The Princess Choice

Chapter 4

After a long time, I decided to look at my Wattpad account and realized that I have not updated this story in almost a YEAR. If I do recall, it's because one day I had writer's block and it just went downhill from there. I abandoned the story and it went to the back of my mind, while school, work, and LIFE replaced it. Now that I'm on summer break, I'm hoping to finish it. So here you go ladies and gentleman, after a year of not updating, I am posting Chapter 4 to "The Princess Choice". Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Chapter 4

Adrian picked at the rabbit meat on his plate; he was never much of a fan. He tried to down his unpleasant food with a swig of wine from the goblet near his plate. Luckily for him, the kitchen staff took his plate before he took another bite and placed a dish of mixed seafood, with some scallops and cod, on a gold varnished plate.

The hall was amazingly noisy. There were animated conversations along the grand, long table. His father and mother sat up front, having a rather lively talk with the Duke of Lardy and Lady Serah, his wife. Adrian had already seen Lady Veronica, their daughter, and purposely avoided the stares she gave him every few minutes from across the table. In fact he was so focused on ignoring her at all costs that he actually talked to one of the princesses seated next to him for the majority of the banquet. Erin was her name, and he even had to admit that she was a breathtaking sight. She smelled like the roses in the castle gardens, he knew because she kept leaning over to talk to him, as if they were having an intimate conversation.

“What is it like in Hensley?” he asked her.

Erin kept her gaze steady, her ice-blue eyes enthralled by Adrian’s features. “Hensley?” she scoffed, “Is nothing compared to Cliffony…that is all to know.”

Maybe it was his effort to avoid Veronica, but Adrian was engrossed in his conversation with Erin, which mainly involved her talking about how much she loved the palace at Cliffony.

“Oh,” she breathed, “I have never seen such a beautiful view of the sea. Back at Hensley, we live in a valley, so I never get to see the water. I can imagine waking up to that every morning.” Just to give him more a hint, she subtly knocked her elbow against his forearm and then casually brushed back her long hair.

Adrian, against his better judgment, imagined what it would be like to have Erin as Cliffony’s queen…and his wife. He shook his head, trying to erase the image in his head, that was a little far ahead. Erin looked at him, her blue eyes wide, “What is it, my lord?”

“Adrian,” he corrected her, “Refer to me as Adrian.”

Inside, Erin was bubbling. Not only had she captured Adrian’s attention for the majority of the dinner but he had asked her to refer to him by his first name; they were getting more acquainted and intimate. For good measure, she brushed the tip of her foot against his shin under the table and quickly retreated it back, pretending as if nothing had happened as she sucked on a honey-glazed apple.

* * * *

“That girl sickens me,” Ceara muttered as she stared at Erin, giggling out loud.

Faren did not comment, but she widened her eyes at Ceara’s blunt statement. Her mother had trained her to never, ever talk badly of someone, it was not lady-like at all. Faren rolled her eyes, but of course when it came to gossip about the ladies-in-waiting or the latest scandal in Darby, her mother and her friends talked loudly and vivaciously about anyone or anything.

Sage raised an eyebrow, “She’s not that terrible, Ceara. What makes you say that?”

Ceara stabbed her fruit with a metallic toothpick and stuffed it into her mouth, “I just don’t see why she is sitting next to the Prince while the rest of us are seated far away. Cliffony must have some kind agreement with Hensley; Erin is sure to marry the prince.”