CHAPTER 26

The rest of the weekend passed with little incident. Luke tried to steer clear of the families for the most part, and that resulted in him spending most of his time in his room. Eh. That was no different from how he spent most of his time before the selection anyway. His parents were far too busy playing host to all their guests, the selected were far too busy spending time with their loved ones, and Farrah and Max were far too busy with all their usual meetings and parties they had to attend.

True to her word, the day after Farrah had told the families about her pregnancy, the story had been plastered on every newspaper in the country, and (though Luke couldn't be sure) most of Europe too. Luke was happy for her sure, but at the same time he was a tad bit jealous. She always had to steal his spotlight no matter what. He tried not to think about that too much, he should be glad despite her fertility struggles, it seemed that she would be able to carry this pregnancy to term.

Still though, she couldn't have waited till after his selection?

All being said, Luke was thankful when this miserable visit was put to an end. He went down to the foyer to say goodbye to everyone for the last time. Laena left smiling broadly with her family, though she was the only one. The rest of the girls were frowning, or -in the case of Sydney- bawling their eyes out. Even Ophelia was tearing up as she left.

Luke had gone by her room last night to explain that she was being eliminated.

"We need to talk." Was all he had to say for Ophelia to start crying. She obviously assumed that she was going to be eliminated, but the reality of it coming out of his mouth was too much to bear. He felt horrible for doing it, but he just couldn't be with someone who had broken his trust. Luke liked to think he was forgiving, but this was something he just couldn't move on from. She had been upset, but Luke suspected it was more with herself for lying than with Luke for eliminating her.

Thank God for that.

"Alright." Luke said, clapping his hands together as the doors slammed shut, the last family (The Youngs) had just exited the palace. The women focused on him, brushing their tears away and forcing smiles on all of their faces. "How does everyone feel about a beach day?"

Sable raised her hand. "Isn't the water going to be cold?" She asked.

Oh. He actually hadn't thought about that. With it being early May, the sun was blaring down on Angeles. It was scorching outside. The water would be warm then, right?

"Nah. It'll be fine." Luke assured her, waving away Sable's concerns.

Sable merely arched an eyebrow.

"On second thought, maybe we won't go in the water." Luke added.

"So should I wear a bathing suit?" Asked Sam.

"Yeah, why not." Luke agreed quickly. "Just bring some sort of towel if you're planning on going swimming." He wasn't just doing this to see all the girls in bikinis, that was disgusting. Luke was no pervert.

But hey! It didn't hurt.

"So how about we meet back here in twenty minutes?" Luke asked everyone. It really wasn't a question, so he was more than surprised when Esme tentatively answered.

"Actually, can we have a bit more time? There's something I want to grab." She said cryptically. Jeez. How hard was it to stick to a simple plan? Still, she had piqued Luke's curiosity, he was more interested in whatever item she wanted to procure than leaving on time.

"Is forty-five minutes good?" Luke asked, conceding.

"Yeah, that'll work." Esme said happily.

"Greart." Luke addressed the rest of the girls. "Anyone have any questions? Concerns? Comments?" Luke didn't pause long enough to give the girls time to respond. He really wanted to get there before it got dark out. "Perfect. I'll see you all back here at 11:45 am on the dot."

At exactly 11:46 Sam came running down the large marble staircase in the foyer of the palace. "Careful, It's slipp-" Luke started to call. Unfortunately but foreseeably, Sam slipped and fell on the last step before he could get his sentence out. He winced as she landed on her butt.

That's gotta hurt.

Luckily though, she only had a short way to fall. Luke had slipped down that staircase more times than he could count when he was younger and had gotten numerous bruises from it. Someone really ought to carpet it one of these days. It really was becoming a safety hazard, and unlike most of the palace occupants, Luke (and Sam in this case) hadn't been wearing heels.

"Are you okay?" Luke asked, coming over to her.

Sam rubbed her elbow, glaring at the staircase. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'll probably just have a bruise in the morning." Sam complained.

"That's not too bad then." Luke said, extending a hand to help her up from where she was currently sprawled on the shining floor of the palace.

"Thanks." Sam grabbed his hand, hoisting herself off the floor. She was lighter than Luke would have expected, but he probably wasn't the best judge of people's weights. Best to leave that to the doctors and carnival hawkers.

"No problem." Luke said, turning his attention to the other five girls waiting for them. They had obviously all been laughing at Sam's accident, but stopped quickly when Luke had turned around. None of them wanted him to see them giggling at her. Not that he would have minded. It was pretty funny, Luke had to admit. Alas, he was a prince and thus could not laugh at others misfortune.

It was a shame really.

Sam went over to the rest of the girls, blushing slightly.

Esme was the first one to speak. "Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, my elbow just hurts a bit." Sam whined, clutching her arm. Luke mentally rolled his eyes at her antics. He had seen her elbow and the red spot where a bruise would surely form was tiny. There was no need for her to complain about it.

"Aw, you poor thing." Esme cooed, going over to her. Right, pre-med major. She probably knew more about first-aid than Luke did. He really didn't want to stop for Sam to go get some bandaid from the medical wing though. Out of the corner of his eye, Luke watched Quinn whisper something to Faye, but he couldn't make out what she had said. It was times like these when being able to read lips would come in handy.

"Right, everyone ready to go?" Luke asked before Esme could further examine Sam's miniscule bruise. He made sure they all nodded before he turned to the guards that would be accompanying them today. Usually Luke only had two guards when he left the palace, but since all six of the women in his selection were coming, the head of security decided to send an extra one with him today.

"Is the car out front?" Luke asked.

"Yes, of course Your Highness." Officer Martin answered him.

With that, Luke beckoned the rest of the girls outside into the Angeles sunshine. There was a limousine in front of the palace, light bouncing off it's gleaming hood. Luke had been allowed to use it today solely because he was taking all six of his selected girls. If not it would be the town car for him.

There was in fact a towncar behind the limo, meant to take the other two guards to the beach, since only one would be able to ride along in the car with Luke.

Being the gentleman that he was, Luke allowed all the girls to get in the limousine first, watching with delight as their eyes widened at the sight of the interior of the car. The sleek seats and rows of snacks. The cube shaped television hanging from the center. It was all quite impressive really. The only exception to the amazement that filled the car was Sam. She looked utterly unimpressed by the car.

Then again, after meeting her family, Luke could hardly blame her. This girl had her own private yachts. Yes, in the plural sense. Luke had done some googling and it turns out Andrew Young owned four out of the ten largest yachts in the world.

"This is the coolest car I've ever seen." Sydney exclaimed looking around.

"I like it. I hardly get to use it though." Luke answered.

"Why? Do you eat too much candy when you go in here?" Quinn teased gently.

"No. Nothing like that." Luke said, shaking his head. "Just the normal spare-to-the-crown junk. If no one else is using the limo then I can take it, but that's rare. I'm usually delegated to the town cars." Luke jerked his thumb at the back window of the limo, indicating the car behind them.

"The tow car is nice." Sable remarked offhandedly. "I remember it from when we went on our date to the park."

"Cool." Faye said, but it sounded forced. "I've never been in one of the town cars. I took the limousine to the spanish palace." Luke silently sighed. With only six girls left in the selection, tensions were running high between the girls, he would have to be blind to not notice that. They all wanted the prize (That's him!), and friendships were starting to be broken in that quest. Plus, with Ophelia gone, there was really no need for Sable to be polite. From what Luke had gathered, none of the other women liked her all that much.

"Have you guys been to the beach much?" Luke asked, trying to break the uncomfortable silence.

Quinn was the first to answer. "Of course! I teach surf classes down at Long Beach. I literally haven't gone a week without going to the beach before the selection." She said brightly.

"Is surfing fun?" Luke asked. "I've never been. People always think it's too dangerous."

Quinn shrugged. "I mean, I like it, but it's more of a way to earn a living than an actual passion though if you get that."

Luke really didn't get it. Weren't people supposed to like their jobs? Isn't that the whole point of a job? Still he nodded, "Yeah, I do." He assured her, lying through his teeth.

"I don't get to go to the beach that much." Sydney butted in. "I mean, vacations sure, but other than that...never. There really aren't all that many beaches in Hudson."

"Oh." Luke said simply. "I guess you're right. The entire coast of Angeles is a beach, so there's really no shortage of them here."

"If only you could share the wealth." Sydney joked. Luke knew that she was referring to the sheer amount of beaches in Angeles, and not Luke's personal wealth, but he still felt a momentary rush of guilt at her words. It was something he'd never really thought about before the selection, but then again, before the selection he only really spoke with two's or the servants in his castle. He was effectively clueless about everything in his country.

It was from his own doing too. His family had tried to explain it to him more times than he could count, to try to get him to empathize with the lower castes. He had always shrugged it off, never bothering to actually take what they were saying into consideration. They'd tried, but it had never worked till he was thrust into speed-dating with girls from all castes and provinces.

"I don't think it's possible to transplant a beach, but I'll look into it." Luke said, feigning a serious expression. The girls all tittered at that, their laughs all seemed genuine.

"I can assure you that it's not possible." Sable told them all.

"You're one to speak little miss I have the hamptons. You have more beaches than any of us." Quinn said. Luke was pretty sure she was joking. Pretty sure.

"Fine. Why don't we both share our beaches with Midston and Hudson?" Sable asked, her smile didn't quite reach her eyes and something about her tone left Luke feeling that she wasn't exactly happy with the way this conversation was going.

Maybe in hindsight Luke shouldn't have forced them all to spend time together. This was a disaster waiting to happen.

Quinn didn't take the bait. "That's fine with me. As soon as Luke figures out a way to do it, I'm down."

No.

Luke was determined to have a nice day. Surely these girls could get along for a couple of hours. Once they all got to the beach it would sort itself out. Luke was positive about it. Or at least they could mask their catfighting for the rest of the day.

Either one worked for him.

"I don't think I'll be happening upon a way to move beaches anytime soon, but once I do, you'll be the first person I let know." Luke said to the two of them.

"I fully expect beaches to be added to Sonage." Esme piped up.

"Of course, of course. You can have the first pick." Quinn said smiling at Esme.

"Why thank you."

"You don't get to go to the beach much?" Luke asked Esme. "Isn't Sonage right below Angeles? You should have all the same beaches we do." Luke might not be that well-versed in politics, but he wasn't an idiot. He had gone through years of rigorous tutoring. He knew the geography of his country. It had been drilled into his head more times than he cared to remember. Sonage had plenty of beaches.

"I live pretty far inland. As a matter of fact, I nearly live in Zuni. It's a couple hours drive to even get to the closest beach. Sometimes my family rents a house for a week in the summer near the coastline though." Esme told him.

"That's nice. I've never really been on a vacation. There's always some diplomatic part tied to it." Luke commented.

"That sucks." Esme said.

"Yeah. It really does." Luke said, sighing as he spoke.

"Oh, I think we're here." Faye said, looking out the window as the limousine pulled into a small, empty parking lot. They had obviously passed the security booth without Luke, or anyone else in the car for that matter, noticing.

The royal family's private stretch of beach was sandwiched in between that of a prominent politician and an A-list actress. Luke had seen them both on the rare occasion when he would happen to be at the beach the same time as them. Of course there were wooden fences separating them, but they weren't all that high. Luke could easily see over them. The only difference that distinguished the royal beach from the commoners' beaches on either side was that instead of having a seaside mansion connecting to the beach, the Schreave's had a security booth and parking lot.

There was also the massive stone wall and heavy iron gates, but that was besides the point. It was definitely the parking lot that gave it away

"Yup. We're definitely here." Luke told them all. As if they hadn't already put two and two together. "Everyone has towels? Sunscreen?" Luke quickly checked. All the girls nodded. Great. The guards had beach chairs and umbrellas if they wanted them.

As they got out of the car, Esme grabbed a metallic silver bag, stuffed to the brim with something. Luke couldn't quite see what it was. "What's in there?" Luke asked her.

"Sand toys!" Esme said brightly. "I have pails, shovels and some molds!" She exclaimed happily.

"Fun!" Luke enthused. He hadn't seen those since he was about ten years old and his parents decided that he grew out of them. "Hey, just out of question, where'd you find them?"

"I asked my maid. She got it for me." Esme told him. "The bag I brought from home though. I think it came with a pair of shorts I got...I don't know, I thought it was cute." She said.

Luke suddenly realized that she was waiting for his verdict on whether he liked the bag or not. In all honesty, Luke couldn't care less. It was a literal bag. He was no great judge of fashion...but his approval seemed important to Esme. "Yeah, I like it."

"We should have a sand castle competition!" Faye said excitedly.

"We should." Sam agreed. "What do you think Luke?" She asked, turning to him.

"That sounds like fun." He agreed.

Once they got onto the sand, the girls and Luke quickly set up. They all spread out towels, and took off their various cover-ups and oversize t-shirts that they had worn on the way here. All of the girls, with the exception of Sable and Faye, were wearing bikinis that left their stomachs bare. Sable had opted for a tankini and Faye for a one-piece swimsuit.

Luke himself took off the thin shirt he had been wearing, leaving him in just his blue swim trunks. None of the girls had seen him shirtless, and Luke could see them all glancing at him from time to time as they applied their sunblock. He might not have a six-pack like some princes did before him, but the muscles under his stomach were toned.

Luke was struggling to apply sunblock on his back when Sydney approached him. All the women had finished getting set up, sunblock and all, and they were just waiting on Luke, watching him try to put his sunblock on.

"I can rub in your back for you. You look like you're struggling." She offered sweetly, not quite able to reach his eyes.

Luke felt his face flush. "I am. That...that would be really great." He said.

There was jealousy in the eyes of all the other ladies. They were jealous that they didn't think of asking to rub in his sunblock first. It was times like these when Luke didn't know whether to be flattered that this many girls wanted to be with him, or creeped out that this many girls wanted to be with him. It really depended on the day.

"Okay. Turn around." Sydney instructed. Luke complied quickly. He felt butterflies rush to his stomach as Sydney touched his back, rubbing in the sunblock. His skin was tingling from the feeling of her palms against it. He liked the feeling of her hands against his bare skin more than he thought he would. Luke knew she was just putting on the sunblock to be nice, but he couldn't stop the shivers that ran down his spine despite the sun beating down on him.."You're good." Sydney pronounced him finished.

"Thanks." Luke said quietly.

"No problem."

"Alright, sand castle competition everyone?" Luke asked.

"Here's everything I brought." Esme said, dumping her bag onto the ground. There were a wide array of brightly colored plastic pails, enough shovels for everybody, and plastic molds in the shape of a cruise ship, a frog and a star.

"Hey, I think I remember this." Luke said, picking up the plastic star. He flipped it over and sure enough his initials were on the inside just like he'd thought. He showed it to all of the girls, explaining, "My sister and I always used to fight about who's toys were who's, so our parents had us put our initials on them to try and get us to stop."

"You're telling me that the Prince and Princess of Illéa fought about who the plastic star belonged to?" Quinn asked, amused.

"Well, that was just one of the many things we fought about. It would take a while to list everything we got into arguments over, but yes, this plastic star caused many of them." Luke said, holding up the star so that they could all see it.

The girls all split into teams in order to build the sand castles, and Luke got Officer Tate to act as the judge. Luke ended up on a team with Sam, Sydney, and Sable (Wow, there were a lot of S names in his selection.) Quinn, Esme, and Faye were on the opposing team. Esme doled out the various building items she had brought with her, her team obviously ended up with the better ones, but Luke hoped they would be okay with sharing.

"We need water for the sand." Esme noted, letting a few grains fall through her fingers.

"I'm not getting it." Sable said quickly. "That water looks freezing."

"Fine." Esme agreed. "Luke, you're the guy, you go get it."

Luke sighed, looking down at the waves. He really didn't want to go get the water, but like Esme said, he was the guy. The polite thing to do would go get the water. "One sec." He said, grabbing the two largest pails he could find.

With those in hand, Luke went down to the edges of the water. He cautiously dipped a toe in only to yank it back out. Yikes, it was cold. Steeling himself, Luke went knee deep into the waves, filling the buckets as quickly as he could before getting out of the water. Once he was out, he carefully walked back to the setup, trying not to let any of the water splash over the sides of the pail. "Here you go." He said, plopping the buckets down.

"Thanks.' Faye hummed.

"Does twenty minutes sound like a good amount of time for everyone?" Luke asked, looking at all the women for approval. They all nodded their consent. With their permission, Luke turned to Officer Tate. "Can you time us?" He asked.

"Of course, Your Highness." He said simply. Luke grimaced. Despite knowing his guards for years, he'd yet to have an actual conversation with them.

"Let's get building." Luke said enthusiastically.

It was a mess. Now, Luke is a person who always tries to see the best in everything, but this sandcastle was a mess. It was mostly him and Sydney doing the building, Sam seemed reluctant to step off her towel and Sable had taken on the position of "director."

I.e she stood around and told Luke and Sydney what to do and how to decorate the sand castle.

Sable seemed to be getting more and more stressed as the minutes ticked by and they still had a pile of sand that in no way resembled a sand structure. Despite adding liberal amounts of water, the sand didn't seem to want to take the position of a castle. Sydney and Luke laughed it off each time they failed, but Sable didn't seem to be used to failing. Luke had to tell her to calm down more than once. It was just a game after all.

"I like to win." Was all she said in response to him. Not exactly the answer Luke had been expecting, but he shrugged it off.

When the timer went off both Luke and Sydney burst out laughing at their horrendous sculpture. It was a pile of sand that Sydney had stuck a large shell into at the last moment. Quite a masterpiece really.

"That's what you guys made?" Sam asked in disbelief.

"I think it looks nice." Luke insisted.

"You two can't seriously be proud of this, can you?" Sable asked, rolling her eyes.

Sydney shrugged in response. "Nah. It's bad, I'll admit to that. It was fun to make it though, maybe next time you should join in." She threw a handful of water at Sable who squealed in response.

Officer Tate came over to look at their sand castle, wincing slightly. "Is...is this it, Your Highness?" He asked, motioning to the mess in front of them.

"Yup." Luke said proudly.

Officer Tate didn't say anything in response, instead going over to look at Quinn, Faye, and Esme's sand castle. Luke trailed him, wondering if they had any more success than he did in the sandcastle building department.

Luke's jaw dropped when he saw their creation. They had forgone the castle idea, instead somehow managing to replicate the Sphinx. Only it was made out of sand. "That's amazing. How did you guys do that?" He asked, peering closer at the incredible amount of detail they had put into the sculpture.

"It was Faye's idea." Esme told him, shooting Faye a smile.

"We all made it though. It was really a joint effort." Faye said.

If only he had been part of their team.

"I think we have a clear winner." Officer Tate said.

"Yeah, it's our castle obviously." Luke joked, pointing to the pile of sand that was his creation. Esme laughed at it, while Quinn let out a far less elegant snort. Even Sam giggled at that, a little jerky of her considering she didn't even help, but that was another issue.

"I'm sorry, Your Highness, but it's the sphinx. Your's was an...admirable effort." The guard said, gesturing towards the amazing creation in front of them.

"An admirable effort it was." Luke said, shaking his head. "Well, you guys won fair and square. You all can choose what snack we get on the way home." He offered as a form of a prize.

"Thank you." Faye said, before turning to her teammates. "I want some form of ice cream, how about you?" She asked.

"Ooh, let's get milkshakes." Esme suggested excitedly.

"Yes! That's perfect." Faye said.

"I love milkshakes." Quinn said excitedly.

"I thought you were lactose intolerant." Luke said to Quinn, scrunching his eyebrows in confusion. Why would she get a milkshake then?

"I mean, yeah, I am, but it's fine. I rather have a milkshake now and just have my stomach be mad at me." Quinn told him, shrugging. Um….okay. In Luke's opinion that was utterly ridiculous. Who in their right mind would get a milkshake knowing they would be sick from it? Luke knew that most "lactose intolerant" people still drank milk, but it was a combination of concerning and funny to see it play out in front of him.

"Weird, but okay." Luke agreed. "Milkshakes it is." He announced. All the girls cheered except for Sam who was busy checking her nails.

After the mess that was the sand castle competition, Luke and the girls entertained themselves by alternating between lying on towels basking in the sun (In Luke's case trying to get a tan. He wasn't so sure about the rest of the women though) and throwing around the inflatable beach ball that Luke had brought along.

As the sun started to dip below the horizon, Luke knew without his guards telling him that it was time to go. They packed all their towels up, put on their shirts and cover-ups and piled back into the limousine. The guards did a final sweep to make sure that nothing was left behind, and then they were on the road.

While Luke and the rest of the ladies had been at the beach, it seemed that the guards had tracked down a milkshake stand a few minutes away for them to get their drinks at. Once they pulled into the parking lot, Officer Martin came to take their orders. He didn't want everyone (He actually meant Luke, but not the point) to get out of the car.

"I'll have a chocolate milkshake." Luke told him.

"Vanilla." Faye said.

"I want strawberry." Esme said.

"I'll have vanilla." Sable ordered.

"Mmm...I'll have peanut butter." Sydney said indecisively.

"I don't think they have peanut butter." The guard told her kindly.

"Oh." Sydney though for a moment, her forehead screwed up in concentration. "You know what, I'll take chocolate." She decided. Good choice Luke thought. Of course chocolate was the absolute best flavor of ice cream and/or milkshake that existed in the entire world, and Luke had actually tried ice cream from the entire world. Anyone who didn't think so were just kidding themselves.

"Lady Samantha, what do you want?" Officer Martin asked.

"Oh. I don't want one." Samantha said quickly.

The guard shrugged and went to go purchase their beverages, Luke however, asked Sam "Why not? I promise their good."

"Oh. I'm sure they are. I'm on a diet though, I can't have anything that has more than two percent fat in it." Sam explained.

"Are you sure you don't want to have one?" Luke asked cautiously.

"Yes, I'm sure. I already told you that I'm on a diet." Samantha said firmly. Luke personally didn't see the need for Sam to go on a diet, she was already thin to begin with, but that was her choice. Luke wasn't going to disagree with her over something as insignificant as getting a milkshake. Even if it was a really yummy milkshake.

Luke turned his attention to Quinn. "I think you got a sunburn." He said. "You reapplied the sunblock right?" He asked her, just to make sure. He wanted to run a finger over her sunburned cheek, but seeing that he was in a car full of his other girlfriends, he refrained. That would be awkward.

"Uh..no, not exactly." Quinn said. She might have been blushing, but her face was so red from the sunburn that it was hard for him to tell.

"Aloe vera helps with that." Esme informed her. "You should put some on when we get back to the palace." Esme always had some facts about medicine that came in handy. It was starting to be a bit of a trend.

"So does putting on sunblock." Luke said, chuckling. "Make sure to actually reapply it next time."

"I'll try. I'll try.." Quinn conceded. "Is it really that bad?" She asked, holding a palm up to her cheek.

Luke exchanged a Who's going to tell her look with everyone else in the car. Finally, after a long, long, long pause, Sam spoke up. "No offense, but right now you look like a lobster. A cute lobster if it helps, but still a lobster." She said.

Luke wouldn't have phrased it exactly as she did, but the sentiment of her words were true. Quinn did in fact resemble a lobster.

Just then Officer Martin came back with all the milkshakes. He handed them out quickly. Luke took a long sip when he got his.

It was cold, creamy, and chocolaty.

The perfect end to a perfect day.

A/N: I seriously loved writing this chapter. It was all so adorable! I know everyone likes the tea and the drama, but me personally? I like the cutesy little fluff chapters. Wow, we are down to the final six girls. :eyes: Who do you think is going to win? I mean, I know who's going to win, but I want to see who you guys think is in first place!

Joke: What's a witch's favorite class in school?

Spelling!