CHAPTER 35

Princess Carolynn Schreave

Friday January 31st

The morning was bright and sunny. It would have been perfect for a garden party if it wasn't nearly February. Dad had originally considered having the family meet and greet in the garden anyway, but I had whined to him for twenty minutes about how cold I was going to be until he finally dismissed the idea. Though, to be fair, it probably would have been fine to be outside today.

My mother had cleared her entire schedule for today, a feat that I know is much much more difficult than it seemed, though if I was the Queen and had gone through all that trouble, I don't know if I would spend my precious time waiting for someone else to get ready.

"Jenna," I say, "Can you pin in one of my crystal tiaras?" I ask, trying to keep my eyes focused on my reflection. Maybe then I wouldn't have to hear about all the important stuff today meant to my future. I wasn't sure I could stomach it.

"Yes, Your Highness." Jenna responds, bobbing a curtsey and taking the opportunity to leave, probably to go find one. Personally, I think she was still partly scared of my Mom, which fair enough, but still irked me.

"Carrie," Mom says, waiting for the door to close, "Are you excited?"

"Yeah. I guess I am."

"Well, it's a very important day for you. These people are going to be your in-laws, for better or for worse. Just….pick a family you can tolerate."

"What do you mean?" I ask, finally looking away from the mirror in front of me. Maybe a life lesson courtesy of my Mom would help to distract me.

"Your father's family is lovely, don't get me wrong. Ah, there was another boy, who I was considering marrying. Anyway, his parents and little sister collected rats they found and made them into pets. There was nothing wrong with that, but it was the end of the relationship." Mom explains. "I don't even like dogs, I couldn't hear about rats for the rest of my life."

I actually laugh at that, "Did they name them?"

"I didn't ask." Mom presses her lips together at that, as if the mere memory makes her want to hurl.

"Was he normal aside from the crazy family?" I ask. I think if someone in my selection collected rats I would know, but maybe not. Maybe they're just a super secret rat collector. Icky. I don't care who they are, I would follow my mom's lead.

"Yes, he's pretty famous now...uh, the basketball player, the one from Dakota who does all the commercials."

"Do I look like I follow basketball?" I almost roll my eyes before remembering that Mom would almost certainly scold me for that. I wasn't in the mood today.

"No, nevermind then."

I stand up from the vanity, going over to Mom, "How do I look? Is it too grandma-y? I wanted to look mature, but I don't know if it's too much." I blurt out. I wanted to ask Jenna about it earlier, but she would never give me a straight answer. I love her, but she's employed to tell me what I want to hear, not tell me that the outfit I had spent hours agonizing over was ugly.

Mom however, had no such qualms. She would probably try to not offend me, but if she truly disliked my outfit, she would tell me.

"It's nice," Mom says, giving me a once over. "I don't see anything wrong with it."

"But do you think...like they'll think there's anything wrong with it?" I lower my voice. Is this what it feels like to be insecure? Bleh, this whole selection thing is making me into a basket case.

"The families? Of course, Carrie, is that what you're so worried about?"

"Well I want them to approve of me." I mutter quietly, folding my arms in front of my chest.

"You're going to be the leader of one of the largest countries in the free world. If they don't approve of you then I'd like to see who they think is worthy of their precious children." Mom answers. "I think that would be more of an insult to me then it would be to you.

'You're right, you're right. I need to like them. They'll like me no matter what."

"I wouldn't- fine, yes, that's right, darling just try to relax. Do you want me to get you some tea?" Mom asks, standing up. She checks something on her work phone and turns back to me, "Actually, I'll have someone from the staff go get it. I need to go deal with something."

"I thought you cleared your schedule today." I say, frowning.

"I did, this is a more personal matter. Don't worry about it."

"...Okay." I agree, turning back to my reflection. Mom always has stuff to do, and this was probably just some sort of gift for me.

Forty-five minutes later, I pronounce myself ready, much to Jenna's relief. My normally curly hair had been straightened, and a crystal headband mimicking a tiara (apparently one of the press secretaries thought it would be better for me to avoid wearing anything that looks too expensive today) had been pinned in place. The cranberry colored sweater and matching skirt set was a bit more modest than I normally liked to go, with the skirt almost reaching my knees, but that was probably better for today. At least, I hope so.

Three of the four remaining selected were all gathered in the foyer, waiting for their parents, siblings and otherwise related family members to arrive.

Bas was bouncing up and down in anticipation, a wide smile pasted on his face. Nyson looked similarly excited, Divesh too, but they were nowhere near the level of Bas. And as for Nishav, well I'd assume he was in his room more than happy to sit this day out.

"Are you all excited?" I ask, coming over to them like the charming hostess I was supposed to be.

"You have no idea." Bas answers, laughing in a self-deprecating sort of way.

Divesh nods, "me too. I miss them. It's weird being in a different country without my parents and my brother."

"That su…I mean, yeah. I get that. Today should be fun then."

"I hope so."

Nyson shrugs a little, "Yeah, I miss them but it was kinda fun being by myself for these last few months. Like, I want that homesick."

"That's mildly concerning." I answer, frowning a little at his blase nature towards his family visiting.

"No, I get that." Bas answers, "When I first went to college, it was really cool just like…living alone, or well, in a dorm room, but I miss them. I used to go home nearly every weekend."

"I bet you got a lot of air miles for that," Divesh tells him, smiling.

"Actually, not to brag, but every fourth trip home was free. I signed up for the reward card too."

"Oh, I didn't know that people actually…used them." Divesh said, ducking his head, "I thought it was like when stores get you to buy a credit card when you're checking out. Everyone pretty much ignores it."

"Everyone does ignore it. That's why I got so many bonus points. I was like their only customer." Bas tells us, practically beaming, though most likely from the imminent arrival of his family and not the fact that he gets free flights.

"That's really something." I say, ducking my head a little.

"Hey, I like it." Bas insists, his gaze shifting to the doors. A tall couple had just pushed through them, accompanied by a woman who I would place around thirty.

"Excuse me," Nyson coughs, going over to hug his family.

Bas watches him go, looking a bit jealous. Divesh too, who says, "I hope my family gets here soon. I know the flight is pretty long."

"They all should have arrived around the same time," I say, waving away his worries, "See, there they are now."

Okay, so I didn't actually know that the two men and Divesh-aged boy who just entered were Divesh's family, but seeing as I've met most of Bas's on occasion, he was the only one left. Luckily, I'm not completely off my mark there, and Divesh goes over with a hurried bye to the both of us.

That leaves just Bas and I, bas who is still bouncing on the balls of his feet, looking anxiously towards the door every few seconds.

"Just give it a few minutes." I tell him.

"Nah, I'm sure it's nothing. Have you ever tried to get five people through an airport? It takes forever." Bas says good-naturedly, though it does little to hide his obvious impatience.

"No, I haven't. Strict schedules and all that." I say, Bas laughs at that but it's obvious that he's majorly distracted. I can't blame him for that.

"I hate schedules." Bas says, his eyes focused on the door instead of my face. "There's so much to remember."

"Well, they're part of life."

"Yeah…excuse me," Bas says, patting me on the shoulder and side stepping around me as a young boy, I would put him around six, barrels into him.

Bas picks the boy up, who had stumbled after running into him full speed, and puts him back on his feet. Two other girls and his mothers aren't very far behind. Awwwww, how sweet. I don't think I've ever had anyone greet me like that. Maybe Teddy when he was really little, but still. He was my cousin, not my sibling. It's different.

I'm not sure what exactly to do with myself, I feel like a bit of a third wheel…. Or a twelfth-wheel. Where's my family when I need them?

Almost as if the universe heard my wishes and decided to make me regret them, Garnet somehow materialized, looking the happiest I've ever seen him.

"Carrie," he yells, "What are we doing today? I'm excited."

"What do you mean we?" I ask, folding my arms across my chest.

"You and me?" Garnet asks, looking confused. "Ya know, we."

"There is no we right now. What are you even doing here? Shouldn't you be in gym class right now pretending to play volleyball?"

Garnet's cheeks flush, "English, and we're reading Macbeth," he mutters.

"Oh, how much of it have you read?"

"I read the wikipedia page!" Garnet volunteers, "and the first chapter. Oh, and half of the authors note. And, I watched the movie."

God, this poor boy. "Congratulations. So why aren't you in English drawing on your book?" I ask, my earlier question still unanswered. He doesn't seem particularly sick, and I know that his mother is not the type to let him skip school for no reason.

"Oh, well-"

"Garnet got into a bit of an incident at school," Mom says, placing a hand on Garnet's shoulder. This must have been the personal matter she was talking about. "His father was in a meeting, so I decided to deal with the matter."

Garnet nodded proudly.

"What type of incident?"

"Someone seems to have gotten caught cheating on another test. That brings it up to four, I believe. I had to talk the school out of a suspension." Mom says, rolling her eyes. "Accusing someone without proof. Ridiculous,"

"But Aunt Farrah," Garnet says, "I did cheat."

"Shhhh. Plausible deniability." Mom says, pressing a hand over his mouth. "I'm not telling your parents about this, but please don't make me a liar."

"You've got to be kidding me." I interject. "First of all, how dumb do you have to be to get caught a fourth time, and second, why did you talk them out of a suspension? He obviously deserves it."

Garnet pouts, "That's mean."

"Yes, Carolynn, that's very mean of you to say. Garnet is simply trying his best and the teacher mistook him trying to remember an answer as cheating. Horrible mistake really, I don't know what type of teachers they employ now." To her credit, Mom doesn't break her facade, even though I'm sure she knows how crazy the words are.

"He just admitted to doing it."

"No I didn't."

"I didn't hear anything."

"Fine. Whatever. Why'd you get him out of the suspension anyway? And why aren't you telling his parents?"

Mom sighs, "I really didn't need the newspaper to get ahold of this story. I mean, a member of the royal family suspended? It would not go over very well. As for not telling his parents, Quinn would be furious. He's just a kid."

"Yeah. I'm just a kid." Garnet echos.

"Okay. If this is what you're going with, far be it from me to stop you. Is he going to hang around all day?"

"Yes, of course." Mom answers as if I'm crazy, "What, am I supposed to make him go sit in his house by himself? Please, do I seem inhumane to you?"

"Sometimes."

"Carolynn, we have company over. Please at least pretend like you're less annoyed," Mom says, pasting a large smile and waving to one of Divesh's fathers who had looked over. "Your dad set up the ballroom for today. It should work out nicely."

"Cool. Should I give them a few more minutes before asking everyone to come to the ballroom?" I ask, looking over at the families still embracing each other. It would be heartless to ruin that. It had been about three months since any of them saw their families. The least I could do was pretend to be patient.

"Sure. I think that's a good idea. Make sure you talk to everyone today."

"I will. Don't worry."

"What am I going to do?" Garnet whines. "I can talk to people too, right?"

"No," I answer.

"Of course," Mom says at the same time.

Recognizing a losing battle, since there was clearly no way I could bully Garnet into listening to me over my mother, I scowl. "I know that being polite is a foreign concept to you, so I don't have high hopes. Just don't embarrass me."

Garnet smiles, giving me a mock salute before bouncing over to go talk to Bas' family.

"He's having too good of a time." I grumble, crossing my arms.

"Let him have something Carrie. He rarely gets to experience anything close to what you do." Mom says, following my gaze to Garnet who seemed to be engaging in a shoe-lace tying competition with one of Bas' younger siblings. Mom winces, "Maybe I'll just buy him some video game."

"Good idea."

Mom doesn't say anything further, just looking out at the crowd for a few minutes before nudging me. "Go ahead."

Right. Now for the part of the day where I actually have to meet my future husband's family.

Fun times.

But, stalling isn't going to take the pressure off, and if I need to talk to everyone, I might as well get it over with before my blush is absorbed and my lip gloss loses its shine. I dressed to impress, it would be a shame for it all to go to waste because of my nerves.

"Everyone, if I can have your attention," It takes a few moments before the families all quiet down. Finally, once Nyson shushed his sister for the third time, I'm satisfied that everyone is more or less paying attention to me.

"Thank you so much for coming to visit. It has been a dream getting to know your sons over the past few months, and I'm ecstatic to finally meet the people who they call a family." Thank God for years of public speaking lessons that allow me to say all of this with a straight face. "If we all make our way to the ballroom, a luncheon has been set up, so everyone can become acquainted with one another."

Everyone complies, Divesh glancing towards the door before following his fathers into the ballroom.

All the families, with the exception of Bas' parents, who were obviously well acquainted with the ballroom show surprise as they enter. I know that all of them come from rather humble backgrounds, not poor exactly, but no multi-millionaires. It makes sense for them to all be amazed by the glitz and the glamor of what the palace has to offer.

Dad, who was going over some last minute things with one of the chefs, comes over to Mom and I. "Everyone looks very excited," he says, surveying the crowds, "Why is Garnet here?"

"Long story," Mom answers, shaking her head. "Long and complicated. Anyway, Carrie, do you want to go meet everyone?"

"Who should I start with?"

"Nyson's maybe, seems like the least pressure." Mom states. "Go on," she says, giving me a light push.

"Careful. I'm wearing heels." I complain, before straightening up. After one breath I put a pleasant, flight-attendant smile on my face. After two breaths I start walking towards Nyson, and what I assume is his immediate family.

"Mr. and Mrs. Avery is it?" I ask, greeting them.

The man, Mr. Avery, nods, "I don't think we'd be anyone else, Your Highness." He laughs at his own joke, and I giggle too, mostly out of politeness. It really wasn't that funny. Sometimes people have to pretend though.

The first thing that struck me about Nyson's parents was how old they both were. At least in their sixties, if not older. His sister too was much older than me, probably around thirty. Well, maybe that was a good thing. Old people seemed to love me. They thought I was charming and adorable. Which, as the future Queen, probably weren't labels that I wanted attached to me, but it definitely wasn't a bad thing.

"Well, I didn't want to assume, Mr. Avery. It would be impolite of me."

"You can call me Tarrok, Your Highness, and my wife, Ellie."

Ellie looked much more like Nyson than the father. Their dark hair was almost the same shade, and she was definitely at least six feet tall.

"It's nice to meet you." I say, giving her a cheery smile.

"Well, we've all been looking forward to it, Your Highness. Goodness knows that none of us ever thought Nyson would have made it this far, so it's nice to meet the first girl who's' given him a chance." The words themselves are mean, but she says it in such a sweet tone that I can tell it's a common thing that the family teases Nyson about.

Nyson flushes, "Ma, don't say that."

"It's the truth, Nys." She turns to me, with a conspiratorial grin, "You're actually the first girl he's ever introduced us to, Your Highness."

"Well, if we're being technical I'm the one doing the introduction here." I say, causing the others to laugh. Success. I knew old people always loved me.

"Of course, Your Highness, it's just a first for all of us."

The older sister speaks up for the first time, "Yeah Nys, why did you never have a girlfriend before? Too busy waiting around for Her Highness?"

"Kels, stop." Nyson groans in a tired sort of way, making me think that it's not the first time today that this has been brought up. "They're not being serious, Carrie. I have dated people before. I'm not that weird,' he explains, barely meeting my eye.

"I didn't know any of this," I say. "Well, what do you all do for work? Aside from teasing Nyson of course, since that seems to be a full time job."

"I work in construction," the dad says, "Mostly constructing office buildings in some of the newer areas of Likely. If there's one thing those companies love to do it's build. They're always industrializing."

"Oh, that's so cool, construction has always fascinated me."

"Really?" The father asks, doing a double take.

No. "Sure," I say, giving a fake laugh before moving on. "Kels…is that your name?" I ask, turning to the older sister.

"Kelsia, but that's a ridiculous name. No one calls me that." She says, giving her mother a withering glance.

"It's very pretty. What do you do?"

"I'm a preschool teacher, Your Highness. It's… tiring, but I like it. Little kids are some of the most rewarding to work with, but they're also brutally honest. It's a bit of a trade-off, but I much rather be making hand turkeys with children who enjoy it than teaching bored highschoolers about logarithms and factorials," she explains, giving me a warm smile.

"That sounds nice. I remember making hand turkeys when I was younger. I think I named mine Gobble. I wasn't a very creative child."

"Better than naming it Turkey." Kelsia says.

"Ah. Well, it was a pleasure meeting all of you," I say, "I hope you have a nice time at the palace." With that I walk away, confident that I made a good impression.

Now then, who I was going to talk to next was a bit tricky.

Things had been just a tad bit awkward with Divesh lately, after the whole confessing to being an international spy thing. And while I still liked him and thought that he was definitely at least the second hottest guy left in my selection, I wasn't sure I was quite ready to deal with his family.

But on the other hand, Bas' family was big. And scary. And, to make matters even worse, Garnet had glued himself to Bas' side.

Hmmmmmmm.

Divesh it is.

I'm about five feet away from the family, a greeting on my tongue, as the ballroom door swings open, and a relatively short stocky woman barges in. "Where's my Divesh?" She exclaims loudly. Every head in the room, including my parents, swivel to her's. She doesn't seem to notice though, scanning the room.

Divesh tried to hide behind one of his fathers, but it clearly doesn't work, as once the woman lays eyes on him she rushes over, pulling him into a hug. "There you are," she continues, still loud enough for probably the entire palace, if not all of Los Angeles to hear. "You didn't call me last night. I was worried sick I tell you."

"Kriti," Divesh says awkwardly, "I'm sorry. I forgot…"

"Nonsense. Next time you call me even if it is at a ridiculous hour. These damn time zones, whoever created them owes me two tubes of undereye concealer."

Divesh nods again, seeming relieved that most of the room had stopped focusing on him. His eyes land on me, "Hey Ca…Your Highness. This is my family."

Startled by the abrupt change, it takes me a second to respond. "Oh, Yes, it's so lovely to meet all of you. Thank you for coming all the way from England. I know it was a long flight. And the time zones," I add, nodding towards Kriti.

She smiles in a self-satisfied way. "See, I told you that I was right,"

One of the men steps forward, graying at the temples, "I'm Viraj, Your Highness. I apologize for the interruption, some people," he looks at Kriti for a second, "have never understood politeness."

The woman waves her hand, "You never loved me for your subtlety."

"Oh, are you…"

"Oh God no," The woman says, sounding repulsed. "Please, I would rather die before marrying either of them."

"She's kidding," Viraj says to me.

"No I'm not." Kriti answers. She seems to sense my confusion towards the odd scene in front of me, "I'm Divesh's aunt. Well, his mother technically, but his aunt in terms of relationships."

"Ohhhh. You're his biological mother. Sorry I was just a bit confused," I smile, trying to move past it, "It's nice to meet all of you. What are all of your names? Except for Kriti and Viraj of course."

The other man, Divesh's other father, raises a hand, "I'm Garv, and I would like to add that I had absolutely no relation to whatever scene just played out there."

"Of course. You all seem very level-headed to me. It was very funny though. Took some of the nerves off." I giggle a little to try and downplay my nervousness. Luckily, it works.

"That's very sweet of you to say, Your Highness." Garv says, "Whether it's true or not is a very different story."

"I assure you, I'm right. I am the crown Princess after all." They all laugh at that.

"I'm Stephen," says the other boy, who seems to be around Divesh's age.

"Let me guess, the brother?" I ask, grinning.

He nods, "The one and only."

"And could you remind me of your name?" I say to Divesh, who had barely been able to meet my eyes this whole time. The poor boy looks more embarrassed than I've ever seen him. Which was totally understandable. If my parents had done something like this, which they would never but details, I would be embarrassed too.

But hey, I thought it was pretty funny. That seemed to be a running theme in his family. Each one of them could be doing a stand-up routine and no one would have blinked an eye.

Divesh smiles, a bit self-consciously, but still smiles, "My name? Brandon."

"Pleasure to meet you Brandon." With that, I turn back to his family, "So, how was the trip over, I know it must have taken a while."

"It didn't take a while, Your Highness. It took eleven hours," Viraj responds, in one of the worst dad jokes I've ever heard.

"Well, thank you for coming over. It means a lot to me."

"Of course. Ever since Divesh told us he was being stationed in Angeles we wanted to come visit. It's nice it worked out." Garv adds.

"Stationed in Angeles?" I ask, giving a small laugh, "That's a very funny way to say that he was selected."

"We didn't know he would be selected when the military first told him," Stephen says, catching my eye. "The military which Divesh is part of stationed him here about two weeks before."

"Oh, right. The military. I'm so sorry, I completely forgot." I say, trying to cover up my faux pas. "Well, it's nice that you came over. Are you planning on doing any sightseeing before you go back to England?"

Kriti grins broadly, "Of course. I need to see where all the game shows are filmed. I watched seven seasons of one on the flight over. Best eight hours of my life."

"Ooooh. Well, I'm sure that can be arranged." I would invite myself along. I do love watching live tapings even if I don't get to be the star of it, but I'm not sure I want to spend another entire day trying to impress Divesh's family. As if I'm not impressive by myself as is.

"I already booked tickets," Kriti declares, looking overly pleased with herself.

"It was so nice meeting you all, I'm going to get a drink." I say, excusing myself.

"I'll come with you, Your Highness, if it's alright?" Stephen asks.

"Sure."

Stephen follows me to one of the tables set up with refreshments. "Divesh told me that you knew he wasn't actually in med school. I thought he explained the military thing."

"He told me that he was in the secret service and whatever. Now that I think about it, my Mom might have mentioned something about his family thinking he was in the military, but I never really pay attention."

"Fair enough," Stephen agrees. "So, everyone else here thinks he's going to be a doctor."

"Yup. Except for my mom. And probably my dad."

"I'll try to stop my parents from talking to anyone else then."Stephen says, chuckling.

"Good luck with that, they seem like the most social people I've meet in a long time."

"They are. But I think I can figure something out." Stephen takes a lemonade, handing me one as well. "He really likes you, you know. Divesh. He's told me a lot about you. I don't think he's ever actually seen a future with anyone else."

Despite my best efforts, my stomach gives a flutter. "He does? He talks about me a lot?"

"Almost every night. I know he's not the best at expressing himself and all that, but he really does…well, you know." Stephen explains.

I smile, "Yeah, I picked up on that."

Stephen laughs, "Well then, I guess I have to go keep my parents from accidentally exposing any state secrets."

"Good luck with that."

"I'll try."

With Divesh down, that left one more family to go. Unfortunately, that one more family was the Reddlyn-Monroes.

In theory, this should have been a good thing. I was acquainted with both mothers, and I had seen most of Bas' younger siblings over the years at various events. I didn't spend much time talking to them, obviously, as I was a princess and they were, well, rather unimportant. Which, looking back, was the kindest thing of little Carrie to do, but I wasn't wrong. I don't think I was ever outwardly rude though, which should count for something.

Garnet was still acting as if he was part of the family, and I considered the politest way to get him to leave. Insulting him enough would eventually get him to run off blinking back tears, but I don't think that's exactly company behavior. Bribery would probably work too, but that was only slightly more acceptable than making him cry

Which left me with option C.

After pulling Mom away from a conversation with Nyson's sister and convincing her to make Garnet leave by telling him that the chefs wanted him to taste the desserts (whether that was true or not was none of my concern) I was ready to introduce myself to Bas' extremely large family.

"Your Highness," Esme greeted, curtsying as she saw me approach.

"Hi. It's so nice to see you all again," I say, clasping my hands together in greeting. Bas' other mother, Sable doesn't curtsy to the same extent as her wife, more of just nodding her head. The children, I'm pretty sure one is named after some sort of flower, all give varying degrees of recognition.

"You as well," Sable says.

"How has the selection been treating you?" Esme asks kindly. Apparently, she's always been very kind and caring and Disney Princess-y. At least according to my Mom.

"It's been stressful at times, but I'm happy to be doing it." I say, getting sick of the amount of lies I've told people so far today. Well, maybe it's not a lie. I'm definitely happy to have met Bas, and though it's obviously had some pretty bad downsides, I did get a few new tiaras for my troubles as well. So it definitely could be worse.

The littlest boy, the one who had almost fallen over earlier, looks up at me with wide eyes. "Am I going to get to live here too? I like the cupcakes."

That's kids. Always asking the most uncomfortable questions. "Well, I don't know yet. I'll make sure to tell you when I do though."

The boy nods empathetically. "Okay. Bring cupcakes when you tell me."

"He's had a lot of sugar today," Sable tells me as a way of explanation. "Someone decided to sneak him a few extra treats."

Bas holds up his hand in protest, "In my defense, he told me he didn't have any so far."

"He's six. He was clearly lying." Sable answers.

Bas' cheeks puff, "I didn't know that."

"It's okay," I say to him, "Kids are some of the best liars in the world. Believe me, I work in politics." That gets a laugh out of everyone there.

The older of the two girls sticks out her hand, "I'm Daisy, Your Highness. Bas' favorite sister. Even if he won't admit it."

I take it, shaking her hand. "Nice to meet you, and I'm sure Bas doesn't have favorites, except for his favorite Princess, and that should definitely be me."

"It is you. Don't worry about that." Bas tells me with an embarrassed sort of grin on his face. It's actually very adorable, and I can feel a similar sort of look appearing on my face. I quickly turn away to the last girl, this one probably around ten years old or so. She's also eating something from the dessert table, something that I recognize as a horribly deformed and dismembered chocolate swan.

"How about you, what's your name?" I ask, refusing to stick my hand out for a hand shake. Her hands are covered in melted chocolate and just…ew.

"I'm Harper," she says, grinning broadly, "But Bassie probably already told you all about me."

"Yes, of course," I lie. "He talks about you all the time."

"I know. That's why I send him so many presents. So he doesn't feel like a loser for talking about someone who doesn't write to him that much. It's very important," she continues, bearing a striking resemblance to, well, me. Hmph. If I ended up marrying Bas, this ten year old and I were going to have some major power struggles.

"I love your presents, Harp." Bas says, smiling despite the various insults she just directed at him. "I save all of them."

"Good. You can resell them one day when I'm famous. It'll make you a lot of money, since artists really don't get paid that well."

"I'm sure Sebastian doesn't have to worry about that," Esme interjects, placing a hand on Harper's shoulder. "He's very talented."

Bas flushes with pride, "Thanks Mom."

The rest of family day proceeds rather smoothly. Everyone gets along splendidly, and aside from Bas' younger brother almost throwing up at one point from the sheer amount of sugar he consumed, there are no major incidents.

Around nine o'clock, some butlers begin to show the families up to their rooms, it would be rude to make them all leave after only a few hours of being in the palace. Especially considering that some of them took transcontinental flights today.

"That went well," Dad remarks, watching the last family leave the ballroom. "I think everyone had a nice time. What do you think Car?"

"I guess. It was nice to meet everyone." I say, mostly just relieved that the day was over. There was too much fake laughing and pretending that I was delighted to meet everyone for me. Even though I was pretty happy to meet most of the families. Happier than I thought I would be.

"I was expecting something more exciting," Mom complains, "Maybe some family drama. This was positively the calmest family day I've ever seen."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Dad answers.

"Depends on your definition of bad." Mom smiles, "In all seriousness though, it was a very nice celebration and the families were all very pleasant. Divesh's father, the funny one, I liked him very much."

"I thought they were both funny."

"Well, yes, but the one who kept making the absolutely awful jokes." Mom explains.

"You kept laughing at them. They couldn't have been that horrible." Dad reminds her.

"Well they were so just unfunny that I was laughing. Carrie understands what I mean, she always seems to find the budget reports very amusing."

"That's not true," I say, "I think that guessing how many hours of sunlight each of the financial analysts have is funny. They all need to invest in some self-tanner. I might make that the office holiday gift next year. Much more useful than a new mug."

"Please don't do that."

"Fine. Okay. I'm going to go up to bed. It's been a long day," I don't wait for either of my parent's approval before turning on my heel to leave the ballroom. It's been a long day. I need some time by myself.

As it would turn out, perhaps I didn't need some time by myself. I had been staring at my ceiling for the better part of an hour, trying to will myself to fall asleep.

I had already gone through all my usual routines. I was wearing my favorite pink fluffy pajama shorts and the matching tank top. I played calming music. I had even lit one of those overpriced lavender-scented calming candles to try and fall asleep.

But I was wide awake.

Fine.

If I was going to be awake, I wasn't going to do it by myself.

I put on my fluffy slippers, custom-made by some designer in Italy or France. Whichever one it was, they were very comfortable. With that in place I open my door, trying best to get to the staircase quietly. It's far too early for anyone to be asleep, so I wasn't worried about waking up my parents. I just didn't want them to ask any questions about where I was going or what I was doing. I had dealt with enough nosy parents today. I was going to add my own to that list.

Most of the doors on the second floor were closed, but still, no way any of them were asleep.

Bas' door also was closed, but I could see that the light was still on. I knock quickly, and luckily, he answers equally quickly.

"Carrie, hi! I wasn't uh, expecting you." He says, his voice surprised, but definitely happy.

"Yeah, I was trying to go to sleep, but I couldn't so I figured, well, did you want to do something?" I ask, crossing my arms to try and downplay how much I wanted him to say yes. Bas was easy. He was agreeable, and funny, and he was a hell of a lot better than being by myself.

"Of course. Always. Well, not always, but yeah. What did you have in mind?" Bas asks, absentmindedly flexing his shoulder.

"I didn't have anything in mind. I was hoping you did?"

Bas grins, "Do you want to go to the kitchen?"

I wrinkle my nose at the thought. Definitely not what I was expecting. "The kitchen? Why would we go there? That's just where people cook."

Bas shrugs a little, "I'm hungry. I didn't eat that much today, trying to stop my little brother from making him sick and all."

"Right, big brother Bassie." I tease, using the nickname that his little siblings had. It sounds weird to say.

"I did not suggest that name," Bas says, "Just so we're clear here. But, I guess you can use it if you want to."

"Well, I certainly do, Bassie. The kitchens then," I shudder a little at the thought, "Lead the way."

Bas does a double take. "I thought this was your house."

"Bassie, why would I know where the kitchens were?" I keep my face serious for a few moments, and Bas almost believes it, before shaking his head.

"No way. You know where they are."

"Fine. You're right, I do. I just thought it would be funny. It was a little believable, wasn't it? Like, just for a second?"

Bas laughs, "You almost had me, but then logic kicked in."

"Ah, Logic. The foil to so many wonderful jokes, " I say, shaking my head as I walk towards the kitchen, Bas following me.

"It was a good joke," he agrees, "My sisters would have loved it."

"Yes, your sisters. The younger one is very interesting. She has a…very big personality." I say, mincing my words.

"I know she's a little bratty and insufferable at times, but she's eleven. It's cute at her age. I'm sure she'll grow out of it." Bas says, holding the door to the kitchen open for me. "And if she doesn't, then I guess there's nothing wrong with being yourself."

"Now if that isn't the sappiest thing I've heard all day."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Bas says, going over to one of the large metal cabinets. "I think the bread is in here. I can make us some toast."

"Sure. I like toast."

I take a seat at one of the stools around the room as Bas slices, butters, fries, and then bakes the toast. It's actually very cool seeing him work. I probably wouldn't have been able to manage half the steps he did. Maybe I should figure out how to use a stove one of these days.

"For you, milady," Bas says, sliding me my toast which he had sprinkled powdered sugar over and added a few chocolate chips. Awwwww. That's adorable.

"Thank you," I smile, "It looks really good,"

"I aim to please."

We're silent for a few moments, eating our toast, before Bas asks, "Carrie, if I can ask you something a bit…personal?"

"That depends on what it is." I answer, years of experience from various people wanting things from me kicking it.

"Well, not to overstep, but do you know what you want in a husband?" Bas asks, placing his toast back on his plate. "Like, I guess I mean, do you know who you're going to choose?"

I look at him, tilting my head to the side. "I…I'm not sure." I say quietly.

"It's just that, I really miss my family, and if there's no chance of us working out, if you know you don't want to marry me, I guess I would like to know. So I can go home with them. It's been a pretty long time, and I don't think I realized till today how hard it is to actually be away from them." Bas explains, sensing my hesitation.

"Well," I start slowly, not exactly sure where I'm going. It's a question I hadn't thought that much about. The idea of picking a husband had always seemed so far off, something I would do way in the future. "I…I think I know who I'm not going to choose. If that makes sense. I don't know who I'm going to marry..but, yeah."

Bas nods, considering my answer, "And, if it's okay with me asking, am I the one you're not going to choose."

I look up at him, his eyes wide with both curiosity and a strange mixture of hope and sadness. Slowly, I shake my head. "No."

Barely even realizing what I'm doing next, I press my lips to his. They're warm and steady, kind of what I expected of Bas. He's obviously caught off-guard, but he wraps his arms around me, kissing me back. Everything about him is warm.

I pull away after a few seconds, still looking at him, "I don't know who I'm going to marry, but, I really like you Bas."

"Yeah me too. I lo..I like you too."

I kiss Bas again, and this time, he expects it, his hands still firmly on my waist.

With that, I go back to my toast. Bas does the same, looking a bit dazed at how the whole situation played out. "Now, Bas, if I can ask you something?"

"Yeah. Anything. What is it?"

"Do you…Has everyone else missed their family a lot? Because, maybe, I should send them home with their family. The one I know I'm not going to marry," I clarify, trying to be as clear as possible without using any names. Though I guess it would be apparent tomorrow morning when they're not at the breakfast table with everyone else.

"Yeah. I mean, everyone else missed their family, but I don't know…If you want to send them home because you know you're not going to marry them, then do it."

"That's not really an answer."

Bas takes a deep breath, "Yeah I would. I would like to know, to get on with my life rather than have you pretend that we still have a chance."

"I think you're right," I say, partially closing my eyes. Maybe it had been selfish of me to lead so many of them on. Both when I was planning on marrying Henri, and now, when my plans have undoubtedly shifted.

"Okay." Bas says simply, looking back towards his toast, "Carrie?"

"Hm?"

"That was…I don't think I've ever kissed anyone like that before. Don't get me wrong," he adds, "I liked it, it's just that, everyone always sees me as their best friend or whatever. It's nice to have someone who doesn't."

I raise an eyebrow, "Is this a bad time to tell you I consider you a very dear friend?" I ask.

"No, I just-"

"I'm joking. I understand what you mean. It's hard sometimes." I say, looking back at my now empty plate.

"I didn't think the selection would be as good for me as it is." Bas says quietly.

"Now what do you mean by that? Are you saying you didn't have grand visions of happiness and true love when you rigged your way into a government process?" I ask, teasing him.

"I just entered because I thought maybe I would have a chance to be my own person," Bas admits, "I thought about love, I wanted to fall in love. I mean, I've never had a girlfriend before, I wasn't thinking about it seriously."

"But now you are?" I ask softly, aware that what Bas was saying would probably be considered one of those very important discussions that my parents always talked about.

"Yeah. I guess I am. It's a weird feeling."

"Wow, I'm happy that you…that I mean that much to you." I shake my head a little, trying to clear my thoughts. I wasn't sure what Bas was doing, but I hated this feeling of not knowing. He almost said he loved me earlier, so what was the hesitation? Why couldn't he bring himself to say that about me?

But this whole thing, this whole speech, was so endearing. I really like Bas, I do. I…maybe this was a good thing. For him to tell me how he felt. He was sweet, and kind, and loyal, and just everything that a person should be. I was prepared to give him a chance in the palace as a favor to my Uncle, and then to eliminate him when he finally asked to go home. But plans change, I guess.

And maybe my feelings towards him did too.

"Yeah." Bas says, looking uncomfortable "Do you want some more toast?"

"Bas," I say, feeling in a way that I owe him something, "I always thought that the selection would go differently for me then it did, and I know that I haven't always been the absolute best example of a hostess. Even though I do still think I've been a pretty good one, but I'm happy you entered. I'm happy I met you."

With that, I stand up again, pushing my plate away. I'm sure some servants would clean it up later. Even if they wouldn't, it's still not really my problem. I hug Bas gently, resting my head against his shoulder. "See you tomorrow." I whisper, before going back to my own room, hoping that finally I could go to sleep.

The next morning, there was a large breakfast before all the families left, Nyson going with his. It had been an awkward conversation, if I'm being generous, but after some tears (Nyson's, not mine) he had finally understood that we weren't going to work. I knew that it wasn't going to work with him for a while. He was nice, but I wasn't going for nice. There was no spark, no nothing.

He had actually taken it surprisingly well. One thing I learned as the pool got smaller is that most of the guys were far more sensitive about their relationships. I'm happy that Nyson wasn't one. To be honest, he must have seen that he didn't have a chance. I don't think I've ever had one purely romantic feeling towards him. He was always just sort of there. An option if everyone else was busy or if Mom insisted I go on another date.

But now he was gone. He had always been my easy way out, but now, I guess, I had to start making the hard decisions.

And just like that, I was down to three boys left in my Selection.

OMG did I actually write something? I know, I know, it's been so long, but yeah. This is family day, and I think we're all sad to say goodbye to Nyson. Except for Carrie possibly, but I don't think she really cares about anything. I would say that I hope to have another chapter out soon, but that's probably a lie. Maybe after February break. Anyway, see you next time besties