Chapter l309

Chapter 0309

In the following days, new rules were assigned to the candidates. None were allowed to wander the palace without a personal guard. No one was allowed outside, not even into the gardens.

The King and Queen had totally barricaded themselves away. Joyce had too. Only Nicholas and Julian could occasionally be seen, flittering through the hallways with maps and blueprints under their arms. 3

They’ve kept me privy to their activities, mostly with messages sent through Mark.

Despite the number of passageways found, my sister remained like a ghost. She always seemed to be one step ahead. No one really knew how it was possible. Julian and Nicholas were getting more and more frustrated.

The tension in the palace was cracking, soon to break one way or another. The candidates were stir-crazy. Even the guard seemed unnerved. Outside, the protestors chanted day and night without end.

One morning, at breakfast, Tiffany dropped her face onto her empty plate and said, “I’m going to scream.”

Veronica calmly continued to eat her oatmeal.

Susie leaned forward. “All this is only temporary,” she said. Then she looked at me. “Right?”

I worried my bottom l*p with my teeth. Truthfully, I had no idea. No one did. That was part of the reason everyone was so on edge.

“I…”

“Piper,” Nathan said from the doorway, startling me so badly, I nearly jumped out of my skin. Susie placed a concerned hand on my shoulder.

“You okay, Mommy?” Elva asked from my other side. Her eyes were wide and fearful. She hadn’t asked many questions lately about what was going on, but surely even she could feel the terse environment around her.

I immediately wanted to put her at ease, so I forced a smile. “Of course, dear. I’m sorry to have scared you.”

“It’s okay,” she said, but looked at me strangely, like she didn’t quite believe me.

Nathan stepped closer to us.

“My apologies,” I said to him, as I pushed myself up from my chair. “What did you need of me?”

+15 BONUS

“The King wishes to see you,” Nathan said.

A hush fell across the table. Most of the candidates looked at me with curiosity. Lilliana and Olivia stared at me with daggers in their eyes.

I looked at Susie, “Susie, can you walk Elva to her room?”

T

Susie brightened. To suggest such a thing, meant she would soon see Mark again,

“This matter concerns the child as well,” Nathan said suddenly, Susie’s smile fell. Mine did too. “Bring the child with you.”

“My name is Elva,” Elva said. I

Nathan gave her a flat look. Elva wilted a little.

I held out my hand for her. “We’ll go together, okay?”

Elva nodded and placed her small hand in mine.

I didn’t this. Why would the King want to see Elva as well? What matters could possibly concern her? She was just an innocent child.

But I knew I couldn’t ask. To even infer that the King might not have the best reasons for doing anything could be akin to treason, depending. And while the King might not be looking to kill me, I had no doubts the royal family was always on the hunt for reasons to have me kicked out.

I couldn’t give him those reasons, so I followed Nathan with Elva beside me. We left the dining room and were led to a sitting room where the King, the Luna, and Julian were waiting As we walked through the door, I felt as if we were disturbing an argument. They all looked stressed.

Julian then looked at me and Elva and smiled. He jumped to his feet.

As he came closer, I hissed quietly, “What is this about?”

He shook his head, then turned his attention to Elva. “Why don’t you stay with me, little princess? I’ll show you another fun trick while the adults have a talk.”

“Oh, yes!” Elva said excitedly. She looked up at me. “Can I, Mommy, please?”

I couldn’t say no to that pleading face even if I wanted to. I could also tell that Julian was trying to spare Elva from some harsh conversation. I felt unnerved, like I wasn’t sure what I was walking into, but knowing Elva would be spared from it was a comfort.

“Yes, you can,” I said. “Have fun.”

Elva cheered as she moved from holding my hand to holding Julian’s. “We won’t go far,” Julian said, and started leading her to the other side of the room. Curiously, I noticed cameras

+15 BONUS

To find out, I knew I would have to face the King and Queen, two people who I knew disliked

me.

I swallowed down my fear and unease and approached them. They were sitting together on a matching pair of chairs. A deck of cards was on the table between them, cards a mess like they had played a game.

“Sit, Piper,” the King said, which gave me pause. In my previous meetings, the King never seemed to care about my comfort. This made me more concerned, but I took the third seat at the table, the one Julian had been using.

“As

you know, our image has taken a hit since the arrest of Terry,” the King said. The Luna glowered down at her hands in her lap. “To help that image, we need you and Julian to become a more serious couple.”

I blinked, surprised. I didn’t know what I had been expecting, but it wasn’t… that.

“The people love you, Piper, even with your low standings and poor showing in the past few events,” the Luna said. She sounded resentful about it. She wouldn’t look me in the eye.

The King gave her a look but she was too busy glaring at her hands to see it.

To me, the King said, “If we make it appear as if you accept and trust the royal family, despite the… situations that happened with Terry, then the rest of the kingdom might follow your lead. The easiest way to achieve this, we’ve decided, is for you and Julian to fall in love.” (1

“Not for real, of course,” the Luna added quickly. She gave the King her own look.

“I couldn’t care less if it’s real or not,” the King said. “At this point, we just need it to look believable. Give the people something pleasant to focus on while we sort out this nasty Terry business behind the scenes.” 3

The Queen frowned deeper. She clearly hated this plan. For her to even help suggest it only spoke to how truly dire the situation was.

The royal family had to be in worse trouble than I thought.

Which meant Nicholas was in danger.

If the people revolt, he would be second in line behind the King. They would not be kind to him.

If I could somehow keep that from happening, I could keep Nicholas safe. After everything he had done for me, didn’t I owe him that?

And even if I didn’t owe him that, wouldn’t I still do it?

I yearned, deep in my bones, to protect that man and keep him safe. I was no great warrior. I

contribute to any kind of think tank.

But I could do this.

I could pretend to be in love… @ With julian.