The Appointed: A Selection Fanfiction

Chapter Twenty

"Ah, thank you for letting me in." June waves her hands around. "Some girls just take forever to open the door. It's really not that difficult."

"Oh," I stared at her. "Okay, what do you need?"

"Well, some of the girls wanted to leave, so the Prince wanted me to go around and let anyone who wanted to go leave."

I nodded in understanding. "I'm not leaving yet, so, I guess you can leave?" I meant it as a statement, but it came out as a question.

"Alrighty then, I'll leave you be." She smiled as she walked out the door, her skirt hitting the frame.

I slowly shut the door and picked up my book, looking for the right page. I couldn't quite remember where I had left off. Was I at the beginning or the end? I flipped through the numerous pages, looking for the right one, until I finally decided it wasn't worth it. I could just read it in the morning.

<><><><>

Over all, my maids have the best taste in fashion.

I was a little worried when they came into my room this morning, sporting bruises and scrapes, but they put me into a gorgeous, backless dress. It was a light green color with little blue and pink flowers all over it, along with some gems along the collar. They even found matching shoes.

"Guys!" I squealed. "I love it! It's so pretty!"

They just waved my comments away, hurrying me over to my vanity to get to work on my hair and makeup.

"Oh, Lucille," Kendra looked over, her brown eyes downcast. "This won't do. We can't have her looking like a lion."

I turned my head to the mirror to see what they were talking about. I gasped as I noticed my hair did resemble the mane of a lion.

"Not to worry. We'll fix it Miss." Lucille was quick to mention.

"Even if I went to breakfast with my hair like this, no one would notice it over this beautiful dress."

"Oh, don't say that." Kendra said softly, though you could see the smile hiding behind her lips.

I looked over to the clock and saw it was almost time for me to leave. "Thanks, girls. You really know how to spruce someone up!" I waved as I walked out, shutting the door behind me.

I stepped onto the red carpet lining the halls and made my way down to the dining room. This was part of my routine every morning since I've been at the palace. One month ago. I've been at the palace for one whole month. It hasn't felt that long, and I don't seem to miss my family as much as I thought I would. Maybe people change.

The doors to the dining room are opened before me by two guards, and I step into the room. I take my seat and wait patiently for the Royal family to arrive.

"Did you hear about the girls that left?" Reagan asks beside me.

"No, who all left?"

"If you look at who all is here, it seems to be only three girls. My suspicions are Acacia, Sapphire, and Everlyn."

"Wow. I surprised Acacia left. She seemed pretty intent on getting the crown." I raised my eyebrows.

"I'm not one hundred percent sure, but that's what I've heard from everyone else."

"How's your leg?" I ask, trying to make small talk.

She looked down at her bandaged leg. "Oh, the doctor said it wasn't a break, just a really bad sprain. He said I could walk on it normally in a few weeks."

"That's grea-" my words were cut off by the opening of the doors and the Royal family walking in. First came the King and Queen, arms linked with one another's. Ben came next, followed by Nicholas, whose hazel eyes met mine, asking questions on their own.

All The Selected stood up and curtsied, then sat back down, awaiting the food. The butlers would go around in clockwise fashion, starting with the Royal family, and then working their way around to us girls. Everyone got the same main course, but could grab any pastry or snack from the center of the table.

I slowly began to cut into my piping hot scrambled egg, watching the steam drift into the air. I set it aside to cool and used the tongs in the center of the table to grab a small peach tart. The filling oozed a little as the tongs squished the soft dough. I placed it on my plate before setting the tongs back down.

<><><><>

"You ready?" Ben asked as he guided me through the halls.

"I guess so."

Ben had sent me a note this morning asking if I would go on a date wth him. I couldn't say no.

"You better be," he joked. "Because we are going up to the roof." He grabbed my wrist and began to jog down the hallway, towards what looked to be a door. "Ladies first." He gestured to some stairs hidden behind the door. I assume they would take me to the roof.

"Wow," I breathed once I looked out across the city. "It's beautiful up here."

"It is." Ben agreed, fixing his tie.

"How often do you come up here?"

"More than you would think. It's always so quiet and no one can hear what you say. It's almost relaxing." He gave me a lopsided grin, just like his brother's. Grey! Don't think about Nicholas.

"I could see that." I turned my head to face him.

"I'm just going to blurt this out right now."

"What?" I stared at him quizzically.

"We're having a Halloween Ball in a couple of days."

"Really?" I raised my brows. "Why'd you tell me that?"

"Oh," he blushed. "I just wanted you to know before the others, I guess. I planned on telling them right after this. Care to join me?"

"Of course." I smiled.

He led us back over to the stairs and was about to step down the first step until he stopped. It was almost like he forgot something. He quickly looked down at me and kissed me. I should have, I really should have. But I didn't kiss him back.