The Luna Choosing Game

By the next morning, the drug had worked its way through my system and I felt like my old self again. I

went down to breakfast, where I was reunited with Elva, who had stayed with Susie the night before by

order of Nicholas.

I was grateful for his foresight. Mortified as I was by my actions and sounds, I was at least spared the

embarrassment of explaining any of this to Mark or the nanny myself. Or worse still, to Elva..

A thought so stomach–churning, I dared not even think of it.

So when I did finally greet her, it was with a tight hug and big smile, the same as always.

Susie and I didn’t always sit together, but we chose to that morning. There were still many empty chairs with the previous elimination, and I was feeling vulnerable from what had happened the night before. I needed my friends.

Around us the girls were chattering about the curiousness of the evening’s events. Terry was to be one of the main judges of the night, but he never came to ballroom.

Also as curious, both Nicholas and Julian disappeared sometime in the night, only to reappear this morning, one with a black eye and the other with an injured hand.

“You don’t suppose the princes got into a fight with each other?” one of the girls asked.

“No,” Lilliana said flatly. “He is too mature to take part in such childish antics.”

“Julian does love to tease,” said someone else.

“Not enough to tempt a prince away from his decorum,” Olivia added. “Prince Nicholas been around Prince Julian for years. He’s surely built up a tolerance.”

“Well, then what happened with Sir Terry?“”

“Maybe he started the fight,” someone said, and another laughed. A third shushed them.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Olivia said, rolling her eyes.

seat to face me. I had Elva in my lap, but she was

I heard some truly

pushing away her concern. I felt hungover some, with a cloudy head and tired eyes,

rising in my throat, and left my half of the breakfast

to pick

asked. It took great

point last night and returned to

for the first time that day, I took

now, at least, I

my mind,

I couldn’t help but feel Terry’s cold hands on me or smell his terrible alcohol–laden

breath.

wolf. Who was she? Where had she come from? How had she gotten it? And why was she teasing me with

worse now, somehow, because I would never be able to find the answers. Not since Nicholas had

for me and for the kingdom, but it frustrated me that he could not see the

people like me from ever being manipulated into giving away their wolves

Terry, or by Nicholas. I had my own

stop me from protecting my daughter or any of those innumerous other

her nanny and Mark, I set off on my own to

palace before I thought to check the empty ballroom. I found him sitting alone on the bottom

to be so isolated or so reflective.

he heard the click of my heels on the tile

alone?” I asked him. I had questions and demands,

faded. In its place was the same sort

company if it’s you,”

eyes at his flirtatious charms and took a seat on the same step he

hadn’t forgotten that Julian was also there last night. He had bome witness to the full

both to tell me it wasn’t my fault, as

Nicholas moved away.

Nicholas would have taken advantage. He wouldn’t have. But Julian’s being present helped

my desire much

I was still

wanted him to kiss me on the balcony. In time, I might have