Scintillate {The Selection}

Chapter 6

I return to my room with an unstoppable beam spreading across my features for the first time in months. Hero curtsies as I shut the door quietly behind me. 

"Have you had a good night, my lady?" Hero says respectfully, guiding me towards the bathroom, "We've prepared a bath for you."

"Thank you, Hero, and, yes, I did, thank you," I say, swaying past her and letting Rosie undo my dress. 

I climb into the bath, leaning my head back and letting the vanilla steam wilt my remaining curls. I grab a bar of soap off the edge of the bath and quickly wash myself, standing up and wrapping myself in a warm towel.

May hands me my nightgown and robe, smiling up at me, "So what did you think of the prince?"

"He seems lovely," I say, "But I don't think I'm the type of girl that he'd want to marry..."

"You'd be surprised," May replies, grinning, "I'd say I know Caxon quite well."

"May! Did you date him?" I exclaim, scandalised.

May bursts out laughing, nearly in tears, "No! We were raised together."

She turns to walk out of the bathroom and I get dressed quickly, chasing after her, "Tell me more!"

May grins secretively, biting her lip, "I'm not allowed to talk to you but I'll try to help you become Queen, if you want?"

I nod, then hug her quickly. Hero walks through the door and sniffs, handing me a box wrapped in gold paper, "The prince has sent you a gift, my lady."

I take the gift out of her outstretched hand and unwrap it eagerly. A note falls out into my lap and I open it nervously, seeing Hero herding May out of the room. 

My dear Lady Marie,

Well, I must say that I'm honoured that you would consider my speech worthy of applause, however, personally, I think it's quite terrible - in fact my father told me what to say. Anyway, that's not the point of this letter, I would just like to advise you that the gazebo in the grounds is a lovely place to think at sunrise.

Caxon

I put the note aside and pull the box towards me, undoing the ribbon and opening the box. Inside is a silver necklace, with a sapphire almost the same colour as Caxon's eyes set in it. I brush my fingers across it softly, hardly believing that it's real, and probably worth more than anything I've ever owned in my life. 

"Would you like some help putting it on, my lady?" Rosie asks shyly from the doorway. 

I nod, entranced by the necklace, "Yes, please."

Rosie takes it out of my hands and pushes my hair out of the way, fastening it gently around my neck, "It looks lovely, my lady."

"Thank you, Rosie. Can you tell May that I will need her assistance before sunrise tomorrow?" I ask, blushing slightly. Rosie nods, smiling and closes the door quietly behind her.

**********************************

"Marie, wake up!" Someone shakes me urgently, their voice muffled by the mountains of pillows surrounding me. I force my eyelids open and blink sleepily at the glowing blue in front of me. I force myself to sit up and the glowing blue reconciles itself to form Caxon's pendant. 

"My lady, I've taken the liberty of picking out a dress for you?" May asks politely, gesturing to the cream dress that dangles on a hanger from her fingertips, "I thought it would go well with the pendant."

I nod and roll out of bed, letting May run a hairbrush through my hair, then fasten me into the knee-length dress. She hands me a pair of knee-high boots and a coat, then quickly applies makeup to my face, working efficiently as her brushes sweep across my face.

May helps me into the coat, then leads me out of the door, as I stumble after her, confused, "May, where are you taking me?"

"I assume you're going to meet the prince, so I'm waiting for me to tell me where you're meeting him?" May says confidently, walking smoothly down the corridors.

"He said the gazebo at sunrise," I say, pulling my coat further around me as we descend the stairs. 

"Come on, then, it's nearly sunrise," May says, grabbing my arm and pulling me through a set of ornate doors, down a set of stairs then across the lawns towards a hill, obscured by a copse of trees, "Go through the trees, then up the stairs quickly."

I nod and weave through the trees, looking over my shoulder to see May hurrying back across the lawns to the Palace. 

When I reach the top of the cracked stairs, Caxon turns to smile at me, walking over to help me over the gap where the top step used to be. 

"You look lovely this morning, Lady Marie," He says, offering me his arm.

"I wanted to see the sunrise," I say lamely, flushing at the compliment, taking his arm. 

"It is the most beautiful thing in the world, in my opinion. Present company excluded, of course," Caxon says, looking down at our interlinked arms, "I thought you weren't coming."

I blush, stepping away from Caxon to the edge of the gazebo, looking out at the sunrise, "I don't think I could turn down a prince."

Caxon stands next to me, resting his forearms on the railing, "That's the problem - everyone just goes along with everything I say. Even my tutors weren't allowed to tell me I was wrong. I just wish that, for once, someone would correct me or turn me down, instead of being sycophantic and simpering. I know that I'm going to be king, but I'm going to make sure that my son actually gets turned down so he can rule this country right."

I listen to him silently, taking it in, not sure how to respond, "Don't worry, I'll turn you down plenty, your highness."

"Will you really, Lady Marie?" Caxon laughs, "I'll be sure to keep you around, then."

"It will certainly straighten your ego out before you go and tear this country apart," I turn to face him, smiling up at him.

"You think I have an ego problem?" Caxon replies, raising his eyebrows. 

"Definitely, why else would you invite thirty-six girls to your palace and date them all at once other than to massage your own ego?" I tease, unable to stop the grin spreading across my face.

"Why, Lady Marie, you have managed to see through the thin guise of the Selection! In fact, I'm going to hold a second Selection and marry ten girls just to massage my humongous ego," Caxon says, tilting his head back as he laughs, his eyes twinkling. The sunrise paints his skin a soft pink, highlighting the deep creases around his eyes and the faint scar above his eyebrow. 

I reach up to touch it instinctively, "How did you get this scar?"

The laughter fades from Caxon's face and he gently takes my hand, pulling it down so he can grip it between two of his hands, "When I was a baby, some rebels attacked the Palace. They weren't well organised and they only managed to smash a few windows. One of them was the window above my cradle in the nursery and some of the glass hit my face before the nurse took me out of the cradle. It's a great story, don't you think? A prince has a scar from a smashed windows but nearly half of our soldiers have serious injuries and scars from actual combat."