Spotlight

Chapter 3

I hear Caroline before I see her. Her voice is lower than I expected. It's loud, but not shrill.

I turn back with a smile. "Caroline, it's lovely to meet you."

She smiles back. "Princess Cassandra. Or Cassandra, I'll just call you that. We're cousins." She laughs.

"Why not."

"It is amazing to meet you, you're even prettier in person."

"Thank you I..."

"Tristan and Dillon Oisin, wonderful to see you both again." She seems to be done with me.

"Caroline." Tristan shakes her hands.

"Caroline." Dillons does the same. "Might I say, you look breathtaking."

She does. Her pretty blonde hair falls to her midback in loose curls and her dark brown eyes are sparkling. She's wearing a light blue bodycon dress with a white belt.

I smooth down mine. It's green, chiffon, and stops just below my knees. A black belt cinches my waist, it's the same shade of black as my heels.

Tristan is wearing a dark blue shirt and dark pants while his cousin is wearing a black shirt. We're standing at one of the beautifully decorated tables, the event starts in five minutes. Caroline was fashionably late.

"Should we go in?" I pick up my black and white purse. I don't wait for a response, I just walk away.

"Cassie." Caroline jogs up to me. She loops her arm in the crook of mine. "So, how are you? We have so much to catch up on."

"Of course." I nod. "How has your tour been?" She took a year off to tour Illyria, she made official visits, visited charities, and attended functions. Everything she's already been doing, just in different places. Her father convinced aunt Freya to put her stamp of approval on her trip. She represented the family during her visits.

"It was nice, got lonely at a point. But overall alright."

"How's your sister?"

"Jessie, she's alright. We haven't spoken in a while."

Of course they haven't. Jessie and Caroline are polar opposites, appearance is the only thing they have in common. Jessica is quiet and more reserved, she lives with their family in Sanders.

"Father's still trying to convince her to come to Brimstone in September." She snorts. "She has her heart set out on some backwater school in a neighboring town."

I don't know what to say. Luckily, I'm not given a chance to talk. Caroline really doesn't stop talking. "So, I was in Calais and I had lunch with the First Lady. She mentioned that her son attended Brimstone, do you know him? His name is Peter." I don't bother correcting her. Jason and Peter literally have no similarities. "Sounds like a swell lad. Anyway, so the First Lady and I were talking about things we should do for the community."

We reach our seats. This field isn't nearly as big as the arena. And the seats are white and wicket and are arranged in a semi-circle. We walk to the front. Only three chairs are available.

"Oh no. There aren't enough for all of us." Caroline sighs.

"Let's just stay..."

She doesn't hear me. "Hi," she says sweetly to the man at the edge of the front row. He looks up from his phone. "How are you?"

He smiles. "I'm good, it's a nice day."

"It is, will you be spending the game here?"

"I will be, I'll get a good view of my daughter. She's competing today, I'm so proud of her."