never been something I wanted to do. It hurt me still, thinking upon it, so I had tried to push it to the back of my thoughts

so many other things to focus on like work, and caring for Elva, that I could successfully distract myself from the

him now and seeing what he had become, brought all those feelings crashing back into Tome so

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now that I couldn’t help but wonder if I was misremembering the past. Maybe he’d never

wasn’t that

you want,” I said, adding some bite to my own voice. The hurt

a mistake, and I

Nicholas said, so coldly that a chill ran along my spine. “You are the only woman who ever dared to break up with me. Piper. I’ll never allow the

parlor. I thought he

Elva continued resting, undisturbed.

to hate

but he liked children. He’d been kind to Elva. He didn’t take any of his misconceptions

wanted to hate him, but

sunk to my knees beside the couch where Elva

had stayed together, maybe he would have

a

very far from these golden fixtures

was wasting time, staying here. I needed to go home and look for another

I

was so drained, from the trip, from

my own

Excuse me,

blinked open my

pardon, miss, but the King Luna,

my

disappearing out of the room. He left the

me with

have to be quiet though, okay? No one can talk when

Luna are talking.”

“Okay”

my arms

parlor, the royal family was standing atop some type of stage The King stood at

Luna on one side. The three princes flanked his other

looked older than he did on the bills in my purse. He was

far, like he was

calming the crowd and gaining their attention “Congratulations on

for this monumental event. We are very pleased by your presence and look forward to becoming more

leaned in and whispered something