We spent most of the rest of the day in the Women's Room. The first week was all about dating, getting to know the prince, and just getting used to the castle, wasn't it? So why was it that we were all stuck in this stupid room? I guess they wanted us to meet the rest of the contestants.

I was talking with Eloise, Sarah, and Jacqueline when a certain dark-haired beauty came over to where we were seated. "Grace, is it?" Seraphina said, her voice hinting that she believed herself to be better than us.

"That's my name," I said, nodding my head. "Do you need something, Seraphina?"

"I'd just like to talk to you," she explained. I nodded again, waiting for her to speak. "Alone," she added, looking at the three girls around me. I sighed quietly and stood, following her to the other side of the room.

"What did you want to talk abo-"

"What did you say to him?" I was taken aback by her sudden interruption, and the question confused me a little.

"Who?"

"The prince. Why did he ask you to stay behind but not send you home like he did the others? Why are you not gone?" She crossed her arms, a demanding look on her face.

"The respect you have for me is literally pouring from your ears." She shot me a look. Obviously sarcasm wasn't a good choice to use with her. "I didn't really say anything, I just spoke to him like I would any other person."

"Did he invite you out yet?" I shook my head.

"No, he didn't invite me out." My answer seemed to please her, and she walked away from me without even goodbye. Not that I minded, of course. I turned and went back to Eloise, Sarah, and Jacqueline. They gave me curious looks, and I just shrugged my shoulders. "Has the prince asked any of you out?" I asked them.

"Actually, he invited me to sit with him in the gardens around lunchtime," Eloise admitted, giving me a small smile. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

"We're going out tomorrow night," Jacqueline said, "I don't know what we're doing but I'm excited."

"And he did ask me to sit with him after dinner," Sarah said, quiet as ever. I was taken by surprise. He had asked three of my friends, and Seraphina, I supposed, out already, and it was still just the first day. I guess he did have to get to all the girls before we all first appeared on television, but why hadn't he asked me out?

The fact that I was becoming jealous over the simple fact that I hadn't been asked out by the prince was infuriating. I quickly shook all jealous feelings out of my head and smiled at the three girls.

"He hasn't asked me out quite yet," I admitted to them. "Maybe me staying after was simply a test to see whether or not I should go home. He obviously doesn't believe I'll be around long enough to bother with a date." I was lying through my teeth, as Caspian had admitted to me that I had stayed behind because he wanted more time to talk with me. But if that was indeed the case, what was the reasoning behind not asking me out? It just didn't make sense to me.

"Don't worry," Eloise told me, placing a hand on my arm. "I'm sure he adores you."

"I'm sure he's just waiting for the perfect time to ask you," Jacqueline said, "Something absolutely amazing!"

"Yes, I'm sure," I mumbled, brushing Eloise's hand off my arm. "I don't really mind, I just want to be sure I have something to talk about on TV if I make it to the end of the week. It'd be terribly awkward if I didn't." They all nodded in understanding, not seeing through my lie.

Time passed, and lunch approached quickly. Eloise excused herself so she could go change for her date with the prince, leaving the rest of us sitting, bored out of our minds. I decided I would bring down my book to read, so I excused myself soon after Eloise did.

As I walked through the castle halls, I noticed all the beautiful paintings on the walls. I could draw much inspiration from them, as each scene was like a different story. A snowy mountain cabin, a warm-looking beach setting, a beautiful sunset with birds flying in the background. I was mesmerized.

So mesmerized, in fact, that I did not notice that someone was talking to me until they placed their hand on my shoulder. I quickly spun around.

"Oh!" I saw it was the prince and continued walking, staring at the paintings. "You scared me, you know."

"I'm sorry, but you weren't answering me," he said back, walking behind me. "Do you like the paintings?" I nodded my head, stopping to look at a particularly nice one.

"Who painted this?" I asked him, pointing to the picture slightly. Caspian looked around my shoulder at the picture, a smile appearing on his face, one that gave the impression he knew something I didn't. Which he did, but I knew it was more than the artist's name.

"Ives."

"Ives?" I once again snapped my head around, looking at him. "Ives Stone?"

"I figured you were a fan." He chuckled, walking past me down the hall. How dare he, in the middle of our conversation?

"But I've never seen this piece before!" I followed after him, determined to know where this beautiful Ives painting had come from. He was my favorite artist, and even I had never seen it.

"That's because it was made for us," he replied, looking over at me. "We're the royal family. Ives is one of my closest friends."

"You know Ives?"

"I know everyone, dear Gracie."

"Who said you could call me Gracie?"

"Well, I am the prince." He smiled his cocky little smile, and I shook my head.

"Don't you have a lunchtime date with Eloise you should be getting to?"

"Correct. I should be going, but I hope to see you later?"

"I suppose I'll see you at dinner." Caspian grinned, like he was keeping something from me.

"Yes, dinner," he said simply, before walking away. I continued looking at the pictures on the walls for another moment, before making my way to my room to grab my book.

Lunch came and went. After lunch, we were all escorted out to the courtyard, where Eloise and the prince were already waiting for us. It seemed every girl on the lawn was whispering to another, discussing the possibilities of what was to come. Eloise moved from her spot by the prince to walk to me, Jacqueline, and Sarah.

"How did your lunch with the prince go?" I asked quietly. She smiled at me.

"It was absolutely lovely. We discussed the political state of Illea and foreign affairs."

"Wow." I looked from Jacqueline to Sarah, a small smile on my face. "Sounds…. fun." Eloise opened her mouth to say something, but Caspian spoke before Eloise had the chance.

"I'm sure you ladies are wondering why you're all out here." Caspian smiled, looking around at all our faces. "I thought it would be fun to have a treasure hunt."

"A treasure hunt?" Everyone turned to look at me as they heard my unamused response. Caspian raised an eyebrow, a slightly amused expression on his face.

"Yes, Gracie, a treasure hunt. Is there a problem?" I shook my head, embarrassment making my face heat up.

"I- uh, no. Not at all."

"Good. Because the prize for winning is very special, something I'm sure you'd enjoy, Grace Sinclair." He smiled once again, looking away from me. "You'll pair up, no more than 2 per group. I'll give each pair their first hint. The first pair to find the golden object at the end of the hunt gets a prize." Eloise and Jacqueline paired up, and I paired up with Sarah.

Caspian came around and handed out little cards. Sarah and I were group 4, and our clue was "The hall where lights shine bright is where you'll find your next clue."

"The clues will take you all around the castle," Caspian explained once he finished handing out the cards. "I'll be waiting out here for you. If you find the final object, bring it back here immediately. Good luck." And just like that, all the girls began running off, trying to find their next clue. Sarah and I walked into the castle slowly, reading it over.

"This is obviously referring to the starry hall," I said, remembering reading about a certain hall in the castle where there were lights all over the ceiling, making it look like a starry night. "But I have no clue where that is. Somewhere near the princess's room, I believe."

"Their rooms are up the stairs, a floor above ours," Sarah said, and we were off. Once we made it to the top, we turned and ventured down the hall. We were terribly lost, and had no clue where we were going.

"Did my brother's treasure hunt idea become reality?" A voice behind us spoke, and Sarah

and I both whipped around. Standing there was a boy who looked to be about our age. He was blond, and tall, and looked very princely. It was obviously Xavier, Caspian's younger brother.

"Yes. We're looking for the starry hall," Sarah explained softly. I could tell she was uncomfortable, but there was nothing I could do but get her out of the situation at once.

"Down the hall, to the left. The note is stuck to the wall." Xavier was quick, and straight to the point. I thanked him and pulled Sarah away. New people and Sarah didn't mix.

We made it to the hall and found the note, which was directing us to the kitchen. On our way back, we ran into Xavier, who walked with us down the stairs.

"I didn't catch your names," he said. His voice was very smooth, almost calming.

"I'm Grace, and this is Sarah," I answered, turning into the kitchen as I spoke. "Why weren't you at breakfast this morning?"

"I wasn't feeling my best, and I thought it would be better to stay in bed for another hour."

"Oh, Rachelle did mention that you didn't feel well."

"She announced it to the entire dining hall?" Xavier didn't seem to happy about this idea, so I quickly shook my head.

"No, I was lost this morning, and she helped me find the dining hall. We spoke a bit while we were walking."

"You seem to have a terrible sense of direction." Xavier grinned, and I laughed.

"Yes, that is very true. I'm terrible with direction."

"Well maybe one of these days, you'll get lost and find one of the many exciting rooms in this castle." Xavier gave us a small wave before turning in the opposite direction of us. We continued to the kitchen, where the staff gave us the next note. Luckily, this one led to the library, a place I had passed many times in my short time here.

We were quickly on our last clue, which was leading us out to the garden. Yes, it was where Caspian was waiting, which was weird, but maybe the golden object was with him. The clue said we were to talk to the person who grew the chrysanthemums, but we had no clue who that was, naturally. When we arrived back in the garden, Caspian was standing by the very flowers that we mentioned on our card, so we quickly made our way to him.

"Those are pretty," Sarah noted, startling Caspian. He relaxed once he saw it us, and nodded.

"Yes, indeed they are."

"Do you know who grew them?" I asked, kneeling to look at one of the flowers. They really were beautiful.

"I suppose I do," Caspian answered. When I glanced over at him, I saw that playful smile on his face. That alone told me all I needed.

"You grew these?" I questioned, an eyebrow raised. Caspian nodded proudly, and pulled a beautiful gold bracelet from his pocket.

"I planted them with my mother when I was young," he said, reaching out and grabbing Sarah's wrist. He clipped the bracelet onto her before shooting me a grin. "I have a different prize for you. One I assume you'll enjoy more than a bracelet."

"So you only had one bracelet?" How had Caspian known Sarah and I were going to win? Apparently, he hadn't, as he pulled another bracelet from his pocket.

"No, I have another. I just figured the gift I have in mind for you would be more enjoyable than a simple bracelet." He pocketed the bracelet once again before clapping his hands together. "Alright, that's enough fun for today. You two ladies go back to your rooms until dinner. I'll alert everyone else that you've won." That was something I didn't feel the need to protest. I immediately turned to head back to my quarters. I could deal with an afternoon of reading on my bed.

Sure enough, reading was the perfect way to waste away the afternoon. When Lucille came to fetch me for dinner it was dark outside, though I hadn't noticed until she popped her head in the door. I quickly changed for dinner, ate quietly, and went back up to my room when it was time. I didn't pay much attention at dinner. I was quite tired, believe it or not, from my afternoon of nothing.

But it seemed others were not quite as tired as I. As I layed in my bed, trying desperately to fall asleep, I heard a soft knocking at my door. I thought it was in my imagination at first, but as it got louder and more frequent, I realized there was indeed someone outside of my door, wanting to be let it. I sighed as I rose from the bed and shuffled across the room.

The bright hallway light flooded in, and I was temporarily blinded by it. All I could do to figure out who was outside my door was listen to a voice that was talking quietly, but rapidly.

"-and I figured you might like swimming, so I brought you a couple suit choices, unless you don't want to come, and-"

"Wait, Caspian?" My eyes finally adjusted to the light, and all I saw was a bathing suit-clad prince standing outside my door, two towels and some swimsuits in hand.

"That's 'Prince Caspian' to you, Gracie," he said with a grin, holding out the swimsuits. "So what do you say? You in for a swim?"