The Chosen

22

"Guess what?!?!" Lindsey says, energetically, as she runs towards me before we all go down to dinner.

"What?" I ask her. "I've never seen you this happy before," 

It's true. Right now, she's practically bursting with so much joy, and I have no clue why.

"The prince made his decision!! He's going to announce it tonight after dinner!!" 

I turn ghost white. I feel like I might faint. Oh no. Either I'm going to die, or everyone else is going to die. I don't want either of those to happen!

"Are you okay?" Penny asks.

"Yeah, we thought you'd be happy," Lindsey says.

"I'm fine," I lie. "C'mon, let's go to dinner, and get this over with,"

We walk down in silence, them knowing that I don't want to talk.

We get inside the dining room and I make eye contact with Alkai and give him a scared look. He mouths back "SORRY" and I sit as far away from him at the table. I don't want to sit by him right before he decides my future.

For dinner, we have steak, baked potatoes, corn, and rolls. I eat a lot, but after I do, I feel like I might throw up. I drop my fork multiple times in the whole time of the dinner, and you can see that all the other girls are also super nervous too. You can tell Julie's hands are sweating because they are soaked, and I can tell from this far away. Oh gosh. I'm scared.

It's a quiet meal. Nobody really wants to talk anyway. Everyone just eats in silence. Though there is no talking going on, we all take longer at dinner than we ever have before. 

But when we're finally done the royal family leaves, then Mrs. Brown comes in for her final speech. 

"Ok, girls, it's been a very fun time getting to know you and teaching you and helping you through all of this. I really must say that I'm going to miss you all. You were very wonderful, and whatever happens in the next few minutes, just know that it'll be okay."

Tears in her eyes, she pulls us all into a group hug. Others are crying, but I'm really not going to miss this, no matter what does happen. 

She sends us into the room where we had the ball and where we first were introduced to each other. Inside the room, is only Alkai.

"My family did not deserve to be here with us when I share this," he tells us. 

He has one rose in his hand, probably for the winner. I tug at my apple necklace, hoping he doesn't see. That would make it all awkward. 

He takes a deep breath.

"Ladies, when I first met you all, I knew that this would be a very hard decision. You all are wonderful people. I enjoyed my time with all of you. And believe me when I say that this is hard for me, just as much as it is for you. If I could, I would stop the rule of killing the losers. It's just not right, but I'm forbidden to change that rule. Note that there is only one winner tonight. So, one of you will be my queen and join the royal family. The rest of you will return to your rooms and in the morning, will be executed. You are permitted to write a goodbye note to your families, and set it on your desk with a note that specifies what it is for. All of your stuff will be sent with it back to your homes for your families. Please note that you are not to leave your room once you enter it unless there is an emergency."

"Now," he says, "the winner is....."

"Rhyliegh."

My stomach drops.