He had asked her out. She'd thought she'd been eliminated, but it was a date. He had actually asked her on a date. On her 1st day in the palace. She almost couldn't believe it. The moment ran over and over again in her head as she considered it.

When he had returned to the Dining Hall, she'd thought they were all going home. But then he'd smiled, and taken them each aside and told them they were doing well. Reina, he'd asked, will you do me the pleasure of joining me in the gardens tomorrow at 3 o'clock? I'll ask you officially this time.

Why had he made them all stay in the Dining Hall? Why hadn't he simply asked them out on their own time? Why make such a huge fuss? Reina wasn't sure. She figured he was simply nervous, and didn't know quite how to work this whole Selection thing.

She'd told her maids right away. Just so they could keep it in the back of her mind. In case she wanted something big and fancy. Or….special, at least. That's the word she was looking for. Something that would make her stand out just a little.

"That's tremendous, Lady Reina," Vera, her maid had said. "We'll whip you something right up."

Now they were working tirelessly, and the date was in less than 10 minutes. She was pacing across the room, her mind in a frenzy. Her long, blonde curls flowed behind, her probably getting hopelessly tangled.

"Are you alright?" asked another of her maids.

"I'm fine," assured Reina. "I'm just anxious."

"You're the first date of the whole Selection," her third maid said. "Of course you're nervous."

"Done!" exclaimed Vera, holding up the dress. It was casual, a thin flowy fabric that cascaded down to Reina's ankles. A beautiful, floral pattern covered the cream base. Reina could feel her eyes grow wider as she stared it up or down.

"Well don't just stand there," Vera said. "Go put it on!"

With a start, Reina snapped out of her awe. She accepted the dress from her maid gladly, and hurriedly slipped off her current apparel of sweatpants and a tee shirt. IT had been a little uncomfortable letting her maids dress her at first, but she was now accustomed to it. They were kind, and she already trusted them with her life. They were just 6s trying to get along in the world. Just like her.

As soon as the dress was on and adjusted, there came a knock at her door.

"That's him," breathed Reina.

"We haven't even done your hair," one maid complained.

"It's alright, she looks gorgeous anyway," gushed Vera. "She'll make quite the impression on the Prince."

The third maid was already hurrying to the door. She pulled it open, and Reina saw Elias standing there, dressed in a comfortable looking shirt and dress pants. His hair was slicked back in a way that would have looked disgusting on anybody else. On him, though, it only looked Kingly.

"Hello, there, stormcloud," he said, his eyes alight. "You sure clean up nicely."

Nodding at her maids, Reina stepped out into the hallway with him. He offered her his arm, and after a moment of sullen hesitation, she accepted. Everything about her instincts told her this was wrong. She wasn't supposed to be here at the palace, cozying up to the 1s. The very people that made her life so miserable.

And yet here she was.

"I'm quite excited for you to see the gardens," Elias said. "Even though it's December, there are still a few things that are alive. Not much, I'm afraid. But it still looks beautiful."

Reina hadn't even considered the fact that it was winter. In her experience, though the Angeles days only dropped to 30 degrees, things didn't generally grow after October. Suddenly, the date seemed a little less exciting.

They walked outside, and turned around the corner of the castle. They stepped down a quaint dirt path, spotted with heather. Reina smiled softly. She and her mother planted a garden of heather and pansies every summer. They were the only flowers that would last until winter.

At that moment, she got her first sight of the Royal Gardens. It was more magnificent than she could have imagined. Tall, imposing, evergreen trees lined the grounds, with bounds of heather and pansies, as well as dogwood, viburnum, helleborus, japanese quine-

"How do you like it?" Elias asked.

Reina could barely answer. "It's beautiful," she breathed. "How….how long did it take you to do this?"

Elias tapped his chin. "We planted them in early summer, so that they would bloom right about now. Dozens of scientists, herbalists, and biologists were consulted. My mother and I helped to plant it."

"That's fantastic." She hesitated. "Can I…."

With a chuckle, Eli replied, "Go right ahead. I brought you here so that you could see it. I felt like you would be able to appreciate it."

She didn't have to be told twice. Clutching her winter coat close to her, she dashed off towards the grounds. It had been too long since she and her mother had had enough money to sustain a garden. Reina had grown up learning how to weed, plant, prune, and everything in between.

As she stood among the plants, she let out a small shiver. There was something almost spiritual about it. It released the anger, the bitterness. As she turned to see Elias walking towards her, her heart felt simply liberated.

"I knew you'd like it," the Prince said. He noticed her shiver. "Are you cold?"

"Only a little," Reina admitted.

He leaned over and wrapped his arms around her. "I wouldn't want my stormcloud becoming a snowcloud," he said, holding her tight against him.

Perhaps it was the garden, or the snow beginning to softly drift around her, but as Reina looked into Eli's eyes, she felt as though she were looking through a whole new perspective.

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It was dark.

Pitch black.

Viv's eyes slid open as she felt her mind enter consciousness. She became vaguely aware of her surroundings, the bed underneath her and the blanket above her. However, when she looked around her room, she realized that it was as dark as the back of her eyelids had been.

She looked around, fumbling for the clock on her nightstand. When her eyes adjusted to the blinding analog, she made out the glowing numbers 2:43. Letting out a groan of annoyance, Viv collapsed back into bed and pulled her pillow on top of her face.

It wasn't any use, though. She was awake and there was nothing she could do about it. Even now she could feel the sleepiness leaving her head. Her thoughts became more coherent, her senses sharper.

Infuriating.

A thought crossed her mind. Hadn't Prince Elias said that there was a library in the castle? He'd mentioned it the other day when she'd met him. And if she remembered her directions correctly….it was right underneath her.

So she slipped out of bed, with only minimal worry that a demon was going to streak down the hallway and possess her. As a kid, she'd been absolutely terrified of paranormal stuff. But as she had grown, she'd realized there were much scarier things than ghosts.

As she crept down the hallway, her heart began beating quickly. There may not be anything particularly scary in the castle, but there were officials. For the first time, it crossed her mind that she might get in trouble because of this. Had Sara Blaine, the Royal Planner of Illea, said anything about when she was allowed to wander or not? She didn't remember.

After a brief flight of stairs and a turn down the hallway, she saw the wide french doors Prince Elias had told her about. They were truly beautiful, with clean white wood and flawless glass. She walked towards them, running a hand across the smooth panes.

Surprisingly, there was a light on inside the library. She didn't know if it was a good or bad sign. On the one hand, perhaps it was kept on all night, and she wouldn't have to search in the dark. On the other hand, there might be somebody in there. Somebody she didn't want to see.

She was extra cautious as she pushed open the doors and walked into the library. Too late, she realized that her feet were bare. The wood beneath them was cold and hard.

But none of that mattered as soon as she was surrounded by the books. There were hundreds. Thousands. Too many to count. Her heartbeat slowed as she slowly caressed the covers of one of her favorites, a centuries old classic known as "The Great Gatsby".

She brought it over to a nearby chair, and settled in. It was more comfortable than anything in the Orphanage, even more comfortable than Levi's house. She felt as though she could sink through the chair and get lost in her book forever….

A crash made her freeze, snapped out of her contentment. It was followed by a string of mild curse words, and the sounds of somebody apparently hopping around on one foot.

Despite everything telling her to slip out of the library, Viv stood from her chair and moved towards the commotion. It sounded vaguely like Prince Elias, but she couldn't be sure. If it was him, she didn't think he would be too upset with her. If it wasn't….well, she would get to that if it ended up being a problem.

It didn't. As she looked through one of the bookshelves, she saw the Prince hopping around like a lunatic, clutching his foot. An encyclopedia lay open on the ground, perhaps 5 times the size of a regular book.

"Prince Elias?" she asked.

He didn't even bat an eye as she approached him. "Please call me Eli," he groaned, rubbing his toes.

"Well alright, Eli," Viv said, slightly taken aback. It was so casual! However, she supposed it was what she'd come to expect from the royal family from her years of watching them. "You may want to take a seat. Hopping around like that can't be helpful."

Eli obliged, sitting down on a cushion nearby. Once the pain had apparently subsided, he looked up. "What are you doing down here?"

"Couldn't sleep," Viv answered. But suddenly, the fear was back in her heart. Had she overestimated Eli? Would be upset? Would she be sent home?

But instead, he smiled. "You, too, eh?"

They sat in the cosy silence of the vast room, each trying to think of something else to say.

"What were you trying to find in the encyclopedia?" Viv asked finally.

"Oh, just some word," Eli muttered. "Prestidigitation. It was mentioned in a book I was reading with Brinley, and I couldn't figure out what on earth it was."

"Prestidigitation is sleight of hand. Magic," Viv said automatically. "Not like, wizardry or sorcery. Commonplace card tricks and street performers."

One of Eli's eyebrows shot up. "Thank you," he offered. "How on earth did you know that?"

Viv shrugged. "I read a lot," was her simple answer.

Letting out a disbelieving chuckle, Eli said, "Well, let's see how good you are. I'll give you a word from this encyclopedia, and you define it." Without waiting for her response, he began. "Abasement."

"The act of feeling humiliated or degraded," Viv fired back.

"Exoenzyme."

"An enzyme that acts outside the cell that produces it."

They continued into the night, until Viv glanced at a clock on the wall and exclaimed that it was nearly 5 in the morning. After that, they slunk back to their rooms.

But something had definitely, most positively changed.

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Sorry! I know I'm not sticking to my schedule at all. I'm super busy all the time. We'll see if things start to move more quickly in the coming weeks! As always, please leave a review and let me know how I'm doing!