The Luna Choosing Game

I forced myself to my feet. The tailor, after making sure I was upright and unharmed, immediately rushed from the room to retrieve a towel and a servant to clean the mess.

My soggy notes were beginning to fall apart in my hands, to wet to even maintain their paper shape.

“Linda,” I said, going to her.

She scrunched her nose as I came close, as if the very sight of me disgusted her. I was disheveled now, true, with my gown damp in some places and my hair a mess. But even so…

“Can I have those names again?” I asked. I knew she had written them down same as me.

She quickly hid her notepad from my sight. “If you lost those names, then this is on you, Piper. You need

to learn to take responsibility.” She narrowed her eyes. “We wouldn’t want anyone to think you had unfair

advantage.”

“It’s not like that,” I said.

She continued on, like I hadn’t said anything. “At least half of our table will look good, and the royal

to tell who did

against the spirit of the event,” I said. “We’re

like the Luna is

hindrance, not an adversary. Surely the royal family will understand

walked by me and out the door. The other girls all shunned me, except for Susie, who gave me

sympathetic wave.

at the place where we

had decided upon. I tried to remember what I could.

very least, I could guess about Linda’s preferences, after having heard them drilled into my

maybe I could at least make a compatible half of the table, even if it didn’t match up exactly

and color names I could guesstimate were maybe correct, I rushed down to the kitchen to look through the cookbooks

pages, when one of

summoned to stand in audience with the

swallowed thickly. It wasn’t the servant’s fault that I was

ordered to chase me. I doubted I would get very

chin in defiance, and decided to face my inevitable end. I only hoped Nicholas could hear of it and intervene before I was hanged

of the kitchen and around the winding