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

on like work, and caring for Elva, that I could successfully distract myself from the

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

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

that young,

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

a mistake, and

spine. “You are the only woman who ever dared to break up with me.

me, then, walking out into 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, he

Elva continued resting, undisturbed.

hate him.

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

hate him,

beside the couch where

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

a nice

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

I needed to go home and look for another job, as

I

Elva’s on the cushion. I was so drained, from the trip,

own eyes slid

me Excuse

open my

but the King Luna, and princes have arrived, I

from my eye.

again, he was already disappearing

me with curious eyes. “Is it

to be

Luna are talking.”

“Okay”

Elva into my arms

family was standing atop some type of stage

Luna on one side. The three princes flanked

did on the bills in my purse.

voice camed far, like he was accustomed to public

he said, calming the crowd and gaining their attention

your presence and look forward to becoming more

whispered