Author's Note: I'm sorry for such a long delay! I have been very busy, but I promise to continue updating! More soon.
Of course, I sent Katherine home the next morning. She left with a few tears and pink cheeks, but I felt no remorse. She'd embarrassed me in front of the Selected and she'd caused an unnecessary scene over a silly game. A few of the girls said farewell to her as she walked out the doors, but most watched secretly through minisculely cracked doorways. Her elimination had been the first single, prominent one so far, and we still hadn't even reached the girls' first Report. They'd been excluded from any prior interviews, but now they were all appearing live in just a few short hours. I'd already eliminated ten girls, and there were now only twenty-five left. To me, that was still an enormously overwhelming number, but to the girls it meant drawing closer and closer to the Elite.
I didn't see any of the girls that day, which was a relief. They were all with Hope, cramming in a last lesson on public appearance before they appeared live, and after that they'd be spending the last bit of time after dinner in their rooms with their maids, dressing for the report. The maids had been told to keep it simple- as we hadn't had an occasion for the girls to dress up, yet, except for the costumes from the card tournament, my parents didn't want a live show to be the first place for the girls to try on fancy dresses. Especially if they tried to outdo one another, which I personally felt would be another embarrassing reason to send someone else home. I was starting to feel a little frustrated with being treated like a prize. This was my Selection, after all, wasn't it? Then why did I feel like I had no control over the girls fighting for me?
Dinner came way too soon, and I made small talk with some of the Selected. While almost everyone had relaxed after Katherine's immature outburst, I still felt on edge. I couldn't pick a wife who would act so rashly, and I was scared the other girls would turn out like Katherine. Luckily for me, it appeared everyone was eager to finish their meals fast, and the room emptied out in a timely manner. The Selected rushed off to shed their casual day dresses for the gowns their maids had been sewing all week. Mom laughed a bit at their antsiness as they all left the dining hall.
"If they're excited now, just wait until we bring in Hale," she confided in me. Hale was a close friend of the family and who Mom always turned to when she needed extra special designs. He had been in her Selection, and she still kept in touch with him regularly, and her endorsement combined with his skill had easily made him one of the most famous designers in Illea. I guessed that Mom was waiting for the right event to treat both Hale and the Selected to his incredible designs. That, and she probably wanted to pool of girls to narrow.
I excused myself as well, kissing Caroline on the forehead as she squealed about what the girls would say about me on The Report. She wished it would be romantic. I only hoped it would be over fast. Lucy followed me up the stairs and paused at the door to my room as I entered.
"Ash?" she asked. I turned my head as Bryce- who, as it seemed, had returned from the vacation I hadn't known he was taking to replace Max as my butler- appeared with his arms full of clothes for the night. "I haven't told Mom and Dad, yet, but I think I'm going to say yes to Alexander."
"You're going to marry him?" I said incredulously. "Already?"
Lucy tilted her head, giving me that older-sister smile she was so good at. "I think you know it's not as soon as it looks."
So I had been right. She'd been seeing Alexander from Swendway for longer than she'd let on. And now she was going to marry him! He'd obviously move into the castle- he'd be Prince after they married, and eventually when Mom and Dad stepped down for Lucy, he'd take his place next to the Queen as King or Prince Consort or whatever it was these days. As if I didn't have to worry about the twenty-five Selected, but now I had to think about a brother-in-law!
"I don't want to steal your limelight," Lucy said softly, reading my expression incorrectly. I didn't care about the attention, I cared about the overwhelming change in my life. "I was planning on asking Alexander to come visit, and then we'd make the announcement once the Selection has been narrowed down and there's a little less chaos at home."
I shook out of my thoughts. "Congratulations, sis," I said, moving toward her to take her hands and beaming. "That's really awesome! I can't wait to see Alexander, he was so fun when he last visited. Tell you what," I paused, my mind racing as I tried to do my quickest thinking, "why don't you invite Alexander to join us in a month. It'll be…" Lucy rolled her eyes, knowing I never kept up with dates.
"Ash," she said kindly, "it'll be the second week of October."
My eyes lit up. "Wow, I didn't realize it was fall, already, I was just in the gardens recently and they're still in full bloom. Anyways, it doesn't matter. Push it back to five weeks. Alexander can stay here for a bit, and then we'll have a Halloween ball, like we always do at the palace. The Selected will join us, but I'm sure I'll have narrowed it down by then, and we'll invite Uncle Ahren and Kaden and Osten. It'll be a surprise engagement party. Everyone will love it.!"
Lucy looked delighted. She'd been nervous to tell me, I knew, but I was always supporting of her. She and I were the good kids in the family, and Zaire was the jokester, and Caroline was so young that she was just adorable. That's how our family worked. And Mom was the firm, strict one, and Dad was the more lenient parent. Everyone balanced each other out.
"I'll write to him now, and I'll tell Mom and Dad, but Ash-" Lucy paused, already running out the door, "don't mention the engagement. I don't want anyone to know but you." I nodded, and she ran off again, her face glowing.
Bryce shut the door and presented me with my suit for The Report. It was pinstriped and reminded me of Emily's pinstriped dress from the night before. I straightened my tie nervously, checked my watch, and headed out early.
I wasn't the only one to arrive early. A couple of the Selected had already taken seats in the first of the four rows that had been set up on one side of the set, save for Alison and Isla sitting in the back, and Hope was standing with a clipboard, giving the girls last-minute pointers to make sure no one did anything stupid. Most of the Selected arrived early, it seemed, and the first row filled up in seconds.
Caroline was the first of my family members to arrive, and I knew from the second she entered that she was scheming. Mom and Dad had kept a tight leash on her, not letting her near the Selected except at meals, in order to give me privacy. But without Mom and Dad in the room, Caroline made a beeline for the seats, once again wearing a dress in pink, her favorite color.
Isabella, sitting in the first row, was wearing a hot pink evening gown with a peplum top. Far from extravagant, it had few decorations, but the color stood out plenty from the rest of the girls, who had leaned toward darker colors in the hopes of pleasing my mother and not standing out too much. Caroline immediately dashed towards her, gushing about how pretty she looked.
Knowing that if I went after Caroline I would have to speak to the Selected, I stayed put, waiting until Lucy entered and dragged our little sister away from Isabella. The two took their seats by me, and in a few minutes people were calling for quiet on set.
Argus introduced Mom, Dad and Prime Minister Edwents to once again update Illea on political changes. It was all very boring, especially since Edwents had one of those monotonous voices where just listening to it made you want to fall asleep. Caroline fidgeted and Zaire tapped his foot, but Lucy paid rapt attention. It was hard to believe she really cared about such uninteresting affairs, but as the future Queen of Illea, I supposed she had to pretend it was important.
The one good part of the updates was that it had nothing to do with me, or the Selection for that matter. Unfortunately, they were cut short in an effort to give the Selected a fair amount of time to be interviewed. I held back a nervous groan, knowing it might be picked up, since I was about to be interviewed myself.
Argus walked over to me. "Now, for the man of the hour, Prince Ashton Schreave." I smiled broadly, looking at Argus casually like we were on a picnic. "Tell us, what has it been like having thirty-five women move into your house?"
I laughed. "Well, I'll be honest Argus, it has not been the easiest. I have to be early to breakfast every day to beat the crowd of hungry people, and that means I have to wake up earlier. It's just a chain reaction," I joked. A couple of the Selected tittered. Argus laughed as well, giving me a knowing look for the sake of the viewers.
"It seems you've taken the same path as your mother and grandfather. Ten girls eliminated in one week. That's a pretty big number." I shrugged at this. "How has that gone over for you?"
I paused, thinking about my answer. "Well… No one's given me any backlash yet, so I'll take it as a sign I'm doing the right thing. The girls I sent home- we just didn't have a connection. I'd be doing them a disservice to keep them here, even if the food is fantastic." Everyone on set smiled. It was a running joke on The Report that the food was the best part of the palace. It had been started years ago when my Grandma had still been America Singer instead of America Schreave.
"I'm sure the rest of the Selected are very grateful to have the opportunity to taste some of that delicious palace food. And speaking of, have you spent any time with the Selected?" Argus winked, looking significantly over the the rows of straight-backed, twinkling eyed girls.
"I have, actually. There was a couple dates, and one fun night where we played cards- but I think I'll leave it to them to tell you about, Argus," I said lightly, hoping to turn the attention off of me. Talking about the Selection was becoming more and more difficult. Talking about the dates I'd been on was uncomfortable, and I definitely wasn't ready to share how I felt about them yet.
"We will certainly do that. Thanks again, Prince Ashton." Argus clapped me on the shoulder before moving over to where two chairs had been set up, one for him and one for the Selected that he would call down one by one. "Let's see," he said dramatically, surveying the girls. "Lady Zola, would you care to join us?"
Zola stood tentatively. Her evening gown was in the same cut as the black dress she'd worn the night before, but this one was dark green and decorated with ivy leaves. It gave her an unassuming look, which I figured she'd been going for.
Argus only had a few questions for her, most likely the same set he'd be asking the rest of the girls.
"Have you spent any individual time with the Prince so far?" he asked, and she shook her head.
"No, but I was lucky enough to win a date with him during our card competition last night. We played spoons, and I came out on top," she said, smiling sweetly. Argus raised his eyebrows.
"Spoons," he mused. "That's a vicious game. How'd a sweet girl like you trump the competition?"
"Not sure," Zola laughed. "But they aren't as intimidating as they look. Neither is Prince Ashton," she added, sneaking a glance at me. I was mildly impressed at her daring, and missed Argus's response, but they quickly moved on.
"What do you think of the Prince so far?" Argus asked, leaning forward like this was the question everyone wanted answered and he was listening to the juicy gossip.
"I don't know," Zola responded, shrugging her shoulders innocently. "But he's managed to impress me so far."
After that, Argus thanked her and called forward Carmella Reyes. She was dressed in a collective of dark bronze ribbons that made up her dress. She informed Argus that sadly, she had not had the opportunity to spend individual time with me, but wasn't worried, since I'd made a strong effort to meet everyone I possibly could in such a short amount of time. Carmella was rather formal on camera, I noticed, but she'd also been a bit formal off camera as well, except for during the card competition when everyone had loosened up a bit.
"And what do you think of the Prince, Lady Carmella?" Argus inquired. She smiled demurely.
"I think he's honorable," she said. "He handles everything with tact, including these unusual circumstances. We have to give him props for doing all of this," she waved her hand lightly toward the Selected, "in front of all of Illea." Carmella shot me a small smile that I returned.
After Carmella, I was interested in the rest of the girl's answers even more. Some of them had unoriginal answers- mostly the girls I hadn't spent any time with at all- following mostly around the lines of 'kind' or 'handsome' and hoped to get to know me better in the days to come. Emily Jones, ever so bold, said in a bubbly sort of voice that while she'd always assumed me to be stiff, after meeting me she'd realized that being composed was just part of being royal and that I was plenty interesting, sending my a red lipped grin on the way back to her seat. Hope looked slightly taken aback and worried that I'd be offended, clutching her clipboard tightly and sending Emily an exasperated shake of the head, which Emily didn't notice. April Capheim called me intimidating, and Isla Harlent said that I'd been thoroughly welcoming and didn't choose to elaborate further.
By the time they closed out the stream, I knew I was going to be in trouble when it came time to narrow down the pool of girls even further.
