Hi lovely people! Sorry for taking forever to update - I promise I haven't abandoned this story again, I've just been busy.

Booki! I'm so happy you're still reading this! I thought you wouldn't be, since you were a guest and wouldn't get notifications abpout it being updated, and I wasn't really expecting you to be checking for updates on a story from years ago. But I'm really happy you're still here to read this! And I'm excited to write Lydie's whole plotline :D

Luna

The day after we arrive, Prince Elliot starts speed-dating. He goes on two or three dates every day. By the time he gets to me, he's gone on ten dates, and three girls have been sent home.

For my date, he takes me on a walk in the gardens. It's simple, but kind of nice.

"So, Lady Luna," he says to me, "how are you enjoying your stay in the Palace so far?"

"It's nice," I say. "It's really nice. It's really beautiful, and . . . I'm not really used to having a steady place to stay every day, so . . . that's nice too."

"Oh, right," he says, looking slightly embarrassed. "You were an Eight, weren't you?"

"I was," I say. "I'm still getting used to the idea that I'm a Three now. Even before I was an Eight, I didn't ever think I'd get this far."

"Before you were an Eight?" he asks. "What happened?"

The question surprises me so much that I'm literally speechless. Somehow, it hadn't occurred to me that he'd have no idea what had happened. He and his family ruined my entire life, and he has no idea. I'm just another name on a list.

A thousand angry words bubble up in my chest, but I push them back down. Instead of "Oh? My family? Well, it's a funny story: see, they were murdered by your family!", I say, "my parents died when I was little. I didn't have anywhere to go."

"Aren't there orphanages?" he asks, incredulous.

I cannot believe how clueless he is. Is he really this unaware of the state of his own country?

"Underfunded," I answer. "Also, frequently abusive."

His expression softens. "Luna . . . I'm so sorry."

I shift uncomfortably. If he were really sorry, he would have done something to make thing better. He's the crown prince. If anyone could make things better for people like me, it's him.

I don't say that. I need to not be sent home in my first week, because I desperately need this money. "It's not your fault," I lie.

Chloe

Prince Elliot takes me to one of the Palace's many libraries for our date. It's nice, but there's something about it that's slightly sad, too. It's like the choice of a formal, indoor location hammers in the fact that this relationship is a political one, not a romantic one. I'm here because his parents want me, not because he wants to date me.

Still, it's a nice date. We talk about our lives, about recent events we've been too, about the way growing up as political figures first and children second has affected us. It's not exactly romantic, but it's nice to feel so understood.

I'm not in love with Elliot, and he's not in love with me. We will probably never fall in love. But he's kind, and he's mature, and he understands me in a way few people do. If I have to marry someone for political gain, I could do worse than Elliot Schreave.

Valarie

Prince Elliot comes knocking on my door at 9 pm on my seventh evening at the Palace. One of my maids, Emma, opens the door and swiftly drops into a curtsey. "Your Highness!"

He nods at her. "Miss Emma."

She blushes deeply and mouths "he knows my name!" at one of the other maids. I restrain myself from rolling my eyes. I have to look gracious in front of the prince.

He turns to address me. "Good evening, Lady Valarie."

I curtsy. "Good evening, Your Highness."

"Would you like to join me for dessert?" he asks.

"I'd love to." I give him a smile that I hope makes me look sweet and endeared, simultaneously charmed and charming. "Just give me a moment to get ready."

"Of course." He bows and exits.

As soon as he closes the door, my maids and I spring into action. I weigh my options. I need to look perfect, obviously, but I can't overdo it. He just saw me. If I step out of my room looking completely different, he'll think I'm trying to hard, and that everything about my appearance is a facade.

I settle on refreshing my makeup and changing my jewelry out for more formal pieces. It should be a simple job, but Emma messes my makeup up the first time and has to redo it. I groan inwardly. I can't believe I'm stuck with a dunce of a maid again. I've already had to replace one of my maids, and it's hardly been a week.

I join Prince Elliot in the hallway six minutes later.

"You look stunning," he says, taking my arm.

Success. I grin. "Thank you."

He leads me down the hallway to a small room furnished with a small table, two chairs, and a cart piled high with every kind of dessert imaginable. I made an effort to learn my way around the Palace very quickly, but I had no idea this room existed.

Prince Elliot nods towards the cart. "Help yourself."

I can't stop myself from viewing this as yet another test. What would an ideal princess do in this situation? What kind of dessert would she prefer? How much would she take?

I mentally divide the desserts into categories. There are fruity desserts, chocolate desserts, cakes, and candies. I elect to choose one or two desserts from each category, and in the end, my plate holds a strawberry tart, a small slice of vanilla cake, a cream-filled pastry, and two candy truffles.

Prince Elliot takes a slice of chocolate cake and two chocolate-covered strawberries. So he's a chocolate person. I make a mental note of it, and wonder if I should have chosen more chocolates myself.

I tell myself not to be ridiculous. I chose well, and besides, I know I'm the best candidate here. It's just a matter of proving it to the prince and to everyone else. He's not going to send me home over my dessert choices.

Still, I need to make the right impression with every choice I make.

"How has your experience been so far?" he asks me. "Is everything . . ." he searches for the right word, "up to your standards?"

I wonder if he sees the irony in asking a former Four if the royal Palace is up to my standards. Of course, I have higher standards than most. But he wouldn't know that.

"It's been amazing," I say with a winning smile. "How has it been for you?"

He seems surprised. "For me?"

"I mean, it must be crazy, right?" I say. "Suddenly having dozens of potential wives in your home - I can't even imagine how hard the decisions must be."

My main strategy for this night is this: I will continually flip his questions back on him and ask some of my own. Not so much that it's annoying, but enough that he can see how sweet and non-self-absorbed I am. And so I can learn things about him that I can use later.

"It's definitely a big change, yeah," he says, and I can see that he's carefully choosing his next words. He's like me in that way. "It's definitely a lot of pressure," he says finally. "But I think it's a good thing. And I mean, what guy wouldn't want thirty-six girls all competing for him?" His tone is lighthearted, but his eyes say that he is exactly the kind of guy who doesn't want that. "And it's good for the country, too," he adds. It sounds like he's trying to convince himself it's true, but I don't point that out.

Instead, I ask, "What's the best thing about being royalty?"

He looks thoughtful for a minute, then says, "I think - I think I like that it give me an opportunity to actually make a difference. So many people want to change the world for the better, but they think they can't because they're just one person. But I actually have a chance to do something." He blushes a little and looks back down at his plate.

"That's really sweet," I say. It is. It's also extremely naive, but I can work with that.

The rest of our first date passes in much the same manner, with the two of us trading questions back and forth. By the time I leave, I've learned a lot about our very own crown prince, and I am thoroughly convinced that I will be staying long enough to have a second and third and fourth date.

Amber

Prince Elliot takes me to the library for our date. The second we step in, I gasp. It's the most beautiful place I've ever seen, and I don't think I've ever seen this many books all in one place.

Prince Elliot grins when he sees the look on my face. "You like it?"

I grin right back. "I love it." I'm thinking that maybe he made a mistake taking me here, because I don't know if I can focus on having a good conversation when I'm so distracted by how amazing this library is.

"So . . . you like books?" He ventures.

I laugh. "Yeah, I just - I really love reading, and writing, and . . . all of it. My parents are both professors, so I guess I've always been exposed to a lot of literature and . . . I just really love it," I finish. Yikes. Way to be eloquent, Amber.

"What do you like to write about?" he asks me. It may be because he's a prince and has a lot of experience with making polite conversation, but he seems genuinely interested.

"Fiction, mostly," I answer. "Really any genre, but I especially like fairy-tale retellings." I tug on my hair. "And . . . you know those stories that are kind of really sad, but hopeful at the same time?" He nods. "That's my favorite kind of story," I say. "To read and to write."

"That's really cool," he says, and again, he seems to mean it. "Hazel writes too. Mostly poetry, I think. She never lets anyone read it, though."

It's such a strange thing, to hear him call the princess just "Hazel." It makes sense - she is his sister, after all. But it still throws me off for a moment.

"Do you ever write anything of your own?" I ask.

He shakes his head. "I don't have the time. In fact, I don't know when the last time I read a book for pleasure was." He meets my eyes. "Isn't that sad?"

"It is," I agree.

"It's not that I don't like reading," he says. "I just -"

"Don't have the time," I finish, and then immediately regret it. Isn't it rude to interrupt people like that? Especially when it's the crown prince?

He doesn't seem to mind though, just nods. "Story of my life, basically." He's quiet for a minute, then says, "What if you let me read something of yours? Help me get out of my five year reading slump?"

I look down and adjust the sleeve of my dress. "I don't know how good any of my writing is. And besides, you have all of this" I say, waving my hand at the whole library around us.

"All this," he says, mimicking my hand gesture, "doesn't include anything written by the one and only Amber Forrest."

I blush. "Okay. I'll let you read one of my stories. But you have to be honest about it - don't tell me you like it if it's trash."

His eyes light up, and something warm and glowy spreads in my chest. I made the prince happy! "Deal," he says.

Elliot

By the end of the first week, I've gone on sixteen dates and sent home four girls. I try to act like I'm having a good time, and it's not a complete lie - for the most part, the girls are lovely, and I've had some very nice dates.

But I'm also exhausted. And I'm running out of date ideas. It's not like there's a shortage of things to do at the Palace, it's just that a lot of the available activities don't seem right for a first date. I can't learn nearly as much about a girl by watching a movie with her as I can by simply walking around grounds and talking to her. I'm trying to mix it up with the date options, but there are only so many variations of "let's go somewhere and talk."

It's not all bad, though. As I said, most of the girls are wonderful. And I absolutely love it when I'm able to say just the right thing to make them light up. In the library, Amber was practically glowing. I know my main goal is supposed to be evaluating all of these girls to see if they're good wife material, good princess material. But really, all I want is to keep making people light up like that.