His Choice (The Selection)

Chapter Nine

I suck in a breath, afraid someone has broken into my room. A blonde girl who can't be much older than me runs over, wraps me in a hug, and begins jumping. I look behind her a middle aged lady with dark hair smiles warmly at me.

"Connor, stop you're scaring her," she says. The blonde girl, who I assume is Connor, backs away and they both curtsy.

"Um, hi. I am Ember," I tell them. The middle aged lady walks over closer to us and stands next to Connor.

"We know, Lady Ember. We are your maids. I am Maybra," she says introducing herself. She looks over at Connor and waits for her to introduce.

"I am Connor! I am so excited to meet you!" Connor says. She gives me a very eager smile. I give her a small nod.

"Okay. So, um, it is nice to meet you," I tell them. Maybra looks over at Connor.

"Connor, would you please go get some tea for Lady Ember?" Maybra asks. Connor nods and quickly walks out the door. I stand there awkwardly for several seconds, not sure what to do. "I want to apologize for her," Maybra finally says. I raise my eyebrows.

"Why?" I ask. She looks over at the door as if to make sure she isn't here.

"This is Connor's first time working as a maid. She normally works in the kitchen, but there was a shortage of people of to work as maids for the selection so she was picked to be one," Maybra explains. Great. I have to deal with an inexperienced staff.

"Oh, okay," I tell her, trying to stay emotionless. Maybra seems to pick up on the fact that it bothers me and shakes her head.

"Not to worry, though. I am the head maid. I have the most experience of any maid in the palace,"she says. I nod. Thank God.

"Oh, well. That's good," I say. She nods and looks at my purse.

"Would you like me to take that for you, Lady Ember?" she asks. I nod and allow her to take my purse. She walks over to a wardrobe and sets it down inside. I walk over to the bed and climb on top of it. While my bed at home is very soft, the one is even more luxurious.

I lean back and get comfortable in the pillows before the time Connor has returned with my tea. She places it next to me on the bed. I pick up a small tea cup and allow her to fill it up. I take small sips of tea. When I finish it, I fall back into the pillows again and almost fall asleep.

A knock on the door causes me to sit up on the bed and yawn in a sleepy daze. "Would you like for us to get that?" Connor asks, turning away from dusting already perfectly clean furniture. I nod. She opens the door, exchanges a few words with the person on the other side, and then looks back at me. "It is Lady April."

"And Savannah!" a voice behind her yells. Connor nods.

"And Lady Savannah," Connor adds. I sigh and reposition myself on my bed.

"Let them in," I tell her. She nods and opens the door wider so they can come inside. Maybra turns away from her dusting to look at me.

"Would you like for us to leave?" Maybra asks. I shrug.

"It doesn't matter," I tell her. She nods and then walks over to the door next to Connor. "If you need us, Lady Ember, ring for us. We will be back around four to help you get ready for the report and dinner," Maybra says before walking out. I nod and silently plead for them to stay.

April and Savannah walk over and climb onto my bed. They both sit with their legs under them and position their dresses so it covers them. "So, how have you liked the palace?" April asks. I shrug.

"It's been fun," I answer. Savannah nods eagerly.

"Oh, I know! It has been! The makeover was so much fun!" Savannah says. April nods.

"It was! Being pampered like that is so different than what I am used to! Don't you agree, Ember?"April says. I nod and smile.

"Oh, yeah! Definitely," I say, a bit too sarcastic. They don't pick it up and continue chattering excitedly. They continue like this for at least twenty minutes, giving me just enough time to fall back again and begin drifting off.

"Ember, we were going to go out and play a game in the gardens for a little while if you would like to join us," Savannah says. I shake my head.

"Oh. Go on without me. I would love to play but I am going to stay here," I say. They both hop up and nod.

"Okay! Bye!" they say at the same time. Once they have walked outside and the door is closed, I release a moan. I hope my father knows what I am doing for him.

§§§

"Ladies! Come along now. We are going to be watching a special edition of the report about you all in the Women's room," Chris says as we gather around her in the hallway. She leads the way downstairs and takes us to the Women's room. When she opens the doors and we step inside, it is no longer a room full of vanities and wash stations.

On one side of the room, the sofas are positioned around a large television much like the one we have at home. On the opposite side, there are tables that are higher off the ground than usual. On the back wall under the windows there are armchairs positioned together in small groups.

We all crowd into the room and sit down on sofas. I end up on one with Bexley and Giselle. Chris cuts on the television. We wait a few minutes and then the national anthem plays. Instead of opening with a shot on the royal family, it is a shot of Miller.

"Hello, Illea. Tonight we will get to meet the ladies of the selection. Get ready because one of these ladies will marry Prince Charles," he says. The screen shifts over to show all 35 photos, one of all of us. It talks about several of the girls that I have not met yet.

Then, it changes to Sarah. "This whole thing has been magical. . . and we haven't even met the prince yet!" her voice says. I look over at her. She is sitting next to Abigail. Her smile grows.

"It seems like she is one of many perky girls here competing for Prince Charles. She and Lady Abigail seemed to get along quite well!" the narrator says. It changes to a clip of Abigail greeting people at the airport.

"Oh, yeah. I tried to meet as many people as possible! It was amazing to see all those people thereto see us. I felt it was only right that I address them," she says. In the interview it appears that she has finally stopped stalking people who were changing and put on her own dress.

"Lady Savannah also had the same thoughts. Her group was almost late to the palace because she talked to so many of the people there hoping to see her," the narrator says. A clip of the four of us walking out of the airport comes on. "All four ladies greeted the crowd like they were old friends."

A clip of my interview comes up."All the ladies here are great. I think I have made some life long friends already," I say with a fake small. A picture of me with my family at an event at the governor's house pops up on the screen.

"Will the daughter of Matthew Shields, candidate for governor of Baffin, win the heart of the prince or will it be the daughter of Governor Neals of Likely?" the interview asks. A clip of Bexley shows up on the screen.

"I have had plenty of makeovers in my day, it is what is required for my job," she says with a smile that seems fake. "But this one was different. There is so much excitement in the air. I think we all feel the anticipation of meeting Prince Charles," she says.

We all look over at Bexley. She has a small smirk on her face. "And that is how to milk a crowd," Pandora whispers from a couch behind me.

Yeah. So Ember gets to meet the prince in the next chapter. Yay! Yeah. Um I am not sure about updating for the next few days. I have a friend coming over tomorrow and she will be staying until Friday which is when my brother's baseball tournament starts. I will try to write an extra chapter today so I can post it later on. But, yeah. Comment and vote!

The picture that should be there is of Connor and Maybra.

Disclaimer: Kiera Cass is the one you should think for The Selection, not me.