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

Chapter Fifteen

The next day had flown by. I was spending most of my time in my room, as was Mom. Most of the work I was told to do had been piled up on my desk, sitting there, waiting to be completed. I had called Aunt May, asking about Mom. She had been staying in her room or in the Women's Room, playing her violin. Mom hadn't been playing up until Silvia's death, Aunt May and I figured it was her way of coping. Yesterday I walked into the Women's, and was greeted by the sweet sound of Beethoven's Symphony No.9 filling the air. Mom was getting better -as was Dad- but the the days grew shorter and a slight tinge of coolness washed over the pale blue sky, making everything seem gloomy. One thought still lingered in my mind, though. Kile was no longer in the Selection. I would have no more of those passionate kisses, no more sarcasm and comebacks, no familiar comfort he had provided me in the last few months. He would never be mine and mine alone.  
    He left you for architecture, he probably doesn't even like you. These thoughts also played over in my mind, making me wonder why I kept him in the first place. Anger rose up in my throat when I thought about him, my mind replaying his potential thoughts and feelings of me. I wondered if he ever really liked me at all. "Enough!" I said to myself, rubbing my forehead. If Kile was no longer mine, I couldn't keep thinking about him. Especially when I had a date with Calvin in a few minutes. I had put on a knee-length white dress with pale blue embroidery on the bodice. I had on a cute pair of black flats (too many feet destroying shoes in the recent days) and grabbed a grey blazer as I walked out of my room. I couldn't resist picking up a piece of toffee from one of the hundreds of bowls around the palace, letting the sweet melt on my tongue and swallowing all the sugary remains. 
    "Thank you, Hayes." I heard a muffled voice say as I waited outside Calvin's door. A butler exited a second later, leaving the door ajar. 
    "Hello? Ready to go?" I said whilst knocking on the door.
    "Good afternoon, Eadlyn," Calvin kissed my hand as he greeted me.
    "Are you ready for something fun?" I asked.
    "Of course! What are we doing?"
    "Follow me." I lead Calvin through several corridors before we reached our destination. One of the courtyards had been arraigned with a guitar and two small upright pianos. "I noticed you liked music during the talent competition, so I got some instruments out here for us to play."
    "This looks great, what do you want to play first?"
    "What about Beethoven?" I asked, remembering the song Mom played earlier today.
    "I know some old ragtime stuff and some contemporary songs, but not much of the old classics."
    "Great, I'll teach you." I sat down at a piano and patted my hand on the spot next to me for Calvin to sit down.
    "Looks like I don't have a choice" Calvin said jokingly, brushing his hair out of his eyes and giving a big sigh to exaggerate.
    "Nope."
    "What are you going to teach me?"
    "I was thinking we could start off with something simple, Fur Elise?"
    "Sure," Said Calvin, giving me a smile and taking the seat next to me.
     "Alright, you play on the key below me, and copy what I do." I played the notes, letting my hands flow with the sounds and looked over at Calvin for him to copy me.
     "Can you repeat it a bit slower, please? I'm not the fasted learner."
     I got lost in his warm eyes for a moment, and then repeated the first part of the song. "Better?"
     "Yeah, uh, let me try." He was a bit off, but he had definitely improved.
     "You're getting better."
     "Good, you know," Calvin began, looking at me directly. "You have the most beautiful eyes."
     "Thank you, Calvin. That's sweet." I didn't know what to do, I knew he was a part of this competition and was meant to be flirting with me, but I was still unsure.
    "What do you want to do?" I asked, quickly changing the subject.
    "What do you mean?" He shot me a puzzled look, probably unsure as to why his brief attempt at flirting had been avoided.
    "You know, job wise."
    "Well, if I am not able to stand by your side in future, I would probably like to perform. I've played in clubs and restaurants in the past, and it's something I really enjoy. Music is fun, you can do heaps with it."
    "You seem quite comfortable with the idea of being Prince of Illea."
    "It never came to mind as a possibility previously, but when you said you were looking for a husband, I wanted to sign up. It's not necessarily the job, it's more you that I wan to have in my future."
    "That's pretty forward," I said, wondering if I should try and flirt back. This was hard.
    "It's why we're all here. We want to support you."
    "I suppose that's true." I wanted to end the conversation, but I remembered what Ahren had told me. I needed to open up if this was going to work.
    "We've done some things together before, but I don't know much about you." Here it comes, I thought. "Tell me something about yourself."
    "I, um. I like to play piano, I love cakes and I like horse riding."
    "No, I meant something a little more detailed than that." I could feel the back of my neck getting sweaty.
    "What do you want to know?"
    "Tell me about your family, what it's like living here, your friends. That kind of thing."
    "Well, I didn't have many friends growing up. I had some of the royal advisers daughters, I had my parents and my siblings. We're all pretty close, especially Ahren and me, considering we're twins and all. Dad and Mom said we hardly ever fought."
    "I have a younger sister at home. She's twelve. When I got your letter about the Selection, she went nuts. She immediately thought I was going to become king and take her on trips to Paris."
    "That's cute. Typical girl thoughts. Are you close?"
    "I guess, we're pretty well off, have both parents around so she's never relied on me a whole heap. I'm just there if she needs to talk."
    "I get what you mean."
    There was silence for a few minutes before Calvin reached for my hand. I hesitated and pulled back a bit. "Eadlyn, I'm gong to ask you for permission, but please tell me if you don't want to." I knew where this was going. "Can I kiss you?"
    My reaction surprised me. "Yes." Moments later my lips were on his, his hand gently touching my shoulder and the other holding my hand. It was tender, almost sensitive. Not like the kisses Kile gave me. Stop thinking about Kile! I scolded myself for ruining the moment after I pulled away.

    "Are you ok?"
    "No, I'm fine. Please, don't stop."
    "It's ok, I need to get ready for dinner anyway. Maybe just a quick one before we go?"
    "Ok."