His Choice (The Selection)

Chapter Eleven

A man with honey-blonde hair and dark brown eyes stands before us. He is not as muscular as his father but still has his smile. "Hello, ladies," he says.

"Hello, Prince Charles," thirty-four voices sigh at once. I stay silent. He smiles and puts his hands in his pockets.

"Before we get any farther into the selection, I want you all to know that I am just Charles around you. Unless you are in front of a camera, I wish to be called Charles," he says. He receives a round of responses. I stay silent,choosing to concentrate instead on not rolling my eyes.

"Prince Charles, are you ready to meet the girls?" Chris asks, sounding much sweeter now than she sounded when we were alone. He nods.

"Definitely," he answers before walking over to a couch in the corner of the room. Chris walks down to the end of the table that I am sitting at. She stops at Pandora, who is on the other side of Bexley, and tells her it is her turn to talk to the prince.

She walks over and they seem to start talking immediately. I hear her giggling within a few seconds. Bexley turns to look at me. She rolls her eyes. "She is such a fake," she says. I raise my eyebrows.

"Who? Pandora?" I ask. She nods and looks back over at them.

"Yeah. I can't wait until he sends her home," Bexley says. I nod, but don't say anything in response. She turns so she is facing forward, but I can see her watching them out of the corner of her. Every time one of them laughs she rolls her eyes.

In about five minutes, Pandora has returned. She tells Bexley that it is her turn. Without saying anything, Bexley gets up from her seat and walks over to Prince Charles. I watch from the corner of my eye as they talk. He seems interested in her.

A couple of minutes into their conversation, Bexley leans forward mostly likely so Prince Charles can get a better look down her dress. Pandora scoffs. "Oh. My. Gosh. Is she really trying to make him fall in love with her boobs?" she says. I start laughing.

"What?" I ask. She looks at me and rolls her eyes.

"She is trying to seduce him. Isn't it obvious?" she asks, rolling her eyes. I nod.

"Kind of," I say. I look at Prince Charles. He almost seems nervous with Bexley's position. After a few more minutes, she returns with a smirk on her face.

"You're turn, Ember. Good luck," she says with a voice that almost seems too sweet. I nod, thank her, and stand up. When I walk over to Prince Charles, he rises and takes my hand. He kisses it.

"Hello, Prince Charles," I say. He smiles.

"I am Charles, not Prince Charles, and hello, Amber. . . No, Ember!" he says. I smile and nod.

"Ember is right," I tell him. He leads me over to the couch. He sits down and sets his leg over his knee. I sit down and sit like my mother showed me when I was young.

"Well, welcome to the palace, Ember. How are you?" he asks. I give him a sweet smile.

"I am doing great. It is such a delight to be at the palace!" I tell him. He raises his eyebrows.

"Okay, now that you have lied to me would you like to tell me the truth?" he asks with a playful smile.

"I guess it has been kind of fun," I answer. He smiles.

"That seems more honest... I have gotten that from two other girls already and I could tell they were both being fake," he says, looking back towards the other girls. I nod.

"Even when they were sticking boobs in your face?" I say quietly. He bursts out laughing, almost causing me to jump.

"Yes! Especially then! I didn't think anyone saw that!" he says. I nod.

"Yeah. . . Several of the other girls and I picked it up," I answer. He nods.

"I don't know how I feel about this whole thing if it is just going to be girls putting there boobs in my face," he says. I laugh.

"Really? Because I know most guys would love that," I say. He nods.

"Who are you considering as most guys?" he asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Mostly just my brothers," I answer. He nods.

"Older?" he asks. I nod."Twins?" I nod again.

"And annoying as all get out," I complain. He laughs.

"I take it you aren't their biggest fan," he comments. I shake my head.

"Nope. One of the perks of going to an all boys school was no egotistical males," I say. He laughs.

"And now?" he asks. I raise my eyebrows. "Now where do you go to school or do you have a job?"

"Oh. I go to Baffin Institute of Law and Medicine," I answer. He nods.

"And I assume that is in Carolina?" he asks. I arch my eyebrows, confused. You would think a prince would know his own Provinces. "I'm kidding. I know that it is in Baffin. . . And I also know that it is one of the best schools in the country," he says. I nod.

"Yeah. My brothers and I all three go there," I respond. He nods.

"One of my cousins used to study there. What are you studying? He asks.

"Oh, um, medicine," I answer. He gives me a questioning look. "I really am," I tell him. "My parents are forcing me to study it."

"Ah, there we go," he says. "You don't look like the kind who would be a doctor for a living."

"Oh really?" He nods. "Then what do I look like?" I ask. He bites his lip and looks at the floor for a few seconds.

"A magician," he answers. I raise my eyebrows. "Fine. . . You look like you will end up being a stay at home wife," he answers. I stare at him for a few minutes.

"What makes you think that?" I finally asks. He shrugs.

"I'm not sure. I think the way that you wear elegance better than everyone else," he answers. I look over at the clock and the girls staring anxiously at us. I take a deep breath.

"I think our time is over," I tell him. He looks up at the clock.

"Oh. Okay. Have a good day,"he says. I nod and walk over. As I walk over, I put on a smile, ignoring the fact that he could look right at me and see my destiny. When I reach the girls, I tell Giselle that it is her turn and I sit down.

"How did things go?" Bexley asks. I smirk at her.

"Great," I say.

And now for my favorite part of the update: Excuse time! Okay, so with the very terrible person I am I promised this update two days ago. Well, two days ago I spent half the day working on school stuff and was too lazy to write. For yesterday it was wifi problems. We are getting new wifi because the kind we did have was super slow. It still isn't working perfectly but oh well.

Yeah... I think Celia might be in the next chapter because we all love Celia. I mean, who doesn't? Anyways, I would love to read some comments because there are so very few of those now. 

Disclaimer: Kiera Cass owns the fabulous Selection series. I do not.