CHAPTER 22

Monday, the 23rd of December

Henri Pemberton, Viscount Enfield

"Come on," Carrie urged as we walk around the main floor of the palace, "Tell me who you got for Secret Santa."

"No." I answer as I've done for probably the hundredth time today. No, I'm over exaggerating. To be fair, it was probably more like 5, but it was still getting repetitive.

"Why not?" Carrie repeats again.

"I told you already," I explain as I've done several times. "I don't want the person who I got to know that I got them. Besides, how many names have you been able to worm out of the other guys?" I ask, changing the subject carefully.

"Barely any!"

"Really?" I ask, doubtfully. I knew Carrie had been working on them all week, and to be quite honest, I was curious to see who had cracked under the pressure.

"Yeah. Just Divesh, Nyson, Micheal, um, Owen, and that's it!"

"You just listed over a quarter of them. I think that's a lot of people."

"Oh come on. It's not like I found out who everyone has. I really thought Bas was going to tell me, but he stuck to his guns. It's a shame, because I knew who had him, um, Nyson does, I think, and then-"

I shake my head, "I don't think I need to hear this."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm in the Secret Santa. And I would like it to be...well, a secret." I explain to her. It's just a game but I still would rather not ruin the fun of it a few hours before we were supposed to do the grand reveal. Carrie, despite what she might think, wasn't really part of the game. It wasn't like she was going to figure out who had her name. As inconsequential as it might seem, I would hope that it could be a surprise.

"Fine," Carrie agreed. "Do you think I'm a bad person for not inviting everyone's families over?" She asks, taking the conversation in a very unexpected turn.

"What?" I ask, not fully sure that I was hearing her correctly.

"Do you think I'm a bad person for not inviting everyone's families for Christmas?" She repeats, this time drawing out her words. Oh. So that was what she said the first time. It might have been the most...self-reflective thing that I've ever heard her say.

"No. Of course not," I say, giving her the answer that I know she wants. "They can all call or video chat with their families. It's no big deal."

In truth, if I had been the one carrying on a selection, I wouldn't have forced the contestants to stay over Christmas if they didn't want to. But of course, I'm just going from a blind point of view. I'm sure the travel logistics would be a nightmare, the paparazzi would be ridiculous, and the increased security needs would be through the roof.

"You're right," Carrie said, nodding to herself. "Okay, well. That settles that. Is Pearl still doing the lessons because I told her to stop for the holidays, but I'm not sure she listened."

It takes me a moment to register that she means Miss Van Der Witts, though I suppose it makes sense that Carrie would call her by her first name. She was her employer after all. Or, something like that. The contract was probably signed in the Queen's name, but close enough.

"No. Neither is Mr. Brooms. I think he's on vacation in Clermont."

"He is?" I nod, "Oh that explains it. I was wondering why I hadn't seen him. To be honest, I just thought he was really boring and never left his room."

"Yeah, that's not it." I tell her, shaking my head.

"Good. I was considering firing him."

"He's not that bad, Car. I can't speak for his teaching skills, but he's a good guy." I say, not quite happy with what she said. Her lax nature towards people's jobs got upsetting after a while.

"I'll take your word for it," Carrie says dryly. "Ugh, is that the time? I have to go somewhere with Nishav later."

"Where are you going?"

Carrie shrugs. "How should I know? Jenna didn't tell me yet."

"How is Jenna? Did she pick a graduate school yet?" I ask. Last time I spoke to her, Jenna had been working on applications for different grad schools in art history.

Carrie looks surprised, "She's going to graduate school? I didn't even know she had a degree."

"You didn't?" I wish I was surprised but alas, here we are. "She went to the University of Zuni, studied art history. She didn't tell you?"

"It never came up."

"It's been like 8 months that she's been working with you."

"Still never came up. Anyway, she's fine I guess. Looking for love somewhere," Carrie comments, rolling her eyes. "Anway, that reminds me, I need to go. You know, get ready for the date and all that jazz. We should be back in time for the Secret Santa."

"I hope so. Nishav is a part of it. And since we all had to get you gifts…" my voice trails off.

"I know," Carrie practically squeals, "I'm so excited to see what I get. Any chance you know?"

Most of the selected had been somewhat secretive with their presents for Carrie, probably out of fear of duplication or someone, somehow, sabotaging them, as if anyone would actually stoop that low. Of course, there had been a few who had shared. I know that Bas had used some of his connections in the fashion world to get a dress from some famous fashion brand that wasn't supposed to be in stores till the spring.

"Maybe I do. Maybe I don't. Either way, I'm not telling you."

Carrie makes a face, pouting for a second. "You're no fun. Anyway, see you later."

I nod, "See you."

Suffice to say, I love the Illéan palace's Christmas decorations. They changed the theme each year, varying on what the designer was in the mood for, but it was all the same formula. Garlands on the marble staircases, poinsettias replacing the normal elaborate flower arrangements, and in the grand ballroom, a large Christmas tree covered in lights and various ornaments.

This year, the palace had chosen to go with a gold and cream theme, using an abundance of shiny golden bells and glittery fake snow. I got the feeling that they were aiming to impress the selected. A futile attempt, at least in my opinion, as most of these guys came from modest backgrounds. There was absolutely no way that any Christmas decorations they could have seen before would hold a candle to the Illéan palace.

Ah well. It wasn't like the decorator had asked my opinion on the decor scheme. They wouldn't care. It was pretty and that's all the palace cared about. When the guests came for the New Years Eve ball in a little more than a week, they would be impressed, the photographs would be lovely and balance would be restored in the world.

Speaking of the New Years Eve ball, that didn't seem like it was going exactly according to Miss Van Der Witts' plan. She had continuously drilled proper etiquette and presentation into the other selected's heads, only for it go in one ear and out another. If I thought she might have been open to my suggestions, I would have pointed out that maybe she could take a nicer approach, but I wasnt dumb enough to do that. It would be poking a stick into a sleeping bear.

Or, maybe barely resting. Either way, the metaphor stays the same.

The grand ballroom, the larger of the two in the palace, was where Carrie had told us to meet for the Secret Santa. By the time I got there, most of the others were already standing around sipping on hot chocolate or eating gingerbread cookies. Placing my present on the table where all the others were laid, I went over to get a hot chocolate from a maid wearing an elf hat.

"It's good," George says to me, standing over near the windows. The general's son. His father had died a few years ago, I knew my father had gone to the funeral.

"I'm sure everything here is good," I answer, raising the cup to my lips.

"True enough," George says, almost as standoffish as Nishav.

I don't say anything more, and George doesn't seem particularly inclined to carry on the conversation, looking out the window instead. Finally, in an attempt to clear the awkward silence, I force out, "So, how's your day going?"

George blinks, looking surprised at my question. Surprised at basic human decency. "It's been better than most. At least we didn't have to suffer through any more of those god-awful classes today."

"They are pretty bad," I agree easily. "I thought you liked history."

"I do. I just don't like the way Mr. Brooms teaches it," George explains, fiddling with the edge of his styrofoam cup. "Though I can't imagine anyone would."

"I would have transferred out of his class if he was my teacher,"

"Me too."

In a welcome distraction from the stifling conversation at hand, Carrie pushes her way into the room, accompanied by Nyson, whose face is lit with an air of excitement. Carrie just looks bored. I wonder briefly what happened to Nishav, since she was supposed to be out with him but he got to the ballroom much earlier than she did.

"Okay everyone," she says, clapping her hands together loudly, "Let's get to this Secret Santa. Everyone brought a gift right?" she asks, looking over at everyone to see if anyone would fess up to having forgotten to bring a gift for their recipient. No one does, so she continues briskly. "Splendid. Now sit in a circle,"

We all comply. Sitting in the circle with only minimal grumbling from Nishav about the cleanliness of the floor.

Carrie looks over at the massive present tower, "anyone want to go first?"

Nyson raises his hand enthusiastically, Bas following suit. "I'll go," they say at almost the same time.

"Who said it first?" Carrie asks, looking between the two of them.

"Nyson did," Nishav volunteers boredly. He looks like he'd rather be in his room or even in one of those horrible history classes than sitting in this circle with his peers. He should probably learn to tone down his distaste if he wants to continue his life in the sphere he was thrust in with the announcement of his name on national television.

"Bas can go first," Nyson says bashfully, his cheeks red.

"No, you go first," Bas insists.

"Seriously, Bas, It's fine, just go."

"Nyson you go."

"Oky, you know what, neither of you are going. This gift is for...Tex. So, who got him for Secret Santa?" Carrie asks, settling the dispute quickly.

"I did," Nathaniel answers, raising his hand.

"Oh cool, thanks." Tex says as he's given the gold-wrapped box. He pulls back the layers lightly, looking interested at the contents of the box.

"Wow, I love this," Tex says, obviously trying to be cheerful. "It's really cool."

"It's for your notes," Nathaniel explains, "I always see you in the library working on stuff for school, so I figured it would help."

As he looks at the plastic contraption a little longer, comprehension dawns ion Tex's face. An actual smile replaces the forced one he had before, "I've always wanted one of these. One of my friends up in Yukon has it, he's in my science courses, apparently it's a lifesaver."

Tex has friends?

I squeeze my eyes shut, instantly regretting the words as they cross through my head. Obviously he had friends. Just because he didn't like me didn't mean he disliked everyone and vice versa. I'm sure there were some people who he was pleasant to.

Carrie, looking at it closer, finally asks, "what is it?"

"It's a note case." Tex explains, "You put different papers for different sections in the little compartments, along with pens and pencils, stuff like that. You've seriously never heard of it, Princess?"

"I've never had to take notes for so many different classes," Carrie responds. "Anyway, let's see, Nathanie...Nathaniel...Nathaniel…" she mutters as she looks through the stacks of boxes and bags. "Here it is," she says, holding up the bright blue box I had wrapped last night.

I watch Nathaniel open the box, knowing what's in there already. "Hey, this is sweet." Nathaniel exclaims, holding up the old-fashioned record player I had ordered for him. "Oh wait, there's more."

Nathaniel pushes the box containing the record player away, pulling out a small envelope of records that I had ordered as well. "I thought you liked country songs, you can return it if I was wrong." I tell him.

"I'm not returning this," Nathaniel states firmly. "I love country music."

He looks into the box one more time, pulling out a small toy boat. "I'm assuming this is for Tyler?" he asks, because I clearly wouldn't have gotten it for him.

"Yeah, I thought he might like it," I answer quickly, "How is he anyway?"

"I called him earlier, it's actually his birthday today. I can tell him it was a mash-up present." Nathaniel says, chuckling slightly at his own joke.

"It's his birthday?" Nyson asks, looking up. "How old is he turning?"

"4 years old," Nathaniel answers, smiling slightly.

"You should call him," Nyson suggests, "So that he can see his present."

"Right now?" Nathaniel asks questioningly.

"Yeah," Bas adds, "I love kids, I want to talk to him."

"Maybe after the Secret Santa is done?" Carrie suggests, though it's more of an order than a suggestion. The other boys quiet down quickly, it's clear that she wants to move on.

"I'm cool with it if you guys are." Nathaniel says to the group. "I'm sure he'll love it. He's been wanting to meet everyone for a while."

"That's so sweet." Bas says.

Not everyone looks as happy as Bas at this revelation, Nishav looks upset that this day will have to stretch out longer than it already has to, and Divesh looks somewhat unsettled.

"Yes. Sweetness aside, can we please get on with the show?" Carrie says, picking up the gift with my name on it. This one is in a gift bag instead of a box. Either it's very oddly shaped or someone doesn't want to have to make a fool of themselves wrapping it. I should have thought of that. My wrapping skills were mediocre at best, I rarely had to do it.

Moving away the top layer of tissue paper, I pull out a thin box. A laptop case.

"I, uh, saw you got a new laptop," Divesh says, looking down at the ground, "And I thought you might want to have a case for it. You know, so it doesn't break." Somehow, I don't think the palace would care much if the laptop they gave me broke, but I smile at the present. The box says it's supposed to look like a galaxy.

"Awesome." I say, "I've been meaning to order one of these."

"There's also some stickers in the bag, in case you don't want to use the case. You had some stickers on your old one so I just thought…:"

Sure enough, as I turn the bag upside down, more stickers than could fit on my laptop (Along with quite a lot of wrapping paper) falls onto my lap. There are some that have stars on them, some that are just cool shapes, and Divesh even managed to get one that said Stanford on it. I guess he must have ordered it from the school's bookstore. Probably a good thing, since my old laptop with my old stanford sticker is currently missing.

Well, probably not missing. I just don't know where it is.

"Where did you even get all of these?" I ask, sorting through the pile that had fallen onto my lap.

"I just..looked up sticker shops. You'd be surprised at the amount of ones there are on the internet." Divesh says quickly, tapping one of his fingers against his leg.

"I get ads for them all the time," I say, "It seems like a competitive market."

"Well, a girl from, um, Ottaro was very happy to receive my order." Divesh says flushing red.

"Aww, cute." Carrie coos, picking up one of the larger boxes. She shakes it before she hands it to Divesh, "Seems like you got something pretty big."

Divhes carefully opens the box, taking care to not tear the wrapping paper, unlike Tex who had paper strewn about him. "A box inside a box," he mumbles.

"The present is in that one." Nishav tells him. He must have gotten Divesh in the Secret Santa then.

Dives complies, using a scissor to break open the tape on the box. He pulls out a triangular shaped lava lamp, probably standing around a foot tall. "Hey, I had one of these when I was kid. I lost it when my family moved houses though," he says excitedly shaking the lamp.

"I think it's going to break if you do that enough." Nishav points out. His tone is unbothered, but I can see that somewhere deep down he's happy that Divesh liked the gift Nishav had picked out.

"Right. Sorry. It's just really cool."

"There's an instructions manual in the box" Nishav tells him, "But apparently you still remember how to make it work, so you probably don't need that."

"No, I'm going to read them over, I might have forgotten. I don't know, it's probably better to read the instructions, right?" Divesh asks, looking towards Nishav for validation.

"I believe so."

"Yeah. That's what I'll do then. Thanks again, Nishav." Divesh stows the lamp carefully back inside the styrofoam fillers. Nyson, who had been sitting next to him, reaches over and plucks one of the little styrofoam things out of the box, squeezing it between his two fingers.

"Nishav, here you go." Carrie says, handing him a dark green bag.

Nishav looks at the bag curiously, pulling out a bottle of wine.

Bas flushes a deep color, raising his hand almost as if he's embarrassed. "I didn't really know what to get you, but I figured that you would like this."

"Yeah, thanks." Nishav says, giving the closest thing to a smile that I've ever seen. "Just out of question, how did you buy it?"

"What did you mean?"

"You're underage, how did you buy it?" Nishav repeats, his voice firmer this time.

Bas bites the bottom of his lip before speaking, "I asked my mom to get it for me," he finally admits, looking almost ashamed of the fact. Who knew Sable Reddlyn had enough time in her busy schedule to go to the store and buy a bottle of wine for her son's Secret Santa. I would have thought she was too busy doing whatever it was that Sable did.

"That's really great. Thanks Bas." Nishav says, putting the bottle of wine back in the gift bag and tucking it next to him, and quickly bringing the conversation surrounding his gift to an abrupt end.

"Oh. Um, okay," Carrie says, turning back to the gift pile. "Bas, this one is for you. I think I know who it's from," she whispers loudly. Nyson puts a hand to his head, and I cringe inwardly.

The box, unlike most of the other presents so far, was wrapped in paper covered in pictures of different types of paintbrushes. All of the others have just been bright colors, with some metallics thrown in. Nyson had clearly taken a creative twist on it.

"I almost don't want to rip the paper," Bas says, looking at it for a good second. "Oh well." Still, he takes more care not to make a mess of the paper, staking it neatly next to him.

"So that's why you had a sudden interest in different types of drawing tools." Bas states abruptly, turning to Nyson.

"Hey, I think I covered my tracks pretty well," Nyson says, throwing his hands up in protest.

"No you definitely did." Bas chuckles lightly, "Oil pastels…"

That seems to pique Nishav's interest and he turns to look at Bas, "Oh, some of my colleagues had those when I was younger."

"What do you mean?" Bas asks, looking up from his shiny new set of oil pastels, whatever it was that those were.

"I went to arts secondary school." Nishav states, looking at Bas.

"Yeah, I never heard of them before this whole Secret Santa." Nyson admits, waiting a beat. "So, do you like them?"

"Is water wet?"

"No." Tex mumbles from halfway across the circle.

"Oh." Bas pauses for a second. "Well, I meant yes. I love my present."

Nyson looks relieved, "Thank God, I was worried for a second. The whole thing with the questions… you really gotta get better at leading with that."

"Duly noted."

Carrie hands Nyson the next gift, a bright red gift bag with a golden tag tied to it. It takes her a few tries to get his attention before Nyson takes it, weighing it in his hand. "It's heavy," he says to us. Pushing back some of the layers, Nyson pulls up a dark leather watch strap with brown stitching around the side. Nyson always wore a watch, so whoever got him must ot have tried that hard.

"You're old one looks like it was getting worn," George volunteers, "I thought you might like a new one, if not, the gift receipt is in the bag There's also something else.."

Nyson grins, but looks further into the bag, pulling out a small ramen plush. "How'd you know this is my favorite food?" he asks.

Well, to George's credit he didn't have to be a genius to realize that, even in the brief time I've spent with Nyson I've picked it up, but George still basks in the complement. "Lucy guess."

"Well, I love it. Hands down the best present anyone has ever gotten."

"I like my gift," Divesh volunteers nervously, toying with his lava lamp.

"Fine, it's tied for the best gift anyone has ever received. Does that work for you?" Nyson asks Divesh who nods feebly.

"Almost done." Carrie mutters under her breath, handing George his gift, a long thin silver box.

George looked at it carefully, peeling back the paper, "I heard about this," he said, holding up his present. It's some sort of board game that has to do with taking over the world. Basically Monopoly on steroids. And with actual troops instead of money. "I was going to order his game for myself," George admits looking at it.

Flushing a dark color, Michael looks at him, "Yeah, I uh, looked at your search history when you let me borrow your laptop."

"Isn't that illegal?" Nishav asks.

"Yeah, I thought so." Carrie answers him, probably being the most knowledgeable person in the room when it comes to the matter of legality about federal issues.

"Oh" Michael pauses, "Sorry. Please don't arrest me."

Carrie giggles slightly, "We'll have to wait and see."

George looks up at Carrie, running a hand through his blond hair, "He got me a great gift for it, so I say that the means justify the ends, wouldn't you agree?" George asks, flipping the box over to read the information printed abou it on the back.

"Uh, no."

"Oh, well, it's Christmas." George points out, "You can't arrest anyone around Christmas can you?"

"I mean, I can...but I won't." Carrie finally relents, waving her hand towards George and Michael encouraging them to hurry up.

The last few gifts go pretty smoothly. Micheal gets a bluetooth speaker, and Dale receives a string of LED lights that I doubt he'll be allowed to put up in the palace lest they pull off the antique, expensive wallpaper. Wallpaper that's probably worth more than any of our lives, Carrie excluded.

Once that's all done, Carrie turns to the pile of gifts left on the table, "Now then, these are all for me?" She asks, grinning brightly. She had probably been waiting for this moment all day, hoping that the process would speed up.

"You told us all to get you gifts," Tex tells her, pointing towards a gift wrapped in a snowflake covered pattern "Open this one first."

"Why, is it yours?"

Tex smiles for a second, "Obviously."

"Fine. If you insist." Carrie pulls open the paper, revealing a silver bracelet with a small heart charm in the middle. "Oh, this is so cute, I love it," she says.

There's no way she loves that bracelet. I know her, and any jewelry that costs under a few thousand dollars practically repulses her. It's a nice bracelet, and I'm sure plenty of girls would have been delighted to get it as a gift, but Carrie is one of the exceptions. She makes a show of carefully laying the bracelet back in the box, her smile large and slightly forced.

"Okay, I'm going to open more of these," Carrie exclaims excitedly looking towards the pile.

Bas had gotten her a dress like he told me, and Nyson had gifted her some cookies he had baked. Divesh had given her a small teddy bear with a red ribbon around its neck, that she had spontaneously dubbed Nibbles. It takes her nearly 3 quarters of an hour before she reaches her last gift, and her smile seems to grow with each present she opens.

"I love them all," She exclaims, clutching the bear to her chest, and a fuzzy pink and navy scarf -Nishav's gift- tied around her neck.

"That's good," Nathaniel answers.

"Oh right, I almost forgot. Nathaniel, call Tyler. I mean, it's what, a 3 hours time difference? He should still be awake."

"Probably," Nathaniel agrees.

It takes a few seconds before someone picks up the phone, and Nathaniel speaks quietly to a woman who I assume is his mother, before switching the screen to a video chat and showing one of the cutest little kids I have ever seen.

He looks a surprising amount like Nathaniel, considering that he isn't related to him at all. They have the same light blond hair and fair complexion. "Daddy," the boy- Tyler- says, looking around, "Are those all of your friends?"

"Yes, " Nathaniel answers, his face growing red at the words Daddy. Bas however, lets out a soft awww at the words, and Divesh stiffens slightly, glancing at the phone before turning away. "Do you want to say hi to all of them?"

Tyler nods enthusiastically, "Hi everyone!," his gaze falls on Carrie and suddenly the boy becomes even more enthusiastic if that's even possible.

"I know you!"

"Excuse me?" Carrie asks.

"You're the girl from television," the boy says, not picking up on Carrie's tone. "The one who always wears the pretty dresses."

That seems to placate her a bit, because she takes the compliment graciously, even if it is from a newly-minted 4 year old. "Why thank you, Tyler."

The boy blinks, "You know my name?"

"Of course I do, your father has talked about you a lot." Carrie tells him, "All good things though, don't worry."

"Okay. I believe you," Tyler says. "It's my birthday today."

Carrie pauses for a moment, giving him a brief smile, "I've heard that. S, what did you get for your birthday?"

Tyler starts on a long list of gifts, that I doubt anyone but Natahniel and Bas are fully listening to. Even I start to tune it out as he gets past the toy fishing set. I think I had one as a kid, in fact, I'm sure that almost everyone did.

"So, what do you think?" he suddenly asks, causing Carrie to startle slightly.

"Yeah those sound really cool," she pauses, clearing her throat briefly, "Well then, happy birthday Tyler and have a Merry Christmas in advance. I'm sure Santa has you very high up on his nice list."

With that Tyler hangs up the phone, and the Secret Santa is brought to end.

For quite possible the first time in the past few months, I'm sad to see it end.

A/N: I know, I'm the worst with updates. Sorry :(((. Yes, I know it's February 1st, but it's still the Christmas Season in my heart, so there. Also, I just got a ton of snow (Like a legit blizzard is going on as I write this) and It's putting me in the holiday spirit even if it is much closer to valentines day. Oh well, time is just a material concept.