The Selection

Chapter 52

This story/plot belongs to Kiera Cass

𒊹︎︎︎ᴥ︎︎︎𒊹︎︎︎

The last thing I was expecting when I walked in my doorway was the smattering of applause from my maids.

I stood there for a moment, genuinely moved by their support and comforted by the shining pride in their faces. Once they were done making me blush, Anne took me by the hands.

"Well said, miss." She gave a gentle squeeze, and I saw in her eyes so much joy over my words, for a second I didn't feel so awful.

"I can't believe you did that! No one ever stands up for us!" Mary added.

"Jungkook has to pick you," Lucy cried. "You're the only one who gives me hope."

Hope.

I needed to think, and the one place I could really do that was the gardens. Though my maids were insistent that I stay, I left, taking the long way, down a back stairwell on the other end of the hall. Besides the occasional guard, the first floor was empty and quiet. It felt like the palace should be bustling with activity, given how much had happened in the last half hour or so.

As I passed the hospital wing, the door flew open and I ran right into Jungkook, who dropped a sealed metal box. He groaned after we collided, even though it really wasn't that hard.

"What are you doing out of your room?" he asked, slowly bending to pick up the box. I noticed it had his name on the side. I wondered what he was storing in the hospital wing.

"I was going to the gardens. I'm trying to figure out if I did something stupid or not."

Jungkook appeared to be having a difficult time standing. "Oh, I can assure you it was stupid."

"Do you need help?"

"No," he answered quickly, avoiding my eyes. "Just heading to my room. And I suggest you do the same."

"Jungkook." The quiet plea in my voice made him look at me. "I'm so sorry. I was mad, and I wanted to ... I don't even know anymore. And you were the one who said there were perks to being a One, that you could change things."

He rolled his eyes. "You're not a One." There was a silence between us. "Even if you were, did you not pay attention at all to the way I'm doing things? It's quiet and small. That's how it has to be for now. You can't go on television complaining about the way things are run and expect to have my father's, or anyone's, support."

"I'm sorry!" I cried. "I'm so, so sorry."

He paused for a moment. "I'm not sure that—"

We heard the shouting at the same time. Jungkook turned and started walking, and I followed, trying to make sense of the sound. Was someone fighting? As we got closer to the intersection of the main hallway and the doors to the gardens, we saw guards come flooding toward the area.

"Sound the alarm!" someone called. "They're through the gates!"

"Guns at the ready!" another guard yelled over the shouts.

"Alert the king!"

And then, like bees intent on landing, small, quick things buzzed into the hall. A guard was struck and fell back, his head hitting the marble with a disturbing crack. The blood pouring from his chest made me scream.

Jungkook instinctively pulled me away, but not very quickly. Perhaps he was in shock as well.

"Your Majesty!" a guard called, racing over to us. "You have to get downstairs now!"