CHAPTER NINE

When the sun drifted down until it was no longer visible above the waterline. I watched it set through the window of my bedroom. Naomi had told us that we had the whole afternoon to ourselves, after we'd finished a particularly boring lesson in geography. I understood that whoever became Queen would need to know the capital city of every province and the named of every foreign leader, but what about the other 28 of us to whom this knowledge would become useless after the Selection?

Dinner was scheduled for 7 o'clock sharp, and so at 6:30, all three of my maids came bustling into my room with smiles as big as they could ever be. I'd been planning on going in the dress that I'd been wearing all day, but Francine told me that that would not be right.

Francine, Penelope and Hannah seemed like nice enough girls to me. I'd met them only late last night, but even if I'd been tired and had passed out roughly ten minutes after they introduced themselves, my first impression of the three of them had been good. None of them were particularly old—the oldest of them would have likely been Francine, and she barely looked a day over 25, and they seemed kind enough that I thought we'd get along fine for however long I was there.

I told Penelope to pick out a dress for me again while I sat at the makeup table watching. The three of them ended up selecting three different dresses, none of them agreeing with the others. I laughed—while I might have been getting along with all of them fine, it seemed they didn't get alone with each other as well.

In the end, I sported Hannah's pick. It was royal blue, and I thought that must have been the reason for why I'd picked it. Royal blue had always been my favorite colour.

I watched them in the mirror while they pocked and prodded at my hair, trying to do something with it. Hannah criticised the stylist for cutting it as it did—she claimed it made it impossible to do an up-do with it. I left the room with my hair all pinned up, and Hannah's claim was proved wrong.

When I waltzed into the dinner room, I wasn't surprised to see the cameraman there again. Breakfast had been dull, and I figured it wouldn't make for good television, so he came back to get better footage of dinner instead.

Roman gave another short speech, in which he said he'd hoped everyone had a magnificent day, and that we all enjoyed our meal. I'd been too busy eying the doors for when the food would come out to pay attention to his words.

When the waiters finally emerged, they were carrying plated of chicken and greens, and I scarfed down every bite. I was careful to keep my eyes up this time, knowing that there would be a camera circling, and that I probably wouldn't have wanted it to catch me with sauce running down my chin.

Roman did his circle of the room again after dessert had been served, only this time he started from the other end. I watched his movements carefully while I picked at the cake that'd been placed before me, and when he was a few girls away from me, I dabbed at my mouth with a napkin just to be sure there wouldn't be a repeat of the night before.

I did my best no to eavesdrop on the conversation he had with the girl beside me, but when he stepped in front of me, he got my full attention. He smirked, "Miss Carins, are you enjoying the dessert?"

"I am," I said, unable to look up and meet his eyes. All I could see in my head right then was the image of him pressing the skinny blonde girl up against the wall in the corridor.

He nodded, "and how was your first full day at the palace?"

I paused, "Eventful."

"Eventful," he repeated, hesitating. "Did you enjoy yourself?"

I could hear the humor in his tone, and I knew he knew it'd been me who walked passed him. I cleared my throat, finally bringing my eyes up to meet his, "Not as much as you did, your highness."

He barked out a laugh that drew the attention of every girl within a four-seat radius of us. He sobered and flashed a toothy grin, "Somehow I get the feeling it'd have been much more fun to spend the day with you."

I swallowed, my cheeks burning red, half out of embarrassment and half out of anger. "Somehow I get the feeling that'd only happen in your dreams."

The girl beside me gasped, but I ignored her, as did the Prince. We hadn't yet attracted the attention of the camera, or his parents, but out of the corner of my eye I could see his sister watching us very closely. I turned my attention away from Roman and offered the youngest Séear a wave, and she smiled back at me.

Roman turned to look at who'd taken my attention away from him, and he frowned, "Making friends with my little sister? Interesting tactic."

"Tactic?" I said, scowling, "your highness, I feel I must tell you that while there are undoubtedly a number of women here who will throw themselves at you and dedicate every move towards earning your heart, I will not. I plan on enjoying myself while I'm here, not focussing on a prize I don't even want to collect."

He laughed, looking down at me with humor-filled eyes. The camera made it's way towards us, and I watched as his entire demeaner changed. He lifted his chin and squared his shoulders, and he even went as far as to bow at me before he said, "It's been a pleasure talking to you, Miss Carins."

I blinked, "And to you, your highness."

When the girls filed out of the room, Tamara wasted no time in running up to me in the hallway and fanning her face with her hand. I watched her with a frown, confused until she spoke. "That tension was heating that room faster than a fire would have."

I snorted, "It was anger-provoked, not the kind of tension your thinking of."

"Oh, please," Tamara laughed, "all tension contains sexual tension, whether it derives from anger or not."

I rolled my eyes, but I didn't press on about it. When our group was making it's way up the stairs, Naomi suddenly brought it to a halt, and everyone stopped mid-step. I stood up on my the tips of my toes to try and see what the fuss was about, but all I could see was Naomi and a guard whispering on the staircase.

Suddenly, Naomi was pushing passed everyone and making her way to the other side of the group, clearing her throat, "Everyone is to keep up and follow me, please."

Tamara and I shared a look, both of us sensing the nerves that were radiating off of the event planner. She stopped in front of a closed door and pushed it open running inside. Tamara and I were the closest behind her and both of us watched the woman search through a bookcase inside.

"Uh, Mrs. Richards?" Tamara said, but she was shushed when she finished the words. Naomi lifted her finger to one of the paperbacks and lightly pulled back on it. There was the sound of gears shifting, and unoiled metal moving, and suddenly the bookcase shifted to the left, moving painfully slow. Tamara and I looked at one another with shock.

"Inside, now, please," Naomi said.

I peered around the space that the bookcase had revealed and scowled. It was a narrow corridor with brick walls and unlit torches, and I could see nothing inside but darkness. When no one moved, Naomi cursed, which made my eyes widen.

"It's just dark, now go." Naomi said.

Tamara was the first to go in, and I trailed behind her. She felt her way along the corridor my sliding her fingers on the brick walls, and I did the same. When the hallways stopped, I could no longer see as far as my own hands in front of my face, but I kept moving. My feet shuffled across the floor into what I assumed was a big room—I could no longer feel the walls, and I felt lost.

Without any clue as to what was going on, I felt my heart clench in fear. From behind me, I heard the squeak of more unoiled gears, and suddenly light poured in from another doorway just behind me. I blinked, watching as Prince Roman and his sister came into the room. I met his eyes, expecting him to say something harsh or rude, but I was surprised when he came over and swallowed.

His eyes trailed around the room, but his words were directed to me. I wondered if my fear showed on my face, and that was why he came over. "Rebels are attacking on the south end of the property. They haven't gotten onto the grounds, but this is only a precaution unless they do."

I nodded, watching as other girls looked over and saw him standing inside. Roman pulled out a lighter just as the door he'd come through closed, and he lit it. The flame illuminated his face as he went around and was lighting the torches that were poking out of the walls. Olivia stayed standing next to me.

Roman stopped a few times in between torches to enlighten others on what was going on. Some girls were shocked, others looked as though they'd been expecting it—like it was just a matter of time. When Naomi came into the room and saw that the Prince and Princess had joined us, she sent a little wave Olivia's way.

The princess waved back, but she turned back to me soon after.

"Are you scared of the dark, too?" She said, smiling up at me.

I frowned, "Why?"

"You looked terrified when we came in." She said, holding back a laugh.

I groaned, turning to watch as the last of the girls came into the room, followed by Naomi. The room itself wasn't as basement-like as I'd been expecting. The walls were covered in wallpaper, and there were couches and chairs towards one end of the room. There was a radio sitting on a table next to them, but no one moved to turn it on.

Roman had stopped walking to talk to a few girls towards one of the corners, and Olivia and I watched him console one who began crying while he spoke. Olivia snorted, "She's crying? Ten bucks she's gone by tomorrow."

"You think your brother is going to kick her out for crying?" I said, watching him pat the girls back and pull her into a hug. He didn't look uncomfortable, nor did he look angry. I couldn't see anything that showed he would kick the girl out.

"My brother might be an idiot," Olivia said, "but even he can see when he's being played. That girl's only crying because it gives her an excuse to wrap her arms around him and play damsel."

I snorted, turning and looking at the twelve-year-old girl that stood beside me. "For a kid, you're pretty smart."

"I know," she said, moving to sit in the empty chair that was only a few steps behind her. I followed her over, leaning against the wall just beside one of the lit torches. The room seemed a lot less frightening now that it was lit, but I couldn't shake the nagging bit of fear I felt knowing there were rebels attacking somewhere close by.

We ended up staying in the hidden room for close to an hour, and only when guards came and opened each of the passages did everyone file out. When I moved into the line that's formed to get out of the passage that the girls had come in, Roman pulled be out quickly enough that I stumbled on my feet. A few of the girls that'd been behind me shot me a look, but I didn't know if it was because I'd flailed around or because the Prince had pulled be away.

He cleared his throat, "thank you for staying with my sister while I was… talking to people."

I shrugged, "I think we would have been fine alone, too. She wasn't scared."

"I think she was." He said, turning back to look at the other door. It was still open, but Olivia had already gone through and was no where to be seen. "She just didn't show it. So thanks."

I nodded. He didn't say anything else, and I stepped back into line while he moved back out the other door. Naomi was waiting outside the bookcase that hit the hallway, and as soon as I stepped through, she pulled back on the same book she'd touched before. I watched the bookcase slide closed right up until Naomi began to push us all out of the room and into the main corridor. After a second of looking us all up and down, she sighed.

"I'm going to cancel our lesson this evening," Naomi said, and around me I heard responses ranging from 'thank god' to 'yay', all of which were positive. Before everyone could turn away and disappear, she added, "stay out of the north wing!"

Tamara came up behind me while we walked, roping her arm around mine so that our elbows were linked. I smiled at her, noting that even though she was wearing heels much taller than my own, I still stood at a few inches taller. The two of us headed back to the drawing room, where we lounged about and watched T.V. on the screen. I pulled a wad of paper out of one of the cupboards in the room, alongside a pen, and I began to scribble the beginnings of a letter to send off to my family.

I decided against including anything on the rebel attack, knowing it would do nothing but worry my mom. I realized I had no idea whether or not the rebels had actually succeeded in crossing the stone wall that lined the property, but I figured that was the kind of thing I could ask Roman, if he made another round of the tables at the next meal.

On the subject of Roman, my mind didn't know what to think. As much as I hated to admit it, I was intrigued by him, and even his sister as well. I'd been one hundred and four percent prepared to be meeting a family of snots and nobles, but neither of them seemed to act that way in the slightest. Roman did tend to be a little teasing and rude, as I'd come to notice, but that was just about it.

While I was just finishing up writing about my room on the small piece of parchment, I looked up to see one of the maid's standing in the doorway to the drawing room, searching the small crowd that'd formed inside. Not everyone had come in there, but more than a few had taken hull in the room that had become our 'common room', I guess you could say. The maid seemed to have spotted whomever she was looking for, because she launched into action and moved quickly across the room, stopping in front of a blond girl I didn't know.

The girls head was turned away, but the moment she looked at the maid, I recognised her face. She'd been the girl who was crying downstairs in the hidden room. I watched curiously while the maid whispered something in her ear before scurrying off, and the girl turned back to the two people she'd been talking to with a grin on her face.

My mom had always told me not to eavesdrop, but it seemed that rule was getting harder and harder to follow. All I caught before the girl scampered from the room was that the Prince had asked to see her, and I turned to look at Tamara, shaking my head.

Tamara frowned, "What? That's probably a good thing—Prince Roman hasn't asked to see anyone alone yet other than her."

I made a face, unable to ignore the words that Olivia had said earlier. "I have a sneak suspicion she won't be at breakfast tomorrow."