Royal 3 (Book three in my Selection Series)

Chapter 12

I walk into the women's room later that evening. I had stayed a little longer in the garden after North and I kissed. We talked, and he walked me up to my room to get ready for lunch.

After mealtime, the Women's Room seemed like a better option than sulking in my room all day.

When I walk into the room, all eyes turn to me. I self consciously lower my head.

"You missed dancing lessons." One girl says loud enough to cause the remaining few heads to turn.

"I'm aware." I answer smoothly and turn to the chair where the voice had come from. I believed the girls name was Yvonne. She was an actress, typically, and represented New Asia. "I don't think it's any of your concern."

"Actually It's all of our concerns if you're missing just to snog the prince." She stands from her seat and faces me as if she had some sort of reason to believe she was any better than me.

I was taken aback slightly.

"You don't think there are windows in the palace? In fact, there is a perfect view of the garden from the ballroom." Her voice pierced the quiet air. The ballroom was on the second floor, so the girls had to have been watching to even see it.

"I don't remember asking your opinion." I retort. "Maybe if you were a bit more pleasant, he'd be kissing you."

I couldn't say that I wasn't used to throwing rude comments toward people. It seemed like a regular at the orphanage the first few months mostly.

"That was far from appropriate." Yvonne says, standing straighter, but I could tell she had been caught off guard.

"Believe it or not, I don't care anymore, Yvonne." I shrug simply and turn away from her. The entire room stayed quiet for the next few seconds following the conversation. But I did care. Just enough for it to be painful. The kiss with North had felt truly perfect. I'd felt some sort of connection with him I'd never felt with anyone else and I didn't want that to change just because a few snobby girls couldn't help but be jealous.

I sit on a couch by a nearby TV that wasn't occupied. A small girl slides into the couch beside me. The youngest princess, Ali.

"Your highness." I nod slightly to her from where I sit.

"You don't have to call me that." Ali tells me and shakes her head. "Just Ali." A maid comes by us to offer tea but I politely decline.

"Okay." I nod and face the little girl. She was beautiful, no doubt. Her long black hair was braided into many little Dutch braids. "I'm sorry about that."

"I don't blame you." Her reply was short and she watched me closely before she continued. "Believe it or not, I understand more about you then I do most of the other girls. I didn't grow up here like my siblings. I spent most of my life in Africa until I was four. I have a good memory, too. I remember it. It is a very different world than Angeles. I'm on your side."

She smiled just a little and ducked her head as she walked back out the door before I said anything. I thought about her words for a few long minutes.

I stand up to walk out of the room but my own name on the news distracts me. I watch the television that a few other people focus on and read the titles at the bottom of the screen.

Should a criminal really be allowed inside the palace with the royal family?

Pictures of me lined the screen. Pictures of me as a kid and pictures of me after I've been selected. The girls whisper. Maybe they didn't realize I was right behind them.

She wasn't arrested without reason.

Another subtitle slides across the screen and I suck in a cold breath. How was I supposed to sit here and watch my entire life fall apart in the hands of the public? I was just an object for them to play with and everyone seemed to know that. Few girls were even threatened by me because they thought I was soon to leave.

Everything that Ali had just told me, all the hope that had previously completed me, gone. I was heartbroken.

It wasn't only the fact that the public was humiliating me, but Emily was going to be gone soon. I may never even see her again. She could immediately be degraded to an eight. She was all I had left; the only one who hadn't looked at me like I was either a kicked puppy or a murderer.

I turn out of the room and flee to the two towering doors that hold me hostage.

"Hey." A voice speaks behind me. North. "How have you been?"

I was sure he'd seen reports about me. He must've known that nobody wanted me here.

"Okay." I breathe out and twist my fingers together. I nervously place my hands over the opposite elbow and let them hand above my waste.

"You look worried." He notes. I couldn't do anything but shake my head.

In the palace, there was no escaping the fact that a man had died by my own hands; I'd been a subject in my parents deaths; and I hadn't turned out to be the desired princess or queen.

"I was hoping you would go on an official date with me." North says, but I couldn't.

"I can't. I can't stay here, North. I have to go back home."

A/N

I'm so sorry the chapters are so short and choppy but it means I get to update more so I try to find a place in the middle :). Thanks for reading!