A Previous Selection

Chapter Nine

I'm sitting at the vanity in my room, looking at all of the pictures of my family while my maids make the finishing touches on my hair, when there is a knock at the door. Alice quickly moves to the door to open it to reveal Prince Cameron on the other side of it. Alice quickly falls into a curtsy when she sees who it is, as do my other maids.

He quickly acknowledges them before looking right at me, and when his eyes meet mine, a smile lights up his face. I can't help but smile back.

"I'm sorry. Did I get here a little too early?" he asks. 

"No, these lovely maids of mine were just touching up my hair," I say as I stand up. "I am all ready to go."

"Shall we?"

He extends his arm to me, and I hesitantly wrap my arm around his.

As we step out of my room, Alice, Sophie, and Mya all wave politely, but I know once that door is closed, they are going to be bursting with excitement.

When the note was sent to my room with the details of the date after breakfast, my maids were ecstatic. They went on and on about how they just knew that Prince Cameron would immediately take a liking to me. I just listened to it all while they touched up my hair and makeup.

"So what exactly do you have planned for this date of ours, Prince Cameron?" 

"First of all, you can call me Cameron if you'd like," he says, and I look over at him.

"I'll call you Cameron if you just call me Wren," I tell him. "It just doesn't feel right to be called Lady Wren."

He smiles over at me.

"It's hard adjusting to all of this, isn't it?"

"Well, I've only been here for like a day, but so far, yeah," I answer. "The dresses, the jewelry, the bed, the endless hallways and rooms, the etiquette. But there is one thing that I have already gotten used to."

"And what might that be?" 

"The food."

He lets out a small laugh before looking back over at me.

"It most definitely is the best thing about this place," he replies.

"So. Going back to what I asked earlier. What exactly are we doing on this date?" I ask him.

"Oh, right," he says. "Well, I was thinking that since you wanted to see it last night, we could take a walk around the gardens before having a picnic at my one of my favorite spots on the palace grounds."

"And where might that be?"

"That, I'm afraid, is a secret. For now, at least," he says with a small smile, and once again, I find myself smiling back.

We get to the doors leading out to the garden, and when the guards see the prince, they immediately open them. It must be crazy to have that much power.

Cameron leads me outside, and I am immediately in awe of the beauty that is the palace gardens. As we continue to walk, I take in all of the flowers and shrubs, statues and fountains, benches and trees, and each new thing I see leaves me in absolute amazement.

"Do you like it?"

I turn to look at Cameron to see he's looking at me with hopeful eyes. He really wants me to like this. I give him a smile.

"It's breathtakingly beautiful, Cameron. I love it," I say, and he beams.

"I'm glad," he replies. "So even though we could walk around this whole place in silence, taking it all in, I would love for us to talk, so I could get to know you."