Chapter 21 – Unusual

When Willow joined the group of Selected in the Men's Parlor after the copious brunch, everyone was slouched in sofas, digesting, and had no motivation to do whatsoever. It was raining outside – again – and they were trapped inside. Some were reading books, others were typing stuff on their computers either working or just playing games, and there was a group playing a game of Settlers in silence.

"I'm bored," Liliana said, sighing loudly. She was coloring some pictures on the coffee table, but she wasn't really focused on it.

"Yeah, you can say that again, Lil'," Julian said.

"I'm bored," she repeated, to everyone's delight and laughter.

"What?" she asked, looking up around her. "What's funny? You said to say it again."

"It's just a manner of speaking, Bunny," Easton said. "It means he agrees 110% with you."

"Oh…" Liliana continued drawing, her head resting heavily on her hand.

"We could maybe complete de Table Soccer Semifinals?" Dom suggested. He was on one of the four teams that were still in the game.

"Charlie and Annie are not here today," Willow said. "And they're on two of the teams."

"Right."

They settled in the silence around them. The only noises were the pages turning from several corners of the room, Liliana's pencils on the paper, the group whispering at their game, and the rain falling outside, drumming against the windows.

"I'm boooored…" Liliana said again, elongating the o.

"I know!" Haakon said, standing up dramatically from the couch, startling a few who were starting to doze off. "Why don't we do that talent show I talked about a few days ago?" He paused, looking at everyone around the room. Some seemed interested in his idea, but most just rolled their eyes. "Aw, come on, guys!" he said. "First, we don't need Mr. Charles Finley to organize anything for us or to babysit us. We're not babies, right?"

"Yeah!" Liliana said. "That's right!"

Again, everyone chuckled.

"Thank you, Liliana," Haakon said. "So, why don't we do something simple? Princess Willow and her sister can be the judges, and we all perform." Again, he looked around to see if anyone would back him up, but no one said anything. "Princess?" he tried.

"I mean…" Willow said. "If no one's got a better idea, anyway, then I don't see why not?"

"Yes! Thank you!" Haakon said, coming over and kissing her hand. Then he looked at everyone in the room again. "Guys, and ladies," he added to Jaylen and Liliana, "get your performances ready in 2 hours. I have some things to prepare. We'll meet in the ballroom." With that, he walked out.

"Are we, uhm, really gonna do this?" Weston asked, making a face. "I like a relaxing rainy day from time to time."

"Aw, come on, man!" Mike Berger-King said, tapping the ex-valet's shoulder in a friendly way. "It could be fun! You don't have to do anything extraordinary. Just a little something. Or you don't have to do anything and go hide into your room and pretend you're sick. That's also a solution."

Weston chuckled. "Thanks," he said, wiggling himself away from Mike's touch.

"Well, Gentlemen, Highness," Mike said, I'll see you guys in two hours: I have my performance to prepare." He grinned and walked out. After a few minutes of whining and complaining, a good part of the group of Selected also left to prepare their Special Talent, leaving Willow almost alone in the Men's Parlor.

Mikey stayed behind and sat next to her, leaning his head on her shoulder.

"Honestly," she said, "what do you think of this Haakon guy, Mikey?"

Her best friend – boyfriend? – shrugged. "I don't know. Today he's kinda tolerable, but most other days he's just a dick– sorry, a jerk."

"Hmm," she said. "I've never seen him being a dick, but there's something off about him all the time like he's playing a role. I don't know."

"Well, to his credit, he's a stage actor, so that would make sense– Oh, and he's always around Zeke, so he loses lots of points for me."

"True…" she paused and closed her book. "So, what are you going to show?" she asked with a smirk. "Lyre? Gaming? A volleyball smash?"

"I guess you'll just have to wait and see," he said, placing a kiss on her cheek. "Because I don't know myself."

The princess giggled and tried to push him away, but Mikey dodged and walked away, laughing. So Willow picked up her book and went upstairs to see if she could talk Lolly into being a judge with her, and maybe also Matty.

She knocked on her sister's room – she was playing the violin so she hoped she'd hear the knock – but the music stopped and Lolly opened the door. "Hey," she said softly. "Come in."

"Are you doing anything in roughly two hours?" Willow asked, not beating around the bush."

"Uhm… why?"

Willow plopped down on the pink couch. "Since it's raining and everyone was bored and Charlie's not here to entertain us – I'm kidding, but that's what it felt like – Haakon suggested a talent show where you and I judge the Selected."

Lolly laughed softly and sat next to Willow. "As long as I don't have to perform, why not?"

"Okay great," she said. "What do you say we wear matching outfits? Just for the event?"

The younger princess smiled. "I only have black outfits, so…"

"That's fine," Willow said. "Black it is. Business?"

Lolly nodded. "That's good with me. Who else is going to judge?"

"I would have asked Annie, but she and Charlie are spending the day with their family." She paused. "I thought maybe Matty would be interested."

Lolly nodded and Willow squeezed her hand in a silent thank you for doing that with her and she was on her way to find her little brother. She went to the other wing of the palace and went to Matty's room. She knocked and waited. 10 seconds later, Matty opened the door and Plume jumped with her front paws on Willow.

"Hey!" he said. "What's up?"

"I was wondering if you'd be interested in judging a Talent show with Lolly and me?"

"Yes!" Matty said. "When?"

"In like an hour and a half," she replied. "Oh, and we dress business-black."

"Got it," Matty said, grinning. "Hey, uhm, can I talk to you for a bit?"

"Sure!" She walked into the room after he had invited her in and he closed the door behind her. They sat on his bed. "What's up?"

Matty scratched a spot behind his neck. "I don't know how to say this…" he started, laughing awkwardly. "I know why Fredrik is here, for the Alliance and all, he told me. But now with the war that's going to explode in Europe…" he sighed. "He just seemed really anxious about the whole thing and I– I tried to comfort him and all." Matty looked up at his sister.

"That's nice of you to do that," she said, a little confused. "I don't understand why that's… not good?"

"It's not that it's not good," he said, stroking his dog's soft head. "It's just– I know he's here to try to see if he could marry you or Lolly, but…" he trailed off again, blushing furiously.

"You like him," Willow said not unkindly. "Matty, is that what's bothering you?"

He nodded. "I know he's bi– we talked about it a little, so it wouldn't be weird. But–" He sighed. "I don't want to talk to dad about it, so I'm asking you first for your opinion." He looked at his sister and searched her eyes, pushing up his glasses, in the exact same gesture as his father. "Do you think that could strengthen the alliance between Illéa and Swendway? Or is two princes getting together too weird…?"

"It's a little more complicated than that," Willow reply. "Two princes securing an alliance is not the problem, and I'll totally support you if it happens." She paused. "What's complicated right now is the situation in Europe. It's way too soon to know how all of this will end." She took his hand in hers and squeezed it. "But don't do this for a potential alliance that might or might not stand after the war is over, and we don't even know how long it'll last," she said. She could almost hear her father speaking through her and it scared her a little. "Do it because both of you want to, and most important, because you like each other. Or even better, if you love each other."

Matty took a deep breath and let it out slowly, nodding. "Thanks," he said, smiling. "You wouldn't be angry at me for taking one of your Selected?"

"What? Of course, not!" Willow replied. "There's only one me, and twenty-five remaining dudes– no, twenty-four since Jay is not a dude."

Matty laughed. "Any favorites?" he asked her, finding his teasing side again, now that he had unburdened his heart.

"Maybe," Willow said mysteriously. "Anyway," she continued, wanting to change the subject. "I need to go get ready for the judging. I'll see you in an hour or something?"

The young prince nodded eagerly, already heading to his walk-in closet while Willow headed out the door.

"What are you up to in our wing of the Palace?" Zeke asked, cornering her against the wall.

"I just had a little chat with Matty," Willow said. "Now excuse me, I need to go get ready."

"For what?" Zeke asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "As far as I know, Charlie is not here and it's raining outside. Are you going on another date?"

Willow sighed. She really didn't want to tell him because she didn't want him there during the Talent Show because he would always ruin everything. But she couldn't lie to him either because he would see right through it. Besides, he might not even be interested in a talent show, anyway. "Lolly, Matty, and I are going to judge a talent show done by the Selected," she said.

"And you didn't think to invite me?" he scoffed, offended. Or pretending to be offended. Zeke always liked to be dramatic first.

"I didn't think you'd be interested," Willow said truthfully, waving away his indignation and walking to the East wing. "But you can come if you don't have anything better to do."

"Hell, yeah. What time?" he asked.

"In an hour. Dress business-black," she replied not even looking at him. Great. Now she had to tolerate him all afternoon. Oh, well. Maybe he'd get bored and leave in the middle of the 'show'?

/ / /

An hour later, Willow walked into the Ballroom with Lolly, both dressed in black pantsuits and heels.

"Oh, wow," Willow said to Haakon who was making sure everyone had everything they needed. "You really went all in…"

"Of course!" he said. "Nothing than the best for my love." He winked at her and gestured grandly with his arm to a table on the side that had a white tablecloth on it. "M'ladies, if you please…"

"Actually, there will be four of us judging," Willow said. "My brothers are coming too."

"Ooh! Excellent!" Haakon said. "Pierce! Bring two more chairs to this table!"

"Aye-aye, sir," Pierce said, mock-saluting and rolling his eyes.

Mikey came over. "Just so you know, he's been ordering us around for an hour." He paused. "At least those who didn't have too many things to prepare…" he rolled his eyes and Lolly giggled softly.

Willow and her sister sat at the table next to each other on one side, leaving the other end of the table for their brothers.

"My Love?" Lolly asked. "Is he always like that?"

"That's one of his good days," Willow replied. "But don't let him get to you. He's just very extra and likes to show off."

Just then, Matty and Zeke arrived, both dressed in an impeccable all-black suit, and Willow was surprised that Zeke had decided to play along and dress like them and not come in neon pink or something just to spite her. Matty sat next to Lolly, and Zeke at the end, far away from Willow.

In front of them, Haakon had prepared some kind of stage and the guys were all seated on the side, waiting.

"Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen, Your Royal Highnesses," he started. "This afternoon you will be seeing Talent you have never seen before! Talent that will bring you to places! Talent that will make you dream! Each judge will note the contestant on their whiteboard on a scale from 1 to 10, 10 being the best, of course. I will keep count of the scores and declare the winner at the end." He turned towards the Selected. "So, without any further ado, let's start with Hayes Lee!"

All eyes turned on Hayes and he rubbed his hands together, stepping onto the stage. "Okay, so just before I start, I learned this a very long time ago, so I might be a little rusty even if I've been rehearsing for the past hour."

Willow and the others nodded and waiting while Hayes took a deep breath.

"Tybalt, here slain, whom Romeo's hand did slay;

Romeo that spoke him fair, bade him bethink

How nice the quarrel was, and urged withal

Your high displeasure: all this uttered

With gentle breath, calm look, knees humbly bow'd,

Could not take truce with the unruly spleen

Of Tybalt deaf to peace, but that he tilts

With piercing steel at bold Mercutio's breast,

Who all as hot, turns deadly point to point,…"

At this point, Hayes paused, trying to remember the rest of the monologue. But Willow didn't have to hear more to know she would give him at least a 7: there was so much emotion in his voice that she had goosebumps and she could actually see herself in Verona with Tybalt dead at their feet.

He went on for a few more lines before stopping. "Okay, yeah, I don't remember that part in the middle," he confessed, "but I do remember the ending, and it goes:

"But by and by comes back to Romeo,

Who had but newly entertain'd revenge,

And to 't they go like lightning, for, ere I

Could draw to part them, was stout Tybalt slain.

And, as he fell, did Romeo turn and fly.

This is the truth, or let Benvolio die."

Hayes bowed and everyone clapped. The four royal siblings each gave him a note, turning their whiteboards one after the other with an explanation, or without one. Willow gave him a 7 – she would have given him higher had he remembered the part in the middle of Benvolio's monologue in Romeo and Juliet. Lolly gave him an 8, Matty a 10, and Zeke a 3.

"You didn't know the whole thing," he simply said.

Hayes nodded. "Understandable."

"Thank you!" Haakon said, writing down the total score. Though he wasn't going to give their scores right away, everyone might remember their own if they could add numbers. "The next one on my list is Mike Donald Burger-King!"

Mike came onto the stage and entertained them for a solid 5 minutes with a whole sketch he had written. Almost everyone was laughing by the end and Mike was beaming.

"Where on earth did you find all that?" Willow asked.

Mike shrugged. "I've been writing jokes and trying to make them flow together for some time," he replied. "When you work in a fast-food restaurant, you have time to think."

"Well, Mike," Willow said. "If you ever start doing stand-up shows, I'll be the first one to buy tickets and come see you." Which made Mike beam even brighter and his smile couldn't have been broader.

"Thank you, princess!"

The next one on Haakon's list was Lysander J. Jefferson, and everyone was surprised when he didn't weave a story in front of them. "I don't have much to show for," he said, "but I can hold my breath super long."

Zeke snorted. "That's it?" Lysander nodded. "Fine," the prince said. "If you can do more than 5 minutes, I'll give you a 10. If you don't, well… you'll get a 1 from me."

Willow rolled her eyes. "Don't listen to him. Do what you can, and please don't die."

Lysander smiled and took a few deep breaths before holding the fourth in, just as Haakon started the timer. Watching him unmoving and turning redder by the minute was a little unnerving, but the time went by. Every thirty seconds, Haakon gave the time to let him know how far he was.

"2:30," he said. "3 minutes." Later: "3:30."

But Lysander couldn't hold it in anymore and he stopped at 4 minutes and seventeen seconds, earning him a 1, as promised, by Zeke, though the others gave him better scores. Willow tried holding her breath with him, but she only held for forty-five seconds, so his time was incredible. She gave him a 9.

After Lysander came a few who didn't have anything very interesting to show for – apart from Connor Dominic Adventis who said that his special talent was in bed… that he could sleep for days. It made everyone snort, of course.

The next one was Domenico Montero, and he offered to mix a drink for the jury. Everyone drank it, except for Lolly who just wet her lips in the cocktail, not wanting to go down that path again. He got an average of 6 from everyone. Right after him came Callan Vanidestine.

"Uhm, Dom," he said. "I'm sorry, but I'm also going to mix a drink for the jury…"

Domenico shrugged. "I'm sure you're going to do that better than me." No one missed the sarcasm in his voice. How could a blind man mix a drink better than Dom? But Willow smirked: she knew that mixing drinks was Cal's job and that he had very few mistakes on his resumé.

A table was set out for Cal and all the bottles – there were twice as much as for Dom – were laid out in front of him. He asked that they be put in a certain order and asked Mikey to make sure that it was correct and that no one was trying to set him a prank.

"All good," Mikey said, patting the tall guy on the shoulder.

"Thanks," he said. "Princess Willow, what would you like to order?"

"Hmm, a Long Island Iced Tea, please."

Cal nodded and went on to create the drink in front of everyone. He didn't hesitate once on the bottles, the quantities of each alcohol, or the final decoration on the glass. "Mikey? Can you deliver this, please?"

"Yup." Mikey took the glass and handed it to Willow, who sipped on the straw.

"Oooh, this is good," she said. "Perfectly sweet."

Cal smiled and asked Lolly what she wanted, clarifying that he could also make mocktails. Lolly placed her order, and everyone watched, dumbfounded. But the one who was the most shocked was Domenico: he had just been outplayed by a blind dude who could mix drinks like he was talking about the weather!

After mixing a drink for Matty – a mocktail since he was still underage – and for Zeke, Callan turned to Dom. "I hope there are no hard feelings, Dom," he said. "This is actually my job, so…"

Dom shook his head, genuinely impressed. "None at all," he replied. "I can recognize talent when I see it," he said. "Hey, if you're looking for a job if neither one of us win, I'll gladly hire you in my club."

"Really?" Cal said.

"Yeah, buddy." Dom patted Cal's shoulder and helped clear out the bottles for the next talents.

After Callan came Blaze, Comoe, and Mirion, but none of them were as astounding as him and quite forgettable. Then came Aidyn Song, and everyone thought he was going to create a dress in front of them or something in the like, but instead he stepped on the stage with a white violin in his hand, a magnificent instrument that he delicately placed under his chin. The bow slid and danced on the strings as his fingers ran on them, creating the most beautiful music. It filled the whole ballroom and everyone held their breaths, listening.

Until the last note resonated in the ballroom, and Aidyn gently dropped his arm to his side.

"That was incredible!" Lolly blurted out. "I mean–" she looked around as everyone looked at her. Until then she hadn't uttered a single word. "That was one for the 24 Caprices of Paganini, right?"

Aidyn nodded with a small smile. "That's right. It was number 7."

"That's the most complicated one of the 24," Lolly explained to everyone, "which are the most complicated pieces ever written for solo violin." She paused and sat back on her chair. "Just saying." Obviously, she gave him a 10, and so did Willow and Matty.

But not Zeke. "I didn't like the piece, so you're only getting a 6," he said.

Aidyn snorted, and Willow was glad that none of Zeke's taunting was getting to anyone. They only cared about what she said and had learned to let his comments slide. For most of them, at least…

Haakon then suggested a small break to stretch their legs, drink some water, or go to the bathroom. It was during that time that Silas and Ximena, the King and Queen themselves, came in, called in by Aidyn's music.

"What's going on in here?" the Queen asked, standing next to her eldest daughter, putting a hand on her shoulder. She was genuinely curious.

"Oh, they're doing a Talent Show," Willow replied.

"Oh, that's nice," Xi said. "Do you mind if we stay to watch?" the question was directed to the Selected since they would have to perform in front of them, which was not an easy thing to do. Most of them nodded – mainly those who had already shown their prowess – but Haakon welcomed them with opened arms.

"It would be an honor, Your Majesties," he said before ordering someone to bring two more chairs for the king and the queen who sat near Willow.

After that, it was Weston's turn to perform. From the look on his face, he would have rather been anywhere but there, but he steeled himself.

He cleared his throat. "Okay, so uhm… I'm gonna need Xander's help with this one, actually."

Xander nodded and came over with his guitar. He sat on the chair while Weston stayed standing. "Whenever you're ready," he said. So Weston took a deep breath, brought the mic to his mouth, and started… beatboxing! Xander was just there to give a musical background for Weston to beatbox over, but damn! He was good! Not a single slip, not a single hesitation.

Willow beat the rhythm with her foot and when he had finished, he dropped the mic.

"Ooh! Mic Drop!" Matty said, clapping loudly. "That was amazing!"

"How come did I never know about this?" Zeke asked, slightly offended.

"You never asked, sir," Weston replied a little sheepish.

"Weston, that was incredible!" Willow said. "I'm in awe of that."

The ex-Valet shrugged. "Thanks," he said. "But it wouldn't have been as good without Xander." He smiled and nodded to the big man on the chair, and Xander nodded back.

"Wes, if you ever need something to do, I'm sure we could use a beatboxer in Akoustix," Xander offered.

Weston chuckled. "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." Then both of them joined the other Selected.

"Okay, so while we prepare for Fred's performance," Haakon said, continuing, "I'd like to invite Julian on the stage!"

Julian stepped up with a single spoon in his hand. In the background, two footmen were setting up an easel with paints and brushes with Fredrik's help.

"Okay," Julian said. "So my special talent is to balance this spoon on my nose for a very unhealthy amount of time."

Willow snorted. "That's true," she said. "His record was 8 minutes–" she cut herself before saying anything else. No one knew they had dated in the past. Some might have suspected it, but not everyone. Now, they must all know.

Julian just smiled. "Well, I have a new record, anyway, and it's 10 minutes."

"Aw come on!" Zeke said. "We're gonna watch you stand motionless for ten minutes? Just wake me up when you're done."

Everyone snorted at that and Julian shrugged. "Why don't you spice up things a bit, Zeke?" he said, using his name instead of his title. Willow knew he wasn't a huge fan of the prince. "Why don't you set up a route for me to follow around the ballroom to see how far I can go without dropping the spoon?"

"Hell, yeah," Zeke said. He took a couple of guys with him and they laid out an obstacle course around the ballroom for him to follow. It took them five minutes. The prince then explained the itinerary to Julian who nodded. All he had to do was reach the Princess at the end of the line.

"Alright. Watch me, then." He blew some hot air on the spoon and placed it on his nose before following the course: straight line, zig-zag around chairs, pass under a table, climb over three chairs in a row, another large zig-zag around some Selected just standing there, under another table, climbing over a chair and then a final straight line towards Willow. Not once did Julian drop the spoon. And when he reached Willow, he even placed a kiss on her cheek with the spoon still on his nose.

Everyone laughed and clapped. But Zeke was not amused. He did have to give him a high score, though, because Julian had done it without fail, but he was not happy about it.

After him was Fredrik and his paintings. He asked if one of the four siblings wanted to pose for him and Matty raised his hand.

"I volunteer as tribute!" he said, coming over. So Fredrik made him sit on a chair, unable to look at the prince in the eyes, which made Willow smile. First, he drew a rough sketch of Matty with a pencil on the 15x15 inch canvas. Then he went with colors and in less than 15 minutes, he had done an incredible likeliness of Matty. Everyone had stood and gathered around him to watch – not too close, though – and they saw the young prince come to life under his brush strokes.

"That's amazing!" the queen said. "Fredrik, you have real talent."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," he replied, bowing his head. He got very high scores from everyone.

After him came Elliot with a sleight of hand with cards and Feighree with a show of strength and pumping his muscles. Willow had to admit that yes, okay fine, he was hot. But there was nothing in his brain to balance his muscles…

Then Haakon decided it was his turn to perform his tricks and oh, boy. He did some acrobatic stunts while reciting famous stage plays soliloquies, making everything flow seamlessly from one thing to the other. It was impressive, but there was only one thing that Willow could think of when seeing him: Show-off. Who used that in their everyday life, honestly?

When he was done, he put his shirt back on – oh yes, because he had taken off his shirt for the acrobatic part – and he invited Archer to the stage.

"Do I have to do it?" Archer asked.

"Yes," Haakon promptly replied. "Everyone is doing it."

"Even if I give you a thousand dollars?"

That stopped Haakon in his tracks. "I guess if the Princess is okay with you not doing it and you make it two thousand dollars…"

Archer looked at the princess. "Would you let me back out of this if I gave you five thousand dollars?"

"Five?!" Willow exclaimed. "I mean– as much as it's tempting, I'll have to refuse your offer, Archer. Sorry."

"Damn it," he muttered.

"I tried," Haakon said. "But if you still have an extra grand or two to spare, I'm–

"Shut up," Archer said. "I need to go get something for this stupid show." He sighed and shook his head. "I really thought the money would work. It always does."

"Not with the richest family in Illéa," Mikey said.

Archer shot him a look. "I'm pretty sure I'm the richest man in this room. With the Selection going on, their coffers are slowly dwindling down, anyway." With that, he left the ballroom.

"Uh, is he coming back?" Matty asked.

"I think so," Haakon replied. "Anyway, in the meantime, Tristan can come to perform." So Tristan came to the stage and performed a breakdance routine. In the middle of his dance, Weston started beatboxing on the side, which made Tristan grin like a happy idiot. When he was done, and Archer was coming back with… was that a cello?

Haakon congratulated Tristan and prepared a chair for Archer.

"I'm a bit rusty," Archer said. "And nowhere as good as Aidyn." He took a deep breath and slid the bow on a string, making it resonate deeply in everyone's chest. The piece was sad and in minor tones, but beautiful. In the end, everyone clapped. "It's honestly the only piece I've known by heart and I haven't played it in… a long time…"

Before anyone could say anything to compliment him, he was gone, back to the music room to put the cello back. Then came Leonardo.

"Okay, so my number one special talent is driving, and I would have liked to show you my skills on a rally track, but that was not possible. So I'm gonna go with my second best trick." He picked up a long strand of grass that he had picked earlier from the garden and placed it between his thumbs, creating some kind of pouch with his hand. He then brought his hands to his mouth and started whistling through the piece of grass. But instead of one long monotone whistle, it was actually the Illéa Anthem! He went through it with everyone listening.

"Do it again!" Mike said. "So we can sing with you!"

Leonardo obliged and everyone stood, put their hand on their hearts, and sang the anthem. Everyone except a pouting Zeke. It was not that he wasn't proud of his country. It was just that he thought it was ridiculous. The Illéan anthem needed some real instruments! Not some stupid blade of grass! He gave him a 3.

"You're never satisfied with anything, are you?" Matty asked him. "Nothing seems to make you happy."

Zeke shrugged. "Of course, there are things," he replied. "Just not that."

Haakon then invited Xander on the stage and the musician came back with his guitar, sitting on the chair. "I, uhm, wrote a song in the two hours before the show," he said. "Lyrics, music, and all."

"Ooh," Willow said. "Let's hear it!"

Xander strummed a few soft chords and then started singing. His voice was warm and rich and it made Willow smile from ear to ear: it was one thing to hear him sing within his band on a video clip on their YouTube channel, but it was another to hear him sing live, and alone! The lyrics were so heartfelt, and it was one big thank you to the Princess, praising her kind and generous heart, underlining her humor and melodious laugh, and just painting her in a beautiful light with words. Willow listened attentively. In the end, when he had finished strumming the last couple of chords and the music was done reverberating around the ballroom walls, Willow just stood and went to hug him, the Teddy Bear, as Charlie had nicknamed him.

"Thank you so much!" she said softly. "That was the sweetest thing ever."

"You're welcome," he replied, patting her back awkwardly with his guitar in between them.

"Someone has a crush!" Leonardo said in a singsong voice, which made Xander turn as red as a tomato in an instant. He quickly went to the side to put his guitar in its case.

"Alright," Haakon said. "While Henry gets all his stuff ready, Mikhail you can come to perform your tricks."

Mikey nodded and came on stage. On the side, Henry was getting everything ready on a table for his next performance. Mikey looked at Willow. "No, I'm not going to play the lyre or play video games," he said, referring to their last conversation. "I'm going to sing."

But Willow knew there was a twist to his 'singing', otherwise, it wouldn't be any fun. He tapped the slow rhythm on his thigh with his hand and started singing a Sea Shanty, namely The Wellerman, in English. There were four verses, and he changed the language in each verse, without hesitation. So, first English, then French, followed by Russian, and finally Latin. By the second verse, Weston had joined in with his beatboxing, then Aidyn followed with his violin, and finally Xander with his guitar. It was amazing, and Willow would have listened to it all day long.

"That was incredible!" Willow said. "Did you translate those verses on your own?"

"Of course, I did," Mikey said. "It was only written in English. But honestly, it wouldn't have been as good without these guys!" he said, presenting them with his arm. "That was pretty cool."

"Honestly, guys," Xander said. "I'm going to talk with the band to create a Selection Video Clip."

"That would be epic!" Matty said. "I'll be the first one to watch. Honest!"

Everyone laughed and then Haakon thanked Mikey before helping Henry bring the table on the stage. "What are you gonna do?" he asked.

Henry smiled. "I'm going to decorate a cake," he said. "I would have wanted to bake the cake myself but I didn't have time, so the cooks did that for me while I prepared the vegan buttercreams." He gestured to the many baking pipes filled with various green and brown buttercreams. "Judges, you may come forward to see how I do this," he said. "And the others too, but just leave me some space to move around."

The spectators didn't have to be asked twice and flocked to the table, all on the same side. Only Callan stayed to the side on his seat, and Liliana noticed him. She walked over to him and took his hand. "Come on! I'll tell you what he's doing!"

Callan couldn't stop the smile that bloomed on his lips. "Thanks, Lil," he said, following her.

"I can't see!" she said, too short next to the table.

"Come here," Cal said, picking her up and hoisting her on his hip. "Is that better?"

"Yeah!"

Henry started piping green and pink succulents around one half of the cake, shaped like a moon. It was so delicate and pretty and Liliana tried to tell Cal what Henry was doing, but she was so absorbed by it that she stopped talking. Cal didn't ask for details because he could probably sense her being focused on the cake in his arms. She had her arm wrapped around his neck and Willow thought that was the cutest picture of the day. If only she had her phone so she could snap that picture.

When Henry was done decorating the cake, Willow praised his amazing skills and Henry suggested they eat the cake once all the show was over.

Everyone agreed to that and Haakon said there were only three more people to go.

"And me!" Liliana said.

"Four, then." The Master of Ceremony invited Easton to come forward to show his special talent, and he accepted. Without any music to help him, he started singing Let It Be from the Beatles. Willow was amazed at all the emotion that was in his voice and his performance and just– wow. Xander took out his guitar again, but he didn't play right away.

From the corner of his eyes, Easton noticed Xander with his guitar but not playing, and nodded once to him, giving him the go to accompany him, so Xander obliged. It was beautiful.

At the end of the song, after everyone had applauded and the judges gave their note, the King stood. "Xander, may I ask you something?"

Xander nodded, terrified to be addressed by the King himself.

"Do you have perfect pitch? You always seem to pick up on the exact note every single time…"

The musician nodded. "I do, sir. My dad says it's a curse, though."

Silas chuckled. "I would imagine why, but I think it's an amazing talent."

"Thank you," Xander replied shyly.

"Alright!" Haakon said. "Before we all go outside for the last two performances, I believe Miss Liliana has something to show us?"

"Yes!" she said. She slipped off her shoes and her skirt pulled on a pink tutu and her ballet slippers and stood on the stage in Second Position. She nodded to her dad who started the music on his phone. Lili then twirled and danced to the Nutcracker music, inventing most of the steps, but it was the cutest thing ever. Everyone awed and laughed and when she was done, she did a little curtsy. This time, all four judges gave her a 10! Yes, even Zeke. Willow knew he always had a soft spot for kids, and Lili was no different.

Liliana beamed and went to hug her dad before running to Cal and climbing on his lap. "Did you see me, Cal? Oh…" she said, her shoulders slumping. Her bottom lip quivered and she just sat there, trying not to cry.

"Hey!" Cal said softly, touching her hair and tucking it behind her ears. "I couldn't see you dance with my eyes, but I imagined you in my mind. The music was happy and fun!" He touched the tulle tutu. "And I'm sure this skirt danced with you, didn't it?"

Liliana nodded. "Yeah," she said. Without any preamble, she just leaned against him, and Call wrapped his long arms around her, resting his chin on her head.

"I'm sure you were the most beautiful ballerina in the world," he said softly, and Willow's heart was about to burst. These two– She just hoped that Easton wouldn't be too jealous of Callan… but by the smile on his face as he watched his daughter have a moment with Cal, he didn't seem to be holding any grudge.

"Shall we go outside?" Haakon said, and everyone followed him. "The first one to show us his skills will be Pierce. Please stay over there, far away from us."

Pierce went out in the light rain while everyone stayed on the terrace, more or less sheltered from the rain. He lit a torch he had with him with fire, and then started doing scary tricks with the torches – he had three by now – like juggling, or making huge fire circles around him. It was impressive, to say the least, even though Willow knew it would have been much more impressive in the dark. He ended his routine with the famous Fire Breathing trick – they all felt the heat of that – making Liliana scream in terror and hide her face in Cal's neck.

The crowd cheered and clapped.

"Where did you learn to do that?" Willow asked. "Did you perform in a circus?"

"No," Pierce replied, chuckling. "I like to learn new stuff when I visit countries, and I learned that trick in the Middle East," he said.

"Were you scared?" Liliana asked.

"Yes," Pierce said. "It's one of the most dangerous tricks; but don't worry, I took all the precautions." He paused. "And it's raining, so it tampered the fire a little."

"That was impressive," Haakon said. "Thank you. And now, for our last contestant: Jaylen Jackson!"

Willow and the others turned around to see where she was, but she was not in the group, anymore. They heard hooves coming over from around the corner of the East Wing, and Jaylen appeared on a horse from the Royal Stables.

"I wish I had my horse from home who's trained to do tricks," Jaylen explained, stopping in front of the crowd on the terrace. "So Prancer here might not be very happy about what I'm going to do," she added, patting the animal's neck, "even though I've been trying things with him for the past three hours– sorry I missed the show, by the way."

"Okay, show us what you got!" Haakon said.

Jaylen nodded and put the horse to a light trot around the fountain. It was making horrible hoof prints in the gravel and Willow already felt bad for the gardeners who would have to put it back nicely, later.

Jaylen led the horse for two or three rounds, showing him what she wanted him to do. Then she stood on the saddled, both feet on it, her knees flexible to the bump of the trot. Then she went to harder and harder exercises until the horse was fed up with her and just stopped running.

"See?" she said, panting a little. "This buddy is not used to this." She jumped off the animal and led him by the bridle. "Anyway, that was my trick for today." She bowed and everyone cheered and congratulated her. She tied the horse to the railing before following everyone back inside.

"Everyone, listen up!" Haakon said. "I have the results of the scores right here. I'm not going to enumerate everyone, just the top three. If you want to see where you stand, you can come to see later while we eat Henry's pretty cake." He paused, waiting for everyone to focus their attention on him. "In third place with 36 points, we have Aidyn Song with his most difficult solo violin piece!" The Selected cheered and clapped. "In second place with 37 points, we have Callan Vanidestine with his flawless drink mixing skills!"

Liliana squealed and hugged his legs, almost toppling him over if it wasn't for Easton and Mikey who were right next to him, and made sure she wouldn't fall.

"And finally, in first place with a perfect 40 points score is Liliana Divenre! Congrats!"

Liliana screamed and ran around the room to her father's delight and laughter. After that, Henry cut the cake in as many slices as he could and they snacked on that with drinks that footmen and maids were bringing over.

"Haakon," Willow said, coming over. "This was a really nice idea, the talent show and all. Thank you."

The blond actor from Bankston grinned. "Anything for you and to see your smile," he replied.

Just then, two familiar people walked in.

"What did we miss?" Charlie asked with his sister next to him, making everyone laugh.

"You just missed the most epic talent show ever!" Matty said, given them a plate with cake on it.

"I won!" Lili said, standing in front of the Finley Siblings, grinning.

Hellooo! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! it was the last one full of fluff and cuteness... after that, everything will start to spiral down... :eyes:

anyway: who was your favorite talent? your favorite moment? who do you think should have won?

thanks for reading, reviewing, and still being there! :) see you next week!