The Chosen [COMPLETED]

Chapter 16

"Thank you," I told Easton once we were back in my room. 

"You have some nerve to go against my father," Easton said. "I like it." He smiled. 

"I don't know what came over me," I said quietly. I was still in shock of how mad I had gotten. 

"I have to go do some work, but I want to see you again," Easton said, kissing the top of my head. I kissed him before he walked out of my room. I watched him walk down the hallway. Once he was gone, August followed me back into my room,

"I feel so weird doing this," I complained. August wrapped his arms around me. 

"I'm sorry," He said. I heard a knock on my door, and August went and hid again. I opened it up and saw Tracy standing there. 

"Miss, may I come in?" 

"Oh, um, I guess." I made sure that August was in a different room before I let Tracy walk in.

"I won't be long I just need to find something." I let her walk around trying to find what she was looking for. She walked into my closet and I started to hear voices. I went to go see what was happening, and I saw August in my closet talking to Tracy. 

"What's going on?" I asked, grabbing both of their attentions. 

"I was just asking Officer Wood what he was doing in your closet." Behind her, August made an apologetic expression. I felt my face get hot. 

"He was just helping me fix something," I said quickly. Tracy hesitated before grabbing something small and leaving. 

"That was close," August said.

"I thought you were in my bathroom, like last time," 

"Nope." He replied. "But don't worry, she didn't suspect a thing." August kissed me. 

"You don't know that for sure," I said. 

"If she did, I can talk to her." 

"Please don't do that." I smiled. "That makes us seem desperate." 

"Fine." He kissed me again, and I wrapped my arms around his neck. 

 "What are we going to do if I get sent home?" I asked.

"Then you go home. We agreed this was not going to be long term." He said. I remember saying that, but now I really like August. I enjoyed every moment I had with him. 

"I know," I said, bowing my head. August grabbed my head and pulled it close to him. I rested my head on his chest. I felt many pins on the inside of his jacket. I moved my head around unit I was comfortable. 

"I hate to do this to you, but I have to go cover for another officer for a bit," August said. I lifted mt head from his chest and nodded. I kissed him one last time before leaving. 

I looked around my room. There were still a few things I had to put back from the attack. I looked under my bed to make sure that Christopher's diary was still there. I pulled it out and read a few more entries. I was reading entries from when he had first become king. He wrote about finally fixing the country, and it's systems. He would talk about how he was the only one who knew what the country needed after the war. He was next to the old leader the whole time, so he knew what the leader would have wanted. 

I didn't believe a word on the paper. It was becoming clear that he wanted the power. I was going to have to keep this from Easton. I had promised that I would stay out of King Clarkson's way. 

A sudden knock on the door grabbed my attention. I slid the diary under my bed. I opened the door and all three of my maids were there. 

"Good afternoon," Justine said. They walked in and started to organize my room, even though everything looked fine. They kept lacing at each other and then at me.

"Is everything alright?" I asked. The three of them stopped and faced me.

"Tracy told us about officer Wood," Justine said. Amy gave a small nod, trying to be a part of the conversation.

"I told you he was fixing something for me." 

"He was just standing there," Tracy retorted. 

"He was waiting for me to show him something," I said. "Why don't you believe me?" 

"It's not that we don't believe you," Justine said. "I just want to warn you that if you two are caught doing something you are not supposed to, you could get into serious trouble." I wondered how many times they had seen August and me together. 

"I hardly know him." I lied. 

"We are not going to turn you in, but you need to be careful what you do. The palace rules are very strict." Justine sighed. 

"Thanks," I mumbled. I thought we had been careful, but I guess I was wrong. My maids had seen through my lies. I was lucky they were not going to turn us in. 

"By the way, Harper wants the girls to meet in the lounge," Tracy said, before going back to cleaning. 

I made my way to the lounge. Since August was busy, a different officer brought me down. When I got there, most of the girls were already there. I found Farley and asked what was going on.

"I think we have another project we have to do." A few more girls walked in and once we were all here, Harper stood up. 

"Ladies, we have another small project we have to complete." I heard a few girls sigh around the room. 

"It is not going to be hard, which is why you will only have two days to complete it." 

"Individually, you ladies will have to think of one issue Avalon is facing, then propose a way to handle it." I was going to have to think of a way to speak about an issue in front of the King and queen, and not get sent home. There was going to be no way I could do this without angering the King. 

Harper gave everyone a small packet with more instructions. I started to think about what I could do. After the first day I still had no clue what I was going to do. Farley was almost done with hers. She tried to help me think of ideas but none of them seemed interesting enough for me to do. 

Eventually, I settled on hunger in the lower ranks. I was going to propose that we give an extra few dollars to the lower ranks for working, that way they would be able to pay for food. I took the whole day to prepare my speech, with a small poster and a few facts.  

The night of the presentations, everyone was tense.  I kept repeating parts of my speech and making sure everything was correct. Every girl would go into a room with the royal family and propose her idea. 

We lined up in order of last names, which meant I was near the front. I watched as the line in front of me got smaller until I was next. Once the girl was done presenting and walked out, I took a deep breath and walked in.