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,

I heard some truly

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

throat, and left my

to pick

asked. It took great strength to keep my voice

at some point last night and returned to his

with a sense of relief and for the first time that day, I

at least, I

in my mind,

the day. I couldn’t help but feel Terry’s cold hands on me or smell his terrible

breath.

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

never be able to find the answers. Not since Nicholas had

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

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

Nicholas. I

daughter or any of those innumerous other souls out there who just wanted to do the right thing, and lost their wolves for

and Mark, I set off

I thought to check the empty ballroom.

wasn’t like him to be so isolated or

of my heels on the tile steps, he

I asked him. I had questions and

In its place was the same sort of

mind company if

a seat on the

was also there last night. He had bome witness to the full

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

Nicholas moved away.

He wouldn’t have. But Julian’s being present

the circumstances of my

I was still

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