Good afternoon lovelies! Hope you enjoy this next chapter because they finally meet each other! Last week we hit 200 views and we're now past 250 so tysm for reading this far because nineteen chapters is A LOT. Love you all!

Dawn -

We sit in the Women's Room, speaking amongst ourselves. There's a lot of comments on how distant Austin seems, but I don't add to them. I don't care. Reluctantly, I start to make conversation with Nina as more girls are called for interviews.

"What province are you from?" I ask her.

She seems happy to talk about something other than Austin.

"Fennely." She responds.

She tucks a strand of light brown hair behind her ear.

"Oh, I've heard it's nice." I say, trying to be friendly.

"Yes, I suppose it is." She says dryly.

What? Suddenly she doesn't seem interested in talking to me at all. I sit in silence for a few more minutes, then open my mouth to say something. Nina beats me to it.

"You're from Dakota, right?" She asks.

I nod.

"What was your profession?"

I freeze. Sixes don't have professions. We do housework.

"I'm a Six." Is all I say in response.

"Oh."

That shuts her up quickly. I wish my maids were here. They're probably the only friends I've had besides Trix and Brandon.

"Dusk Willow, the prince will see you now." Nadia calls, looking up from her clipboard.

"Good luck." Nina whispers.

"Thank you." I say back.

But she doesn't know what I need her luck for.

-o-

Nadia leads me back to the royal dining room, where Austin sits on a couch off to the side with another across from it. I assume that's where I'll be sitting. Taking a deep breath, I gather my thoughts. I now have two options: Act so rude he sends me home or act so distant he doesn't think we could have anything in common.

It would be easiest to be an asshole, since it's not that far off from how I actually act, but I don't want Dusk to have a bad reputation. I have to remember that I'm not Dawn here. I'm my softer, kinder twin. Nadia tells me to sit on the couch opposite the prince, then leaves the dining room.

Austin -

Dusk curtsies, then sits on the couch across from me. She doesn't say a word, so I decide to start the conversation.

"So, Lady Dusk, how are you finding the palace so far?" I ask, trying to find something in common.

Maybe a dreamer is exactly what I need. Someone who will just float around while I do what I must.

"It's very beautiful." She says softly.

Her voice is beautiful, and I'd wager she has a good singing voice. But her response is so generic, it's off-putting. She doesn't say anything else, so I try again.

"What was your home province like? It's Dakota, right?" I ask.

Dusk looks to the side, then back to me, but she avoids eye contact.

"It's nice, but I'm- I was a Six." She corrects.

At least she added something this time.

"Tell me about your family." I prompt.

This is getting annoying. If she's dry about it, I'll have to eliminate her. She thinks for a long moment. Perhaps now she'll give a better response.

"I had an older brother." She begins.

Had?

"He was drafted. We lost contact with him a year ago." She clarifies.

Oh.

"Then there's me and my sister. Dawn and Dusk. We're identical twins."

Now she's interesting. Identical twins with the same melanin deficiency?

"Go on." I say.

She seems to be warming up now.

"Next there's Astralia and Lunaris, but we just call them Astra and Luna. They're also twins, but they're not identical." Dusk says.

She looks so wistful when she's talking about them, I wonder if she's homesick. And she looks... wise. I'm not sure why. "

You have quite a large family." I joke.

She laughs a little, but it sounds a bit forced.

"There's one more of us, our littlest sister, Winter. She's six years old. Astra and Luna are fourteen, but they're turning fifteen soon." Dusk says.

And what about Kyle? I think, but I don't ask. It must hurt to think about him. I know my heart would be irreparably damaged if I lost one of my siblings. If I lost Amber.

"Tell me about your family." She says.

I swallow. None of the girls have asked me about myself yet.

"Well, there's my parents, the perfect king and queen. It's been over twenty years since they were married and they must still be as in-love as ever because I can't imagine them loving each other more than they do right now." I chuckle.

She smiles, and this time it's genuine.

"Then there's me and Apollo. We're twins." I say.

"I never knew!" She exclaims with fake wonder.

I hold in a laugh.

"Then there's Amber, my younger sister. She looks so much like Mom it's disconcerting. She calls me Ace." I say.

I revealed a bit more than I meant to, but it's not bad. It's not about her condition.

"Lastly, there's June. She looks like my grandma, Amberly." I reveal.

I'm not sure many people my age have seen pictures of my grandmother. Most of them were destroyed in the same attack that killed her. I check my watch, grateful that my time is over. It isn't that I don't like Dusk. But I'm not sure if I can live with her as a wife. Is she out of the competition? No. Not yet.