Chapter 53

Ray's POV

Ray sat in the hospital wing, in a not-so-cozy chair next to his brother's bed. Christian was still in his medical induced coma, to prevent him from damaging his eye more, or risking anything else. They'd done a major surgery, but were unable to save his eye. He'd have to cover it for the rest of his life. Ray sighed, and leaned back.

He was in his best suit, it was only half an hour until the Report. The Report where he'd reveal to all of Illea who he'd chosen from his Selection. Ray could only hope he was making the right choice. He ran a hand through his hair, and immediately cringed, the makeup ladies would need to fix that now.

Ray glanced to Christian, and sat forward, he leaned on his knees, and spoke quietly, "I know you can't exactly reassure me right now, but, you also said I could talk to you whenever, so here I am. I- I want to make the best decision, you know? I want to pick who my heart is telling me, but I also want to make sure they're good for Illea. Dad has already blessed all three remaining Selected, Evie, Brendan and Jed." Ray laughed, "Yeah, even Brendan, it took some convincing, though. I still don't think either of them likes the other. Jed and especially Evie were easy enough to have Dad agree to."

Ray paused, gaze going to the nearest window. The first snowfall of this year was happening. It didn't often snow around Angeles, so this was likely to be one of the only snowfalls. Ray sighed as he spoke, eyes still trained to the barren outside.

"I know who my heart wants, and I know you'd support me anyway, but- there's always that fear, too. What if they don't want to be royal? All three of them have good careers ahead of them.

'You're right, though, being myself, and choosing what's best for me is above all. I know you'd tell me to follow my heart if you were here. Or maybe not, I don't know, you listen to your head more than your heart." Ray laughed to himself, glancing back at Christian. But it Christian could choose to follow his heart with Ivy, then Ray could choose to follow his heart, too.

Ray sighed, and stood, taking Christian's hand in his, squeezing it lightly before leaving the hospital wing. He made his way to the Report room, and immediately he was surrounded by makeup ladies. They applied makeup, and scoffed, shaking their heads as they tried to make Ray's curls look better.

Eventually they left, and Ray was approached by Evie. She smiled at him, and took his hands in hers. "Ray, I know you must be a little nervous, but no matter what, it's going to be okay."

Ray nodded, and offered a small smile, "Thanks, Evie." She quickly walked away, getting her hair touched up by the makeup ladies.

Jed was next to approach Ray, smiling as well, though his was a bit sadder. "How are you?"

Ray shrugged, "I've been better. I feel like after this whole thing is over I'll finally be able to rely on some sort of stability."

Jed chuckled, nodding, then he said, "Ray, I- I want you to follow your heart, even if it's not me."

Ray was about to protest, but how could he tell Jed not to say that? He couldn't give away yet whether he'd chosen Jed as his winner or not. Ray only nodded, and Jed walked away, moving to the center of the stage, where Evie joined him.

Ray took a deep breath, and made to follow them, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. Ray turned to see Brendan staring at him, his expression unreadable, but seemingly flashing a million emotions.

Brendan took a moment to collect himself, then said, "You remember my favor, right? Now's the time. Am I going home?"

Ray's heart squeezed as he saw the desperate look in Brendan's eyes. Not desperate for him necessarily, but desperate to know if he'd wasted all this time on Ray, wasted his heart. Ray opened his mouth, but a stage hand ushered Brendan away, next to Jed.

Ray watched as Brendan tried to fix his posture, trying to collect himself for the camera that would be going live in mere seconds. Robert was getting ready, and would announce Ray, where he would take it from there.

Robert threw on a giant grin, light reflecting off his impossibly white teeth as the camera light turned red, indicating it was live. "Hello Illea! Welcome to the Report! Due to recent tragedies, we had to skip last week's Report, but we'd like to take this moment to remember the memory of our late Queen Emily." The stage fell silent, and Ray's heart sank. He felt tears prick at his eyes at the thought that his mother would never know who he chose, what her grandkids would be like, how Ray would rule.

Robert continued, "Thank you, the funeral will be private, but it will be aired live if you would like to follow along." Robert suddenly turned his mood around, "But! For now, the moment you've been waiting for! Prince Rayden, would you please step over here?"

Ray took a deep breath, and stepped forward, looking from his Selected to Robert. Robert smiled, and asked, "So, Your Highness, are you ready to choose your love?"

Ray nodded, and turned to the camera, "People of Illea, I've never been someone who could decide what their heart wants. I always felt like I had a sense of duty to my mind, and to everyone else, before I had a duty to myself. But this, this choice is something my heart is deciding. My spouse, should they so choose, is someone who I've fallen deeply in love with. They give me the most happiness and there's an undeniable spark. I hope that with them I can be a leader for the people, someone who cares for all the people of Illea, not just the upper castes. So….without further ado…."

Ray took a deep breath and turned to his Selected. They all gazed at him hopefully, although there was also that undeniable fear in their eyes. Ray felt the fear rising in himself too. He opened his mouth though, and offered a smile as he said, "Brendan Morgan, will you do me the honor of accepting my heart? Will you be my One? My future royal equal?"

Brendan's mouth dropped open, and the others seemed reasonably upset, Evie crying, while Jed smiled sadly, nodding to himself for comfort. Brendan stepped forward, approaching Ray carefully.

"Are- are you sure? I'm what you want, because you're stuck with me forever, Little Prince." Brendan replied, not quite believing Ray had really chosen him.

Ray smiled, and nodded, "Yes, Brendan, I choose you. You've stolen my heart."

Brendan's eyes were tearing up, and he nodded eagerly, "Okay then. Yes, I will gladly accept the victory."

Ray laughed, and kissed Brendan, holding him closely. Cheers from the crew erupted, and Brendan and Ray separated. Ray went to talk to Jed and Evie. He approached Jed first.

Jed wiped away a tear, but he smiled, "I'm proud of you, you followed your heart." Ray smiled sadly, as Jed continued, "At least now I can travel with my brother."

Ray nodded, "I'm sorry, but you're right. I couldn't keep you here, especially when I was in love with Brendan."

Jed nodded, and gave Ray a quick hug, "Thanks for the adventure." Ray hugged him back, then turned to Evie.

Evie was wiping away streams of tears, but she took a shuddering breath, "I'm so happy for you, Ray."

Ray gave a half hearted smile. "I'm sorry, Evie, but we didn't work before, and it wasn't working completely now."

Evie nodded, "I understand." She walked away, but Ray wished her happiness in the future. He turned back to Brendan, smiling.

Brendan smiled too, "Come on, I have a gift for you."

Ray, curious, followed Brendan back to his room. Inside, Brendan led the way towards the side table in his room. He pulled out a box, which he later explained he'd previously pulled out to prepare for packing if he went home.

Brendan turned towards Ray, and held out the box, "This is for you."

Ray opened the box, and gasped as he saw a heart shaped sapphire necklace inside. "Brendan, this is-"

"I have one just like it. It's ruby, though. To represent identical hearts together." Brendan replied, pulling his necklace out from under his shirt. Ray smiled softly, and kissed Brendan again.

"I love it." Ray stated, slipping the necklace on over his head. "And I love you."

Brendan's eyes widened, and he grinned, "I love you too, Little Prince, Ray."

They left Brendan's room, on their way to talk to all of the staff, and say final goodbyes to Evie and Jed. This was the start of something amazing.


Hello everyone! Oh my gosh, wow, okay, so we reached the final chapter! The only thing after this is the epilogue! Wow, I'm so proud, and so amazed I got to share this story with all of you. I hope that you come back for the epilogue, and I'll see most of you in the sequel.

Until the last~