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 of his

now and seeing what he had become, brought all those feelings

+15 BONUS

but wonder if I was misremembering the

wasn’t that young,

some bite to my own voice. The hurt made it

and I

the only woman who ever dared to break up

the sitting room, and then out into the parlor. I thought he might slam the door behind him, as enraged as he was, but instead,

Elva continued resting, undisturbed.

to hate him.

he liked children. He’d been kind

hate him, but I

my knees beside the couch

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

a nice

it wasn’t reality. My reality was very far from these

to go home

I

rested my head beside Elva’s on the cushion. I was so drained, from the trip, from

own

Excuse me,

blinked open

I beg your pardon, miss, but the King Luna, and princes have arrived, I suggest you hurry

the sleep from my

he was already disappearing out

sat up on the couch, watching me with curious eyes. “Is it

gave her my softest smile. It is. We have to be quiet though, okay? No one can

Luna are talking.”

“Okay”

my arms and

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

one side. The three

he did on the bills in my purse. He was pale with hollowed

well and his voice camed 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 acquainted over the coming

whispered something in the King’s