Hi Everyone!

To make up for the short chapter before, here is the re-write to Chapter 30!

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Enjoy!

The Heir - Chapter 30 - Re-Written

THE NEXT DAY I WAS standing on the tarmac next to my giddy brother, who was holding an obnoxiously large bouquet in his hands.

"Why don't you get me flowers like that?"

"Because I'm not trying to impress you."

"Do you have to try very hard to impress Camille?" I asked, seriously wondering how she could possibly see anything but perfection in my brother.

"It's worth it," he told me, expertly dodging the question and making it seem answered at the same time. Though, he did look idiotically happy.

I thought about what Baden had said before. How he wanted to have a crazy love that all of his friends would make fun of him for. I wondered what his opinion on Ahren and Camille's love would be.

I didn't like seeing my brother looking like a fool to impress a girl, but I suppose it should be normal considering he was dating a future Queen. Still, I couldn't help thinking that if any one of the Selected had looked half as excited to see me as he was to see Camille, I might end the Selection and pick him right then.

The stairs lowered from the plane, and two guards came down before Camille. She was a willowy thing, blond and petite, with a face that looked eternally well rested and excited. In person and in print, I'd never seen her wearing anything that remotely resembled a frown. She simply had the whole princess thing down.

There was a protocol to follow, but Ahren and Camille bypassed it, running into each other's arms. He held her tightly and kissed every corner of her face, ruining half of his flowers in the process. Camille laughed as he peppered her with affection, and I felt a little awkward standing there, waiting for it to end so I could say hello.

"I've missed you so!" she cried, her accent making each word sound like a surprise.

"I have so much to show you. I asked Mom and Dad to make you a permanent suite so you will always have the best room when you come."

"Oh, Ahren! So generous for me!"

He turned, grinning from ear to ear, suddenly recalling my presence. "Eadlyn wanted to come with me to greet you," he said somberly. Thanks for that, brother dear.

Camille smiles at me and we curtsied to each other, and she rose elegantly. "Your Highness, so nice to see you again. I bring gifts for you."

"For me?"

"Yes. Here is a secret," she said, leaning in. "You can wear all of them."

I perked up, trying to match her energy. "Wonderful! Maybe I'll have to use some of it at the party I'm throwing for you tonight."

She gasped and placed both hands on her chest. "For me?" She turned her blue eyes on Ahren. "Really?"

"Really."

It was strange to see him with this look in his eyes, like maybe he was in the middle of an act of worship, prepared to sacrifice anything to please Camille.

"Your family is so good to me. Let's go. I'm dying to see your mother."

I tried to keep up with them on the ride back to the palace, but Ahren spoke mostly in French for her benefit, and since I had chosen to master Spanish, I was completely in the dark. Erik's warning about how long it would take for Henri to learn English came to my mind and I had to fight a pout. Once we got home, Mom, Dad, Kaden, and Osten were all waiting on the front stairs for us. Positioned on the edges of the steps, trying to be inconspicuous, were several photographers.

Ahren exited first, holding out his hand to help Camille. He followed her seamlessly as she rushed into my mother's arms.

I felt a strong ping in my chest, and I wasn't sure if it was because my twin brother, the closest person in the world to me, was so in love that I felt completely forgotten by him… or because I wasn't sure that anyone would ever love me with the passion that Ahren had for Camille.

Mom, Dad, and Kaden all knew French and were greeting her warmly. I walked over to Osten, who looked like he was itching to climb on something.

"What are you up to today?" I asked.

"I don't know."

"Go find the Selected guys and ask them awkward questions. Report back."

He laughed and went running.

"Where's he off to?" Dad asked quietly.

"Nowhere."

"Let's all go inside," Mom announced. "You should nap before tonight. Eadlyn's been working so hard on this party, it's going to be wonderful."

I'd thought of everything. The music was live – suitable for slow dancing – and there was a mix of foods, both from Illea and France, as well as some of those delicious apple fritters Henri had made for me. I couldn't wait for him to see.

Mom looked radiant as always, and Dad didn't seem quite so worn-out. Josie was right at home, and I was pleased because for once she hadn't stolen a tiara. Kaden was like a little ambassador, waling around the room and shaking hands.

I was, of course, staying close to the happy couple, which was both captivating and draining. Ahren looked at Camille like she hung the sun in the sky every morning. It was beautiful, the way he watched her, enchanted by every breath that came out of her mouth. But I felt strangely detached from it all because no one had ever done that for me, and I'd never don that for anyone else.

I found myself jealous of Camille. Not for having the unwavering love of my brother – which I knew to be one of the steadiest forces in the world – but because everything about her came so effortlessly.

What had the French Queen done to raise her like this? Camille was delicate ad sweet, and yet no one would think to try and walk all over her. I kept up with international affairs, and I knew her people cherished her. Last year on her birthday an impromptu party started in the streets in her honor and lasted for three days. Three days!

I thought my education was fair and well-rounded, which meant one thing: my shortcomings had nothing to do with how or what I was taught but with me alone. That dirty feeling crept up in my stomach, spreading to my chest again.

I stepped away from her and Ahren because standing near her made the feeling worse. Before I could get too far, Ean was in front of me, holding out his arm. His demeanor was arrogant and smoldering. I thought for a moment that perhaps I had ambled across the floor to find him instead of the other way around. How did he do that?

I slid my arm into his and gave him a soft smile that I had been involuntary.

"You look like you could use an excuse to get away from the happy couple over there," he said softly so no one else could hear him. Though his voice was soft, the charisma in his tone was heavy.

I felt a lump in my throat. There were cameras everywhere tonight. Had they already taken several pictures of me looking uncomfortable? Would tomorrow's Reports have pictures of me standing beside them with the caption: Eadlyn hates love!

"Was it obvious?" I asked, afraid to hear the answer.

Ean led me to the dance floor and placed a hand on my waist. "Worried about the photographers?" he whispered in my ear.

I pressed my lips together and looked into his eyes. Of course he knew.

Ean didn't break eye contact while guiding me through a perfect slow waltz. "You've been staring at them as though they have something unattainable."

I sighed. "That's great. I'm sure that will read perfectly in the Reports."

As I took in the room with all its trappings and important guests, it was hard to deny just how well he fit in with the crowd. Ever since Ean had arrived, he'd carried himself with a kind of poise that few people possessed. If I hadn't known better, I would have guessed that he grew up in a palace as well.

Ean cocked at eyebrow at me. "Are you asking me to create a better story for them to latch onto?"

I returned my eyes to his and found myself locked by his gaze. "And what exactly would you be considering?"

Ean ran his finger over my hand as we danced, and I felt a tiny spark follow the motion. "I can be very creative when given the opportunity."

My lips turned up in a smile involuntarily and I felt almost lucky that he was here. How did he do that? "Maybe you could have some on reserve for our next date?"

Ean leaned down and whispered in my ear, his breath leaving a soft caress on my neck. "Of course, Eadlyn."

He had let my name out in a soft growl and I felt my heart leap up in my chest. How. Did. He. Do. That?

"Mind if I cut in?" Kile's voice broke the daze that I didn't realize I had found myself in.

Ean cast a sideways glance at Kile, but it almost seemed like he was humoring a child than in serious competition. How was he so arrogant and poised all the time? He breathed a soft kiss onto my fingers as he bowed and stepped away, leaving me with Kile.

Kile wrapped both hands around my waist and we swayed to the music. "Everything okay?" he asked, his eyes finally on mine instead of watching Ean warily. I thought Ean didn't bother him? What was this sudden change about?

"As long as I don't manage to ruin anything else by simply existing this week, I think so," I told him honestly. I looked forward to conversations with Kile because I could be completely honest and know that he wouldn't think less of me or dislike me for it.

I glance at Kile's lip and then dart my eyes back to his. He gives me a half-smile that makes me think he was able to read my thoughts.

"I could be available for a distraction… if you need one," he informed me.

I bit my lower lip and looked up at him from beneath my eyelashes. That smile got me every time. "Maybe if the party doesn't run too late."

Kile's eyes glimmered with a softness I remembered seeing on our date, and I wondered if we would ever feel the way Ahren and Camille felt about each other.

"Could I cut in?" Fox's voice nearly cut off at the end of his sentence. I wasn't even sure that he was up for dancing yet, though he was looking much better.

"Sure," Kile said, my fingers lingering in his hand and his eyes holding mine until he finally stepped away.

Fox put both hands around my waist as Kile had done earlier, and I wondered if he even knew how to waltz properly. Kile had intended to dance improperly with me, I was sure of that, but after Ean's perfect waltz, I decided I would need to get most of the boys dancing lessons.

"Are you feeling better?" I asked him, suddenly feeling horrible that I hadn't gotten the chance to visit him since I told him he could stay.

With the heels that Camille had brought me, I was at height with Fox, which made me cast away the thought of how that must look in pictures.

Fox smiled at me and I thought for a moment that I saw the same giddy expression that Ahren had on the tarmac earlier when Camille had stepped from the plane. I blinked and it was gone. I wondered if I had imagined it because I had been watching Ahren and Camille for most of the evening.

"I'm feeling great," he told me, almost all of his teeth visible in his smile. "I'll be fine for our date this week," he told me.

I had been having a hard time keeping track of my dates and what I would be doing in them, but Fox's was one I was actually looking forward to. We were going swimming and I enjoyed swimming. I did suddenly wonder if his intentions were to see me in a bathing suit, though. "Good," I told him, feeling the need to test him now that the thought wouldn't leave my mind. "I've found the perfect bathing suit already."

Fox's cheeks turned crimson and he averted his eyes for a moment. "I hope swimming wasn't too bold," he said softly. "We had been talking about the beach before and I thought…" The heat in Fox's cheeks started to spread, and I cupped my hand to his jawline.

"It's perfect," I whispered to him.

A photographer snapped a few pictures of us and scurried away. I wondered what the photograph would look like. Fox's face as red as an overripe tomato and me cupping his chin in my hand like I was about to kiss away his embarrassment.

Fox cleared his throat and pressed his lips together like he was trying to find words.

"How are you enjoying the party?" I asked him, trying to help sooth the burning in his cheeks.

Fox grinned. "It's amazing," he told me.

Good. Because that's what I was going for.

"I was going to ask you to dance sooner," Fox admitted, his eyes darting away from me to Ahren and Camille for a moment, or perhaps he was looking where I had been standing before. "I wasn't sure if it was okay to just come up and ask. I was going to cut in when Ean was dancing with you, but I can't dance as well as he can."

Kile had danced with me like this on purpose! I felt a heat rising in my chest. He really was constantly watching out for me. How many did I owe him now?

"I think you're a very good dancer," I told him. "Especially considering you just recovered."

Fox returned his gaze to me and I saw something I wasn't expecting… that idiotic giddiness that my brother had ever since I told him Camille was coming. The excitement that seemed to be coursing through his entire body at the fact that he was dancing with me. The smile that never left his face when I was near. Was this…what that felt like? Shouldn't I be feeling the same way? If he's already dreamy eyed and star struck by me, why aren't I doing the same thing right now? Did love only work one-sidedly every once in a while? I cast the thought from my mind. I would assess my feelings for Fox on our date, when we weren't in the center of hundreds of people, and when I wasn't so obsessed with what Ahren and Camille were doing right and what I was doing so horribly wrong.

"Is it awkward for you… to stand up there with them?" Fox asked, motioning to Ahren and Camille with his head.

"Did it seem so?" I asked, genuinely wanting an answer since Ean had charismaticly pushed my fears away, but I needed a true opinion and not a diplomatic answer.

Fox shook his head. "You seemed kind of interested, actually. Like you were trying to learn from them."

I smiled at him softly. "I am," I said without my mental filter working. "Sort of," I covered. "Ahren and Camille are the closest thing I have to seeing what true love looks like at my age."

Fox never stopped smiling at me. "I don't think you need an example."

I tilted my head at him curiously. "Why is that?"

Fox shrugged and broke eye contact before looking at me again. "Because every love is different. Not better or worse. Just different. You might not ever find what they have," he motioned to them with his head again, "but you'll find something amazing that fits you."

I felt that dirty feeling dissipate a little, and I suddenly wondered how Fox had the ability to make it go away without me doing anything. "And what do you think fits me?"

Fox's cheeks heated again as he stared at me. "If I knew that, you'd have picked me already."

I felt heat in my own cheeks and had to control it. I looked to him from beneath my eyelashes and his face was somewhere between excitement and daydreaming. It was like he wasn't sure that this was real.

The song ended and I excused myself to make some rounds. Kaden had been doing a marvelous job of speaking to the guests, but I was not. I graciously greeted everyone with a bow of my head or a "Thank you for coming," as I spared enough time to not seem too wasteful or too quick to dismiss people. A future Queen must be available to her people but not ruled by them. Dad was always so good with his timing to allow the appropriate amount of time by priority.

As I was making my way around the room, I saw Henri standing with Erik a few steps behind him. I suppose there wasn't much to translate during a party. Erik's warning about Henri's language skills had stung more than I thought they would. Originally, he had been too kind of me to dismiss, but was that why I still had him here? It was much harder to hit him with difficult questions when I had to go through Erik to translate them. Maybe I knew, deep down, that with Henri, I had to trust my own feelings more than the words that were between us.

I stepped to him with as much poise as I could muster with these heels that were far taller than any of the other shoes I owned. I silently considered making the first boy to save me from humiliating myself by falling in them to be the winner of the Selection.

"Hello today," he greeted. His usual enthusiasm was dimmed ever so slightly, and had Erik not told me why, I would have thought he was disturbed by the Reports saying the entire Selection was false. Which it was… before… but not anymore. Gah! This was a nightmare.

I had meant to go see him a dozen times this week. But between dating at top speed, doing damage control, and planning for Camille, I hadn't gotten to speak to Henri at all. I almost smacked myself in the head for not telling Neena to put our date sooner so that I could have talked to him before now. It had slipped my mind, mostly because Erik had said he would relay the message that I wasn't upset with Henri for the kiss we shared. I could see that he was anxious, and though I was sure Erik conveyed everything I'd said, I think we both knew we needed to actually speak, just the two of us.

Erik began moving closer, his eyes fixated on mine as though he expected to be needed to translate an important discussion between the two of us. I waved a hand to tell him his services would not be needed right now. He was right before. This would be life if I chose Henri for his outrageous kindness and unmistakable reverence for me. This might not be the love I was looking for, but I could do worse than someone who adores me without any attempt on my part.

"Okay?" I asked, trying to soften my expression so he would understand that I was making amends for whatever misunderstanding we were in.

He nodded, anxiety still on his face. "And you okay?" His eyes were hopeful, searching my face for an answer that my words alone would not give.

I nodded and gave him a soft smile.

With that he let out a massive sigh, and the bright face I'd come to expect was back again. I tried to think of all the disagreements and misunderstandings I'd had in my life. There was no way any of them was ended with less than five words. But that was genuinely all I needed from Henri to know his regret at possibly offending me without wishing at all that he could take back that kiss. Though, it did occur to me that the only reason I knew any of that was because Erik had tracked me down to tell me. Would every translator be so diligent? How long would it have taken me to realize how Henri was feeling without Erik around?

The band began a new song and I thought a good way to show Henri that I wasn't upset with him was to dance with him.

"Dance?" I asked, pointing to the floor.

"Please!"

I hadn't realized that Henri was shorter than some of the other Selected until I danced with him in these heels. Fox had been at eye level, but I was nearly there with Henri as well. He also wasn't much of a dancer, but what he lacked in grace he made up for with enthusiasm. He spun me several times and even dipped me twice. When I came up the second time, laughing, I spotted Erik over his shoulder.

I could have been wrong, but his shy smile looked a little sad.