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.

me. I had Elva

you okay, Piper? I heard some truly

some, with a cloudy head and tired eyes, but otherwise okay Except for

throat, and left my half of

to pick

Terry left the grounds?” I asked. It took great strength to keep

“Word is, Terry left at some point

relief and for the first time that

least, I was safe.

linger in my

Terry’s cold hands on me or smell

breath.

girl in the black dress who seemed to have my wolf. Who was she? Where had she come from? How had she gotten it? And why was she teasing me with it

to find the answers. Not since Nicholas had forbad Julian and me from

knew in his heart he was only worried for me and for the kingdom, but it frustrated me that he could not see the importance of discovering the

it would protect people like me from ever being manipulated into giving

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

Nicholas condemned, I wouldn’t let him stop me from protecting my daughter or any of those innumerous other souls out there who just wanted to do the right thing, and lost their

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

empty ballroom. I found him sitting alone on the

to be so

the tile steps, he turned back

him. I had questions and demands, but he seemed almost… lost

its

don’t mind company if it’s

at his flirtatious charms and took a

forgotten that Julian was also there last night. He had bome witness

though he had the decency both to tell me it wasn’t my fault, as well as to

Nicholas moved away.

that Nicholas would have taken advantage. He wouldn’t

my desire much quicker.

I was still

it. I did have desire for Nicholas. I had wanted him to kiss me