The Spare: Prince Osten's Selection

Chapter 10

I gaped and stared at him, probably looking like a deer in headlights as he pressed his lips to my hand. I hated so much that Prince Osten had this effect on me. I was not someone who turned into an idiot in the presence of a silly boy, and by the smug look on his face, I knew very well he was well-aware of the impact he was having on me in this moment.

I composed myself, put my shoulders back, and looked him right in the eye.

"Good evening, Your Highness. Thank you for hosting us," I said, adding an attempt of a curtsy to punctuate the point.

I started to walk away from him, but he grabbed my arm and swung me back around to face him.

"That was a nice attempt at a curtsy, but my niece Kerttu has better form than that, and she's seven," he said, grinning down at me obviously enjoying this far more than anyone should.

"Well, perhaps you should forgive me seeing as I haven't had much practice, Your Highness" I said, putting on a fake smile as everyone in the room was watching us through side-eyed glances.

"Osten," he said.

"What?" I said.

"I told you to call me, Osten, Lady Zara. Though while we are on the topic of names, I would quite like to call you Zara if that is alright," he whispered, grinning and interlocking his hand with my own.

"Um yes, I suppose you could," I said, staring at our hands and then at his deep blue eyes. The same sort of spark that had gone through me when he had touched my shoulder in Harrisburg went through me again. As I stared into his eyes, it felt for a moment as though we were the only two people in the vast space, but we were quickly brought back to reality when a voice called my name. 

"Zara, that dress is beautiful!"

I saw Katherine walking toward us, a big grin on her face.

"Hello, Your Highness," she said, giving him a much more refined curtsy than I had. She was wearing a deep red dress, and her long dark brown hair fell in loose waves around her shoulders. She held out  her hand as though she expected him to take it or kiss it like he had with me.

"Lady Katherine, how are you enjoying your evening?" Osten asked, giving her a bow but very clearly not taking her hand. 

"It is going quite well, thank you," she said, running her hand through her hair probably to make it look as that was her intent all along. "I saw Lady Zara walk in and just knew I had to come over and tell her how beautiful and exquisite her gown is."

"Yes, she does make it look quite beautiful," he said, looking me straight in the eye.

"You both are too kind," I said. "Now I do apologize, but I ask if you both would excuse me for a second, it has been a very long day, and I think I could use a refreshment."

I gave a quick extremely awkward curtsy and walked away. I was not actually sure where the refreshments were, but it had been the first exit strategy I could think of. As I walked through the room, girls in beautiful, elaborate gowns all kept giving me side-eyed glares as I walked through the crowd. I could not believe that Osten had done that, and how could someone who had known me for such a short amount of time already know how to push my buttons so much? It was so frustrating, and worst of all, it was distracting me from the reason of why I was here, to be a good Selection candidate to get money to go to university to help my family. I was not here to get caught up in drama or let an irritating prince push my buttons. 

"Zara!" a voice suddenly called as a hand grabbed my arm. "Come sit with us!"

I looked and saw Olivia grabbing my arm and practically bouncing as she led me back to where she and Hadley were sitting.