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.

in her seat to face me. I had Elva in

Piper? I heard some truly terrible

hungover some, with a cloudy head and tired eyes, but otherwise okay Except for my continued embarrassment over my body’s reaction to Nicholas

throat, and left my half of the breakfast uneaten on the plate

pick

left the grounds?” I asked. It took great strength to keep my voice from shaking.

is, Terry left at some point last night and

for the first time that day,

now, at least, I was

last night continued to linger in my

feel Terry’s cold hands

breath.

was she? Where had she come from? How

questions. It felt worse now, somehow, because I would never be able to find the answers. Not since Nicholas had forbad Julian

and for the kingdom, but it frustrated me that he could not see the importance of discovering the truth.

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

I wouldn’t be cowed by Terry, or by Nicholas. I had my own heart and my own

innumerous other souls out there who just wanted to do the right thing,

the care of her nanny and Mark, I set off on

check the empty ballroom. I found him sitting alone on

him to be so isolated or so reflective.

the click of my heels on the tile steps, he turned back to look

alone?” I asked him. I had questions and

In its place

don’t mind company if it’s you,” he

rolled my eyes at his flirtatious charms and took a seat

Julian was also there last night. He had

though he had the decency both to tell me it wasn’t my

Nicholas moved away.

Nicholas would have taken advantage. He wouldn’t have.

the circumstances of my desire much

I was still

did have desire for Nicholas. I had wanted him to kiss me on the balcony. In