The Spare: Prince Osten's Selection

Chapter 9

"Hi Zara," she said. "I was wondering where you were since you were right behind me. You must've been talking to Prince Osten for a while. What do you think of him so far?"

"He seems nice," I said. It wasn't a lie, but I also had never thought that calling someone "nice" meant much. Anyone could be nice. It was a neutral way to describe someone.

"He did," she agreed, moving her head slightly to the left at the instruction of her stylist as he prepared foil to add a new highlight. "I thought he was actually very nice. I don't know though if it was just an act for the first day or if that is what he is like all the time. It is hard to tell with everything you hear about him in the news.

"No that makes sense," I said, still trying to stay as neutral as possible. I didn't really want to reveal my own thoughts or the things Prince Osten had said to me during our conversation. I decided it would be good to change the subject. "What color highlights are you having done in your hair?"

"Just a bit of a lighter brown, to add some dimension to my hair," she said with a smile. "I'm excited to see it, I've never gotten my hair colored before."

I was about to reply when a man suddenly walked over and spun my chair to face the mirror.

"Hello honey, my name is Thomas, and I am here to make sure your hair looks as fabulous as possible," he said, running his hair through my blonde waves. 

"Hi, um I'm Zara, or Lady Zara," I said, a bit startled. "It is nice to meet you."

"You have beautiful hair," he said. "I love the color and the natural wave you have. What I am thinking is leave the color, but take a bit off the ends and use some product to help your waves shine to their full potential."

I am not sure what I had been expecting for the makeover, but it was far more in the direction of dying my hair some crazy color than just a cut and some product.

"That sounds good," I said. "I never do much to it at home, but could it still be long?"

"Of course, honey! Your hair is so long already, no one but you and I will know the difference. You'll have the most long beautiful blonde curls. You will look just like a princess from a fairytale I promise you," he said as he spun my hair around to get started.

Thomas wouldn't let me look in the mirror until he was completely done. While he was expertly trimming pieces of my hair, a girl who couldn't have been much older than I was came over and began applying makeup to my face. It was so strange to be so fussed over when I usually just wore jeans and tshirts and tossed my hair up into a ponytail. I always had more important things to do like study or help out in our grocery store. Part of me was excited to see the result, but I really hoped I still looked like myself in the end.  

When they had finally finished, Thomas grinned at me and placed his hands on mine.

 "You look beautiful, Lady Zara," he said. "I would not be surprised if I am standing before the future princess of Illéa."

I smiled shyly. I was so nervous that I squeezed my eyes shut as he spun the chair around. When I opened them, I let out a gasp. I could see that Thomas was grinning at my reaction.

It was me, but it was also an entirely new person. My hair was still long and blonde, but my hair fell in soft shiny thick curls instead of the usual slightly frizzy and limp way it usually looked when I had it down. My green eyes looked brighter and larger somehow, and they were framed by thick dark lashes. My skin looked clearer than I had ever seen it, and my cheeks had a gentle pink blush.

"Thank you, Thomas," I said, giving him a small smile.

"No need to thank me, Lady Zara," he said. "All the pieces were there. It always makes my job easier. If you go over there now, they will help you change into a robe and pick out a dress to wear."

"A dress? For what?" I asked. I already was wearing a perfectly nice dress that I had put on that morning. 

"For 'cocktails and conversation' as Judith likes to call it. You and the rest of the girls will be meeting and mingling with the Royal Family and getting to see Prince Osten again tonight."

I gaped at him, and he laughed. "Get used to it, honey. This is what the Selection is going to be like."

With that, he walked away, and I walked to the corner of the room he had pointed out and allowed myself to be whisked away to pick a dress.

"Something gold will look beautiful with her hair!" one woman said.

"Perfect, perhaps this one!" another said, pulling a beautiful golden gown off one of the racks. 

"Isn't that a bit much? Just for cocktails I mean? I don't want to be overdressed," I said.

One of the women laughed and ran her hand over the fabric of the dress.

"Get used to dressing up, Lady Zara. It is the way of things here at the palace," she said with an encouraging smile. She and the other woman helped me into the gold dress and zipped it up the back. I had not gotten a good look at the dress until I looked in my mirror, and for the second time that day, I gasped.

The golden dress had a long neckline and the top and sleeves were made of very sheer flowered lace, so sheer it almost looked like tiny delicate flowers were fallen across my arms and chest. The full gold skirt was interwoven with golden gossamer fabric and silver thread so that the dress nearly sparkled. I had never really felt pretty before, but this dress made me feel beautiful.

"It looks beautiful with your locket," one of the women said, and my hand immediately went to the golden heart around my neck. Despite the fact that I was looking at a stranger in the mirror, I still had that piece with me as a constant to hold onto.

"We better get you to the gathering. It is getting quite late," the woman said, gesturing for me to follow her to a butler near the door. I looked around and saw that she was right. No other girls remained in the room, not even Katherine who had been the last one before me. 

The butler led me down the hall and gestured to a large staircase that led into what appeared to be a large ballroom. I breathed in and tried to quietly walk down the stairs so that no one would notice me. Everyone was talking in the crowd, and music was playing from a string quartet. However, because I was not very good at walking in the golden heels they had given me, I unfortunately made a fairly loud clomping noise as I came down the stairs, not too unlike Judith earlier, and people began to look up at me.

I tried to not catch anyone's eyes as I descended the stairs, but I saw Hadley and Olivia off to the left of the stairs looking at me with big grins and shocked expressions. Olivia even mouthed "you look awesome" and gave me an indiscreet thumbs-up before Hadley pulled her hand down. I gave them a small smile and continued down the stairs.

I was almost to the bottom where I could disappear into the crowd when Prince Osten stepped out before me. Our eyes locked, and his blue eyes pierced into mine so that I couldn't avert my gaze. I think he could tell I was nervous because he gave me a wicked grin. When I reached the bottom of the stairs, it felt like everything truly had gone quiet as he took another step forward, bowed, and brought my hand to his lips.

"I see they have saved the most beautiful girl for last."