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.

face me. I had Elva in my lap, but she was busy stuffing her face with all the

heard some truly terrible rumors.”

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

to pick at.

took

“Word is, Terry left at some point last night and returned

relief and for the first time that day, I took in and exhaled a

For now, at least, I

night continued to linger in my mind, even as we broke from eating to

feel Terry’s cold hands on me or smell his

breath.

Who was she? Where had she come

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

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

organization was exposed, it would protect people like me from ever being manipulated into giving away their wolves and

be cowed by Terry, or by Nicholas. I

innumerous other souls out there who

of her nanny and Mark, I set off

of the palace before I thought to check the empty ballroom. I found

like him to be so isolated

on the tile steps,

I had questions and demands, but he seemed

and his look of vulnerability faded. In its place was the same sort of

company if

and took a seat on the same

night. He had bome witness to

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

Nicholas moved away.

wouldn’t have. But Julian’s being

of my desire much

I was still

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