His Choice (The Selection)

Chapter Thirty Eight

Wrote by firerose11

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Over and over, I watched the film that Charles had given me. Onscreen, I saw the true happiness of Abigail and her family, so unlike the fake version I settled for so many times at home.

It was hard to imagine that she wasn't coming back after all. I kept expecting her to fling open the door and plant herself on my bed, spouting some new idea she had come up with.

However, she was now back in that tiny four-room house that she had lived in her whole life, surrounded by the sisters she loved and the mother she tried to help.

Since coming back, I had hardly seen head or tail of Bexley, something that surprised me. I was sure that her absence meant that she was planning something devious.

Ash had mentioned that she had been avoiding Bexley since we came home because she was determined the "make friends" with the princess, something that wasn't going to happen.

The country knew, by now, that the Selection was going to end any day now. Charles had expressed his own frustration with his inability to get anyone to push the Report forward. I had my suspicions that the queen was behind the delay.

Celia had made good on her promise to show Illéa the week we had spent with our family. Charles had been amused by how frequently the people in my life were able to distract my trailers.

"Where'd you go when they lost you?" He had asked one night as we sat out underneath the stars.

I shrugged and nestled closer to him. "My brothers and my friend plotted places they wanted to take me the first few days."

That hadn't satisfied his curiosity, and he had continued to approach the topic until I had spilled everything about Lily and Karigan.

Unlike what I expected, he pulled me to my feet and walked me back to my room.

"How about we have dinner tomorrow night? Just the two of us," Charles suggested, leaning against the door frame.

"Isn't that what we've been doing ever sine I got back?" I asked with a teasing voice.

He snorted. "The two of us at one table while my parents, niece, and brother-in-law stare at us from the other. I want a dinner with just the two of us. No one else."

"Sounds good to me," I whispered. "See you later."

The prince pressed his lips against mine gently. "See you, Ember."

"Ember!" Maybra said from where she stood startled in the doorway. "We thought you would have been gone by now."

Startled out of my own thoughts, I got off the bed and tried to look around her at what Connor was holding. "What are the two of you up to?"

"It was supposed to be a surprise," Maybra scolded. "We were going to show you it after the announcement."

"It's the wedding dress we made for you," Connor blurted before pressing her lips together. "Sorry, Maybra."

She sighed and let the younger one in. "She was going to find out anyway. We might as well show her now."

Carefully, the two of them laid the covered garment on my bed before unwrapping it.

The fabric was an off-white color and by the feel of it, I could tell that the underskirt was silk. The top layer was patterned lace, casting shadows of roses onto the bottom skirts. The sleeves were see-through with more lace creep down them.