The Prince or the Crown

chapter eleven

“Bella, are you okay?” Chloe gasped as I limped into the dining hall just a minute before 2:00. 

“I’m fine, Chloe,” I said, clenching my jaw to hide the pain as I slid into the seat beside her. “Just twisted my ankle a little bit.”

“And you walked all the way down here by yourself?” she asked. 

“Uh, yep,” I lied. “But I made it, which is all that matters.”

“Congratulations, everyone,” rang Yanae’s voice from the front of the table. “You are all officially participants in the matching!”

There was a polite round of applause as everyone seemed to visibly relax in relief. 

“We are so excited for all of you to meet our son tomorrow,” Aevan added. “But do not take it lightly; tomorrow will be a busy day. In the morning, each of you will be receiving your own profile on our international website and will be present for a televised introduction broadcasted to the entire world. This will take several hours. After, you will separate into your cohorts and wait in your shared living space for Prince Azmir to arrive. Each cohort will spend half an hour getting to know your prince.”

Excited murmurs rose in the crowd.

“At the end of the day,” Yanae started, “Azmir will choose five women from each cohort he would like to send home. This will be a hard decision for him, but it is necessary in order to maintain the rhythm of the Matching.”

“Twenty women?” one of the suitors beside me whispered to her friend. “Before he really even gets to meet everyone?”

The friend shrugged and whispered back, “I guess you just have to make a good first impression.”

“Settle down, everyone. I will now announce everyone’s cohorts. Cohort one is…”

My mind drifted off as she began listing off the names of people in cohort one. My mind was too busy running in circles and trying to remember all the information Marko had taught me and figure out how to use it to my advantage in the Matching. 

My ankle accidentally smacked against my chair leg and I tried not to hiss in pain. I really hoped it wasn’t injured. If it was anything more than a simple twist I might’ve been in big trouble. I definitely didn’t want to be hobbling around or on crutches when the Matching began. I’d look like an absolute fool and would probably get sent home in the first few days. 

I silently cursed Kavek. Not only had he almost gotten me in trouble with the queen when he’d tattled about me being on the balcony in the middle of the night, which by the way, he was too, but he’d also basically crippled me when he walked into me and made me twist my ankle. He might singlehandedly be the reason I lose this competition.

“...Bella Adere, Avea Leza, Simone Becker, Chloe Michelle, Yerin Choi, and Keala Meren. And that’s cohort three. Moving on. In cohort four is…”

“Bella, we’re in the same cohort!” Chloe whispered to me. 

I grinned. “Thank God."

“And that’s everyone,” Yanae said, sending us a dazzling smile as she sat back down. “Enjoy your lunch!”

—

“Ms. Adere, are you limping?” I heard Yanae ask as I walked with Chloe to our cohort’s rooms. 

Shit.

“I just twisted my ankle,” I answered with a smile as I turned to face her. 

“Any injury should not be taken lightly,” Yanae stated, narrowing her eyes at my foot. “I will call the palace doctors right away.”