SO I TRIED POSTING THIS LIKE TWO HOURS AGO BUT THEN IT DELETED FOR SOME REASON -\_O_/-
To the guest who reviewed last chapter: You're totally titled to your own opinion, but you're right, this is my story and if Elia and Logan bother you so much, then there's nothing I can really do about it. But that mention about cutting…wasn't necessary, like at all.
Chapter Forty-Nine
❂Of Truest Heart❂
…
Prince Logan
Tying the bow on the final velvet box, I let out a breath of relief. The only thing left was to get the gifts to each of the girls. I opened my mouth to call in Xavier, but my heart twisted instead. He wouldn't be coming back. My mother already assigned Officer Cael Stark as my new guard. Sure, he'd been a soldier for years now, but he'd just been relocated from Russia and he was certainly no Xavier. Sighing, I called out, "Officer Stark?"
The door shot open and the older man bowed, "Your Highness?"
I motioned to the five boxes on my desk, "Could you get a maid to deliver these to each of the Selected?" I noticed his mouth twitch downward as though he didn't realize that when he became the crown prince's personal guard he'd be running errands for me. It was why I was hesitant to accept him. Officer Stark fought for my country, he wasn't supposed to be sitting outside my bedroom at my every beck and call. My throat bobbed and he reluctantly nodded, gathering the boxes up in his arms.
I wandered over to the mirror, straightening my tie. I inhaled, exhaled, anything to keep my mind off the fact that Xavier resigned that morning and while I invited him to receive his own quarters in the castle – or if he chose, a house nearby like the Singer's owned after my great grandmother became Queen – he didn't seem to keen on responding right away. With one final roll of my shoulders, I gathered enough courage to walk out of my room. Unable to stop my hands from shaking, they curled into fists, nails digging into my palms.
"No! Edmund, we've been through this, no way am I willing to allow such a public shaming to happen!"
I froze, part of me screamed to run away – that I shouldn't be listening to my parent's fight, but a larger, stronger part kept my feet in place, "Mila, you have to understand, it's treason! No one should get a pass on that!" My father insisted.
My brows furrowed, but my mother spoke before I could move – away or closer, "I'm fully aware it's treason, it will be dealt with, but I just don't see the point in making it worse for her than it already would be!"
I could practically imagine my father's face fuming, "Word would get out eventually! People would be asking questions we wouldn't want to answer. If we don't do this the way I'm saying we should, things would only spiral out of control."
My mother's heels clicked against the marble as she turned to walk away, "We can talk about this later."
A deep, heartless laugh reverberated against the walls, "You know we can't, this is happening today, whether you like it or not. It's already happening."
Right then and there, it dawned on me. The Convicting. It was custom for every Selection that the Elites would complete the Convicting publically and in front of the Royal Family. They would sentence a criminal to jail to show that they were willing to obey the laws of their country, and while I was aware that it was happening that very day, what I didn't know was that treason was involved.
Sentencing a man to death…that was…never done before, and while the girls were strong – I could never force them into that. But my father would insist they would have to as queen, so why not be ready for it before hand, and my mother had enough on her plate. My nails dug deeper into my hands, the sharp pain drawing me back to reality. And still, reality sucked. Nothing changed. No sudden revelation, no miracle that would make things better.
I still had my Selection, I still wasn't positive on my One, the girls would still have to convict criminals, and there was still Kane out to get my crown, even if his key pawn just forfeited the game.
"Logan?"
I turned to the sound of my brother's voice, "Brooks, what's wrong?"
The fourteen-year-old boy frowned, "Does something have to be wrong for me to talk to you now?"
I shook my head, my eyes widening slightly, "No – of course not – things just haven't been great for me recently."
He nodded, "I know. No one would tell me why though, so I just watched as you confided in Bash."
Eyebrow raised, I chuckled, "Are you jealous?"
Brooks' face flushed, "What? Me?" his mouth tightened, "Of course not. There's just been too many secrets between us, brother. I don't want that to continue."
Smiling sadly, I clapped his shoulder, "Believe me, Brooks, if I could – I would tell you everything, but-"
My younger brother rolled his eyes, "Of course there's a 'but'. There's always a 'but' nowadays. I understand keeping Jules out of this, she's so young – but me? I thought I deserved more than that."
I ran a hand through my hair, "You really want to know what's going on?"
"Yes!" Brooks insisted.
"Fine!" I shouted, "Some crazy rebel decided that he was going to mess with the line of succession, threatening Elia and Luce's life, then Bash was theoretically crown prince for a few days, I have a brand new guard, and now I have a bad feeling that treason's going to play a part in the Convicting today!"
At a loss for words, Brooks stared at me. His blue eyes widened, so full of fear, concern, anger and a bundle of other emotions I didn't even know how to describe. He raked through his light brown hair – or dirty blond – I'd never actually been sure, it changed so easily in lighting. He opened his mouth to respond, but I waved him off, "I have to get to the Convicting, we can talk later if you still want to."
…
Lady Elia
Tensions were running high, the five of us knew what today held in store, but it seemed the topic was off limits for discussion. Sentencing people to prison just wasn't a quality conversation to have with someone. Logan had sent each of us necklaces to wear for ceremony itself, but we were allowed to chose the rest of our jewelry. Though, I couldn't help but be a touch nervous around the other girls. He'd chosen a massive ruby heart adorned in a golden crown, and while I personally adored it, I was worried what the other girls would think. After all, the competition was also getting a bit denser, with four eliminations to go, everyone seemed a bit more brash. Especially after the very sudden Elite last night.
My fingers wrapped around the stone and I gave it a little squeeze, letting myself imagine it was Logan's hand rather than some jewel that probably cost more then my nicest outfit before the Selection. Scarlett looped her arm through my elbow, "You ready?"
I shook my head, "Hardly."
Her lips quirked in a light smile, "That makes five of us."
Before entering the ordeal, Octavia lined us up in no particular order. Leading the charge – Aaliyah, then Scarlett, me, Clare, and finally Sawyer. She handed each of us an olive branch to place at the king and queen's feet, and a little card that gave the name of the person, their offense, and their sentence; however, we weren't allowed to look at them until the very moment we were suppose to read them.
Octavia rushed through our instructions once more before hurrying us outside. Even in February, the harsh sun beat down against our backs, my hatred for the long gowns multiplied in the moment as our sweat certainly gathered underneath our arms, noses, and nearly everywhere else. The inner layer of my dress clung to my damp legs, and Clare shifted from foot too foot, uncomfortable. Logan and the rest of the Royal family each sat on thrones, Juliette in her mother's lab despite King Edmund's frown of disapproval. I clutched my envelope, dreading the name and sentence inside, but I kept reminding myself that if I was in this for Logan, I had to realize that more then just love came with winning the Selection – that is, if I won at all.
Not wasting any time, the cameras had already been set up and Octavia motioned for Aaliyah to step forward and place the olive branch at Mila's feet. No one dared speak, the only sound that hung in the air was the click of Aaliyah's heels against the cement. Officer Jace Westfall emerged from the closed door leading to the castle prison, dragging a middle-aged man behind him. I squeezed my eyes shut, letting myself believe this one time that a man wasn't going to be sentenced.
Aaliyah sucked in a breath, peeling open her letter, "Marcus Smith, what is your crime?"
All I could hear was his voice, a deep, raspy sound as though it were nails on a chalkboard, "Theft, my lady."
"And how long is your sentence?"
"Twelve years, my lady."
With a final gulp, the girl tried to keep her voice from shaking, "Go, faithful subject, and pay your debt to the Queen."
I opened my eyes, blinked, and noticed Octavia's nod of approval. Aaliyah turned, clutching the gold and teal heart locket Logan had given her and stumbled back over to us. Scarlett followed, trying to make herself seem unafraid.
Officer Westfall returned moments after my friend placed her branch at the monarch's feet, bringing along a young woman with bloodshot eyes and tearstained cheeks, I bit my lip and tuned out her convicting, I wanted to be there for my friend – I did, more than anything, but my stomach wretched and bile rose in my throat, sweat forming at the nape of my neck.
Scarlett's recital of her final lines snaps me back to attention and a splinter buried itself into my palm as my grip on the branch tightened. I lurched forward, pleading that I wouldn't trip. My chest heaved, and I bent over, my fingers scraping against the ground as I placed the branch at their feet. Straightening, I brushed a fallen strand of hair out of my face and spun around as the guard brought out my convicted. I kept my pupils trained on the letter in my hands, ripping it open and pulling out the slip of paper. Eyes widening, the name popped out at me, my head shot up and sure enough, there she was.
My breath quickened, each pant burning against my throat, "Aralynn Knotley, what is your crime?"
Aralynn finally looked at me for the first time, recognition clicking on her scarred face, her gaze hardened as she realized that there was no way I could back out of this and she spoke, no trace of remorse in her voice, "The murder of Nala-Rose Turner and the attempted murder of Sebastian Le Tourneau."
Someone gasped, and it took me a moment to realize the sound came from my mouth, "And how long is your sentence?"
She chuckled, a heartless noise that definitely did not come from the girl that sat with me during the rebel attack, "My lady, my sentence is death."
I took a step back and barely managed to get the final words out of my mouth, "Go… f-fa-faithful subject, and pay your debt to the…Queen," My lib trembled and I found my place beside Scarlett and Clare.
Surely the king and queen discovered my relationship with the girl, surely they knew of how she helped me – and even their son, and still decided to torment me and force me to sentence her to death. Surely they were that heartless. The king had shown nothing but hostility to all of us since the moment we got here, even if by simply not acknowledging our existence.
Clare's convicting was a blur, she must've sentenced someone for fraud, a very big difference from murder. Jace emerged from the prison empty handed and shot the king and queen a confused glance. Edmund watched, smug, and the queen finally revealed her emotions as she gnawed on her lip. Sawyer stepped forward, looking between the three, unsure what to make of her convicting, and opened her envelope. She glanced at the name before her mouth dropped, her eyes widening until they seemed to pop out of their sockets with tears welling up behind them. Edmund stood, "Lady Sawyer McAlister, what is your crime?"
Logan shot to his feet, whispering angrily in his father's ear, his face warped in a furious expression. Sawyer simply glanced down at her card, "Treason, your Majesty."
The crown prince's brows furrowed and Edmund pushed him back into his seat, "What for?"
Sawyer shook her head, "I don't-"
Laughing, the king took a step forward and the queen reached out for her husband, "For an infidelity against the Prince of Illéa with Officer Jace Westfall," Jace whirled around as two other guards grasped his arms, utterly stunned and panicked, "And what is your sentence?"
With a final shudder, she turned to the king, avoiding Sebastian's fearful, frantic, and dejected expression, "Death, Your Majesty."
Edmund reclined back in his throne and waved at two of his men to take the Selected away. The other four of us watched, stunned, we'd been friends with Sawyer and not once had she mentioned anything about infidelity, even if we were only dating the prince.
The cameras shut off and we were sent to our rooms, left to muster up the courage to ever look the king in the eyes again.
HI
SO ORIGINALLY I WAS GOING TO MERGE THIS WITH CHAPTER 50, BUT I NEEDED TO GET THIS UP AND I FIGURED I WOULD LET YOU ALL PROCESS THIS AND LET MYSELF FOCUS NEXT CHAPTER ENTIRELY ON THE REPRECUSSIONS OF THE CONVICTING
&& Star brought it to my attention that I have yet to have Logan run around in a Flash costume - be on the look out for chapter 51 as Logan tries to lift up the girl's spirits :P
AND YES, SAWYER IS ELIMINATED, BUT SHE ISNT QUITE FINISHED IN THIS STORY. I have plans for the Elite and believe that all or most of them will be recurring characters in Of Truest Intent (WHICH WE ARE ACTUALLY COMING CLOSE TO – yes, OTH is drawing to a close, but we still got a few good chapters left in the story)
Bye Lovelies!
~Hailey
