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

you okay, Piper? I heard some

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

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

pick at.

I asked. It took great

point last night and returned to his own mansion.”

and for the first time that

For now, at least, I

my mind, even as we broke from

I couldn’t help but feel Terry’s cold hands on me

breath.

girl in the black dress who seemed to have my wolf. Who was she? Where had she come from? How

had so many unanswered questions. It felt worse now, somehow, because I would never be able to

for the kingdom, but

would protect people like me from ever being manipulated into giving

Terry, or by Nicholas. I had my own heart and my

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

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

check the empty ballroom. I found him sitting alone on the bottom stair, deep

to be so isolated or

of my heels on the tile steps,

want to be alone?” I asked him. I had questions and demands, but he seemed almost… lost sitting

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

don’t mind company if it’s you,” he

eyes at his flirtatious charms and took a

forgotten that Julian was also there last night. He had

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

Nicholas moved away.

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

my

I was still

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