CHAPTER 23

Wednesday, the 25th of December

Princess Carolynn Schreave.

The curtains in my room may be drawn, blocking out the weak rays of sunshine, but I don't care. It might still be dark out, far too early for most people to get up and moving, but again, that's not one of my worries. Normally, I wouldn't even be up at this hour, 6 am is still a bit early for me, but on Christmas morning I can make an exception.

Most of the staff have the day off today, so I don't ring for Jenna. She's probably spending the holiday with her family. I guess I can make it one day without my maid to do my hair and pick out my clothes. Despite what some might believe, I'm not totally helpless.

After a quick shower, blow-drying my hair (Yes, I know how to use one), and putting on a festive red dress, I go to the sitting room where my parents said to meet. Usually we open presents at the main ballroom, but with the selection going on, I felt that they didn't want everyone intruding on this time. I can't blame them. I wish there were times in my life which the selected weren't intruding on.

Wishful thinking though, at least for now.

It's not like it matters much, I'm sure they're all preoccupied doing whatever it is that they're planning on doing today. Sleeping, calling their families, stuff like that.

Mom and Dad are already waiting for me in the sitting room -Mom gets up even earlier than I do most of the time- and a large pile of gifts sit in the corner near a slightly disappointing tree. Would it have been so hard to get a nice tree up here?

"Merry Christmas," Mom says when she sees me, looking happier than I've seen her in the past few weeks. She hands me a small box with a gold ribbon wrapped around it, "Here, open this one first."

I look at the box reproachfully, it's not nearly big enough to be a tiara, but it must be something good if Mom wanted me to open it.

"Okay," I agree easily, nodding. Taking the ribbon off the box, I open it to reveal a silver bracelet with a crown charm hanging from the center. There are smaller charms around it, stars and hearts, but the crown is clearly the centerpiece.

Is it bad that I wish it was an actual tiara?

Still, my inner musings inside, it's a pretty bracelet - much nicer than the necklace Tex gave me a few days ago - and I know I'll wear it. Will I be slightly bitter every time I wear it, probably. But I'll wear it nonetheless.

"Thank you," I say, pouring the appropriate amounts of enthusiasm into my voice.

The rest of the presents are far better than the bracelet Mom had given me. Various piles of clothes, bags, a few pieces of jewelry, and shoes litter the room by the time I'm done opening them. I guess they'll have to stay here till some maid or butler comes to clean it up. Depending on when they get back from their day off, that could be a while. I really hope no one comes up to the third floor. Strictly speaking, no one is supposed to, but you never know. That would be embarrassing for the image of the palace, to have items strewn all over the floor.

"Okay, I have presents for everyone too." I say, "One second."

Retrieving the bag from my room, I hand out the gifts, 3 to Mom and 3 to Dad, that way it will be nice and equal. I don't want anyone to accuse me of favoritism. Though, if I did have to pick, only one of my parents didn't force me into a selection, so Dad's gifts might be slightly better than Mom's. But just slightly.

"Did you get your selected gifts?" Mom asks me, looking at the mug I had given her.

"Was I supposed to?"

"It would have been nice," Dad adds quietly.

"Oh. Well, sucks to be them." I say, shrugging my shoulders. They all had a secret santa yesterday, what more could they want for gifts? I know for a fact that they had all received presents from each other, and Nyson was talking about giving everyone a photo frame, though I don't know if anyone would actually use that. The idea of a homemade photo frame covered in hot glue remnants and stickers repulses me. I really hope he didn't make me one. I hate having to act grateful for things that I really don't like.

"I figured you might say that," Mom sighs, putting down her cup of coffee, which she had added peppermint flakes to in an attempt to be more cheery.

"What can I say? I'm nothing if not predictable," I answer, bristing slightly at her words. Did she have the time to go out and buy gifts for all the selected? I don't think so. So I shouldn' have to either. Ridiculous, the double standards there are.

"Well then, I guess it's a good thing we have presents for all of them." Dad supplies.

Oh.

I guess someone did have the time to go and buy presents for all the selected.

Whatever.

"That's very nice of you." I say, pressing my lips together, trying to avoid either of them seeing my frown.

"Don't worry, I wrote your name on the boxes." Mom assures me, patting my head. That hadn't been what I was pouting about, but I don't bother to correct her. It's not worth it.

"Thank you," I say, forcing a smile. "So, do you like the presents I got you?"

"Of course, they're wonderful sweetheart," Dad tells me. At least someone is appreciative of my efforts here.

I assume someone had asked their butler for Santa hats, because by the time I get downstairs with my parents, everyone is wearing a red felt hat trimmed with white. Even Nishav has one on, though he looked slightly uncomfortable with it. I got the feeling that him wearing it had not been by choice.

"Merry Christmas," I call out, walking down the staircase.

Bas waves to me, and I get the feeling that he was the one who distributed the Santa hats, going off the reproachful looks Nishav is sending him.

"Nice hat," I say, squeezing the pom-pom on the end of it.

"Thank you, Your Highness. I have one for you to."

I pause slightly, "You...you do?"

"Yup. I can go get it if you want."

I really don't want, but I have a feeling that Bas isn't going to take that as an answer. Besides, it's Christmas. I don't need to hurt his feelings, so instead, I say, "No really, it's fine. I wouldn't want for you to go all the way back upstairs."

"Are you sure, princess? It's really not a problem."

Grimacing slightly, I answer, "Believe me, I'm sure."

Before Bas can ask again to go get me a Santa hat, the doors to the foyer open, and a loud barking sound fills the room, causing almost everyone to either win or put their hands over their ears. I never thought I would be grateful for a dog to become a distraction, but here we are.

"No, Ellie, stop it," comes Teddy's voice as he holds the small dog in his hands. I don't know how such a loud sound came from such a tiny thing, but I don't comment on it.

"If you put him down, he'll stop barking," Garnet says, grabbing the dog from Teddy's arms and putting him on the floor. Being much bigger than Teddy -and therefore stronger- it's not very hard, but Teddy looks upset as he kneels down to pet the dog.

"Teddy, Garnet, what is that?" Mom asks, coming over to greet them.

"A dog," Garnet answers. "It's a Christmas gift."

Mom winces slightly, "Your father got you a dog for christmas?" She asks, though the answer is fairly obvious. Bas chuckles slightly.

"What's so funny," I whisper to him.

"Nothing. My mom told me a story from when she was in the selection, regarding Her Majesty and a dog."

I perk up, "What was the story?"

"I don't know, I don't think your mother likes dogs very much."

"Yeah. I know. I live with her."

Uncle Luke and Aunt Quinn choose that moment to come through the door, Aggie trailing behind them holding a doll in her hand - this one has strawberry blond curls and is wearing a purple dress with rhinestones. I don't know why she would choose to collect those. If only she had a nice normal hobby, or at least something useful like collecting tiaras.

The dog in question is actually rather cute. It looks like a miniature goldendoodle, and I would put it around 6 weeks old. If there weren't 14 guys standing around watching I would go over and pet it. I might not be the world's hugest fan of dogs, but it's the type of puppy that everyone has to like. Most of the boys seem to share my feelings. Tex was looking at the puppy with a fond smile and George looked like he wanted to pet the small dog.

"You got them a dog?" Mom asks Luke, looking like she didn't want to get too close to the puppy, Ellie I think his name was."

"They wanted one," Luke answers defensively, "Besides, Quinn said it would teach them responsibility."

Aunt Quinn nods, "And he's adorable. Just look at him."

Mom doesn't seem to share the thought process. "Just, don't let it scratch the furniture. It's all very expensive, you know."

"Believe me, I know," Aunt Quinn answers.

Garnet, who seemed to think that by being the oldest he was the one in charge of the dog, comes over to where Bas and I are standing. The other selected still look somewhat jealous -well, of course they were. The selected hate when I talk to one of them in a group setting. Not that I can blame them. Tex looks over, frowning slightly, though he looks to be the most upset out of the remaining guys. Divesh just seems too nervous to look anything less than happy.

"Isn't he cool?" Garnet asks, setting the dog down on the floor. Garnet kneels next to it, rubbing his belly. "Best present I've ever gotten."

I glare at him for a second, "Maybe don't call an actual animal a present. It's demeaning."

"Oh. Oops." Garne says, not looking particularly upset by my words. "Bas, don't you think he's cute?"

Bas nods, "Yeah, he's adorable," Bas coos slightly, petting Ellie. "Why'd you name him Ellie though?"

Garnet rolls his eyes, "His name is Eeyore. Teddy was just being a big baby and wanted it to have a different name, so we have to call him Ellie now."

"How did you get Ellie for Eeyore?" I ask, confused on his thought process. There's no L in Eeyore, though maybe it's better for this poor dog athat Teddy did throw a fit so he wouldn't have to be called something as stupid as Eeyore.

"Yeah, I was wondering the same thing." Bas adds rather helpfully,

"Well, Teddy said that he wanted to name the dog Elmo, I said it was dumb. Aggie didn't care, she was distracted by her stupid new doll, so she said she liked Eeyore better. Then Teddy started crying, and Mom said that we could have a nickname for him, and Teddy said Ellie. And that was that. I didn't even get a vote. So much for democracy."

Bas laughs, "I don't think you live in a democratic country."

"I know. That's why they should have listened to me. I'm older and I outrank them."

I have to do a double-take at this one, "No you don't Garnet." Bas wipes his hand over his mouth in a weak attempt to conceal his laughter.

"Yeah I do. I'm the spare to the throne. I could be king one day." Garnet points out, though he seems to be a bit misinformed when it comes to the line of succession.

"He's not wrong," Bas interjects, causing me to scowl slightly.

"Who's side are you on here?" I ask him.

"Your's. I'm sorry princess." Bas apologizes, running a hand through his hair.

I wave my hand slightly, "yeah. Now, Garnet, explain what you mean."

Garnet shrugs, looking confused at the sudden attention. "What are you talking about? I was just saying that if you die, that I could be King. And it's annoying that Teddy doesn't agree with me, even though I'm older,"

"You're not planning my murder, are you?" I ask, narrowing my eyes slightly.

Garnet shakes his head, "Nah. I would never get away with it."

"Good to know that's the only thing stopping you." I answer, pressing my lips together. Please. As if Garnet was smart enough to pull off a murder, though I suppose he was smart enough to know that he wouldn't get away with it, so I guess that counts for something. Ah well. It's not like it's ever going to happen. The country would revolt if I wasn't the Queen. People tend to like me more than Garnet, call it common sense.

Garnet grins in response, "Thanks. I try," he looks like he wants to say something else, but Ellie -sorry, Eeyore, chooses this moment to run off, causing Garnet to have to chase after him.

Delightful.

"You don't think he'll actually try it, do you?" I ask Bas, as he knows Garnet probably almost as well as I do.

Bas considers this for a moment. "Honestly, it could go either way, but I don't think his mother would let him go through with it, if that's any consolation. Besides, he probably wouldn't be able to get you to drink the poisoned cup, or whatever it is.""

I grin, "Good to know you believe in me."

Bas looks down for a second, "Of course I do. Someone would have to be stupid not to."

"Oh come on now, even idiots know enough to realize how much better a ruler I would be than Garne." I answer, looking him in the eyes.

"Most idiots do at least" Bas assures me.

"Did you like your Christmas gift?" I ask. I'm not exactly sure what Dad picked out for him, though I have a suspicion that it's something to do with arts or sewing. Dad knows Bas well enough, and even if he didn't, he could always ask Bas' mothers - one of which is currently in the palace- for what to get him.

Though I guess that would give away that I didn't pick out the presents myself. And Dad wouldn't do that to me. Mom? Maybe, but not Dad.

"Of course I did," Bas starts. Come on. Say what I got you. Give me something to go ioff here Bas! "I can't believe you got him to do it."

I nod my head, wondering who it was that I go to do what. Damn it Bas. Couldn't he just say what I got him? Was it really that hard?

"Yeah, I mean, he's a busy man, but I tried."

"Still. The fact that Leon Effie agreed to do a video call with me, I couldn't believe it. I was looking at the paper for a good 10 minutes roday, I might have actually been in shock, or at least something close to it,"

Oh! Leon Effie, I know that name. He's some sort of designer. Looks like Dad took the creative route when it came to Bas's present. Good for him. Everyone loves some creativity every once and again. I wouldn't have bothered to go to such lengths for a gift for Bas, and it makes me wonder if Dad did that for everyone or just for Bas. I would ask around what other people got -or ask Dad what presents he picked out- if I didn't have about a thousand better things to do.

"Yeah, well, I just dropped my title a couple dozen times, and he was pretty amicable to it," I lie, furthering my story. "Guess he wanted to have some fun."

"Guess so." Bas says, chuckling lightly. Something I've noticed about him. He never outright laughs. He always chuckles or snickers. I guess it's in his nature. He might not have some boisterous laughter, but it's still kinda endearing. Especially when his cheeks get red when he laughs too much. I never thought I would find something so stupid, actually, somewhat, kind of cute, but here we are.

"Your Highness, Bas," Nathaniel says coming over. He was one of the ones who looked a little wistful at my attention on Bas, I guess he finally decided to do something about it."

"Hey Nathaniel," I greet, not entirely happy that he decided to come over to and interrupt my conversation. I know that they're all trying to get my attention as much as possible, so that maybe they could win, but it's frankly aggravating that they're all so desperate that they think, maybe a few minutes at most, will be able to sway my decision.

"Hi," Bas says, looking much less upset than I currently do.

"I wanted to thank you for the paddleboard. I don't know how you fit it into that box, but it was really cool opening it."

A paddleboard? Wow that's what Dad went with? I know Nathaniel likes boats and water and stuff related to water, but that just seems to be a little far. Is paddleboarding even fun? I had never gone. Palace security thought the waves were far too rough. Besides, the salt water would do horrible things to my hair, which probably costs more than Nathaniel's new little paddleboard.

"Yeah, because you work at the surf shack, I figured you would like it," I lie, concocting the story on the spot. It's believable, at least. Not that anyone would question me let alone Nathaniel. He knows better than that, or at least I hope he does. He doesn't seem like that big of a moron, though I had wondered from ime to time.

"I haven't been paddleboarding since I was a kid. It'll be fun to test it out in warmer weather."

"I hope it's worth the wait," I answer. "Wouldn't want you getting hypothermia by going paddleboarding in the middle of December. That wouldn't be good, now would it?"

"No of course not." Ntahaniel answers quickly, still smiling. "If the selection is still going on when it gets warm out, I can teach you."

I inwardly wince, though I keep my face perfectly neutral. I doubt that the selection will still be going on in April or May, it's my selection and it will end when I want it to. I really don't want this to carry on for almost 6 months. Besides, despite Nathaniel's assurance that it's fun, I don't want to learn how to paddle board.

But he's trying.

Nathaniel is a nice person, I'd be kidding myself to pretend otherwise. I know he has good intentions. He offered to teach me because he genuinely wants to, not because he wants to get pretty pictures for the media or because he wants to somehow wangle out an additional date with me. I almost feel bad rejecting him, but the matter still stands. I am not going to do something as pedestrian as paddle boarding, with or without Nathaniel.

I do have some standards. People can't fault me for that.

"I don't think that would make it past security," I say, choosing to lie rather than hurt his feelings. It's Christmas. I'm not a mean-spirited person. I would never do it on a day that's meant for us all to be happy. I probably wouldn't do it any other day.

Most likely.

Maybe.

"Oh, does security let you do anything?" Nathaniel asks, though it comes off as more of a serious question than him trying to diminish the Illéan security force.

"They let me do things that don't end with me drowning." I assure him.

"Or breaking your neck," Bas volunteers, "I remember you had to wear an helmet on the date to the roller skating rink."

"Yeah. That was certainly something," I answer, grimacing slightly.

"Okay. Sorry, no paddleboarding then. I wouldn't want your guards to get in trouble," Nathaniel pauses for a second, "Or have you drown. I don't think your parents would be very happy with me for that. I would probably get tried for treason."

"I'm sure it wouldn't be that bad," I answer. "And I can swim. People are being ridiculous."

"Yeah, well, a lot of people know how to swim." Nathaniel says, more to himself than to Bas and I. Bas glances at me, and I meet his look, confused at what Nathaniel means. "Sorry, nevermind. Anyway…" Nathaniel's voice trails off slightly, pointing to Mom.

"Gentlemen," Mom calls out to the group, she's distanced herself as far away as possible from the puppy that Garnet and Teddy were playing with. "If you'll come with us into the dining room, we can have our Christmas dinner."

"Carrie, darling, please," Mom says, pulling me from the ballroom where I was sitting with the 14 selected, my Aunt, Uncle, cousins, and Dad. Mom had left a few minutes ago, when a nervous-looking junior advisor had come in to get her. I hadn't thought much of it, she was always getting pulled away, but it was rare for her to raise the matter with me.

"What?" I ask, following her out of the room.

"Not here, come."

I walk with her in silence, the mood rather somber for Christmas afternoon. She pulls me into the office, pushing the door shut behind her. "Okay, can you tell me now?" I ask, sitting down on one of the leather chairs in front of Mom;s desk.

"Yes, yes." Mom pauses, massaging her temple. "Do you remember the, the uh, photos we sent to the English royal family?" She asks delicately, skirting around the subject matter of said photos. I remember those, I was mad when I found out, but it was after the fact. There was nothing I could do.

"Where is this going?"

"Yes, well, the King got back to me today."

"On Christmas?" I ask incredulously. "He must not have had a very merry day."

Mom gives a weak laugh, shaking her head. "That's not very nice, but I have to say, in this situation it probably fits. Don't tell your father I said that. He prefers not to have such views on other people." Mom says quickly.

"I won't. I won't." I say, repeating it twice to prove my point. Or maybe I just didn't want to know what it was that the King had said.

"Right. Well then, I don't know what I was expecting, I guess I was hoping…" Mom shakes her head slightly, "Hope never works out though."

"What are you talking about?" I ask, though I had a sinking feeling that I knew what my mother was talking abou. And I didn't want to consider that possibility.

"They called our bluff. Said the bruises were nothing more than make up." Mom says, shrugging slightly, in an effort not to look concerned.

Oh.

That's bad.

That's really, really, really, bad.

"I mean, they're right." I say, rolling my eyes.

"Don't do that," Mom chastises, though it's without much effort behind it. I had a feeling that she didn't care too much at this point. She had bigger things to worry about right now,

"So, I guess that's that." I say, shrugging and moving to stand. "What can you do?"

"Please tell me you're not serious," Mom says, standing to meet me.

"Dead. Why?"

"Carolynn, you have treated this whole thing as a joke. You have avoided the problem at the root, and you still refuse to see what we have to do. This is getting ridiculous. So please for the love of God, sit down and treat this as an adult. " Mom says, raising her voice. I bite my lip, looking down at the floor. I hate when she yells at me, as if I'm a incompetent child. I'm not one.

"Of course I treated it as a joke," I answer, looking up at her, tired of her acting as if my feelings were irrelevant "What would you do? Because if I don't, then I have to come to terms with the fact that my boyfriend, by extension, committed treason. That his family is trying to start a war with us. And I don't want to do that. I don't. And I think you know why."

"If you're going to be in charge of Illéa, then you have to make sacrifices," Mom says, her voice quiet, "You have to deal with these matters. Emotions aside, the facts still stand. It's an act of war, and you know how we respond to those threats."

I press my lips together, sliding back down into my seat. She's right though. I'm going to be the Queen of Illéa. And yes, I like the balls and the tiaras and the dresses, but at the end of the day, that's not what being the Queen means. Even Garnet, my annoying 14 year old cousin, seemed to have to come to terms with it, I need to do the same.

I know where my loyalties lie. I love Henri, I do, but I have to make sacrifices in life. Mom's right. Illéa deals with threats quickly, it's how we survive.

"You're right," I answer, though the words are hard to force through my throat.

"Okay." Mom says simply.

"Just, don't tell him today," I ask, fiddling with my hands in my lap.

Mom looks curious, "Why?"

"Because today, everything is perfect. And I want to keep it that way for as long as possible."

A/N: Hello everyone, and welcome back to my ted talk. Well, not my ted talk but my story. Though it kinda has the same ring to it? I don't know, kinda cool in my opinion uwu. So, is Valentines day tomorrow, yes, yes it is. Amd I writing the Christmas chaper now. Yes, yes I am. Well then, what can you do. That's life.