The Prince's Quarters, The Palace, July 7th, 9:27am
Elijah
"I can make myself puke. That's always an option." Eli ran a hand through his hair nervously, leaning back in his desk chair. He wasn't serious, but he was not looking forward to meeting the Selected.
"Pretty sure you were supposed to have left faking sick to get out of doing things in high school."
Matthias came forward to offer Eli a second cup of coffee. "I personally agree with Micah."
Eli accepted it gratefully, and took a sip. He felt as if he had hardly slept at all, even though he knew for a fact he had slept at least three hours. A cup of coffee and a shower had woken him up somewhat, but he still just wanted to crawl back in bed. And probably not sleep. Fuck insomnia. "Since when do you ever agree with Micah?"
"When he started making sense." Matthias shook his head. "That sounds like such an oxymoron, doesn't it?"
"Yup, it's an oxymoron." Eli took another sip of his coffee. "I agree with Micah too. Unfortunately parental oversight didn't stay in high school where it was supposed to, so I'm stuck faking sick if I want to ditch responsibilities."
"Ditching responsibilities should have remained in high school too," Matthias said as he left the room.
"Oh don't lecture me. I know and I'm not going to ditch, I just really really want to." Eli took another sip of his coffee, and sighed, tilting his head back and closing his eyes. "Tell me when we need to head down, okay?"
Eli wasn't sure how much time he spent trying to forget, trying not to think too much about the fact that he was about to meet his future wife.
He had always thought it would be her.
It wasn't going to be her.
That was another fact he didn't need to think too much about.
Eventually Micah tapped his shoulder, and said, "It's time."
Eli nodded, and stood up. He adjusted his suit jacket and tie, and followed Micah out of the room.
They headed downstairs to the small ballroom, where the Selected were gathered. Eli and Micah stopped outside the door to look at each other.
Micah spoke first. "Good luck."
Eli nodded. "Thanks." He put a hand on the door, preparing to push it open. "Here goes nothing." He pushed the door open, and walked in.
The Selected were gathered in the center of the room, facing Lindsey, who was standing at the other end of the room. "—You will wait your turn for your name to be called to have your time with the Prince. Are there any questions?"
Eli quietly made his way up to the front of the room to stand next to Lindsey. A strand of his hair fell into his face, and he tucked it back behind his ear, slightly self-conscious. Every eye in the room was on him.
He surveyed the Selection. They wore a rainbow of differently colored formal dresses, and every possible natural hair color seemed to be represented. And some unnatural hair colors. Good. They hadn't made Liath change her hair color after all. The second thing Eli noticed about the Selected was that a good portion of them were taller than him, especially since most of them were wearing heels of some kind.
There were no questions, and it was time for him to speak. "Hello, and welcome to the palace. You can all call me Eli." Since he would be marrying one of them, it didn't make any sense to him to have them use his title. "I'm sure Lindsey has already told you that I'll be briefly speaking with all of you one on one this morning." He paused for a moment, and looked over the group. They all looked tense. He tried to think of a stupid joke to put them at ease. "I'm seeing one immediate problem here. You're all too tall." Ugh, they were going to take that too seriously, bad move. "It looks like I'm going to need to borrow a pair of those heels. Anyone wear a men's size nine and a half?" He smiled at the group.
That got some laughs. Good. That would have been awkward if nobody had laughed. "Just one more thing to take care of before we get started." He scanned the room. "Today is Lady Gemma's birthday. Where are you at, Lady Gemma? Put up a hand, I don't see you." She did, and he said, "Come up here for a minute." She came up to stand next to him at the front of the room. Her dress was a floaty material, with a purple and blue flower pattern. It kind of reminded him of Isabelle's tattoo, but that had been roses, not… whatever those flowers were. He didn't know his flowers.
"Now, we all know it's not your birthday unless you've been publicly humiliated, so I'm going to make everyone sing to you." She didn't look too freaked out, which was good. He would have spent way too much time kicking himself if she was shy. He turned back to the group. "Don't get jealous, I know all your birthdays, and you'll all get your turn."
The whole group sang to her, and Eli turned back to Gemma. "Today really is your lucky day, because you're first alphabetically too."
She laughed. "I guess it is." She smiled at him as they headed into a small room off the ballroom.
"Happy birthday. Twenty-one, right? Old enough to legally buy a drink anywhere in Illéa. Not that that rule matters here."
She fiddled with her silver bracelet. "I don't drink, actually."
He made a mental note to write down somewhere on her file that she didn't drink. He had a feeling he'd reference the files a lot while planning dates, and that seemed like something he'd want to remember when deciding what they were going to do together. "Probably better for you. Also the perfect hangover prevention strategy."
She nodded. "Yup."
"So, tell me a little bit about yourself. Hobbies. Favorite color. That kind of thing."
She didn't quite look him in the eyes as she spoke. Nerves, probably. Eli could sympathize. "I garden, and I play the piano. I like to cook, but I can't say I'm actually any good. And my favorite color is green."
"I haven't cooked much in a while, but I used to be decent at it. I made edible food, at least." Isabelle had told him he could have a career as a chef if the whole Prince thing didn't pan out, but she had been mostly joking.
"You cook?" She seemed pleasantly surprised. Probably hadn't expected that he was capable of doing anything himself.
"Cooked. Past tense. I haven't in ages. The cooks generally don't take kindly to the kitchens being invaded by bored princes, and I don't want to make their lives any harder."
She nodded. "What about your favorite color?"
"Black. Like my soul." He laughed. "No, just kidding, I'm not that edgy, it's red."
She laughed too. "My least favorite color. Of course."
"I like green too. Or purple." Those were both colors that reminded him of Isabelle, of course. The color of her eyes, and her favorite color. "I'm afraid time is up for now, Lady Gemma."
He led her back to the group, pleased. That had gone well, or at least her thought so. "Lady Brielle?" He called out. A girl in a navy blue dress, with dark brown shoulder length hair stepped forward. He led her to the side room, and said, "So, Lady Brielle. Why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself?"
"I'm an actress. I mostly do plays, but when I was younger I was in a lot of movies, and more recently I was in a TV show. I played the lead role in Siren, maybe you've heard of it?"
Eli already knew all that, but it was nice to hear it from her. "I'm afraid I haven't. Musicals aren't really my thing." He had googled Siren, and had saved a video of Brielle's performance, but hadn't actually gotten around to watching it.
"Oh." Brielle looked a little bit disappointed that he wasn't really into musicals, but she didn't seem too bothered, because she gave him a flirty smile. "Maybe I'll change your mind."
"Maybe." He really doubted that, but he wouldn't contradict her. "Do you play any instruments?"
"I play the piano mostly. And I sing, if you count that as an instrument."
He nodded, and was about to tell her that their time was up, when she rested a hand on his arm. "I'm going to be upfront with you. I'm an actress. You just have to tell me what the script is, and I can play whatever part you need."
That was definitely an offer worth considering. He wasn't sure he could fall in love with anyone here, not with the memory of her hanging over his head, so perhaps marrying someone who could pretend with him would be the best option. "Thank you, Lady Brielle. I'll keep that in mind. But our time is up for now."
Ladies Riley, Dahlia, Pauline, and Malia were all unremarkable, but the next girl on the list was certainly a standout. "Lady Liath?" Eli called out. Liath had an interesting career, an interesting hair color choice, she was muscular, and in her towering heels she was far taller than him. He suspected that she would even be taller than him without the heels. He had to look up to see her face. Not that he minded. She was dressed in a long red floral patterned dress, clearly New Asian in style, and had a few visible tattoos.
Eli was into it.
"Why don't you tell me a little bit about your career?" He asked as soon as they were off in the little side room.
"I'm an assistant stunt coordinator. For movies." Her voice was kind of husky. God, that was hot too.
"No, not the job you put on your form, I want to know about the stuff you do where you climb buildings." He grinned at her.
She seemed to take a moment to think about it. "It's not all that exciting. My team and I just take photographs from the tops of buildings and post them on social media."
"I think it's pretty neat. My friend was showing me a bunch of your pictures the other day." He grinned at her. "If you want to add a picture from the roof of the palace sometime, I'm sure that could be arranged. Don't try it on your own, though, unless you're into getting shot."
She nodded, as if she had expected that and would never be stupid enough to do such a thing. "That might be nice." She smiled politely at him.
"We'll do it sometime," he agreed. "Time's up, though."
Liath had seemed rather detached, but if he got to know her better maybe they'd have something in common. He hoped they would, because she was hot.
Fuck, he was so shallow.
They headed back into the ballroom, and Eli called for the next girl. "Lady Lennox? You're up next."
Lennox stepped out of the crowd. She was another girl with New Asian roots, but she didn't catch his eye as much as Liath had. He knew she was one of two sixes, so he'd probably be wise to keep her around for a few weeks, even if she wasn't a stand out. "So, Lady Lennox. Why don't you tell me about yourself?"
She hesitated for a moment, as if she was considering telling him something, but didn't want to spit it out, before saying, "I'm a waitress, from Columbia. Why don't you tell me about yourself?" She asked in what was clearly supposed to be a flirty tone.
Eli barely restrained himself from bursting out laughing. She was so clearly not into that, it was hilarious. She was one of the younger ones, she was probably inexperienced. "I'm a prince, from Angeles. Very boring. Come on, you can give me more than that? What's your favorite color? Favorite food?"
"My favorite color is black. And I like barbeque." Eli noticed that her dress was black, and wondered if she had picked that dress because black was her favorite color. Probably.
"Oh, me too. I like to tell people that black is my favorite because it's the color of my soul."
She rolled her eyes at him. He was impressed that she dared to do that. She was definitely staying for a bit, just for that.
"Yeah, I know, it sounds stupidly edgy, doesn't it? That's on purpose, I think it's funny." He glanced over at the clock. "Unfortunately, our time for right now is up."
She nodded, and headed back to the group. Lady Georgina was going to be among the first to go, Eli decided that from the first sentence out of her mouth. Next up was Lady Nefertiti. At twenty-six, she was one of the five girls who were his age or older, which made her a keeper, at least for a few weeks, before he had even met her. Some of the girls were just so damn young.
Nefertiti's dress was a very bright neon greenish-yellow, which was a choice that certainly made her stand out. Eli thought he had seen construction workers wearing similar colors. She would be memorable alright. "So, you work for a news station, is that correct?"
She nodded. "That's right. I have my own show every morning at eight o'clock. Or I had, someone else took it over just before I left."
"Have you been enjoying your stay in the palace so far?" He mentally kicked himself for not asking anyone else that question yet. It would have saved him a few awkward silences.
"I have. It's been interesting to meet so many new people. Everyone here is so different. What do you think?"
"Yeah, there's definitely a lot of different personalities here." Eli could tell already that they were all different, which was good. He had half expected all the girls to be similar and boring, but he was pleasantly surprised to be wrong.
"What are your hobbies? What do you like to do?"
He paused for a moment, blindsided by the question. He hadn't expected any of the girls to just ask about him like that during the first meeting. "I don't have many hobbies. I spend too much time working." He had had hobbies, but that had been a year ago. "What about you?"
"I like to write, and I really love my job. I like to keep up with the news, and learn about other people and cultures."
Eli nodded. It was too early to judge, but maybe she could be a good Queen. Maybe if he thought of this less like dating and more like a job interview, it would be easier to handle. "Time is almost up, Lady Nefertiti."
Lady Kendall's most outstanding feature was that she was from Dominica, but she wasn't actively annoying, so it wouldn't hurt anything to keep her a few more weeks. Eli discreetly checked the list Lindsey had left, and noted that the twins were up after Lady Isla. Interesting.
"Lady Isla?" She stepped out of the crowd, and Eli's first thought was that she was very pretty. She reminded him of Isabelle in a lot of ways, but also she was very different in a lot of ways.
They headed off into the side room, and Eli said, "So, Lady Isla. You've been living in France up until recently, haven't you? How do you like it?"
"It's very nice. If…" She hesitated for a moment, then said, "If it wasn't for the Selection, I would still be there."
Eli was sure she had been about to say something else, but then had decided not to, but he didn't ask, although he had to wonder if entering the Selection had been entirely her choice. "You're studying art history right now, aren't you? Why don't you tell me about that."
She seized on that topic eagerly, and they were soon having an enthusiastic conversation about art. Eli had taken as many classes on the topic as he could get away with in college, so he knew enough to keep up. He was almost sad when he had to say, "Time's up, Lady Isla, unfortunately." She was definitely topping his list of people he wanted to spend more time with, though.
The twins were next. "Lady Ixchel?" He called out, hoping he had pronounced her name correctly. She didn't say anything as he led her back towards the room all the introductions had been done in so far, so he probably hadn't done too badly. "So, you're a law student. You'll be a lawyer like your father?"
A flash of some emotion crossed her face, and Eli wondered if her relationship with her father was strained. "I'm going to be a public defender after I graduate. Like my father used to be." Ah. Suddenly that made perfect sense. She didn't like her father's decision to move from helping the poor to being on call for the Royal Family. He wondered why she had signed up, knowing that winning the Selection would mean she couldn't do that. "I'm planning to continue my studies while I'm in the palace, so I can still graduate on time."
She wasn't planning to win, then. That was interesting. "One of the libraries should be opened up for the Selected to use later today, so you'll have a place to study."
She nodded. "Thank you."
Eli glanced at the clock, and noticed that he was already falling behind. "Time's up, Lady Ixchel." They returned to the ballroom, and as Eli called Yunuen's name, he wondered if it might be better to eliminate Ixchel before the semester started. He'd have to think about that.
It immediately became obvious that Yunuen was not at all similar to her sister. They weren't identical for one, Yunuen's dress was much more form fitting than her sister's had been, and Yunuen seemed almost opposite her sister in personality. As they stepped into the side room, Yunuen tossed her long dark brown hair, and said, "Good morning, Your Highness." She gave him a flirtatious smile.
Shit. Was she flirting? She was flirting. Flirting was the one thing Eli had never understood or known how to deal with, so he was in trouble. "It's just Eli," he said, brushing a strand of his hair out of his eyes nervously.
"Eli, then." She smiled a little bit wider.
"Um, good morning to you too, Lady Yunuen." He mentally swore at himself. He wasn't supposed to use filler words like that, that had been hammered into his head since the age of five. "You're a nursing student, right?" He tried to take the conversation back to territory he could handle.
"I am."
"Will you be continuing your studies while you're in the palace, like your sister?"
Crap. That had been the wrong thing to say. Yunuen looked rather annoyed by the mention of her sister, but went back to smiling quickly. "I won't be. I'm not Ixchel." Even though her tone was light, Eli could tell that she wasn't particularly fond of being compared to her sister.
"I didn't say you were." He glanced at the clock, and saw that time was up. Thank goodness. "I was just wondering if you were going to continue studying, that's all. Unfortunately, our time for today is up." He led her back to the group.
"Lady Violet?" Violet was one of the few fives in the Selection, and she was an artist, so Eli was definitely interested in meeting her. Her dress was far more boring than he had expected, given what she had been wearing in the picture he had seen, so he made a mental note to have a word with Lindsey and see what he could do about letting her pick her own clothes. Nefertiti had clearly picked her own dress, and the only thing Eli could think of that made the two different was caste, and that just plain wasn't fair.
He led her back into the side room, and said, "How have you been liking the palace so far, Lady Violet?"
She glanced around at the room they were standing in, looking at the ornate detailing up near the ceiling and the expensive carpeting on the floor, before answering. "It seems like too much excess, when people are hungry, especially since all of this comes from taxes."
She was right. Maintenance on the palace did come from taxes, but with an attitude like that, he wondered why she had ever signed up for the Selection. She probably needed the money. Eli remembered reading that she lived with her father and her older sister, whose husband had died in an accident.
She suddenly seemed to realize that that might not have been a good thing to say to the Crown Prince, and said, "Oh, I'm sorry, it's very nice, just kind of excessive…" She trailed off, as if she had realized she was digging herself a deeper hole. "It seems like the kind of place you would like." Ouch. It was nothing new, it just still hurt to know that people thought poorly of him, even though it was by his own design. She clapped a hand over her mouth, realizing that she had screwed up even more. "I'm sorry. I just believe in honesty."
"Don't worry about it, it's true that the palace is excessive and I know it." He sighed tiredly. "You're safe, don't worry about it." It wasn't her fault for believing that the image he had intentionally created really was him. "Time's up, Lady Violet. We'll talk more some other time. Just watch what you say. I don't bite, but I know people who do."
Lady Alessandra was extremely obvious in her attempt to get Eli to sleep with her, and he immediately decided that she was going to be part of the group leaving on Friday.
Lady Zenya was a different case than most of the other girls. It had come up in her background check, so Eli was already prepared. He made his way over to her, since she wouldn't be able to hear him call her name. He stood close enough that she would hopefully be able to read his lips. "Lady Zenya? It's your turn." Hopefully she would get that.
She clearly did, because she nodded, and followed him into the side room. Once they were there, he wasn't really sure what to say. "How are you, Lady Zenya?"
It took her a few moments to answer, obviously spent trying to figure out what he said. "I'm good. How are you?"
Tired, was the honest answer. But since when was Eli honest? "I'm fine. How are you liking the palace so far?"
"It's very pretty. Very big. You could get lost just in the area the Selected are allowed to be in."
"Well, that's about to get worse. They're going to open up a library, the music room, and a few smaller sitting rooms for the Selected this afternoon." He could tell that she hadn't gotten much of what he had just said, so he repeated it before she could ask.
"Oh boy. So I'm going to get even more lost then?"
"Probably."
"Oh well. They say getting lost is the best way to learn your way around."
He nodded. "That is true. But I don't know if you can ever really learn the whole palace. I've lived here most of my life, and I still don't really know my way around some parts of the palace."
She nodded, but he could tell that she hadn't really gotten it. But time was up, so he couldn't repeat himself. He was going to have to learn some sign language, or buy her a smartphone, or write to each other, or something, because this wasn't going to cut it.
Lady Mina was next. She was a classic dumb blonde who said 'like' far too much. Eli made a mental note to eliminate her as soon as possible as he called the next name. "Lady Calista?"
She stepped forward, and they headed off into the smaller room together. "Why don't you tell me about your hobbies, Lady Calista?" He asked.
"I like figure skating, photography, and I like horror movies, even though I can't sleep for a week afterwards." She laughed, fiddling with a strand of her hair.
Eli laughed too. "I haven't been skating since I was… maybe eleven? I can't remember. I'm sure it would be a lot harder now than I remember it being."
"Probably," she agreed. "What about you? What are your hobbies?"
He repeated the same answer he had given Nefertiti. "I don't have many hobbies. I spend too much time working."
"Oh. That's a shame. Maybe you should take a break sometime, and do things you enjoy. Too much stress isn't good for anyone"
"Maybe I will." Another lie. He felt as if he was never going to get even enough of a break to catch up on sleep, much less do fun things. The world wasn't just going to stop so Eli could have some space to breath.
He felt a flash of guilt about how easily he lied. What did it say about him that he lied constantly, to everyone he knew? Probably nothing good. "Time is up, though, Lady Calista." He walked her back to the group, still feeling guilty.
He briefly surveyed the group, wondering if he ever could be honest about how he felt with any of them.
Unfortunately, the answer was probably no.
Lady Jodie, Lady Gabriella, and Lady Saige were three different types of definitely not right for Eli. And they were all three blondes, which in Eli's book was the final nail in the coffin after their less than stellar introductions. He'd probably keep Gabriella and Saige a few more weeks, since they were high castes, but Dad would be pleased if he just went ahead and eliminated Jodie, who was a poorer four, so he would.
"Lady Adelynn?" He called. She was blonde, he knew, so he didn't have high hopes, but maybe she would surprise him. It was really unfair to judge her based solely on her hair color.
She came out of the crowd, smiling widely. "Everyone calls me Addie, Your Highness."
"Lady Addie, then," he agreed as they headed towards the side room. "And it's just Eli." He held open the door to the side room, and let her enter first. "How have you been liking the palace so far?"
Addie fiddled with a strand of her hair, tucking it behind her ear and moving it forward again repeatedly. She had gotten a haircut since she had had the picture that had come with her form taken, Eli noticed. "I love it. I never thought I'd get the chance to see the palace from the inside. I've seen pictures, of course, and I drove by the gates once during my first trip to Angeles, but I never even dreamed of getting on a tour."
He wondered momentarily how she had been to Angeles before, before remembering that she was a flight attendant. "I'm glad you've been enjoying your stay so far. Why don't you tell me a little bit more about yourself?"
She took a moment to think about it, fiddling with her hair still. "Well, I'm a flight attendant, and during my times off work I'm a lifeguard. My family lives right up near the ocean, so I practically live on the beach when I'm home. I love basically everything to do with the ocean. I swim, surf, snorkel, and sail." She shifted slightly from foot to foot, as if she had too much energy to be properly contained.
"Oh, I love the ocean too. We'll have to go surfing together sometime. I haven't been in ages, so you'll have to promise not to laugh at how much I'm sure I'll suck."
Addie nodded enthusiastically. "That sounds great!"
"We'll do it sometime then." He glanced up at the clock. "Time's up for today, though."
She nodded, still smiling widely as he led her back to the group.
"Lady Florida?" She stepped forward, wearing a tan, almost sheer but not quite, dress with splotches of sparkly purple decoration place seemingly randomly on it.
She smiled at Eli. "People call me Flo. And yes, I'm named after the American state."
He had assumed he was, since it wasn't exactly not obvious, but he nodded like he had been wondering that and led her into the side room. "Why don't you tell me about yourself, Lady Flo?"
Flo immediately began talking. "Well, I'm from Midston, I just turned nineteen in June, I want to study journalism so the people can hear the truth. I like shopping and makeup and I like to ride. I've heard great things about the stables in the palace, maybe I'll get a chance to go sometime while I'm here…" She continued on, but Eli tuned her out, glad she was willing to do all the talking. She was the twenty-fourth girl, and Eli's nonexistent energy was starting to run low.
Eventually she stopped, and Eli said, "That all seems very interesting. Maybe you will get a chance to go riding while you're here." He personally wasn't a fan of riding, but since Flo was the daughter of Midston's governor he'd probably have to suffer through. "Time is up for today, though."
Eli walked Flo back to the group, but just as he was about to call the next name, a guard tapped him on the shoulder and whispered, "A guest is here for you at the west entrance. He's on the approved list."
Eli nodded, and whispered back, "Thank you. Let him through. I'll be there to say hello after I finish up here." The guard hurried off to do as instructed, and Eli turned back to the group.
Twenty-four down, eleven to go.
AN: I suck at writing flirting, so sorry.
If anyone is wondering, Eli is 5'7".
