If you ever cared about me.
Sophie scoffed for what may have been the hundredth time, staring at herself in the mirror.
Vertina had taunted, bribed, and even begged Sophie to wear a gown to dinner, but Sophie had refused.
Now, she was wearing a short, hot red dress that cut very low on the front and back. She had never worn anything like this, ever, in her life, but there was no way she was 'fitting in.' What had Keefe meant? Had he really expected her to be obedient?
But now that she had worn this dress, she was starting to have second thoughts on it.
Today was the day of the first Elimination.
Her hair was curled and hanging loosely by her sides, and her black high heels seemed to be giving a "DEFINITELY NOT AN OUTFIT TO WEAR IN THE PALACE" vibe.
Whatever.
She didn't care, anyway. Keefe had to kick her out -- why not give him another reason to? Besides, this would probably be the last day she would see him. Why not try to make a statement?
Sophie applied eyeshadow and eyeliner, and feeling nauseous and nerves from wearing this monstrosity, stepped out of the sanctuary of her room.
She was on her own for this.
She was too caught up in her head that she didn't notice that she didn't know where she was headed, until it was too late.
She was lost, once again.
A guard who had just come inside took one look at her and gulped.
"I'm... Lost." She whispered, now regretting her choice of clothes. She felt too brazen -- too foolish. Maybe she was. But did she care?
"Alright, Miss. Um, follow me." He averted his eyes from her cleavage, and led her to the opposite way of where she was heading.
"Thanks, er... what's your name?"
"My friends call me Sandor." He mumbled.
"Okay, then. Nice to meet you, Sandor."
He didn't reply, but just kept walking faster.
Trying to catch up, her ankle twisted and she fell to the ground in a heap. The sound that Sandor let out sounded oddly like a grizzly.
"Are you okay, ma'am?" He asked.
"Yes, yes, fine." Sophie replied, biting her lips to stop the groan from coming out -- the pain of her ankle was insufferable.
Sandor sighed. "You are quite... unlike any of the other women I've seen."
"Thanks?" Sophie sat up, testing her ankle to see if she could walk. However, when she tried to stand up, her ankle gave way and she fell again.
Great.
Sandor rolled his eyes, and offering his hand, pulled her up and wrapped her arms around his back, as he did the same to her.
Together, they walked -- limped -- to the Grand Hall, and Sophie felt her heart drop to the bottom of her stomach when she realized that dinner had already started.
The door was wide open, and once again, the only seat available was the one furthest from Keefe.
As if sitting close to him would prevent him from eliminating the girls.
Sophie tried to break free from Sandor's arms, but when she did, she tripped, so Sandor had to grab her again.
"Late, again." the supervisor said, a smirk on her lips.
"Sorry, Lady Alina." Sandor apologized, when clearly it was Sophie who should be talking. Clearly Alina thought so, because she waved her hand at his apology and continued glaring at Sophie.
Sophie looked up to find her eyes locking with ice blue ones.
Keefe's.
Sophie gulped; his eyes were cold. But there was also something else, something that was fierce.
Yep, definitely a mistake.
When she looked up again, she found the eyes of all the girls glowering at her, except the Biana girl she had talked to before. She was laughing softly to herself.
"Thank you, Sandor." Sophie whispered when she got to her seat. "I will never, ever forget your kindness." Somehow, that didn't seem enough. "Your girlfriend must be so lucky to have you."
He flushed. "I don't have a girlfriend, Miss."
Sophie felt her face heat up. "Excuse me! I just assumed, because... I mean, look at you!"
Sandor blushed an ever darker shade of red. "Miss, I must go now..."
Sophie smiled. "Okay. I'll find you again, somehow. Until then... bye-bye."
Sandor stood up, nodded to Keefe, then exited.
"Okay, so now that Miss. Foster finally decided to join us, why don't we get to the eliminations?" Lady Alina said giddily, shooting Sophie a hopeful glance before turning her attention back to Keefe.
He coughed. "Alright..." But before he could say something, a guard rushed in, whispered something to Keefe that made him grin, then jog out. "Actually, before I do that, my friends from neighboring kingdoms had decided to come join us today... They're actually here right now, outside this room... I would like you all to meet them."
He stood up from his seat as maids rushed in and added a new table right next to where Sophie's ended, and placed additional chairs there, probably for Keefe's friends.
Friends.
Of course Keefe had friends. What was Sophie thinking, for her to be his only one?
The door banged open, and in came four magnificently elegant people. They were truly beautiful.
Two had black hair, with silver bangs.
One had brunette hair, with sharp jaws and teal, teal eyes.
One had strawberry blond hair and a boyish grin with dimples.
"These are... Prince Tam and Princess Linh from the Song Kingdom, Prince Fitz from Vacker Empire, and Prince Dex from Dizznee Land." Keefe introduced awkwardly, and Sophie could tell that it took all the restraint in him to not rush over to them and hug them.
And Dex. The boy Keefe had pretended to be all those years ago. Sophie felt a personal connection with him, even though they had never spoken a single word.
"That reminds me, Biana, would you like to go join them?" Keefe called out to one of the girls, and the brunette girl stood up and rushed over to hug Prince Fitz of Vacker Empire. Dating? Sophie thought at first, but judging by their similar facial features, they were probably siblings.
So that meant she was a princess.
Sophie had misbehaved in front of a princess.
Wait, what if everyone here was a princess? What if she was the only daughter of a farmer? What if everyone had money and wealth and power while... What did she have? Nothing lady-like, nothing special...
Being here at the Choice kept smacking her in the face for her stupidity.
"Are you sure you would like to be eliminated?" Keefe asked Biana.
"Ew, yes Keefe. You're my friend, but I wouldn't want to fall in love with you, no offense. Besides, I'm not your type anyway."
Keefe nodded. "Okay. Two more to go."
Biana returned to her seat while Keefe's fancy friends took a seat beside Sophie. Dex was also sitting next to her, though.
Tam glanced at her, then whistled. "Wow, and I thought I would be seeing girls with ridiculous amounts of frills and gowns. Apparently not."
"Umm, no." The girl sitting close to Sophie said, eyeing Tam with devilish eyes. "See? I'm wearing the gown!"
She stood up and twirled around, winking not very subtly at Tam. He averted his eyes as Fitz laughed.
Sophie stared at her steak, which, by the way, was the worst thing ever. She was a vegetarian, and had cows and animals as pets, and here, people were devouring it like cannibals.
Dex laughed next to her. "Is something the matter?"
"No, what made you think that?"
"Oh, nothing. It's just that you were glaring at the steak." Dex shrugged. "I mean, I would understand you, since I'm a vegetarian, but..."
"You are?" Sophie perked up. "So am I!"
"I don't get how people could eat the poor animals." Linh sniffled. "I mean, they were alive at one point!"
"Exactly! I have them as pets, I could never imagine eating Iggy or Verdi or--" Sophie felt her cheek redden. "Sorry, I named them when I was younger."
Tam rolled his eyes. "Tell me about it. Linh has pets of every kind, and their names are terrible. We have King Linh Fluffypants the Third to Flurry Blurry."
"Hey! Don't make fun of King Linh Fluffypants! And besides, I know you've always had a soft spot for Flurry Blurry."
Fitz cleared his throat. "I like meat."
His friends all shot him a nasty look.
"GUYS! Let's get to eliminations, shall we?" Lady Alina shouted across the hall.
Keefe looked at the ground. "Okay. But first, let me just say that each and every one of you have been wonderful to me. It has been a pleasure having you at the palace, and it pains me to have to know that I have to eliminate you. But... Rules are the rules."
Fitz, Dex, Tam, and Linh all burst out laughing. "Keefe talks like this? Wow! I've never heard him like this!" Fitz hollered.
"It pains me to have to know..." Tam mocked. "Geez, Sencen!"
Keefe glared at them. "Anyways, as I was saying... Princess Biana of Vacker Land has requested to go home, so I will respect her wishes... Thank you for coming." He side-hugged Biana, and she grinned at him.
"Open up a little, you!" She whisper-hissed to him.
He coughed. "The next person to be cut is..."
Sophie felt her cheeks flush as every eyes focused on her.
Fitz snorted next to her. "What did you do to make them hate you?"
"Nothing! I swear." She confessed. "I was late, that's all."
"Yeah, and they're just jealous." Biana said, pulling up a chair beside her brother and shooting her a wink.
"Lady Hilly." Keefe finished, and a sob cut through the air as the girl Sophie had encountered in the woods leapt out from her chair and ran out.
Keefe looked down at his shoes disappointedly. Taking a deep breath, he let out, "The last person to be eliminated tonight is Lady Clarette."
A shriek cut through the air as a tall girl stood up, glaring murderously at everyone. "I am WORTHLESS!"
Keefe cleared his throat. "Just because I eliminate you doesn't mean you are... worthless. We just aren't suitable for each other, that's it. I'm sure you will find a prince of your own."
Tam, Linh, Biana, and Fitz all burst out laughing again. "DUDE! You gotta calm down, and be chill a little bit."
"And I believe that is all."
"What?" Lauren shouted. "You eliminated me and decided to keep that girl?" She pointed to Sophie. Sophie was having a hard time believing this as well, especially after what had happened in the stalls.
Keefe suddenly looked very angry. "Yes. All of your belongings are out in the courtyard."
Fitz leaned back on his chair, whistling, staring at Sophie up and down. "So, you're Sophie Foster?"
She nodded.
He smirked. "I see you exceeded my expectations."
Tam punched him lightly in the arm. "Shut up, it's not your Choice."
Fitz just winked.
The girls stormed off to say their goodbyes to the girls who had to go home, but because I was not particularly close to them, I remained in my seat, continuing nibbling on the piece of bread.
Keefe sighed, coming over and pulling up a chair near us. "Girls." He said, leaning back and closing his eyes, stretching his arms.
"Dude, do you always talk like that here?" Fitz laughed, punching him in the arm. "It has been a pleasure having you at the palace... Forget it, Keefe, we all know you want anything but to have them here."
Keefe glared at him. "Yeah, imagine how chivalrous I'd look if I told them all to shut up and go home."
"Well, I think he was doing alright." Biana said. "Also, guys, do you wanna bet on who he's gonna choose?"
"Ooh! Yeah! Sure! Sure!" Dex said. "I personally think--"
"Um, guys, as much as that sounds fun, I'm right here... and honestly, I don't think I should be hearing any of that." Sophie said awkwardly.
Tam smiled slyly. "You sure? I'm sure my thoughts would be very enlightening."
Sophie rolled her eyes. "I doubt that."
"So, Sophie, why aren't you outside right now?" Fitz asked.
Sophie was embarrassed for the hundredth time that day. Of course she should be outside, like the rest of them. "Oh... I'm sorry, I was hungry. I probably should be out there, though, shouldn't I? I need to-- um, show my respects and gratitude."
Keefe raised his eyebrow as Sophie stood up, and he grabbed onto her wrist when she was quickly passing him.
"Let go of me, Keefe." Sophie whispered under her breath, and Keefe stood up towering over her. Geez, when had he gotten so tall?
"They've done nothing but torment you, Foster." He said under his breath. "And you don't deserve that. Stay here. With me."
Sophie remained silent, and when she finally looked up, she found his eyes looking anywhere but her chest area. "I look desperate, don't I?"
He snorted. "Yeah, but I know you can't help it. I mean..." He gestured to himself, and Sophie had to laugh, although her insides were shriveling up with embarrassment.
Did he already forget their earlier tension?
What had he meant earlier?
"Um, guys, not to ruin your moment or anything... but King Sencen's here." Fitz said, breaking them apart.
Sure enough, a man wearing a full on cloak and royal cloaks were staring at them in all his royalty.
"Oh! No! Um." Sophie stuttered. "Er, hello, your majesty. I am so honored to be in your prese--"
"Cut all the gibberish. Now, son, are you done with the assignments I assigned to you this morning?"
Keefe sighed. "Yes, father. I put them on your desk."
"Good, good. Now where are all the girls?"
"Outside." Keefe said.
"Doing what?" His father's tone was sharp, demanding. If Sophie hadn't known him so well, she wouldn't have noticed, but because she did, she saw that he flinched just a little.
"Saying their goodbyes to those who have been eliminated." Keefe muttered.
"Eliminated?" His father said, his voice getting loud. "What do you mean, son? Why did you not run it by me?"
"I'm sorry, father, I--"
"Did we not discuss this before? You are not to go making reckless decisions! Do you understand me?"
Keefe, for the first time, seemed out of words.
"Good." Then he stormed out of the chamber.