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.

had Elva in

Piper? I heard some truly terrible rumors.”

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

down the bile rising in my throat, and left my

pick

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

point last night and returned to

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

at least, I was

thoughts of last night continued to linger in my mind, even as we broke

for the day. I couldn’t help but feel Terry’s cold hands on

breath.

girl in the black dress who seemed to have my wolf. Who was she?

so many unanswered questions. It felt worse now, somehow, because I would never be able to find the answers. Not since Nicholas had forbad Julian and me from continuing our

kingdom, but it frustrated me that he

into giving away

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

any of those innumerous other souls out there who just wanted to do

Elva safely into the care of her nanny and Mark, I set

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

to be so isolated or so

the tile steps, he turned back to look

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

of vulnerability faded. In its place was the same sort of cocky expression

company if

flirtatious charms and took a seat on the same step he was sitting

hadn’t forgotten that Julian was also there last night. He had

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

Nicholas moved away.

He wouldn’t have. But Julian’s

of my desire much

I was still

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