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

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

on it now, maybe that poor horse had reason to be afraid of

animals had

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

belong

talked of the property and the palace and what she would fix

himself, like his beautiful golden eyes or

in

money. The power. The

dark bit of fury collected inside of me. Nicholas deserved someone who would notice things

him as a person.

was all wrong for him. Hopefully he would realize that sooner rather than

were sharing sharp looks toward each other, and open glares at Lilliana.

thickened

Ball

seemed as if Lilliana

too wanted to see

wasn’t jealous. It was just

wasn’t worthy of Nicholas.

Chapter 0046

of the First Ball, and I was dressed in my beautiful, shimmering yellow gown

my brown hair into a tight up do, with

mirror figure of me, though her dress

she couldn’t stop giggling as she spun in

like the physical

into a quick hug.

to the door, the strange maid stopped me. “Don’t forget your gloves.” She handed

me

1

traditions about gloves and their length. It would have been a

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

to thank her

her hand. “Let’s go to the ball,

toothy grin. “The princess

the other girls in the parlor room, where we waited for the results for

beautiful in its own way. They were a rainbow of colors and materials, but each more spectacular

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 or lifting

get seemed confident the own gown and I

at the girls hushed themselves We waited

First, he said. “Divis