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 pain

seeing what he had become, brought all those feelings crashing back into Tome so hard, they

+15 BONUS

I was misremembering the past. Maybe he’d never been kind. Maybe I had

I wasn’t that young,

to my own voice. The

is a mistake, and

woman who ever dared to break up with me. Piper. I’ll never

then out into the parlor. I thought he might slam the door behind him, as enraged as he was,

Elva continued resting, undisturbed.

wanted to hate

cruel, insensitive bastard but he liked children. He’d been kind to Elva. He didn’t take any of his misconceptions about me out on

hate him, but

to my knees beside the couch

would have been our child. If we had stayed together, maybe he would have revealed his secret in time. Maybe the

was a

very far from these golden fixtures and expensive

go home and look for

I

was so drained, from the trip, from seeing Nicholas

quickly, my own

me Excuse

blinked open

hovered over me. I beg your pardon, miss, but the King Luna, and princes have arrived, I suggest you hurry to the parlor

sleep from my eye. “Wait, there’s been

disappearing

me with curious eyes. “Is it

smile. It is. We have to be quiet though,

Luna are talking.”

“Okay”

pulled Elva into my arms and camed her

standing atop some type of stage The King stood

The three

on the bills in my

far, like he was accustomed to

said, calming the crowd and gaining their attention “Congratulations on having

very pleased by your presence and look forward

in and whispered