Prince Luke's POV

Lunch wasn't Luke's favorite meal of the day, but it was definitely one of the more interesting meals. Putting Sam in a room with food, the selected, Luke, and Fitz was never going to be a good idea, especially when Jadie had to leave to work on her briefing for the Hawaii trip. Luke was just hoping at this point that the youngest of the triplets wouldn't try to start a pun-off with one of the girls.

The closest thing they had to adult supervision was Fitz, and possibly a few of the girls that were seated near him. Atlantis Washington and Sterling Everett were two of the more down-to-earth members of the selected. It also didn't hurt that they both made Luke feel a bit insignificant, with Atlantis's graceful sophistication and Sterling's very famous, very dead relative. Either of them could have made a better royal than he was.

"And, so, like I was saying, I completely ended up hitting myself in the head with the bowling ball!" said Sam, waving his arms around to punctuate his point. This had to be the eighth time he had told this story, and while it might have been funny, Luke was sure that the girls who hadn't been on dates yet weren't enjoying the reminder that Mae had already been out with Sam.

Sophea, however, seemed to be trying a different approach than pouting and wishing it was her. She leaned forwards to be closer to Sam and batted her hazel eyes at him. "That sounds hilarious! Tell me more," She said, her voice almost a purr. Luke wanted to laugh when he saw Kinsey's face of pure disgust towards Sophea.

Sam began telling Sophea more about the times he'd been comically stupid. Evangeline, shooting Sophea a look that meant war, widened her eyes and tossed her strawberry blonde hair over her shoulder. It wasn't long before the two girls were attempting to out do each other. Sam must have been in the mood for being a flirtatious piece of spider droppings today, looking like he was actually enjoying this.

Towards the other end of the table, Luke could hear Fitz talking to the girls around him. "Correct. Stella, you've been to some of the historical sights in Paloma, haven't you? They seem to have done quite a nice job in preserving them over the last few decades or so." He saw Stella nod and immediately reply.

"They have. It's a wonderfully well-kept area, you should really see some of the pre-Illea relics," replied Stella. If she and Fitz were going to spend the rest of lunch talking about history in Paloma, it was going to be up to Luke to find someone else's conversation to listen too. He felt like he already knew enough about history and provinces and things like that to give a whole lecture on it to the members of the selected and a few others.

Thankfully, Jadie returned to the room and he didn't have to eavesdrop any longer. "Is everyone done? Finish up, please, I'll explain what's going to happen next as you do that," announced the planner. Some of the girls began to wolf down food with as much grace as they could manage.

One of the girls closest to Luke seemed to be doing the opposite. Jillian Oxford had barely touched her plate, and was staring down at it like she wasn't really seeing what it was. He could tell that she was upset about something, though he had no clue what it was, something bad enough to make her lose her appetite entirely. Maybe it was different for girls, but that never happened with Luke unless he was feeling terrible. Food was the last thing to go.

"Jillian, are you okay?" asked Luke, frowning as he extended his neck out to fully see her. She nodded in reply. If she didn't want to tell him what was wrong, that was fine, but the overly enthusiastic swaying of her ponytail when Jillian nodded told a different story.

Jadie caught him talking to her and swooped down like the avenging shadow of death. "Jillian, try to eat! You need to keep your strength up. Luke, I've got a special task for you to do when we get to the complex, but I'll let you walk down there with whoever you want to. I can find you at the studios later," said Jadie. Luke heard what she said and acted like he had heard her, but he was really too worried about Jillian to listen.

As soon as she had walked away to get the girls out of their seats, Luke found himself staring at Jillian in an attempt to figure out what could be making her sad. Jillian's skin was always this pale. Her hooded brown eyes didn't look red or anything like they would be if she was sick, or crying, so that was good. Was she looking nervously towards Jadie, or was that just his imagination?

He was still watching her when she exited the room in a cluster of the others. It didn't seem like this would be a good situation to ask Jadie about, if she really had been worried about something involving Jadie, and telling someone about something she might have wanted to keep private was also bad.

"Luke? I was wondering if you wanted to go with me to the studios. The last ferry is going to be leaving soon," said Maisynn from behind him. He turned to see the blonde-haired three nervously smiling at him in her blue day dress. Maisynn's prosthetic hand was tucked in the pocket of the dress like she was trying to hide it.

"Of course! Should we go now?" he smiled back at Maisynn, and she seemed to relax a little. It would be nice to spend a few minutes with her. Maisynn had been one of the girls who had appeared to be more similar to him during the meetings, probably the only one who he hadn't had to introduce himself to after Fitz took care of that for him. He might have just been trying to leave, but Luke appreciated the gesture anyways.

She gave him a wider, less anxious smile. "I think so," Maisynn replied. Luke pushed in his chair and they began walking down the hallway. Maisynn knew where she was going, which was a good thing, and lead them both to where a pair of waiting guards were standing.

"Lady Maisynn, Prince Luke. Follow me," said one of the guards. Maisynn glanced at Luke before they both followed the guard through a side door that he'd never been through before. The other guard wasn't far behind them, tailing them to make sure they weren't ambushed or kidnapped.

The first guard lead them to a flight of stairs leading down into a dark passageway lit by flickering electric lights, the wires connecting the circuit exposed on the ceiling and walls. Luke couldn't see the end of the tunnel.

He knew that the tunnel, though the guards and Jadie might have thought that it was, wasn't actually one of the numerous secret passageways of the palace. Luke had found them and explored them before, Sam being the only other one in the palace who knew about the real ones along with whoever he'd showed. Sam had no idea that Luke knew about the secret passageways that were hidden throughout the palace.

The guard lead the way down the stairs. Maisynn gulped as they descended into the unknown, Luke feeling slightly scared himself. He silently reached out a hand and took Maisynn's normal hand in his, quickly looking at her before looking around the tunnel when they reached the end of the stairs. Her fingers felt warm and reassuring in his cold, less helpful grip.

"Here's the ferry. Keep your legs and arms inside, stay seated, and don't do anything that could endanger anyone around you," said the guard. The ferry, an enclosed trolley-like thing with barely enough room for four people to sit comfortably, was waiting for them a few feet away. The rail underneath it could be heard hissing with electricity, the rail above doing the same. The outside of the transport was a rusted metal that made Luke a bit panicky.

It was cramped when he ducked to get inside, Maisynn sitting next to him with her hand still wrapped inside his. One of the guards followed them while the other stayed outside to turn the thing on. Luke had never known about the secret transportation system under the palace, but when they started to move extremely fast and the guard they'd left behind wasn't visible, he could see a series of tunnels that meant this was something more important than it seemed to be.

Electricity could be heard on the rails as they traveled in silence. They were going so fast, they'd probably be at the studio in a matter of minutes, which was good because Maisynn was counting the fingers of her right hand in a nervous gesture. Luke himself was feeling a little anxious about the safety of the ferry.

At last, the wonderful moment came when the ferry slowed to a screeching halt. He didn't hesitate to leave the transport and take Maisynn with him up another flight of stairs to the surface. The guard was still following behind them. He was at a farther distance than before because the need to send the ferry back, something that gave Maisynn the opportunity to take the lead when they were in the secret studio complex closet exit of the tunnels.

"I'm glad that's over," remarked Luke. Maisynn giggled and took the lead as they entered the dance rehearsal space so they could find the costume fitting room while still in one piece.

Luke followed Maisynn down the hallway. She seemed to know where she was going, which was a good thing, but he wasn't sure if the costume fitting would be in her usual studio. They might have been doing them altogether in one room, that was more likely when considering Jadie's need to get everything done as efficiently as possible. Following Maisynn was still a better idea until he knew what was going on.

Footsteps from another junction made Maisynn stop in her tracks and turn around, making Luke do the same. Abrielle was walking towards them in a purposeful manner. He smiled at seeing her, glad that it was her coming to save them and not Jadie, and she waved to them.

"Hello, Maisynn, Luke. I'm supposed to bring you to the main studio for the costume fitting, is there anyone else coming after you?" asked Abrielle, turning so she was in step with them as their path was changed in the direction of the main studio.

He shook his head. "No. I think we were the last ones. Is everyone else in the room already? Are we late?" Luke felt some panic coming on and nervously looked from Abrielle to Maisynn. Both of them were looking like they weren't going to tear the other to shreds, not that people as nice as they were would do something like that, and he was relieved to see that they got along.

"No, they've separated some of the girls out for other things. Everyone has just waited their turn and then tried on everything they need to, each group for the main dance routines has a set time they had to be there and then they could leave," replied Abrielle. Maisynn nodded in agreement. Was Luke the only one who had missed out on the fitting schedule?

It did make a little sense that they would know and he wouldn't. After all, they were participating and he was only going to get to hover outside of the room to try to catch pieces of the conversations going on inside. He probably wouldn't even get to see the costumes themselves until it was time for the dress rehearsals.

When they came upon the room, Abrielle and Maisynn went to step inside, while Luke stopped moving and stood against the wall. The girls both seemed confused to why he wasn't joining them, then Abrielle seemed like she had remembered the rules of the fitting.

No princes allowed, because of the changing and measurements. No bringing food or drink of any kind inside the room. You get what you get and you don't get upset, probably for when different colors of the costume were available. Don't wander off, stay in your designated time zone and try on all of your costumes inside that window. Most importantly, do whatever the assistants tell you to do.

The only reason he knew the rules was because he'd been given a spare packet by Jadie yesterday, one of the ones identical to what the girls carried. It listed the entire schedule for all of the rehearsals. That was the main reason she had given it to him, Jadie must have been tired of the three of them asking her question after question about the rehearsals.

"Luke! Good, I'm glad you're here. I have a very important job for you. Follow me!" said Jadie, walking up to him in her neon-colored heels and gesturing for him to follow her. Luke had to sprint to keep up with her when she turned an unexpected corner. "Hurry!" She called back to him.

Jadie brought him to one of the offices. It had a cozy feeling to it, a wooden desk with a padded office chair taking up most of the space, a houseplant and a lamp the only other features in the room. The desk was covered with lists and what looked like pictures of the costumes for the jazz routines, along with some other magazine clippings he couldn't see very well.

"Sit here. I want you to pick the colors for each girl's costume. Lists of the girls are there, a chart for you to fill out is in that corner, and I'll come back for you in twenty minutes or so," instructed Jadie. She was already turning to leave the room when her words reached his ears.

Before he could protest about being shoved into the workforce, Jadie was gone and he was all alone. This wasn't exactly what he had been expecting to do today. If he was here, he might as well do it, because keeping Jadie happy was more important than whatever he might have been able to do while he waited outside the room by himself with no plans and no inkling of a creative thought.

Luke sighed and moved to sit down behind the desk. A few papers toppled to the floor, causing him to scramble to pick them up so they wouldn't get misplaced. The desk seemed to be covered in so many papers it looked like a cloud had just came by and dumped a blizzard's worth of paper snowflakes onto it with less care about what they were doing than Sam usually showed about his stuff.

"Official selected health files. Contains information on the genetics, past health incidents, and all other necessary medical writings retrieved by palace health professionals," read Luke, scanning the top document as he stacked it back up on the brown, wooden, paper-covered desk.

Why on earth would Jadie put the medical files in here? She probably forgot them after someone needed her for something and left them there a few days ago. It was a pretty important thing to just be forgotten, though, but even the life-saving things could be misplaced when people were in a hurry to get somewhere. He could just tell Jadie about it when she returned to collect him later, if she didn't just leave him to rot in the office.

He placed the files back in a safe spot on the table and went back to the chair behind the desk, careful not to knock anything else over and have to repeat that whole process again. The pictures and notebook for his color choices were placed right in front of the chair where he couldn't possibly miss them.

When he picked up the pencil to get started, Luke managed to move the documents in a way where he could see everything at once without knocking everything off of the desk. The best course of action would be to begin with the lowest level group. He wrote down the title of the song for the beginning jazz piece and separated the area underneath it into a two-column chart, one for the colors and the other for the corresponding girl.

The picture of the costumes for the routine showed six girls standing in a group. It looked like the models for the costumes were younger than the girls of the selected, but it must not be something that mattered in the grand scheme of things. For this group, at least, it would be one color per girl.

Neaera's name was the first to go on the girl's side of his chart. Luke smiled at the thought of the raven-haired girl, thinking about their encounter during the meeting shifts. He could remember clearly that se'd been wearing a blue dress with her problematic shoes, so she must have liked the color, and one of the options for the colors of the costumes was blue. It was logical to put her name down for the color.

Mae and Willow were both girls he hadn't spoken with in the original meeting, though he had exchanged a few words with Mae during the failed garden party and had been in the room for one of the rehearsals Willow attended. The colors for them were a bit harder. Mae seemed like she'd enjoy, or at least tolerate, purple, and Willow could wear green because Luke knew nothing about her.

The remaining girls were Jillian, Dakota, and Poppy. Giving Poppy red would offend her, so she'd have to wear yellow. Red haired people would probably feel a bit mocked if they were put in something close to their hair color. That left Jillian and Dakota with pink and red. Poppy hadn't seemed like a pink person. Neither did Jillian, but she seemed more suited for dark colors in general. Red would have to work for Jillian and Dakota would have to be able to withstand the bright pink.

It was actually kind of easy for Luke to do the next group, even though they only had four colors and six girls. Pink, Black, Red, and Gold were given to Alexis, Stella, Cila, and Albany, respectively. Averian and Elizabeth were randomly chosen for pink and black after her randomly waved his pencil over the four colors.

He had to flip to a blank page in the notebook for the next list. Maybe he should have been writing a little smaller in the first chart. Shrugging it off and nervously shifting the order of things on the desk around again for better access, Luke began work on the harder task of the choices for the intermediate jazz level dance, the one with eight girls of varying skill levels and personalities.

Katelin was the first girl to get assigned a color since Luke really didn't have any need to spend more time focusing on her than he already did. Red was his first choice for her. While he'd seen Elizabeth around her, she might have been a nice person because she seemed a little scared of Katelin. She could wear blue.

His worst decision of the entire process was putting Averian in orange, but it was only slightly worse than putting the Irish and ginger-haired Mazie in green. He also wasn't entirely happy with having Alexis in yellow. Isa, Kira, and Adalacia were all only mostly fitting with the colors he'd chosen for them. Luke was starting to think that Jadie's idea of making him do this was an absolutely terrible idea.

The best part came a few minutes later when he discovered that the advanced dance only had two variations of their costume, and that Jadie had stuck a sticky note on it. "All for today. Feel free to go back to whatever you were planning to do," he read, smiling at his good fortune.

It was even simpler to put Isa and Mazie in the gold variation of the costume and put Adalacia and Kira in the silver. He had taken way more time than he would have liked on the intermediate group, and he realized that he'd been in the room sorting through colors and using his brain for an entire hour. Would Maisynn be wondering where he was? Luke hoped that everyone else hadn't taken the death-trap of a ferry back to the palace and left him in the office.

Jadie hadn't left him instructions for what to do with the notebook once he was done, so he decided to just leave it on the desk and desperately hope she'd find it so he wouldn't have to do it all over again. That would be pure torture in the best form of the word.

There was no one in the hallway. Luke decided not to panic and just to keep walking until he found someone, as that was sure to work and could save him the energy worrying about it would take. Jadie was much too organized to have even considered leaving without him, right?

"Luke! Thank goodness I found you! Jadie wanted me to get you so we could all go back to the palace, but I've been wandering around forever trying to figure out where you were. I was about to give up and tell her that you were gone for the rest of time," exclaimed Aurelia, running up besides him and taking him completely by surprise. The smile on her face distracted Luke from the fact that Jadie wasn't going to leave him to rot in the studio complex.

"I'm glad I found you! I thought that I was going to be wandering around in here by myself until tomorrow," replied Luke. Aurelia laughed and started running back down the hallway she'd come from, motioning for Luke to follow her, which he gladly proceeded to do.

Aurelia moved faster than Luke could and he had to jog to catch up with her after she turned a corner at a particularly high speed. He recognized the area as being near where the secret tunnel entrance was, only a turn or two away from the closet, which meant he could stop running and try to walk after her. It was with great relief that he spotted Neaera Deveraux up ahead, another person for him to follow to the closet.

"Neaera! Mind if I join you? Aurelia seems to have left me behind," said Luke, smiling at the raven-haired girl that had turned to smile back at him. Neaera nodded. "Sure," She replied. Luke and Neaera walked side by side to the closet, and vanished into the tunnels within.

Author's Note: Once again, a terrible ending on my part. I hope everyone liked this more wide-spread chapter with the girls, I tried to showcase a few that haven't really gotten much screen time recently. May is one of my least favorite months on here because a whole lot of new SYOCs are starting, and everyone gets distracted with reading the new ones, making the job of eliminating the characters of people who aren't reading much easier on my part. I still hate doing it, so keeping reviewing! I can't tell if you're reading if you haven't reviewed in like seven chapters, so try to do that when you have the time. Hawaii Trip questions are going up on my profile on Friday!

Remember, review if you want to let me know you're still reading or if you just have commentary on the story! They always make me smile!