Dislaimer: I do not own any of Kiera Cass's books or characters.

Thank you so much for reading! I really appreciate it! I love to write and I know how heartbreaking the ending of The Heir was! The only way I could survive was to write about what happens afterwards. So here it is!

Chapter One

My mother has been hospitalized for three days now and every second has been torture. Dad is the only onethat has gotten to see her. Apparently, she didn't want us to see her so frail. And by us, I mean Kaden, Ostin, and me. After we received the news that Ahren had eloped with Camille, Mom had a heart attack.

Dad told us not to blame Ahren, but how can I not? He left suddenly, Mom almost died, and he's probably having a glorious French honeymoon with Camille. The worst part about the whole situation is that Ahren has no idea what he's done to us- to mom.

Hopefully, Mom will let us see her tomorrow. But even so, the anger boiling inside of me had to be let out somehow. I quietly opened my door to see if there were any guards around. There wasn't. I let out a breath of air as I closed the door.

I walked over to my prized tiara collection and I picked up the one Ahren gave me when I was twelve. It was beautiful. The purple gems reflected off the silver which curled around each stone, wrapping it carefully in a ring of silver. I didn't want to get rid of it. But it reminded me of Ahren, and everything that reminds me of Ahren sickens me.

I let my anger out on my tiaras. I chucked them against the wall. One by one they hit the wall and shattered into a million pieces. The sound was terrifying, but thrilling.

I was about to throw my tenth to last tiara when the door opened.

I saw Kile Woodwork sneak through the door. He opened it and closed it as softly as I did before. Kile walks closer to me. I can see the bags under his eyes and how messed up his blonde hair is. I bet he was running his fingers through it. He is still wearing his outfit from this evening.

"I know my dad sent you," I say through gritted teeth. He doesn't say anything so I try something else. "I can send you away, you know." He gives me a look.

"I came here because you need someone to talk to." He walked over to me bed and lay down. "I'm not leaving."

I sat down on the bed, too. I tried to stay strong, to show him how I didn't need him, but my body betrayed me as hot tears trailed down my cheeks.

"Come here," he urges. He opens his arms and I practically fall into him. I sobbed into his shoulder. The weight of everything that had happened fell onto me and I couldn't handle it.

He doesn't ask questions, or make me talk. I'm grateful. He holds my waist with one hand and strokes my hair with the other. I don't know why he would want to help me. All I've been is terrible to him. But even after all that, he is still here- the only one willing to let me take everything out on them. I suddenly remembered my secret promise to my family I made the night Mom had the heart attack. I was going to finish my selection. And if I had to connect with people to do that, then I'm up for the challenge.


I wake up around noon and have a mini panic attack. Then I remember that it's the weekend, so I don't have to wake up at o'clock am. And then I turn my attention on Kile, who is still asleep. The things that happened last night came back all at once. I cried into Kile's arms. So much for being the most powerful person in the world. I also remember that he was the only person who cared enough to check on me, to let me soak his plaid evening shirt with my tears.

But I don't remember falling asleep. I'm guessing we both drifted off when I finished my leaky faucet phase. I looked up at Kile and saw he was awake.

I jumped. "When did you wake up?" I asked. He gave me a wistful smile.

"I didn't." I mentally slapped my hand to my forehead.

"I kept you awake all night didn't I?"

"No. I wouldn't have gotten any sleep anyways."

"You're not sleeping?" He shook his head. Now he was telling me private things. To him, we were closer than I thought we were.

Of course he thinks you are close. You just spent half of the night in his arms! It was the first time I have ever wanted to slap my self-conscious.

"I was planning to go to the infirmary today and get some sleeping meds," he said.

"Let's do it now," I said. "I can go see if my Moms awake yet and you can get your meds."

"Okay," he spoke while sitting up. "It's a date." I flushed scarlet at his words.

He left to get dressed. I do the same and change into a silky purple dress. I was looking for my purple stoned tiara until I realized that I threw that one last night. I groaned at my stupidness. If I was going to be queen I would need to learn how to control my emotions.

I got over my thinking time and settled for a plain silver tiara. Before I left the room I stared at the pile of empty glass at the bottom of the farthest wall from me. I at least needed to learn how to not take my anger out on my favorite tiaras.

I opened my door and Kile was leaning against the wall across from me. He was wearing a white shirt with a dark blue tie and jeans.

"You dress casually for a man trying to win over the heir to Illéa's throne." He looks up at me and smiles.

"And that's where you're wrong," he says. He tucks a hand into the back pocket of his jeans and pulls out a blue handkerchief. He then sticks it lazily in his shirt's breast pocket.

I couldn't help but laugh when he held out an arm to me.

"How gentlemanly of you." I take his arm.

"It's my middle name." He looks at me challengingly. I return the glance.

"I thought it was Arthur. I swear it starts with an A."

"I can't believe you still don't know my middle name." He gives me a halfhearted smile. I notice the purple-brown bags under his eyes again.

"How many nights have you gone without sleep?"

He sighs. "Two." Seeing my expression he adds, "It's not that bad, though. I have more time for sketching."

He's referring to his interest in being an architect. It's abnormal that the Selection brought us together more than ever. I've known him my whole life and I've always assumed he was exactly like his annoying sister, Josie. But he's more than I thought he was.

When we were a hallway or two away from the Infirmary, General Leger approached us.

"Princess Eadlyn, your mother has been calling for you."

Kile and I looked at each other in surprise. I let go of his arm and ran down the remaining hallways until I reached the doors to the Infirmary. I heard Kile running after me. I waited to go in until he caught up.

"Did you have to run?" he said. I gave him a look.

We burst through the door and found Dr. Ashlar waiting for us.

"She's awake in Room 1A."

I left Kile and ran down the hallway to my right and scanned each door. I was sprinting so fast that I almost missed the right room.

I burst through the door and saw Mom and Dad. They were holding hands and talking quietly. I've never see Mom so frail before. Her face had a sickly glow and her eyes were red. I wasn't sure if it was because of being sick or crying. She looked so weak, it was a dreadful.

When I entered, my parents looked up at me and both smiled. I practically jumped on the hospital bed Mom lay on and the three of us hugged.

"How are you feeling?" I ask.

"Better." Her voice cracked. Tears formed in my eyes. "How's the Selection doing?"

How could she think about the selection? She almost died just seventy-two hours ago!

"Good. When are you moving back upstairs?"

Her eyes glistened. "Soon, I hope."

I smiled. "Me too."

"Halloween is coming up," Dad spoke.

Mom was giddy with excitement. "I'll have to go back to work soon. Marlee and I will start making plans right away! The six-" she stopped suddenly. It took me a second to figure out what was wrong. Then I remembered Ahren and Camille eloped, and anger filled me again.

"The five of us, I mean," she began again. "We should coordinate."

"Definitely," Dad said with a sad smile.

"I thought we could go as each other," I said. Mom and Dad laughed along with me.

"Perfect," Mom's excitement rose again. "I'll go as you." She pointed at Dad.

"And I'll go as you." He mirrored her action.

"I'll go as Kaden," I offered.

Mom reached for the phone on her bedside table. "I'll call for Marlee so we can make plans." That was Dad and my cue to leave. We said our goodbyes and made our way back down the hallways.

"Thanks, Doctor,." I heard Kile's muffled voice.

"Kile accompanied me," I explained to Dad. "He needed something to help him sleep, and I wanted to see Mom." He nodded to show he understood.

When we reached Kile, he had a box-most likely filled with sleep medication-in his hand. He greeted us. After Dad left and we were finally alone, he took my hand.

How does he always know exactly what I need?

"How's your mom?" he asked.

"She's good. Already planning the annual Halloween party with your mom," I laughed.

"Of course she is." I sometimes forget how well he knows Mom. He's actually known her longer than I have, since he's two years older than me. It's nice to have someone who knows her as well as I do.

"Of course." So Kile and I walked hand-in-hand back to my room.

"Make sure to get some sleep. Don't come to dinner or I'll have you caned," I teased. He laughs.

"I won't," he assured me. He left and I entered my room. The first thing I noticed was that someone cleaned up the mess I made from my anger outburst. I knew that I needed to have an elimination soon, and that meant more dates. I stepped outside and asked the guard that was stationed outside my door to tell Sir Hale to meet me in the gardens. We were going to have a picnic.