The Chosen [COMPLETED]

Chapter 13

We sat there, with my head resting on his shoulder. I listened to his heartbeat, and his rose and fell with each breath he took. It felt like a perfect moment and I didn't want to do anything to ruin it. 

I thought about how I was going to handle August and Easton. It was easy to see they both liked me. But I was going to have to choose one or the other. Prince Easton was charming and beautiful. He understood my interests and tried to tailor our dates around things I liked.

On the other hand, August was easy to talk to. I could be myself and make sarcastic comments that he would laugh off. I didn't have to worry about him dating twenty other girls, or being a prince.

August readjusted himself, pulling me out of my head. I looked up at him, and he was staring down at me. He leaned over and kissed my forehead. He rested his chin on my head for a while before looking back at me.

"Are you ok with this?" He asked. "I know you are here for the Queenstrial, so if this is too much just tell me." I smiled. I could tell he put a lot of thought into this.

"I am going to need time to figure out what to do. I like you, I just don't want to get into any trouble." August's face lit up when I told him I liked him. 

He hesitated before closing his eyes and putting his lips on mine. He kissed me once, then searched my eyes. I smiled, signaling that he could kiss me again. Our lips made contact again. August moved his hands around my waist, holding me tight. August moved his lips down to my neck.

I let myself enjoy the moment and didn't want it to end. Unfortunately, August had to go help some of the other officers with a project or something. He kissed me one last time, before leaving. I told him that I would be waiting for him when he gets back. 

I shut my door when he left and leaned against my door. My heart was racing. I had never done anything like that before. I now understood what the characters in my stories meant by love. 

I did not know how long August was going to be gone for, but I decided to go back to the lounge for a bit.  I wanted to know if anyone knew what happened to the two girls that got into that fight. 

Farley was not at the lounge, so I sat by myself. I didn't see the girls, but I didn't know for sure. I decided to ask a short girl with blonde hair. 

"They are long gone." She replied. Two more gone meant there were twenty-four girls left. 

We talked for a bit and I learned a few things about her. She went to the same school as Farley. They used to be friends, but something happened between them and they split apart. She didn't tell me what happened but it looked important by the unhappy look on her face. 

I noticed Chloe was walking around the room with a magazine in her hand. She was pointing something out on one of the pages. While Chloe looked proud of what she was showing off, the rest of the girls' faces looked annoyed. When she came over to me, I put on a fake smile.

"Have you guys seen this?" She squeaked. The girl and I shook our heads. She handed me the magazine and I was looking at a list of our names. 

"What is this?" I asked. 

"It's a poll from the country." Sure enough, the title was Who's Could Be The Next Queen?  I started at the top and saw Choe. I kept going down and stopped at number thirteen, and saw my name next to it. I was shocked to see myself doing that well. I kept reading the names until I found Farley at number seventeen. 

"Why did you need to show me this?" I asked as kindly as possible, trying to hide how much I despised her. 

"So you could see how you were doing." She smiled before walking off to the next girl. 

Except for Chloe's obnoxious voice, the lounge was relaxing. I was able to read a book and stare out the large window that showed the back of the palace that was along the bay of a river. 

I thought about August, which made me smile. I wondered what he was doing right now. I could not wait to see him again. I tried not to worry about Easton, but it was hard. He was sweet and I didn't want to hurt his feeling. I was dating Easton for the entertainment of Avalon. I liked him, but I liked August more. 

I waited for August in my room. I walked around my room watching the door. I made sure that my hair and makeup looked good every time I walked past a mirror. When I heard a knock on the door, I quickly opened it. August walked in and kissed me.

"I missed you," I said. 

"I could not stop thinking about you." I kissed him again and we went to go sit on my bed. I noticed a small red pin on the inside of his jacket. I looked at the small cardinal in the center. 

"What's this?" I asked. August looked down at it to see what I referenced. 

"It is a little gift from my family," He said quickly, before hiding it and kissing me again. I realized August knew about my family, but I knew almost nothing about his, or even what rank he was before becoming an officer. 

"What is your family like?" I said, asking another question. 

"I have three younger sisters and an older brother." He said. He kept giving me quick responses to each of my questions. 

"One last question, I promise." August gave me a small head nod before I continued. 

"What was your rank?" August glanced at the ground for a second before looking back at me.

"Nine." I never would have guessed August could be a nine. He looked so healthy from being at the palace. I felt so bad for him. Nines usually were homeless and went hungry more often than sevens did.

"I'm sorry." 

"Don't be. Becoming an officer has become my life." He kissed me again and this time I did not stop to ask any questions. 

We were interrupted by a knock on the door. Both of us jumped and August moved into my bathroom that way he could not be seen. 

"I opened the door and saw another officer standing there.

"Miss Beckett, this letter is for you." He handed me a letter. I thanked him and shut the door. August came out of my bathroom. I looked at the envelope. I had not responded to Breklyn yet, so I figured that Katrina had written me back. I opened it and read who it was from.

It was a letter from the mayor of my district. I read through it but stopped at a sentence near the middle of the paper. I read over it a few times to make sure I read it right, before I collapsed into August's arms.