Selected: Part 3 - Love and Lace

4. THE KING

THE NOTES WERE RIPPED OUT of our hands and we were ushered back into our rooms. I hadn't had the time to notice Prince Ethan's reaction, but all the other girls seemed as confused as I was. My maids we're straightening up my room, which had been ransacked again, when I entered.

"Did you see the walls? Did you read the papers?" I asked to none of them in particular. "Maybe the rebels are just trying to make us distrust our monarchy." Maya was the first to speak up, followed by Piper. "Yeah, make us fragile; then they strike." I looked to Grace. "But what if it's true? What do we do then?" She shook her head. "I don't know. I can't see any solution without it's consequences." I sat on my bed. "Everyone needs to know what kind of King we've been ruled over by."

"No, that would cause an uproar, and we would be left vulnerable." Grace's tone was grave. What if the Sixes like me were being sacrificed for war too? I thought of how Shannon, the only Seven here, must be feeling about all this. "It feels wrong to do nothing." Then, I lowered my voice. "I really hope Ethan didn't know." Piper chimed up. "Prince Ethan would never let something like that happen!" If he had known all along, would that change my feelings for him?

The silence of the next few hours was broken by a maid knocking at my door bearing a note from Miss Nicole. We were all to meet her as soon as possible in the Women's room, even though it seemed like such a bad time for a lesson. Still, I obliged after my maids dressed me and brushed my hair. Downstairs, a few girls spoke among each other but most didn't dare. We all seemed so tense.

"At this time, I suppose all of you have heard of the rumor spread by the rebels." Miss Nicole started. "So it's just a rumor?" Hazel spoke up, not afraid of reprimand. "That is not for us to determine. Whether or not these allegations against our King are true, it is primordial that we remain discreet about them." The room was silent except for a whisper coming from one of the girls. "That's crazy." Miss Nicole raised her tone. "What would be crazy is if this comes out to the public. You girls do not want to see the uproar this will cause, and the attacks we will face once vulnerable." It was like Grace had said.

"What must be done instead while this particular issue is being resolved is get the public on our side. In this difficult time, we must put all our focus in bettering Illéa, and for that, I have an assignment for you all." Our instructor announced. "As the Elite, you are to come up with a philanthropy project you believe will benefit the people of Illéa. As you know, Queen Cordelia's project was the free food canteens who open around the holidays for the lower castes. If you are to become Queen, your project will be put into motion as well, so this assignment is your most important one yet."

It all seemed so hypocritical. No philanthropy project we could create could bring back all those children, those elderly, those sick who we forced to fight. We were all dismissed and sent back to our rooms, but I went to Hazel's instead. She was a Two, yet I felt she cared for this as much as I did. "What do you think they are going to do? He's the King, nobody would dare defy him." Hazel shrugged. "I'd hope the Queen has some say in this, and its enough to stop him from continuing. Unless she's just a mindless puppet, like we'll be."

"What? You think Prince Ethan would ever treat us like a puppet?" Ethan had trouble making, and keeping, his decisions, and he cared too much about what others think of him, but he was still the kindest person I knew. "I don't know. I don't think this life is for me." Hazel said, just like that. "You can't leave me." I pleaded, feeling this is where it was going. "I will have to leave eventually, silly. But don't you worry, Luna, we'll see each other again at yours and Ethan's wedding." She winked.

I wasn't sure about anything anymore. Leaving Hazel's, I headed back to my room until, from the corner of my eye, I saw Ethan heading towards the opposite way. I turned around and followed quietly to a thankfully empty library. The door had closed already before he noticed me. "Ethan..." I started. "You know I had nothing to do with this, right?" He asked in a hushed, but anxious tone. "If you say so, I believe you." And I did. He ran his fingers through his long hair. "I can't believe my father would do such a thing." I took a step towards him. "So it's true?"

"I wish it wasn't." He stared into my eyes. "Will it stop now?" He turned away. "He said he'd stop, gave his word. But my father was never the most honest or caring of men." I wondered if he had ever hurt Ethan. There was a long silence before Ethan came closer to me. "Are we okay?" He whispered. "I hope so." I whispered back. He took my hand, and rubbed it a little with his thumb. "When I become King, I'll put an end to this, once and for all. I promise. It shouldn't be this way; the castes shouldn't be this way."

"When you become King, and Marianne becomes Queen." My voice broke a little, and I tried not to cry. "Liliana, please understand, I'm doing all I can do find another way to mend our differences with France. I don't actually want to call off the Selection, and I'm so sorry if I made it seem that way. I want to always be honest with you, but I should have been more careful with my words as to not hurt you." The tears came. "But you did hurt me Ethan. You made me feel like you don't care for me at all, like it would be so easy for you to throw this all away."

He pulled me into a hug. "I do care for you, so much. I don't want this to end; I don't want to lose you. Please know that I'm trying my best for things to turn out okay." I nodded, and we stayed like that for a moment. "You've changed." He whispered in my ear. "What?" I looked up at him. "You're less shy with me, and you've gotten more confident. You say what's on your mind, where before it seemed like you kept a lot to yourself. I love seeing you like this." He explained what I hadn't realized. Maybe this whole experience had truly made me stronger.

Ethan escorted me back to my room, where my maids put me to bed. He'd manage to ease much of the tension I'd been feeling, so I was able to fall asleep, the picture of us tucked under my pillow, this time.