The Selected | ✓

Chapter 19

I am unusually giddy until we get back to the king and queen's room. Once we stand outside the door, a heavy sadness takes over me. Clara is dead. I shouldn't be happy.

The same happens with Mason. He gives me one last long look before opening the door. Alexander is the only one of the three standing, and he moves his right arm and tucks it behind his back, standing up straighter. His eyes flick between Mason and I, and I get a feeling that he knows that we kissed.

"What are we going to do?" Mason asks. "We must continue the Selection."

"And we will." King Ansen says. Mason and Alexander both seem relieved.

"But what about Clara's death?" Alexander asks. "We can't hide it from the people forever. They'll want to know why we haven't discussed marriage plans in a few years, and before that why she hasn't shown up to any of the Capital Reports."

Alexander's words hang in the air for several minutes. "We will announce Clara's death to the public immediately." Queen Livia decides. "After that, we will have a funeral."

"I don't think the Selected should come, Mother." Mason objects. "To the funeral, I mean. Almost none of them cared to get to know her, and the ones that did are very sensitive."

"Mason has a point." Alexander agrees. "I think it should be a private funeral- us and anyone that had a close relationship with Clara." He glances at me. "If Lady Cassiana would join, that would be fine. She and Clara were very close."

They all look at me.

I stand up straighter. "Princess Clara was my friend. I will come only if it is alright with you."

Mason takes my hand, sliding his fingers through mine. No one else seems to notice, though judging by how Alexander tenses slightly, he does.

"Then it's decided." Mason says. "But when will the funeral be?"

"Sunday." The queen says. "It will be Sunday."

Mason mutters something under his breath.

"Very well." The king sighs. "It would be better to address the issue immediately, anyway." The king starts discussing plans with the princes. I take that as my cue to leave.

"Lady Cassiana." The queen says. The king and princes stop talking. I turn back around to face her, and see how close she is to tears. "What did Clara say, while she was dying?"

I suck in a breath. What should I tell them? Mason leads me to a chair, and I sit down. "She told me to make sure that Alexander and Mason didn't do anything stupid while she's gone. And she was upset. She said that now she would never fall in love like I did."

Alexander and Mason are both silent. "What did you say to that?" the queen asks.

"I told her that in whatever life is after this, she'll be able to fall in love with whoever she wants. And she can meet my father. And then she wanted me to tell her more, and I did until she died. And even after she was gone I kept talking to her, like she'd just wake up and laugh at me." I force back the tears.

"You were there longer than just that." Alexander says quietly. "What else?"

I take a deep breath. I don't want to tell them this. "I'm not lying when I say this. I wouldn't every claim that Clara said something that she didn't." I warn them. "She told me that she wanted me to win. She said that she wanted me to win from the very start."

"And?" Mason says it this time.

I look at the ground. I can't say that I'm in love with them both. Or that she wanted me to be with Alexander. I just can't. "That's about it. Other than the fact that when I told her that I could go get help, she begged me not to leave. She didn't want to die alone."

I see a tear fall down the queen's face. "Thank you, Lady Cassiana." She says quietly.

I give her a sad smile. "Of course, Your Majesty."