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 my lap, but she was busy stuffing her face with all the delicious

I heard some truly terrible

a cloudy head and tired eyes, but otherwise okay Except for my continued embarrassment over

throat, and left my half of the

pick at.

I asked. It took great strength to keep my voice

left at some point last night and returned to

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

For now, at least,

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

Terry’s cold

breath.

was she? Where had she come from? How had she gotten it? And why was she teasing me

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

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

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

I wouldn’t be cowed by Terry, or by Nicholas. I had

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 wolves

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

through most of the palace before I thought to check the empty ballroom. I

like him to be so isolated or

the tile steps, he turned back to look

you want to be alone?” I asked him. I had questions and demands, but he seemed

its place

company if it’s you,”

eyes at his flirtatious charms and took a seat

that Julian was also there last night. He had bome

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

Nicholas moved away.

would have taken advantage. He wouldn’t

circumstances of my desire much quicker.

I was still

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