CHAPTER 39

Princess Carolynn Schreave

Epilogue

And that's the story of how I got married.

Yes, I know, I'm married, shocker. It really was an experience though, and as you're reading this, I hope you all know that if you ever, ever, ever consider rigging a selection to marry your boyfriend, first please make sure that all parties are aware of the plan, and maybe try to stop yourself from falling in love with someone else. I would give pointers, but obviously, I kinda failed at that aspect of it.

I'm serious though. If someone gives you the chance to host a selection and you want to marry someone else…

DON'T DO IT.

It never ever works out.

Except, I guess, it worked out for me though. It worked out really well. I got lucky. For the rest of you, well, who's to say?

Now, I'm sure that there are many, many questions, and since I happen to be very benevolent and in a very good mood, I figured I'd oblige and answer some of Wikipedia's top questions about my life after the selection. I guess I have to talk about the selected too, who, despite my previous thoughts, I did end up talking too after my selection. I guess in a way it's inevitable. Divesh is still friends with a lot of them, and sometimes if he meets with them, or even is just on the phone, common courtesy is to say hello.

And then, still abiding by common courtesy, I usually have to go a bit farther than just saying hello, but it's okay. I manage. Well, maybe I like it a little, to hear about how everyone's doing. I try not to, I swear, but it's hard when they all have such interesting lives. Now, as the crown princess I alway thought that my life was the peak of entertainment for most people, but when hearing about Nathaniel on his fourteen day boat voyages, sometimes I do have questions. And questions turn into conversations, and conversations turn into, well, you get the picture.

So, on to everyone's favorite topic first; me.

My life is actually great. Like, I thought my life was good before, but it's really, really, reaaallllyyyy good now. I'm not the Queen yet, though Mom is talking about stepping down in a few years, but I'm practically running the country by now. I think I'm doing a pretty good job. People seem happy, and nothing does more to fuel my ego than hearing about how the budget plans I came up with actually succeeded.

And Divesh, well, I love him. We got married four months later, in June, and I know it's been a bit of an adjustment for him over the past few years, but he's come out of his shell a lot. Live speaking events still really aren't his thing, but parties, or charity galas, or tapings of the report, that's totally fine for him. He's actually really into picking out the place settings for parties now, and all the glassmakers in Angeles are practically on a first name basis with him.

The main thing I learned about him is that he happens to really be into sports. I knew he liked some sports, but he's a whiz when it comes to those little fun facts. One time we went to a sports trivia night at this restaurant, and he completely demolished the rest of the teams. (I was there for moral support! And I answered one question, which happened to be wrong, but that's not important. We won anyway.) He knows a lot about most sports, but he's really into soccer…er, football. He made me learn the rules to it too, so once or twice a month I have to sit down and watch the game with him and pretend like I care who wins or loses. I usually just root for whoever's jersey color I like better. My personal favorite right now is the dark blue and yellow of the Dakota Horns.

Now, of course our marriage isn't perfect. I don't think any are. Sometimes I get annoyed and yell at him, but he always apologizes and we make up within a few hours. He even brings me flowers, which considering that it tends to be my fault, is very kind of him.

Since Wikipedia is telling me that the next five questions have to do with kids, let me answer that pretty quickly. No, we don't have any kids. Yes, we are going to have some eventually. When? I don't really know. How many? It depends, probably two or three. Names? Carrie Jr. Carrie Jr. Jr. And Carrie 3.

I'm joking on the last one. We'll pick out normal names when the time comes. I promise.

Divesh is still pretty good friends with most of my selected. Him and Bas have actually become surprisingly close friends. Bas had a collection in one of the fashion shows last year, his first in Angeles instead of Waverly, and we both went to go see it. Turns out Bas also likes soccer…yayyyy.

They usually try to refrain from sports talk when I'm there, because I think they understand my complete disinterest, but one time I invited myself on one of their outings to a game, and it was maybe the most painful two hours of my entire life. Seriously, there was this guy who just didn't hit the ball for some reason, and then he walked to the next base and everyone started cheering for him. Bas said that they were bad pitches so he got to go to the next base. I don't know. I didn't really understand it.

Bas is doing well though. He got over the whole selection and me fairly quickly, which hurt just a little bit, but good for him. He's dating someone now. He told me their name but I forgot it so…oops! It might have been Emma? Or possibly Madeline. Bas, her, Divesh and I actually all went out to dinner one night, and she wasn't awful. I should probably ask him what her name is. Maybe I'll make Divesh do it.

Nishav is Nishav.

I talk to him every once in a while, but he's very busy. He got his thesis published on "The Social Construct of Perceived Levels of Fame and Corresponding Behavior".

Yeah. It was pretty complicated, and no offense to him, but slightly boring. I did read it, in a showing of good faith, as he had a copy sent to the palace. He attached a note to it, saying I might find level four interesting. To be honest, I didn't actually read up to level four, but I told him I absolutely loved it. I'm not sure he believed me. He suggested that I read it again. I didn't.

Then there's Nathaniel.

I still feel really bad about what happened with Nathaniel. Divesh does too, actually, he feels much guiltier than I do, which is fair all things considered. He's alright now, his arm healed very well, and it only took a few months. I'm sure there's a scar there or something, but I don't think…

Well, he's fine.

He still sails, which is very good for him. I think he even won a competition a year or two ago. I don't speak to him much, certainly not as much as Bas or even Nishav. Divesh was never that close with him either, so everything I hear comes from several levels of the grapevine or from the newspapers. Divesh added him to the guest list of our anniversary party last year, but he couldn't come. Something about his son. I don't know if that was true or not, and no one in attendance, even if I did ask, knew either. I hope it was.

Nyson I know slightly more about. I know he went to college, got a degree in business. Again, I don't talk to him often, but he was one of Bas' closest friends in the selection, and Divesh and Bas go out a lot, so I've heard some stuff. He's engaged, if I remember correctly. To a Monica Moynhan. I know, stupid name. I was not invited to the wedding, which was a little rude, considering I invited him to mine, but I guess they were trying to keep it small.

Bleh.

Oh! That reminds me, my wedding. My wedding was described as the event of the decade (by sources other than me, I promise!). There were four hundred guests, although I only really liked and knew maybe about seventy of them. And liking people is so subjective.

Anyway, my dress. Oh my god, my dress was beautiful. It had crystals sewn into the - actually, you all probably don't want to hear about this. You want to hear about the rest of my selected. Right, okay. Getting back on track.

George… I actually have no idea what happened. He might be in the military? Or in the air force? I should probably check on that.

And as for Henri, well.

We're cordial on the occasions we do speak to each other. He says hello, I ask him how he's doing, standard things. He passed me a program for a show once.

I wish we could say we were friendly, or that he and Divesh continued being friends after the selection. They probably would have, if not for one teensy tiny detail.

See, Henri came to the wedding with his cousin and some other members of his family, and Divesh got it in his head to apologize for essentially spying on him and say that he hopes that they could continue to be friends. He figured that Henri would accept the apology, after all Henri had never said anything to suggest that he was angry at Divesh. It probably would have gone over pretty well, if not for Henri having absolutely no idea what Divesh was talking about.

When he figured it out, it wasn't great, and he didn't say anything to Divesh or I, probably on account of it being our wedding day and all, but he sulked for the rest of the day. We don't really talk now. It… I don't know if I'm happy about the way it turned out, but at least he knows, and to be fair, I think he's a lot more upset at Divesh than at me. So yeah.

We don't talk anymore. He's also dating someone, not that I know from Henri himself. He still has the tabloids following him around, and I might have spent an afternoon or two obsessing over his new redheaded girlfriend. That's how I find most things out about him. Not only is he dating that girl, but he also works for some infrastructure company now. A lot of magazines have speculated that they might get engaged soon. I don't know if I believe that, or if I'll even be invited. It's unlikely, I doubt his wedding will be nearly as big a deal as mine, and well, he currently doesn't like me that much so…

Well, whatever. We are all entitled to our opinions.

But, I hope that is a sufficient amount of information about my selected! Since you are all obviously here to learn about me, and not about them, because duh, I'm sure it is! Well now, I guess this is goodbye! I would say see you again soon, because that's a lot less sad, but I guess that might also be a bit untrue.

So.

Goodbye forever,

Yours truly,

Carolynn Mirabelle Grace Schreave, Crown Princess of Illéa, Future Leader of the Free World, Most Amazing Person To Exist.

THREE YEARS LATER

"Divesh," I call. "We're going to be late. Hurry up."

"Have you seen my jacket?"

"The blue one? With the gold buttons?"

He nods. "Yeah, that one."

"Nope. Sorry."

He sighs, "It's fine. I'll find something else. Have you seen-"

I interrupt him, "No, I have not seen any of your jackets, Divesh. Just go without it. I think you look good in that."

Divesh laughs a little, shaking his head. "Carrie, it's snowing in Mayfield. I need a coat. Even if you think this looks okay."

"That's a good point." I conceded. Divesh had shown me the weather for the next week, and assured me that snowstorms were normal for this time of year in his hometown. I wouldn't know. I had never been there, but I guess he knew better than I did. It was his parents we were going to visit after all.

This was our first time visiting them. They had come to the palace numerous times, but this year, Divesh and I decided to visit them in England. Well actually, I decided to visit them. Divesh had agreed with me when I said it and set about calling them to make sure it was okay. Which of course it was. They missed him, I'm sure, and besides, who wouldn't want to have me over as a house guest?

So they agreed. Now, our bags were being packed in preparation for our flight later this afternoon. Divesh always does this at the last minute, making sure that he has everything because for some reason he insists on packing for himself. I just have my maid do it. It's much easier.

"What time are we leaving?" I ask Divesh. Even if the trip might have been my idea in the first place, he was the one planning it, and the one who actually knew the itinerary for it. He had made me a copy of it, even laminated it, and I had looked over it, but I was busy that day trying to fix cross-province metro systems, so it had slipped my mind just a teensy bit.

"In about forty minutes," he says, checking his watch. "We should be there in time for dinner tomorrow. My parents make an excellent apple pie."

"I love pie." I agree, smiling. "Should we bring anything? I feel a little bad going empty-handed."

"I don't think they'll mind that much," Divesh says. "The house is very cluttered already, at least, it was the last time I was there. Maybe they cleaned."

Oh, right. Just as this is my first time ever going to the house he grew up in, this was Divesh's first time being back since he joined my selection. I had almost forgotten that. He obviously knew his parents much better than I did, it didn't occur to me that visiting them would be almost as huge a deal for him as it was for me.

Well, almost. It was still my first time.

"Are you excited to go back?" I ask, taking his hand, the one he wears his ring on.

"Yeah, I am. I'm sort of…nervous in a way. I know it's probably changed, it's been years, but I guess I hope that it didn't."

"Maybe they renovated!" I interject. "An open concept, hardwood flooring, sleek, modern exterior-"

"Alright, somebody's been watching too much of the home design channel, haven't they?"

I pout, "Well, I think the palace would benefit from some renovations. I am so tired of all the stuffy paintings and printed carpeting. I think it should be floor to ceiling windows with all white furniture, if you must know."

Divesh winces a little, "I don't know if that would go over very well."

"I thought you were on my side here!"

"I'm always on your side."

I cross my arms, "Then shouldn't you be telling me my idea is fantastic?"

"I love you enough to tell you it would never work, but, if you did do it, then I guess I would be in full support of it."

Of course he would be. Bless Divesh's heart, he is a loyal person. There were plenty of times where he told me I shouldn't do something over the years, but in the cases when I did it anyway, he was never one to say I told you so.

"Of course you would be, because it's an amazing idea."

"Sure," Divesh says, "Let's go with that. Are you almost ready to go to the airport?"

I look around our room one last time, to see if there is anything glaringly obvious that my maid or Divesh had missed. Other than the rejected pile of snow boots I had tried on, nothing seems to be so important that I need to open the luggage for it. Divesh did leave his favorite scarf on the table leading into the dressing room, but he'll be fine without it. Besides, I don't want him to lose it in a different country. There would be no way he's getting that back.

"I think so."

The flight takes a bit over ten hours, and sure enough, when we touch down, it looks like it's about to snow. There's already a coating of snow on the ground, which I don't realize is also covered by a layer of ice until I almost slip and have to grab on to Divesh's arm to stop myself from falling over. He laughs at that, telling me to be careful. I stick my tongue out at him.

The actual house is on the smaller size, at least for me. It seems to be normal for the neighborhood. Two stories, with a front garden and a backyards. There are brick steps leading up to the door, and brightly colored curtains hang in the windows. The entire property is surrounded by a low iron fence, and the walkway up to the door had been shoveled, making that walk much easier than the one from the tarmac.

"Should I knock?"

"Go ahead," Divesh says, nodding his chin. He's holding a basket of cookies we had purchased on the way here. I had decided about four hours into the flight that he was wrong and it was extremely rude to show up without a gift.

"Do you want to knock?"

"Car, I'm holding the cookies."

"Oh, Right. Okay, I'm knocking." It wasn't as if I was strangers with his parents, they were very nice, and I had talked to them plenty of times, but something about this felt like I was meeting them again for the first time. It shouldn't have felt that way, but I guess I was a little nervous too.

"Divesh, Carrie!" Viraj, one of Divesh's fathers, calls when he sees us at the door. "Come in, come in."

Divesh manages to put the cookies down on the kitchen table before his parents start hugging him.

Garv, Divesh's other father then comes up to me, hugging me, but not nearly for as long as he hugged his son. "How are you, Carrie? Work been keeping you busy?"

"You have no idea." I say, "I'm really happy we were able to come. I want to see the house!"

"We can give you the grand tour of Casa de Agarwal before dinner. The brussel sprouts burned, so we had to start again."

"I swear on my life that you told me forty minutes!" Divesh's brother protests coming from the back of the house, where I assume the kitchen is.

"I said fourteen!" Viraj protests. "You'd think living by himself now, he would have learned how to cook."

"It's okay," I say quietly to Stephen. "I don't know how to cook either."

"I do know how to cook!" He insists as Viraj goes back to check on the preparations. "The man told me forty minutes, now he just doesn't want to look bad."

"I don't know if I believe that, Steph," Divesh says coming over. "Remember when we were kids and you tried to cook the frosting in your miniature oven?"

"It was marked the same as the batter! I've told everyone that for years. You all are mean, embarrassing me in front of the next Queen of Illéa," he says, shooting me a grin. I'm not sure that Stephen ever really managed to get past the fact that his brother married me, let alone that Divesh is a prince now.

"I don't think it's that embarrassing," I lie, giving him a smile.

Divesh shakes his head, wrapping an arm around my waist, "I…I guess I have a different opinion."

"Divesh, are you going to give me that tour or not?" I ask. We're standing in the living room right now, which is on the opposite side of the staircase from the dining room. There's a hallway leading towards the back of the house, and then the narrow set of stairs to the upper level.

"Sure," Divesh says, leading me to the cute little dining room, the lounge room, and Stephen's old room, which he takes special care to note is now a home office (Stephen insists it's because his room had better natural light.)

"Is this your room?" I ask, looking at the last door. It's closed tightly.

"Yeah." Divesh says. "Well, do you want to see?"

I roll my eyes, "Obviously."

The room is painted a light shade of blue. His bed, probably a twin bed if I had to guess, has those tacky little draws under the bed frame, but it seems almost fitting. There's a poster up on his wall of a sports team, and some pictures of him and his parents. His desk clearly hadn't been touched, it still has a box full of pencils on it, a few small coins that look like arcade tokens, and a notebook tossed to the side.

I look at his also untouched bookshelf, which has a few review guides stacked on it.

"What's this?" I ask, picking one up and opening it at random to a practice test he had bubbled in.

"Review books for the entrance exam for medical school." Divesh laughs a little to himself, "I guess we all know how that went."

"Oh," I look at it for a few seconds longer. "Do you want to burn these? I think that'll be super fun. We can make s'mores."

Divesh chuckles. "No. Actually, I think I'm happy I failed that test."

"Really, why?"

"Well, if I hadn't, then I would be a heart surgeon right now. I never would have joined the military. I never would have stepped foot in Illéa. I wouldn't have married you. You might be sitting at Bas' parents' house right now, or with Henri in Ervyn palace eating dinner, but not. You're here with me."

I take his hand, "Well, I'm happy you failed that test too. I don't think I would have been as happy if I was married to Bas or Nishav or Henri. You really did me a favor by flunking out of school before you even got in."

Divesh just smiles.

"Maybe we should celebrate the fact that you never did anything past the first four pages," I remark, flipping through the book. Nothing after question eleven has any writing on it. "I guess being lazy pays off sometimes."

He squeezes my hand. "I love you, Carrie."

"I love you too."

And they all lived happily ever after.