Page 27 (1/2)
CHAPTER 1
“I’M SORRY,” I SAID, BRACING myself for the inevitable backlash Whenthis ith dozens ofat a tiht to be over But after the last feeeks, after learning how kind, how senerous so many of the
They’d been fair with me, and now I had to be very unfair to them The live announcement would make the elimination official, and they all had to wait until then
“I know it’s abrupt, but given my mother’s precarious condition, my father has asked me to take on e that is to scale down this competition”
“How is the queen?” Hale asked, sing hard
I sighed “She looksshe looks pretty bad”
Dad had been hesitant to let me visit her, but I had finally worn him down I understood his reluctance the instant I saw her, asleep, thetiery, where the doctors had to harvest a vein fro to replace the one in her chest that had been worked to death
One of the doctors said they had lost her for aher hand Silly as it sounded, I had slouched in my chair, certain that would make her come to and correct my posture It didn’t
“She’s alive though And my fatherhe’s”
Raoul placed a cohness We all understand”
I leton each of my suitors for a breath as I committed their faces to memory
“For the record, I was terrified of you,” I confessed There were a few chuckles around the roo so gracious with me”
A guard entered, clearing his throat to announce his presence “I’m sorry, my lady It’s nearly time for the broadcast The creanted to check, uesture with his hand—“hair and stuff”
I nodded “Thank you I’ll be ready in a moment”
After he left, I turned ive ood-bye I wish you all the best of luck in the future”
There was a chorus of ood-byes as I left Once I was outside the doors of the Men’s Parlor, I took a deep breath and preparedYou are Eadlyn Schreave and no one—literally, no one—is as powerful as you
The palace was eerily quiet without Mo the halls Nothing makes you quite so aware of a person’s presence as the loss of it
I held myself tall as I made my way down to the studio
“Your Highness,” several people greetedout ofdirectly in my eyes I couldn’t tell if it was out of sympathy or if they already knew
“Oh,” I said, glancing in the mirror “I am a bit shiny Could you—?”
“Of course, Your Highness” A girl expertly dabbed atme in powder
I straightened the high lace collar of , black see the overallmyself
“I look too serious,” I worried aloud “Not respectable serious, but worried serious This is all wrong”
“You look beautiful, irl swept a fresh splash of color across my lips “Like your mother”
“No, I don’t,” I lamented “Not a stitch of her hair or skin or eyes”
“That’s not what Iacross her forehead, stood besideto my eyes “Not the same color, but the same determination And your lips, they have the sa, but you’re your h”
I stared at myself I could al moment, I felt a little less alone
“Thank you That reat deal to me”
“We’re all praying for her, h one”
I giggled in spite of my mood “That she is”
“Two minutes!” the floor director called I walked onto the carpeted set, s hts, and goose bumps prickled at my skin as I took my place behind the lone podium
Gavril, slightly dressed down but still very polished, gave me a sympathetic smile as he approached “Are you sure you want to do this? I’m happy to deliver the news for you”
“Thank you, but I think I have to do it on my own”
“All right then How’s she holding up?”
“Okay as of an hour ago The doctors are keeping her asleep so she can heal, but she looks so battered” I closede But at least I’ better than Dad”
He shook his head “I can’t i this worse than hi on her since they met”
I thought back to last night, to the wall of photos in their rooh all the details they’d only recently divulged about how they got together I still couldn’t see any rhyh countless obstacles for love only to have it leave you so powerless in the end
“You were there, Gavril You saw their Selection” I sed, still unsure “Does it really work? How?”
He shrugged “Yours is the third I’ve seen, and I can’t tell you hoorks, how a lottery can bring in a soul randfather was not exactly a man I admired, but he treated his queen as if she was the most important person to walk the planet Where he was harsh with others, he was generous with her She got the best of him, which is ht woman”
I squinted, curious about what he was o I knew Grandpa had been a strict ruler, but come to thi
nk of it, that was the only way I knew him Dad didn’t talk about him much as a husband or father, and I’d always beenabout Grandma
“And your dad? I don’t think he had a clue what he was looking for Honestly, I don’t think your mother did either But she was hisbefore they did”
“Really?” I asked “They didn’t know?”
He made a face “Truthfully, it was ave me a pointed look “A family trait, it seems”
“Gavril, you’re one of the few people I can confess this to It’s not that I don’t knohat I’ for It’s that I wasn’t ready to look”
“Ah I wondered”
“But now I’m here”
“And on your own, I’h with this—and after yesterday, no one would blame you if you didn’t—only you can make such an important choice”
I nodded “I know Which is why this is so scary”
“Ten seconds,” the floor director called
Gavril patted hness”
“Thank you”
I squaredto look cal red
“Good , people of Illéa I, Princess Eadlyn Schreave, am here to address some recent events that have taken place in the royal faood news first” I tried to smile, really I did, but all I could think of was how abandoned I felt
“My beloved brother, Prince Ahren Schreave, has h the ti was a bit of a surprise, it in no way lessens our joy for the happy couple I hope you will join es”
I paused You can do this, Eadlyn
“In sadder news, last night, my mother, America Schreave, queen of Illéa, suffered a very serious heart attack”
I paused The words felt like they had created a da it harder and harder to speak
“She is in critical condition and is under constant medical supervision Please pr—”