The Luna Choosing Game

My whole heart shattered. “No, no, that’s not true. Prince Nicholas likes you a lot.”

Elva pulled away to look up at me with large, watery eyes. “But she said Nick–lass is mad at me. She said

I was naughty.”

“We can’t listen to her, okay?”

Her cupped her face with my hands and wiped away her tears. New ones just kept falling. My anger for Lena renewed, and I half wanted to chase her down the hall to give her a piece of my mind.

No one makes my little girl cry like this!

“She’s just a mean lady who doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Nicholas likes you. He’s not mad. He waved at you, didn’t he?”

The words seemed to placate Elva somewhat. Her tears lessened, though her sniffling remained. Her brows furrowed like she was thinking it through.

“He did wave…

“Because he likes you.”

“…Okay.” Her voice was small. It didn’t seem like I had fully convinced her, but I doubted I could say anything that would.

She would have to hear it from Nicholas himself.

Maybe if I could talk to him alone, I could convince him to spend some time with Elva.

Lena would hate it, and so would the other girls. I’d have to make sure it happened at a time that didn’t conflict with any of his other obligations.

Surely he would meet with her though? If I told him she thought he didn’t like her?

Surely he hadn’t become totally heartless in the past three years?

No, I knew he hadn’t. I had seen the soft–hearted way he’d interacted with Elva before

He might hate me, but he liked her. He would be willing to do this, I was sure.

I just had to get him alone to ask.

The next morning at breakfast, Lilliana was the most popular girl in the room. Every other girl wanted to know every detail of her solo–date with Nicholas.

attention seemed to go straight to her head, and she calmly and smugly answered every question she

was asked, albeit with a haughty attitude.

I

“Prince Nicholas lifted me into the saddle like the princess I am soon to be,” she said. “The horse

me could have been tamer, however. Something I will rectify

maybe that poor horse had reason to be afraid of Lillianna when it

been said that animals had a sixth sense about

property,” Lilliana said. “I felt as if the prince was

belong to

she spoke, I noticed she talked of the property and the palace and

did she mention qualities of the prince himself, like

qualities in how much it could bring

power. The

fury collected inside of me.

him as a person.

wrong for him. Hopefully he would

girls were sharing sharp looks

the room thickened as she continued

Ball was

seemed as if Lilliana

to harm her, but I too

was just pure

worthy of

Chapter 0046

barely recognizing myself. It was the night of the First Ball, and I was dressed in my beautiful, shimmering yellow gown it was sleeveless, with

my maids had tied my brown hair into a tight up do, with a few loose

a near mirror figure of me, though her dress came up to her neck. It shimmered

she couldn’t stop giggling as she

and laughing, she looked like

into a quick hug. “You

maid stopped me. “Don’t

me

1

and their length. It would have been a faux pas to show

thank the quiet maid as well, but she was further back

thank her later

I took her hand.

toothy

room, where we waited for the results for the dress contest. The princes‘ preferences for our dresses would soon

a rainbow of colors and materials, but each more spectacular

was so putty, I wondered how she intended to dance. Though she moved with such ease, she must have been used to it. Others were similar, carefully sidestepping their trains

and

arrived, at the girls hushed themselves We waited with bated breath as Nathan read the

First, he said. “Divis