The Prince's Quarters, The Palace, July 20th, 4:43pm

Elijah

Classical music played, coming out of the speakers of Eli's phone. He set it on his desk, and moved to stand in the center of the room. "Can you dance?"

Micah shook his head. "Nope. Why do I need to dance?"

"Because there's thirty girls and one of me. Sure, there will be other guests, but I need you to do your part. Come here and dance with me. It's time you learned." He held out a hand. "Can I have this dance?" He asked, having a very hard time keeping a straight face.

Micah rolled his eyes and stood up, joining Eli in the center of the room. "You're ridiculous."

"Yup. Alright, I'll be the girl, left hand on my waist please, hold my right, my left hand goes on your shoulder. Got it?"

"Like this?" Micah placed his hands.

"Yup, that's right." Eli couldn't keep from laughing. "God, this is so weird."

"Tell me about it." Micah laughed too. "Tell me what to do."

"Ummm, left foot forward, right foot to the side, left foot to right foot, back with right foot, side with left foot, right foot to left foot. I do the same thing but backwards."

"Repeat that again, but slower?"

Eli nodded, and started over. There was a lot of swearing and laughing involved as Micah stepped on Eli's feet four times the first time they ran through it, but after a few tries, Micah sort of got the hang of it. "Are we done?" He asked. "I think I've got it."

Eli shook his head. "Nope. You need to learn to make it look pretty, and to travel, because right now we're just dancing in place, and you'll need to move around the floor at the ball."

"Oh, Jesus." Micah sighed loudly, and returned to their previous position. "This is hard."

"And now you know the hell you were exempt from when we were kids." Eli laughed and started counting again, hoping that Micah would get the hang of it well enough to dance with the girls, who wouldn't be very good dancers either.

Eventually, he decided that that Micah was probably good enough, and let him stop. He went to turn off the music, while Micah flopped back on the bed. "This is bad enough sober, how am I supposed to do this after a couple of drinks?"

Eli rolled his eyes. "I've got a simple solution for you. Don't drink."

"What kind of fun are you?"

"The least fun." Eli sat down on the edge of the bed. "I thought you already knew that," he said jokingly.

"You're going to drink, you hypocrite."

"I also learned how to dance when I was eleven, not literally just this afternoon."

"I can dance just fine."

"Anything you would do in a mosh pit doesn't count."

"You mean I can't talk the Selected into starting a wall of death in the middle of the ballroom?"

Eli laughed, flopping back on the bed next to Micah. "No. But if you did it would make my day. Although I think Dad might have a heart attack."

"That would be the point," Micah said, grinning widely. "Alright. It's a plan then." He laughed. "Just kidding. I'll only be highly tempted."

"Behave yourself, please." It might be a lost cause, but Eli still felt like it was worth saying.

"Don't worry. I'm not out to make trouble for you."

That was new. But Eli knew that he meant it. "Thanks."

"Anytime." Micah paused for a moment, and opened his mouth as if to speak, but thought better of it and closed it again. He sat up suddenly, and said, "So, what about dinner? What do you want?"

Eli suddenly got the feeling that something wasn't right, that there was something Micah was keeping from him, but he didn't ask. He'd worry about that later. "I don't know. I'm not hungry."

Eli spent the hours remaining before the ball reading reports and letting Micah force him into eating at least a little bit, until it was time to get ready. Jay came by Eli's room then, looking rather out of place in a suit, and Eli loaned him a tie and a pair of cuff links, after making him promise not to lose them.

At eight o'clock, an hour after the Selected had headed downstairs, the three of them went down to the ballroom. The servants stationed by the doors to the ballroom opened them wide, and the three of them entered. The announcer at the top of the stairs spoke as they stepped inside. "Announcing His Royal Highness Crown Prince Elijah of Illéa."

Eli started his descent down the stairs, listening as Micah and Jay were announced behind him. Dad and Melissa were already present, and Eli could see them already seated on the dais against the back wall. Jenn would be in in a few minutes, and Charles would be after her. It was already past Mel's bedtime, so she wouldn't be in attendance.

Eli lifted a drink off of a passing servants tray, and took a sip, surveying the room, trying to work out where to start. There was a group of musicians set up in one corner of the room, playing music perfect for dancing, and the room was full of the low buzz of conversation.

He spotted Calista across the room, chatting with Isla. That seemed like a good place to start. He made his way over to them. "Lady Calista, Lady Isla," he greeted them. "How has your evening been so far?"

"It's been good," Isla said. "What about yours?"

"I haven't even been here five minutes, so I think it's a bit too early to say. What about you, Lady Calista?"

"It's just Cali, please, Your Highness," she said quietly.

"Just Cali, then." He grinned at her. "Will you dance with me, just Cali?" He asked her, knowing Isla wouldn't be jealous.

She laughed and nodded, smiling, and said, "Of course." He set his drink aside and offered her his arm, which she accepted, and he led her out onto the dance floor.

As they began to dance, he asked, "So, just Cali, have you been enjoying the ball so far?"

"It's like something out of some crazy fairytale." She glanced around at the splendor of the ballroom, not missing a step of the dance in the process. "There's even a prince," she said jokingly.

"I suppose there is." He gave her a slightly fake smile. He was no fairytale prince, and his life only seemed to belong in fairytale from the outside.

Fairytales had happy endings. He didn't expect that he was going to get one.

"You don't have to fake it," she said softly.

"What? What do you mean?" Had she somehow seen through his forced smile?

"You don't have to smile for my sake. It's okay to not be happy."

He shook his head. "I am happy."

"When you're ready to talk about it, you can find me, alright?" She didn't say anything else for the rest of their dance.

When the song ended, Eli led her off the floor. "Thank you for the dance, just Cali."

She nodded. "You're welcome." Addie appeared out of the crowd and reached for her hand, pulling her away. Eli grabbed another drink and headed across the room to join Micah in talking to another group of girls.

Jade and Brielle were standing together, drinks in hand, chatting with Micah. Eli took a sip of his drink as he approached, and said, "Hello, Lady Jade, Elle. How have you been enjoying your evening so far?"

"Well, I'm a little bit sad that nobody's asked me to dance yet," Brielle said, clearly hinting that she wanted Eli to ask her.

Eli knew better, though. He had already been on a date with her, playing favorites this early was a terrible idea. He rested a hand on Micah's shoulder. "How about you ask Lady Brielle to dance, then?" He leaned in to whisper in Micah's ear. "She's been in musicals, she's a good dancer."

Micah shot Eli a dirty look, but did as requested. He turned to Brielle and asked, "Can I have this dance, Lady Brielle?"

"Of course," she said politely, accepting his hand and letting him lead her out onto the floor.

Eli turned to Jade. She was wearing a black ballgown with cutouts exposing her shoulders. "While Lady Brielle is occupied, would you like to dance?" He held out his hand towards her, setting his drink aside.

She eagerly accepted it and let him lead her out onto the floor. Eli briefly wondered if he was ever going to get to finish a drink, but he supposed it was really his own fault. He didn't have to ask Jade to dance if he didn't want to.

They danced together, then she left to find Isla, and Eli headed across the room to find someone else to talk to. He spotted Flo, in a one-shouldered dress with the top section covered in a floral design, and decided that he didn't particularly want to talk to her tonight. It might be a good idea to keep her for a bit, thanks to her father's position, but that didn't mean he had to talk to her.

His eyes fell on Liath, who was standing near the back wall, a drink in hand, wearing a dress similar to the one she had been wearing when they first met, but in a mermaid style, and a deep blue color with a gold floral pattern, grey hair pulled back in a neat bun.

Yeah, that was a good place to start. He desperately wanted to talk to her some more. He crossed the room towards her, joining her against the back wall. "Hello, Lady Liath."

She nodded towards him as he approached. "Hello." She took a sip of her drink, giving Eli a good view of the tattoo on her right wrist. It was made up of a series of lines, circling around her wrist.

"I like your tattoo. The one on your wrist." He gestured towards it. "Does it mean anything in particular, or…" He trailed off, hoping he hadn't accidentally asked the wrong question. He did too much of that sometimes.

"It's my team's motto." She switched her drink to her other hand so she could tilt her wrist to show him the whole tattoo. "It means ad astra quoquo modo, which is Latin for to the stars, through any means."

"Cool. I like that a lot." He smiled at her, a slightly more genuine smile than the smiles he had given some of the other girls. "Do you want to dance?" He held out a hand. It was totally an excuse to be physically close to her, but that was probably alright. After all, it was a ball, the whole point was to dance.

"Of course," she said, accepting his hand. He led her out onto the dance floor.

They didn't talk much while they danced, but she seemed to enjoy herself. When the song ended, Eli said goodbye, and wove his way through the crowd, looking for someone else to talk to.

He spotted a number of girls together near a table of refreshments, and made his way over. Lennox, who was wearing a tight-fitting strapless black dress, was chatting with Elaine, who was wearing a white and grey off-the-shoulder dress with what looked to be a floral pattern on it. Marlee and Thea were together, debating what kind of drinks to grab for the rest of their group. Marlee was wearing a black ball gown with the top section split down the middle. Thea was wearing an off-the-shoulder dress made of sheer black material covered with a silver star pattern, with white material beneath it to make the dress modest enough.

He approached Marlee and Thea first, since he had gotten along well enough with both of them. "Hello Lady Marlee, Lady Thea. I personally think that Thea is right about which drinks you should take back, but that's just me."

Thea smiled at Marlee, clearly tipsy already. Eli remembered that she was only twenty, and wondered if this was her first time drinking. "See? I told you those are better." Or maybe not. If she had strong opinions about what kind of alcohol was better, she probably had at least some experience.

Marlee rolled her eyes. "I suppose I'm outvoted then." She laughed, and grabbed two drinks off the table. "Let's go and find Addie and Lydie then." She waved to Eli as she headed off into the crowd.

Thea grabbed two drinks herself, and followed, leaving Eli to talk to Elaine and Lennox. His first meeting with both of them had been slightly awkward, so he supposed he had some work to do to have a non-awkward conversation with both of them. He grabbed a drink off the table, and took a sip before approaching them. "Hello Lady Lennox, Lady Elaine."

They both turned from their conversation to look at him, and Elaine said, "Hello, Your Highness. It's just Lainey, please."

"Then you'll have to call me Eli. Forget the titles, please." He smiled at her, fake as usual.

"Alright," she agreed, taking a sip of her drink.

"How have you two been enjoying the ball?"

Lennox answered first. "It's something alright. I've never seen anything like it." He remembered that she had been a waitress from a small town. Even the most normal parts of his life would be kind of insane to her. That was something to keep in mind later down the line. It might be easier to marry someone who would have an easier time fitting in and adapting to the lifestyle of the royal family.

Lainey nodded. "It's wonderful. I've been having a good time dancing. I haven't gotten a chance to do much dancing since I arrived at the palace."

Eli made a mental note to tell Lindsey to open up an empty room for Lainey and Lena to practice in if they wanted to, and said, "Have you been doing any dancing, Lady Lennox?"

She shook her head. "I don't think my dancing skills are quite up to snuff."

"Oh, that's too bad, I was going to ask you."

Lennox shook her head. "I think I'd probably step on your feet."

"I spent this afternoon teaching Micah to dance, it's probably wise of you to give my poor toes a break." He laughed.

Lainey and Lennox laughed as well, and Lainey said, "You did a good job, though. I danced with him earlier and I wouldn't have known that he just learned this afternoon."

Eli turned back to Lennox. "See? I'm a great teacher according to Lainey, if you dance with me you're sure to improve."

She shook her head. "No thanks. I was going to find Addie anyway."

"Alright. Lady Marlee and Lady Thea were going to take her a drink, I think they headed that way." Eli gestured in the direction Marlee and Thea had headed.

Lennox nodded. "Thanks." She headed in the direction Eli had indicated.

Eli turned back to Lainey. "Would you like to dance with me? Or have you had enough of dancing already?"

"I would love to," she said, setting her drink aside. Eli did the same, and offered her his arm to lead her out onto the floor. She really was a good dancer, Eli noticed. Liath had been good enough, and so had Jade and Cali, but Lainey was much better than any of them had been, thanks to having had actual training in dance previously.

When the song ended, they parted ways, and Eli headed through the crowd, looking for another Selected to talk to. He was stopped multiple times by random guests as he attempted to cross the room, and it was a while before he managed to catch one of the Selected.

Nefertiti was near the back of the room, chatting with Jay. Eli approached the two of them, and said to Jay, "Mind if I borrow Lady Nefertiti for a minute?"

"Of course not." Jay stepped away, heading for Yunuen, who was wearing a red dress with a deep and very revealing v-neckline, and Eli turned to Nefertiti. She was wearing a tight-fitting sparkly off-the-shoulder dress with a low neckline. Her sleeves started at the same point as the neckline of her dress, and went down to her elbows, where they ended in long, billowy sheer fabric that hung down. There was a slit up one side of her skirt, ending well above her knee. She wore plain silver heels held on her feet by thin straps, and a delicate silver necklace.

"How have you been enjoying your evening so fair, Lady Nefertiti?"

"It's been wonderful." She adjusted her long brown hair, which had been left flowing loose. "How has yours been?"

He was surprised that she had asked, just like he had been when they had first met. But really, he shouldn't have been. "It's been fine. I would be having a better time if I actually got a chance to finish a drink, though."

A flash of… something… crossed her face, but Eli couldn't tell what it was that she was thinking. "We can fix that." She grabbed two drinks off of a nearby servant's tray, and handed one to Eli. "Here you go."

He took a sip, watching her as she drank from her own glass. She was really very pretty. He hadn't really noticed when they had first met, he hadn't focused very much on what the girls all looked like. But now, her looks had caught his attention.

"So, this is your scene then?" She asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you go to parties like this often?"

He shook his head, taking another sip of his drink. "My birthday was the last one, and before that it was Jenn's birthday. Which is in April. So not really, no." He looked around the ballroom. "This isn't really much of a party. Usually there would be an after party, but my friend who usually organizes that is in France with his girlfriend right now."

She raised her eyebrows. "So what is your scene then?"

That was a difficult question. He could describe a party, and keep up his reputation, or tell her he did nothing but work these days really. He couldn't help but remember even farther back, to the hours spent in Isabelle's apartment. But that was long gone now.

He shrugged. "I don't really know. A lot has changed lately." He left it at that. She didn't need to know that 'lately' really meant 'a year ago'. He finished his drink, and set the empty glass down on a nearby table. "Thank you for the excuse to stay in one place and finish a drink. I'd better be moving on, though."

She nodded. "Of course. Enjoy the rest of your night."

"You too," he said as he headed off into the crowd. He had spotted Cassandra's distinctive red hair from across the room, and decided that it was probably a good idea to go and spend some time with her. Cassandra wore a sparkly dark red v-neck dress, and had her hair up in an elaborate braided bun.

"Hello Lady Cassandra," he said as he approached. "May I have this dance?" He offered her his arm to lead her out onto the floor if she accepted.

She nodded, and said, "Of course," as she accepted his arm.

Cassandra was a good dancer too, even though as far as Eli knew she wasn't a dancer. He half wondered if she had been deliberately groomed for her role ahead of time. It wasn't completely out of the realm of possibility for his father to have planned something like that, after all.

After his dance with Cassandra, Eli looked around for Yunuen, but saw her on Jay's arm, headed for the dance floor for the next song. She was busy then, he'd have to see if he could catch her later. He looked for her sister, but didn't spot her, so he headed over to talk to Zenya. He had seen her several times throughout the night, but she had been with Addie, Lydie, and Thea on those occasions, so he hadn't gone up to talk to her. Now that she was on her own, he did.

If he had to make a list of his favorites right at that moment, Zenya would be on it somewhere. They had texted a little bit on and off over the week, and it had always been a pleasant distraction from what was going on in his day.

He fished his phone out of his pocket as he approached. She looked up and waved at him as he came closer, so he knew he had her attention. "Hello, Lady Zenya. Do you have your phone with you?" He tapped on the screen of his own phone, so she would get the idea.

She shook her head, accidentally dislodging a strand of her hair from the bun it was in. "No pockets in this dress." Zenya was wearing a pink halter neck dress, which was plainer than some of the things the other girls had picked.

He laughed, and slid his phone back into his pocket as she fixed the loose strand of hair. "Of course not. You look nice, though, even if it is impractical." She didn't say anything in reply, so he assumed she hadn't understood him. "Will you dance with me?" He gestured towards the dance floor to help her figure out what he was saying. "We can just dance, we don't have to talk."

She smiled widely at him. "I would love to."

He smiled back, a genuine smile this time, and offered her his arm.

After they had danced and parted ways, Eli slipped off to a corner of the ballroom to send her a text. She wouldn't see it until later, but that was alright.

Elijah: I tried to tell you earlier, but I don't think you understood. You looked really nice tonight :)

He put his phone back in his pocket, and went back to looking for Ixchel. Eventually he found her, wearing a sparkly one-shouldered rose gold dress that shone under the light cast from the chandeliers of the ballroom.

"Hello, Lady Ixchel," he said as he approached.

She gave him an appraising look as he approached, but after a few moments her face changed to a smile, as if she was pleased with what she saw. "Hello, Your Highness."

"It's just Eli, please."

She raised her eyebrows, but didn't comment on his request. "Have you been enjoying yourself?"

"Sure." He wondered just how much all the Selected had bought into the party boy image. Suddenly Nefertiti's questions made a lot more sense. She was trying to figure out just how right the media was about him. And he hadn't done himself any favors by saying that his night would be better if he got a chance to finish a drink. Well, if he wanted to keep up the act for the Selected, he had done himself plenty of favors. He wasn't sure yet just how honest he wanted to be with them. "What about you?"

"I have. I talked to your sister for a little bit. I think we'll get along very well. I'm impressed that she's studying even though she doesn't have to."

"Yeah, Jenn is impressive like that," he agreed, tucking a strand of hair back behind his ear. He wished, not for the first time, that Jenn had been the first-born. But if he was honest with himself, he wouldn't want to do that to her. Better for him to take the shit, better for him to be the one with the fake relationship. At least he wouldn't have to marry a guy, like she would. He was sure she felt about the same way about the idea of marrying a guy as he did.

Ixchel interrupted his thoughts. "Have you seen Lydie anywhere lately? I've been looking for her all night."

He shook his head. "No, not lately. I haven't spoken to her yet, I probably should."

She nodded. "Of course. I'll see you around then?"

He nodded as well, and headed off to find Lydie. On his way over, he spotted Wilhelmina chatting with Melissa. He didn't want to talk to Wilhelmina, but he couldn't avoid her forever just because it was awkward. So he approached them. "Do you mind if I steal Willa for a minute?" He asked Melissa. He was still kind of annoyed at her for talking to Lainey before he did, but he didn't let it show on his face. Jenn was always reminding him that he needed to be the better person, and that he wasn't doing anything to fix the mess that was their family acting like a child, and she was probably right. Although in Eli's opinion his relationship with anyone other than her, Mom, and Mel was beyond salvaging, so he might as well just torpedo them and have a good time doing it.

That was another reason Jenn should have been the oldest. She was the only one who was actually trying to bring everyone together again. She was crazy for trying, but still, it was admirable.

Melissa smiled at him. "Of course. I was just about to go and find your father anyway." She stepped away, leaving him with Wilhelmina. He felt a flash of annoyance as she left. Melissa always thought she was trying to make things better, but she just pissed him off when she tried to play nice.

Wilhelmina was wearing a dark green dress, with a cream portion dividing her skirt in half down the front. It was strapless, and had gold detailing across the top potion, and scattered across the green parts of the skirt. She turned to him, skirt swishing. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Just thought I should. I can't really avoid you forever."

"No, you can't," she agreed. "Thank you, by the way. For not eliminating me on the spot."

"Who says I still can't?" He joked, but then added seriously, "I won't, thought. I can promise you at least another month or two."

She nodded. "I appreciate it. A lot."

"No problem." He ran a hand through his hair. "Just so you know, I never hated you. You might have hated me, but I never hated you."

She folded her arms. "You and Micah embarrassed me in front of everyone, of course I hated you."

"Oh, this is about that?" He only vaguely remembered the incident in question, and certainly hadn't thought it was such a big deal. "It wasn't meant to go that far. And we did apologize."

"Your mother made you."

"We were just having fun, and it got out of hand. And you got your revenge, I remember that. So let's just put all this in the past, it was more than a decade ago, and we're all adults now."

"You were the one who brought it up again."

"You're the one who still won't talk to Micah."

She paused for a moment. "You're right," she conceded. "That wasn't fair. That was the past." She glanced around the room. "Where is he anyway?"

Eli shrugged. "No idea. I haven't seen him in a bit." He glanced around the room as well, but didn't spot him. "Anyway, I'd better get going. I was actually looking for someone."

She nodded. "Alright." She smiled at him. "And thank you again."

He left her, and wove his way through the crowd, and eventually spotted Lydie, standing partially concealed by a potted plant in one corner of the room. He went over to her, and stepped back behind the leaves so he was partially concealed as well. "Hiding, Lady Lydie?"

She was wearing a dress with a grey skirt and a black top section, with a deep v-neck. The skirt was covered in a pattern of black, grey, and copper flowers. She looked over at Eli as he entered her hiding spot, clearly startled to see him. "I mean…"

She began to say no, but Eli fixed her with a look that screamed are you sure about that, and she changed her answer. "Oh, alright, kind of."

"Who are you hiding from?"

She shrugged. "Just someone I didn't want to talk to."

"Okay." That was a little bit concerning, but he didn't want to pry… No, actually, fuck it, he wanted to know. If there was a problem, he wanted to fix it. "Who? One of the Selected?"

She hesitated again. "I… Yes."

"Who?" Eli asked again. He was really worried now. He didn't want the Selected to fight.

She paused for a moment, as if she was making a decision. "Flo," she eventually said. "She keeps talking about all these crazy conspiracy theories, and it's really annoying."

Eli suddenly wondered what he had missed when he had tuned Flo out when they first met. Eh, she was most likely harmless, he wouldn't worry about it. "Ah. Sounds annoying. I've actually been avoiding her myself."

Lydie raised her eyebrows. "So are you telling me her days are numbered?"

"Unfortunately not. She's a Two, after all."

"Oh, so that's how this works," she said, disgust obvious on her face.

"Yeah. It is," he admitted. "I don't really like it, but there are people in high places who would prefer to see me marry someone of status, and sometimes the fight just isn't worth it." He was careful not to throw his father under the bus with his words. Dad deserved it, but that didn't mean Eli could talk shit about him freely.

"So the Elite will be all Twos then."

Eli shook his head. "Just between you and me, I think that's highly unlikely. There are some fights that are worth fighting. But keeping Flo for a while longer is not one of them."

"So you're a self-centered doormat. Got it."

He paused for a moment, shocked. He hadn't expected that. "I try not to be."

"Sure. You try."

Eli glanced around the ballroom, making sure nobody was looking their way. "Let's take this out to the hallway, okay?"

"What? Why?"

"Around here there's always someone watching," he said grimly. "Come on." He stepped out from behind the potted plant, and headed out into the hallway, checking every so often to see if she was following. She did follow, and he led her to the entrance to a nearby secret passage. He pressed on the right spot in the paneling to open it, and gestured for her to step in first.

She shook her head, and waited for him to go first. Whatever. It didn't really matter. He stepped inside, and waited for her to join him. He quickly showed her how to open the door, and closed it, so they were standing together in the dark. He pulled out his phone and switched on the flashlight. "I'm sorry about this, but there's always eyes on me, and I want to clear up any issues you might have with me, without anyone listening. First of all, I am trying, but I am very much not in power here, you have to understand that. I might be the crown prince, but I will be ultimately powerless until my father dies. And you know what, I might have given up on some things, but I have a reason for that. Ever taken an economics class? Resources are finite, and you have to choose where to use them, and for every choice there are trade-offs. I fight for things that are more important than eliminating Flo as soon as I would like."

She shook her head. "They don't teach economics in public schools."

"See what I mean? Ultimately, whether I eliminate Flo next week or in two or three months doesn't actually matter. It won't change anything important, so it's not worth the fight."

"What about your happiness?"

"Didn't you just say I was self-centered?" He laughed, running a hand through his hair. He had been more honest with Lydie than he intended to be, but he felt better after talking.

She paused, before saying, "I think I might have been wrong."

Eli smiled at her, the second genuine smile at her. "Let's go back to the ball. I want you to dance with me."

"I'd love to." She reached up to hit the catch of the door, and stepped out, holding out a hand behind her for him. He accepted it, and they walked back to the ball together. Lydie was definitely going next to Zenya on the list, he decided. Both of them were somehow capable of making him actually smile.

After they danced, Eli decided that it was time for a bit of a break from the ball. He'd talk to the last few girls after he had a few minutes by himself. He headed for the stairs up to the balcony that surrounded the room. On his way up, he encountered Violet, who was wearing a bright orange dress with fabric butterflies attached to the straps. Good. Lindsey had taken him seriously when he had told her to let Violet have more of a say about her own wardrobe, within reason.

"Hello, Lady Violet."

She smiled at him. "Hello."

"I'd ask you how you've been enjoying the ball, but I'm afraid of what your answer might be," he joked, remembering their first meeting.

She laughed slightly. "I actually think this whole thing is kind of fun. Kind of wasteful, but really fun. I mean, who wouldn't love getting to dress up and feel like a princess for the evening?"

"It's overrated," he said. "Just ask either of my sisters. Mel desperately wants to be a superhero instead of a princess."

"I know. She came to the Women's Room last week, and Brielle asked if she wanted to sing songs about princesses. Mel said she was already a princess, so she didn't need to sing about it."

Eli laughed. "Sounds like her. She's a handful alright." He turned to continue up the stairs. "Have a good rest of the night, alright?"

Violet nodded, and continued down the stairs.

When Eli reached the top, he spotted Gemma standing at the railing, and headed over towards her. That was excellent timing. She was one of the last people on his list to talk to tonight.

He walked over to join her at the railing. "Hello, Lady Gemma. You look nice tonight." She really did. She was wearing a short-sleeved dress covered in flower details. It was white at the top, but partway down, the skirt changed to a soft blue color, and her brown hair was down, framing her face.

Gemma smiled as he approached. "Thank you. You don't look bad yourself."

He self-consciously tucked a strand of hair behind his ear. "Thanks." He didn't think he was particularly attractive, but he supposed that he really wasn't his own type, being a straight man and all. "Have you been enjoying yourself?"

She hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "I have. How about you?"

He thought back over his evening. "Yeah, I've had a good time." Eli rested his hands on the railing of the balcony. He really kind of had had a good time. He wasn't the world's biggest fan of balls, but seeing all the Selected had been pretty fun. It hadn't felt as much like work as the first meetings had. Maybe that was because he had had a couple of drinks over the course of the night. Maybe the first meetings would have been easier if he had had a drink first. Probably. "Have you had a good past two weeks? I know we haven't seen each other much, but I want to change that."

She nodded. "The other girls have actually been really cool, I've enjoyed getting to spend some time with them. There's a lot of really different people here, and it's been cool to meet them all." Gemma paused, then said, "Are you asking me out?"

"I'm glad. I've been worried about fights." He shrugged at her question. "If you want me to be, I am."

"I haven't seen anyone actually fighting. There's a few people who don't like each other very much, and Yunuen and Ixchel, the twins, they legitimately hate each other I'm pretty sure, but there haven't been any arguments or anything." She paused before saying, "I want you to be asking me out, I think."

"That's good, I'm glad." He turned to give her genuine smile number three. "It's a date then. Tomorrow morning, we'll do breakfast at ten."

She raised her eyebrows. "Tomorrow? Won't you be hungover?"

He shook his head. "I had maybe two drinks, I'll be fine." The party boy reputation biting him in the ass again, damn it. Did everyone think he was constantly getting drunk? Had he really done that good of a job keeping his reputation up?

"Really?" She paused for a moment, as if she was realizing she sounded a little bit too surprised, and Eli might be offended. "I didn't mean it like that." She paused again. "If I was in your shoes I'd need more than a couple of drinks to get through a party like this. On your side of things it sounds more stressful than fun."

"Really. Don't believe everything you hear in the media, they like to blow things out of proportion." And the royal family was a bunch of liars. "I actually had a good time. Now, the first time I met you all, I could have used a couple of drinks first." He laughed. "But I didn't, because I didn't need to do anything stupid."

She laughed. "Like plan a date for the morning after a party?"

"Nah, I'm not going to regret that."

Gemma nodded. "Whatever you say," she said jokingly, gazing back out over the ballroom. Apparently she spotted something, because she said, "I'm going to go help Thea fix her hair. I'll see you tomorrow?" She asked, stepping away from the balcony railing.

Eli nodded too. "Yup. See you." She left the balcony, and Lena came up the stairs to take her place at Eli's side. She was wearing a sparkly silver dress with a low neckline and long sleeves made of sheer material with sparkly silver detailing similar to the color of the dress.

She rested a hand on his shoulder. "Don't you think it's time to be getting out of here? Going somewhere? Your room maybe?" She gave him a seductive smile.

For a moment, he was tempted to take her up on it. She was his type, that was for sure. And it had been so long since he had had sex. But he didn't necessarily want to pick her in the end, and if he took her up on it, she would expect to be the one receiving the ring. And if she didn't, she would have plenty of ammunition to mess things up. So the wise choice was to say no. There were other girls, who he found much more interesting as people, and to sleep with someone so early in the game might alienate a lot of them if word got out. So he turned to Lena and said, "I think it's time for you to be going back to your room. Alone. A little bit too much to drink, maybe?" He offered her an easy excuse for her behavior, if she wanted to take it.

She looked disappointed, but walked away anyway, headed for the stairs down from the balcony, back to the ball below.

Eli decided that he needed even more distance from the ball. There was still an hour left, he could come back and catch Addie and Yunuen after a little bit of a break. He headed out a side door from the balcony, into a hallway on the first floor.

He was met with the sound of someone retching. It didn't take him long to find Marlee, down a side corridor, head over a potted plant. He instantly felt kind of bad for her, even though it was most likely her own fault.

She finished puking, and straightened up, wiping at her eyes and smudging her already smudged makeup even more. She caught sight of Eli, standing at the end of the corridor, and immediately buried her face in her hands, as if she was trying to hide the mess she was.

"Want a hair tie?" Eli asked, making sure he didn't sound judgemental. He had no right to judge.

She nodded miserably, and Eli fished one out of his pocket and walked closer to hand it to her. "You just carry hair ties?" She asked as she fumbled with her hair, trying to get it put up.

"I have long hair too," he said, watching her fumble. "Mind if I fix that for you?" He asked after her attempt at a bun fell apart again.

Marlee shook her head, and he moved a little closer and crouched down next to her, quickly pulling her hair back into a mostly neat ponytail. "There. Is that better?" He straightened up.

She nodded, and stood up, kicking off her heels and leaning against the wall next to her for balance.

Eli searched around in his pockets again, and pulled out a box of breath mints. He shook the box slightly in her direction, and asked, "Want one?"

"I will never not be freaked out by the amount of stuff guys can carry in their pockets," she said, holding out a hand to accept a mint.

Eli gave her one, and put the box back in his pocket, shrugging. "I guess I do have a lot of stuff in my pockets." He paused for a moment, then said, "Do you need help finding your room again?"

She hesitated, but eventually nodded. As they made their way back to her room, Eli let her lean on his shoulder for balance, and carried her heels for her with one hand. He delivered her into the care of her maids, and headed back towards the ballroom.

Once he arrived at the ballroom again, he found that the musicians were playing their last song, and both Yunuen and Addie were gone. Disappointed, he headed out again, intending to go to bed, but almost immediately spotted Addie in the corridor. She was wearing a blue v-neck dress with blue flowers around the base of the skirt, and was holding her heels in one hand, walking barefoot down the hall.

Eli hurried to catch up with her. "I was looking for you," he said. "I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to talk to you earlier tonight."

She smiled as he caught up with her and matched his pace with hers. "It's alright. We'll have other chances to dance."

Eli was about to promise that they would indeed have another chance to dance sometime soon, but he remembered that he had some music on his phone from teaching Micah to dance that afternoon. "How about right now?"

"The musicians are leaving, though."

"No, I have music on my phone. Don't ask why." He held out a hand. "Can I have this dance, Lady Addie?"

Her smile widened. "Of course." She accepted his hand, and let him pull her into a side room. He didn't bother with the lights, the light spilling in from the hallway was plenty. He set his phone on a side table, and hit play on the music before getting into position in the center of the room with Addie. Fortunately he had picked a room without any furniture or carpeting in the middle of it.

They began to dance. Addie was a decent dancer, although it was fairly obvious she had only learned a week ago. When the music stopped, neither of them was in any hurry to move. She was staring at him with her dark brown eyes, smiling happily, still holding onto one of his hands, one hand on his shoulder. She was taller than him, he noticed, even without the heels, which she hadn't bothered to put back on, and had left on the floor by the entrance to the room.

It suddenly occurred to Eli that she most likely wanted him to kiss her.

He wasn't sure he wanted to do that. Actually, he really didn't want to do that. The last person he had kissed was Isabelle. He wasn't ready to kiss someone new yet. It would be different. It wouldn't be right. Even though she was dead and didn't give a damn what he was doing now, the very idea of kissing Addie felt like a betrayal to her memory. Thinking about it intellectually, the idea of kissing any of the Selected hadn't felt like a big deal, but now that the moment where it might make sense to do such a thing was here, he found it was actually a big fucking deal.

Fortunately, he was spared from having to either suck it up and kiss her or tell Addie no by Jay's appearance in the doorway. "Eli? Can you come here for a minute?"

Eli pulled away from Addie, mumbling, "Sorry. I should find out what he wants."

She let him go, and he joined Jay in the doorway. "What's up?" He asked.

Jay took a deep breath and let it out, before saying, "I… found Micah." By the look in Jay's eyes, Eli immediately knew exactly what that meant.

"Shit."


AN: I'm sorry this chapter was a little longer than the usual chapter, it got out of hand fast. Also, I apologize for the cliffhanger. And I apologize in advance for what I did.