Truly Elected (Book Two of The Next Selection Series)

Chapter 12

It felt like I was holding the weight of the world with my bare hands.

"You... what?" My mind whirred, trying to piece together the odd words that she had just spoken. Her... and Prince Presley... in love? "How is this even possible?" I had meant it to come out in a whisper, but Blake had heard, placing a hand on my shoulder to steady me. 

"It first happened a few months ago," she started calmly. "You had your whole foot injury deal, stealing Daniel's attention during the day and Matthew's at night. No one ever really saw you, despite how much I tried; Willow and CeCelia were always off together without me. He visited a few times, here to work on diplomacy deals with Illéa. And then one night, when he and I were both alone, we ran into each other. We spent the entire night getting to know each other, and at the end, he kissed me. That was the moment I knew that the Selection would never work for me: Presley was and is my person.

"Every lesson I've missed out on since then, every spare moment I am not spending with you or Willow or CeCelia or anyone else, it is all spent with him. Matthew found out about us the day you had gotten your cast off, just after his date with Gemma. At first he seemed angry, calling our affair treasonous and grounds for death, but then he truly looked at us, and saw that we were truly in love, and nothing could take that away. He said that he needed to learn about love from us, because he had felt like his heart had been leading him astray."

That stung a little, but I wasn't sure if Matthew had meant me or not.

"Since then, he's been watching out for us, making sure we aren't caught until I withdraw my place in the Selection and confess my love to Presley. Amber's helped out too sometimes, you know, being the rebellious princess she is." Blake chuckled and smiled softly at thoughts of the brunette girl, and I couldn't help but laugh with her.

"He comes here even when he doesn't need to," Blake said, her voice growing serious again. "For example, his past visit. There was nothing for him to work on here."

"What about the Spain-Illéan Alliance?" I questioned and she shook her head.

"No. That's been done for nearly a month now. The only reason that he says it is still being worked on is so no one grows suspicious of us; he comes just to see me.

I felt tears watering in my eyes. True love was the most inconvenient kind, yet Blake has found it and is plunging herself into it headfirst. 

"Oh, Blake!" I sobbed, flinging myself against her and sobbing into her shoulder. I was so happy for her.

"Break it up love birds," I heard someone say from behind us with a giggle. I peaked my teary eyes up at Amber, dressed in a venomous green colored day dress. She lifted a few strands of Blake's dark hair off of her shoulder and twirled it around her tanned fingers. "Prince Charming is looking for you." It was a combination of Amber's kissing noises and Blake playfully shoving her to the floor that cracked a smile and a laugh in my saddened exterior. Blake chuckled, rose and brushed her dress, and faced me.

"You'll be okay?"

I nodded, feeling Amber's hand clapping on my shoulder. "I've got her. Besides, there's somewhere she needs to be right now."

Amber whirled me away, out the door and to the right. Blake looked back at us before turning left, disappearing around the corner. 

"And where exactly do I need to be, Your Highness?" I joked and I could feel her eyes roll.

"Don't call me that," she snorted out. "You I know I hate this lifestyle. It's why I can't marry Prince Zack."

I stopped in my tracks, moved only by Amber's pushing.