The Lost Princess - A 'Selection' spinoff

CHAPTER 16

"Elena. Pass me my circlet, will you?" Elora called out to her sister who was rummaging through her jewelry.

Elena, despite having her own large chambers, almost never used them. She camped along with Elora in her rooms, kicking Edward out as they stared at the ceiling and talked through the night.

Elena came out, holding a maid's outfit in her hand. "What is this?".

Elora froze. 

"What are you hiding from me, Elora?" her sister asked, her voice uncharacteristically sharp.

Elora sighed and told her everything.

From the start.

"So that's why you're so fond of Aurora," Elena said wonderingly.

"I'm not fond of her," Elora said immediately.

Elena stared at her. "Lo. You nearly cried when she spoke to you harshly in the music room. If any other person had spoken to you that way, you would've killed them. Like absolutely killed them".

"I deserved it. You know what happened. I told you everything," Elora said, trying to make sure her voice didn't trembled.

"And you act kind of jealous whenever I talk to her, and I can tell that it takes your immense willpower to not ask what we conversed about," Elena continued, as though she didn't hear her.

"I'm not jealous!" Elora denied.

"Right," Elena said skeptically. "I see how you smile softly when she laughs, Lo. It's like genuinely care about someone. And that's kind of rare, seeing how stoic you are in public".

Elora didn't say anything.

"She's healing your family, Lo. I haven't seen Edward laugh so much since... since Ella," Elena said.

"Don't," Elora said, closing her eyes. "Just don't".

"Someone needs to tell you this, Elora," her sister said.

"Just not now. I can't deal with it now," Elora said.

Not when she was supposed to appear happy.

Elena sighed and changed the topic. "You look lovely".

Elora looked down at herself, at her dark, navy blue ballgown, encrusted with diamonds from the bottom, slowly fading as it came up.

"You do too," she said looking at her sister's lotus like dress - starting from a dark pink, fading to a much lighter version.

Elena dumped the maid's clothes she held in her hand, revealing two circlets. 

She took the one with the dark sapphires embedded in elaborately designed platinum, and carefully placed them on Elora's forehead. She gently kissed her sister's brow.

Elena, despite her flamboyant displays of affection wasn't one to show such tender love to many. People often mistook her for a less serious, more easy going person than Elora.

Not many saw the steel beneath the silk.

"Do you want me to?" Elora asked, pointing to the circlet of cabochon rubies held in her sister's hand.

"Oh no," Elena said, placing it on her forehead crookedly.

"It's lopsided," Elora pointed out.

"Exactly," Elena said, grinning widely.

***