Hey, guys! Long time no see!

I hope that you all had a wonderful Holiday season! (Can we call this chapter a late Christmas gift?)

Anyways, thank you to everyone who has patiently waited as I recovered from Ulnar Nerve Transposition surgery (10/10 don't recommend, btw) and to my beta Ozzy who has to turn this garbage into a masterpiece, lol.

I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter Eight

"Father, are you sure this is a wise idea?"

"Yes, Bastian. I do think so."

"But Adrian hasn't even recovered from the attack, and there are rumors that he doesn't even remember the selection."

"Even better. He won't recognize our faces then."

"The King would."

"Perhaps. But it's a risk we must be willing to make. Are you willing, Sebastian?"

"Yes, Father. I am."

There was a bit of an excited buzz in the air of the palace. Lady Imogen's flight would be landing soon.

Lady Imogen was Adrian's second cousin on his mother's side. They had been inseparable for the first five years of his life; it got to the point where he used to introduce her as his older sister to some of the ambassadors when he was in his prankster stage as a young teenager.

She was a really awesome noble too. She didn't care about her status as much as other nobles Adrian had met. She was more like an older sister than a cousin. She always had updates on the newest drama going on in the petty world of nobles. She also had tattoos, which Adrian envied. He had always wanted a tattoo, but his father would kill him.

She was one of the bravest people he knew. When King Abernathy found out about his relationship with Jensing, she had been one of the few people to stand up against his father and try to keep them together. In the end she had lost, but he had the feeling that she still secretly shipped them together. Probably for more than one reason though…

He wasn't exactly sure what time she would be arriving at the palace because he wasn't allowed to leave, but it felt like time was standing still. Maybe hanging out with some of the selected would help that problem.

So that's how Adrian found himself walking towards the library. He wasn't sure how many selected he would find there, but he hoped there were at least two. If it was one, it would be considered a date and he would have to tell his father, but if it was more than one he could call it a group activity, which isn't the same as a date. At least, not in his mind. He didn't want to deal with his father. He just hoped that excuse would work.

When he walked in, he let out a breath that he hadn't realized he had been holding as he saw two of the selected reading. His ribs ached after the breath was released, but that was his new normal. He expected it at this point.

The girls looked away from their books when they heard the noise, then smiled when they saw Adrian. They shut their books.

"Prince Adrian," They greeted, then quickly fell into a curtsy. Adrian needed to tell the selected that they didn't need to treat him so formally. While it was normal to every other royal in the world, he didn't like it. Especially because one of these girls would be his wife soon. They would be equals. He didn't want her treating him that way. They were both human, even with his royal status and title.

"Hello," he said. Suddenly he realized that he hadn't even planned out what he was going to do when he found someone. He had been more focused on finding more than one someone. Hopefully Awkward Adrian wouldn't come out. He would die of embarrassment.

"What brings you here?" One of the girls asked. She had long brown hair that went down to her waist. It was straight and weirdly reminded Adrian of a waterfall. It looked silky and smooth. He was pretty sure that it was soft too, but randomly touching someone's hair is just weird. Really, really weird.

"Oh. I was looking for a couple of selected. I was bored and thought that a group activity might be fun," he explained. He tried not to stutter much and to keep his voice from going monotone, but he wasn't sure that he did it successfully. Now it was time to ask the worst thing ever. "Can you remind me of your names?"

"I'm Christine Carlisle, and this is Elowen Calder," the other girl told him. She looked like the human embodiment of winter. Her hair was light blond, but not so blond it was white. There was a bit of gold to it. Her blue eyes were like a frozen lake, but they had a warmth in them that reminded him of a fireplace. It reminded him of how warm winter can be even in the middle of a snowstorm. She was beautiful, and he hoped that she knew that.

"What are we gonna be doing?" Elowen asked. Her voice was warm and slightly too loud, it made Adrian smile though even when it echoed through the library.

The smile on Adrian's face almost disappeared at her question though. He hadn't thought any of this through. Why was he this way? Why was he so impulsive? Out of all of his flaws, this one would always be the one that got him into the most trouble.

"What would you like to do?" He asked. "Maybe something Christmassy? We are getting close now."

Before either Adrian or Christine had a chance to say anything, Elowen took the chance to answer the question like she would never get the chance to speak again. "We should make a gingerbread house!" She said, once again her voice being way too loud for the library.

Christine shrugged. "That sounds like fun," she said, then looked at Adrian. Her eyes sparkled like the sun against an icicle "What do you think?"

Adrian had no idea how to tell them that he was unable to cook. If someone's life depended on his cooking or baking skills, that person would be dead. Although, the more he thought about it, it wouldn't be the only blood on his hands. His stomach churned at that thought. He really should stop thinking.

"That sounds like a great idea," he said. "Let's do it."

The kitchen in the Palace was huge. Adrian felt almost overwhelmed by how large it was even though he had been in there multiple times throughout his life. It was also extremely clean, well, for now at least. Adrian still hadn't told Christine and Elowen about how bad of a cook he was.

"Does anyone have a recipe?" Adrian asked as he grabbed one of the aprons and tied it behind his back. He was tempted to grab the chef's hat, but he decided against it at the last minute. He wasn't much of a chef, after all.

Elowen looked around, then grabbed a cookbook. "If there isn't a gingerbread recipe in here, I will personally buy the chef a cookbook for Christmas," she told them as she began to flip through the book. Her hair fell in front of her face, and Adrian felt his breathing hitch. She was gorgeous. Why did past Adrian have such good taste? And why couldn't past Adrian just tell him which girl he had chosen last time?

"Adrian, can you help me get out the ingredients that will be in the cookies? Like shortening and flour, and like molasses?" Christine asked, though Adrian wasn't sure that it was worded as a request. It seemed more like she was trying to include him, which he appreciated. He felt so lost in the kitchen.

She grabbed his hand to pull him to the pantry and Adrian shivered. Her hand wasn't cold, but her touch was electric. There was something about it. It made him grin like an idiot. He wondered if she was touching some sort of outlet. That would be the only reason why he could be struck by lightning and be grinning at the same time.

"I take it you don't come into the kitchen often," she said, her voice only slightly judgemental, though it didn't seem serious.

Adrian shook his head meekly. It was weird because it felt like he was a toddler again, that he was being scolded by his mother.

"Not really," he admitted. "I'm not really a good cook. Or a good baker… I used to be banned from the kitchen."

"Really?" She asked. She let go of his hand to grab the bag of flour.

Adrian nodded again. "Yeah, just don't tell Elowen. She seemed pretty excited to be making this."

Christine sighed, but Adrian could tell that it was a playful sigh of fake disappointment. "Your secret is safe with me," she said. "But you are only allowed to lick the spoon. We don't want a bad gingerbread house on our hands."

Adrian grinned. In Christmases past, licking the spoon had been his favorite activity. "Deal."

The gingerbread house came together quite well if Adrian was being honest. Sure, he was banned from doing anything but licking the spoon and putting candy on the house, but it tasted really good.

"So, will there really be no Christmas party this year?" Elowen asked as she cracked off a chunk of the roof that Christine had just finished putting candy on. Christine shot a glare at her, but Elowen didn't seem to notice.

Adrian sighed, then ran his uninjured hand through his hair. "Yeah," he said. "I'm so sorry about that. I'm sure that you were all excited for it, but having people at the palace is just too dangerous right now."

No one spoke for a moment. Christine focused on putting a peppermint on the house while Elowen continued to munch on the piece of cookie she had stolen. During all this, Adrian was lost in thought as he sucked on a wintergreen spice drop.

It made sense why there couldn't be guests at the palace right now, but to completely ban Christmas from the selected and staff inside of the palace wasn't right. They deserved to have a happy Christmas after everything that had happened. He was afraid to admit it, but he thought that even he deserved a good Christmas. Even if everything had been his fault.

"You know," Adrian began hesitantly. He wasn't sure why he was nervous to share this idea, these girls liked him. They wouldn't laugh at him. "The Palace might not have its annual Christmas party, but that doesn't mean that we can't still have a Christmas."

As soon as it was out, he wanted to hide from the girls. It was such a dumb idea. Why had he even suggested it? No one would want to spend time with him. Not when he was responsible for the deaths of so many people. It would have been easier if it had just been him. The rebels should have killed him.

"Wait," Christine said, "We could have a tree and a secret santa. There could be cocoa and cookies, or maybe milk and cookies. It could be a big party for just us."

"We could invite Jensing and Lady Imogen too," Elowen added. Her voice was filled with excitement and happiness. She sounded like she was going to explode if she got any more excited. "Jensing could also get some pictures for the Report. I'm sure that it would be good for Illea to see that we're not letting the rebels take everything away from us after the attack."

Adrian frowned as the girls continued to talk about the idea. They were hoping to use one of the unused parlors for the Christmas party. They were thinking either traditional colors or maybe silver and gold, they had decided to get with the rest of the girls and do a huge planning committee. Of course Adrian was allowed to be an honorary member of the committee, but Adrian was pretty sure that they wanted it to be a surprise for him.

"Knock knock."

Adrian looked up, then grinned. "Imogen!" He exclaimed as he stood up and hugged her.

She ruffled his hair, then looked at Elowen and Christine. "Oh, am I interrupting something?" She asked as she looked back down at Adrian. She was shorter than him, but she made it a point to wear high heels that insured that he was the smaller one.

"We're just planning the Christmas Party," Elowen explained. "Would you like to join? You can even have some of the gingerbread house if you would like. And if Christine will let you."

Imogen frowned as she grabbed a peppermint candy. She looked at Adrian. "I thought that your father said no Christmas Party?" She asked. She had raised her eyebrow at him, it looked almost disapproving, but Adrian knew that it wasn't. Imogen had always wanted him to defy King Abernathy.

"Uhhh, he did," Adrian said. Surely his father wouldn't care about him having a private party with his selected. "But this isn't a public party. It's just the Selected, me, you, and Jensing."

"What about Leander?" She asked. "Or Bea? You can't have a party without that little cutiepants."

"Who's Bea?" Christine asked.

"Beatrice is Jensing's baby sister," Adrian said, but he could feel Imogen's eyes on him. "And I'll tell Jensing that she can bring her if she would like to."

"Lady Imogen, would you like to join our Christmas Party Committee?" Elowen asked, and Adrian's eyes widened. They had no idea what they were getting into if she said yes. Their tiny little Christmas party would become a Christmas extravaganza. He was pretty sure that his father would be mad if Imogen turned it into a Christmas extravaganza.

Imogen smiled, a flame flickering in her eye. Adrian had no idea how this would end, but he wasn't sure that it would be good. "I would be honored to join the committee."

Adrian held back a sigh. Yeah, they were screwed.

So, there's chapter eight. Two new selected have been introduced and Imogen has officially joined the party! This was a really hard, but fun chapter to write. I hope y'all enjoyed it! Please follow, fave, and review! I would love to know what you thought!

Thanks for reading! Love y'all!