The Decision- A sequel to 'The Heir' by Keira Cass

Chapter Seven

I sat at my desk, my eyes scanning the reports over and over again, looking for any speck of evidence which could give any information about the new rebels. Endless reports had been made about the recent attack. Some by advisers and some by Illea's newspapers, but all of them were pretty much useless.

"Knock knock, you busy?" I turned my head away from my work to see Mom standing in the doorway.

"Kind of, I've been looking at all these reports for hours but I can't find anything."

"Come down to the women's room, Miss Marlee and Miss Lucy are down there now, I had some strawberry tarts made." I could see the pleading look in Mom's eyes, and I knew there was no escaping this time. Work would have to wait.

"Afternoon, Eadlyn" chimed Miss Marlee and Miss Lucy at the same time. I gave them a tired smile and greeted them back.

"Mmm, these tarts smell amazing!" I exclaimed. The tarts were perfectly round, with a shiny red glaze on top. The strawberries were cut perfectly to look like little hearts, and almost immediately a maid had sat me down with a huge slice of tart and a cup of tea.

"I'm sorry if you've felt stressed recently, Eady. I know how much work you've had to do, but that's just what our job requires."

"I know" I replied meekly. "I was wondering if any of you have seen Silvia? I was looking for her before to see if we could still do the afternoon tea with the selected, but she's nowhere to be found."

"Sorry, dear. I really don't know. Your father was looking for her as well but she seems to have disappeared." I furrowed my brow at the thought of Silvia simply disappearing off the face of Illea. A thought crossed my mind, What if Silvia was dead? I shuddered and sat up straighter, hoping improving my posture would somehow wash away any negative thoughts.

"So," Miss Lucy started, "will you be dong anything with any of the boys soon? It has been almost a week since your last date with Hale."

"Well, I had something planned but everything got thrown out of wack a little after the attack."

"Maybe you could do a quiz like last time, but maybe test their etiquette or something. That would be quite fun." Mom suggested, sipping on her tea and giving me a gentle look in her eyes.

"I don't know, I think I should spend some one-on-one time with someone. I've done a lot of group activities recently, and some of the contestants are getting a little annoyed, really." I replied, looking out the window at the sliver washed sky. It had been a bit gloomy recently, which was unusual for Angeles.

"Have any favorites, yet?" Asked Mom, a cheeky smile on her face.

"Mom! No!" I laughed at her question, though I really did have quite a few answers. "That, is none of your business." Giggles washed through the room, even coming from some of the maids.

We chatted for another half hour or so -me scoffing about two more slices of strawberry tart- before I decided that I should probably ask one of the contestants to do something in the form of a date. I didn't tell Mom that though.

As I walked towards the 'oh so manly room', as some of the maids had started calling it, I could smell baked goods coming from the room as I walked towards it. I was deciding between who I should ask when I noticed Ahren storming out of the recreation room, looking furious.

"Ahren, wait! What happened?" I called out to him.

"I'll tell you what happened, some of your stupid contestants accused me of deserting you for Camille because I wanted Mom to die, so I could somehow take the throne! That's not even possible!" I could see how annoyed he was, and really, I was annoyed too. "He didn't even address me properly, He just started talking."

"Which one was it?" I asked, hoping I could find out who said it, wanting to slap the living daylights out of them.

"I don't know, uh, he was slightly skinny with light hair. He was really smug, I wanted to knock him out, that's for sure."

"Ean Cable." I said under my breath, and I practically ran into the room. When I walked in I saw some the Selected on one side of the room, and Ean on the other. He stood immediately, giving me a deep bow, probably hoping I hadn't just run into Ahren.

"Your highness" Ean said as he bowed, and the rest of the Selected and the staff followed with their curtsies and bows.

"Ean, wipe that smile off your face and come with me." I said, trying to look as powerful as possible, fixing my posture. Ean knew what I was going to lash out at him for, although he pretended not to. I lead him to the library and sent all the staff out.

"How can I help you, Princess Eadlyn?" he asked, his voice suddenly became small.

"What did you say to my brother?"

"Oh nothing, just wondered why he left in such a hurry. You needed him and he deserted you."

"Don't lie to me, Ean. I just so happened to come across Ahren, and he looked very angry. You are not to talk to him like that again, you understand? This is the royal family you're staying with here, not some family member of yours which you think you can just boss around! Do you have no filter from your head to your mouth?"

"I guess I said-"

"Save it. You're lucky I'm in a good mood today. I won't send you home, but I expect you to write an apology letter to Ahren, and for goodness sake, address him properly this time." I spat, looking him deep in the eye. I wanted him to know how mad I was, an from the look on his face, I could tell that Ean wasn't going to tell a soul.