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

he had become, brought all those feelings crashing back

+15 BONUS

help but wonder if I was misremembering the past. Maybe he’d

I wasn’t that

said, adding some bite to my own

and I intend to correct

only woman who ever dared to break

left me, then, walking out into the sitting room, and then out into the parlor. I thought he might slam the door behind him,

Elva continued resting, undisturbed.

to hate

that door. He might be a cruel, insensitive bastard but he liked children. He’d been kind to Elva. He didn’t take any of

wanted to hate him,

sunk to my knees beside the

a different world, maybe Elva would have been our child. If we had stayed together, maybe he would have

a nice

reality. My reality was very far from these golden fixtures

time, staying here. I needed to go home

I

rested my head beside Elva’s on the cushion. I was so

my own eyes

Excuse

blinked open my

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

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

again, he was already disappearing out of the room. He

watching me with curious eyes. “Is it

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

Luna are talking.”

“Okay”

Elva into my arms and camed her

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

one side. The three princes flanked his

than he did on the bills in my purse. He

voice camed far, like

he said, 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

in and whispered something in the King’s