A walk in the garden. That's the first thing I think when I wake up. I haven't been to the gardens since being back here.
After pulling my hair back from my face and slipping on a day dress, I wander down to the gardens, feeling the peacefulness of it. As I walk, I breathe in the fresh scent of flowers and plants and crisp fresh air.
Anticipation bubbles through me. Daxton's sending everyone home. This train wreck will finally be over. No more jealous or heartbroken girls moping around the palace. No more Genesis and definitely no more Adam.
The thought of Adam makes my skin writhe and I have an impulse to run inside and lock myself in my room to make sure he doesn't find me. But I fight against that urge, knowing I'm safe here. While Genesis has attacked me, Adam honestly can't do anything with guards at every corner.
As I walk, I pick a flower every now and then from their bushes. By the time I head back into the palace, I have bouquet of many different flowers. Making my way back upstairs to my room, I find Daxton looking disheveled. His hair is mused as if he's been running his fingers through it. His clothes are rumpled and wrinkled and I could have sworn that's exactly what he wore last night. Has he been up all night?"
"Daxton," I call out, causing him to whip around to look at me.
His gaze his hard, focused, but when he see's me the sharp planes of his face softens. "Camry. What are you doing here?"
Walking up the steps to meet him on the second floor landing, I frown. "I live here."
"No, no-that's not what I-I know you live here. I meant what are you doing wandering about the palace before breakfast? You've never woken up willingly before breakfast," he inquires, obviously puzzled as to my appearance.
"I'm not entirely sure," I shrug. "I just wanted to walk around the garden, get some fresh air. It looks like you could use some."
He frowns at me. "What do you mean?"
My eyebrows furrow has I take in his appearance again, noting the bags under his eyes. "Daxton," I set a hand on his arm, "did you get any sleep last night?"
His frown deepens. "I was too busy."
Thoughts whirl around my head. That was one of the vaguest answers possible. What does too busy qualify? Was he out all night with one of the other girls? Or did he just have work to attend to? Has something happened I'm not aware of?
"Way to be vague," I mutter, trying to hide my worries.
"I'm sorry it's just-," he glances up the stairs has if he has somewhere to be and I'm keeping him from it, "let's walk and talk."
We start up the stairs and he resumes talking. "After I left you last night, I went straight to my parents. Told them about the loophole. They believed I was making it up so I had to go searching in the library for it. Once I found it, I showed it to them and then they believed me. They were reluctant to agree to it. They told me I had my chance with you and I threw you out," his voice catches as we reach the top of the stairs and start down a hallway, "I explained to them it was out of anger. Once I got them to finally agree, they told me I couldn't eliminate all the girls at once. That would be seen as cold and snobby which I believe I'm not. So over the next week, I'll be letting girls go over the next week or so. Within a couple days after that, we'll recall one of the girls and yourself. "
I realize we've stopped walking in front of a door. To my room.
My heartbeats in my ears as I realize this is really happening. This crazy fantasy is happening. I'm going to get married. Unless he picks other girl. A small part of me is terrified of this but knows is stupid to think that way. He's doing all of this for me. For us. There's no way he would throw it away for another girl. Right?
I push away the doubting part of me and smile, letting my joy show. "This is really happening," I mutter in amazement.
"Yes, love, it is," he says, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me close to him. His lips brush against mine, almost teasing, before he deepens the kiss showing me all of the words left unspoken. I love you. Everything we've done has been working towards this, towards being together.
We pull away breathless, looking like love struck fools. "I'll see you at breakfast, love," he whispers in my ear.
"You better be there. And don't forget to change. If you come down to breakfast in that, I'll march you back up here and change you myself," I threaten.
But Daxton doesn't take it much as a threat. "Then I might just come down there it this."
Heat floods my cheeks as I realize the double meaning to my words. "Just go get changed," I swat at his arm.
Kissing me softly on my temple, he pulls away and retreats to his rooms. I open the door to my room, and instead of finding my three maids, I find my three friends. Alexa, Rose, and Sabrina stand by the door with impish grins on their faces.
"I'm guessing you heard all of that?" I dead-pan.
Their smiles answer for them. "May I ask, why you're in my room? Last I checked, each of you have you're own rooms."
"We're going to help you get ready for breakfast," Rose explained.
I frown. "I am ready."
Sabrina laughs. "No, see, Adam is thinking he still has a chance with you. So we thought, why not dress you all up and look incredible every time you leave your room so when you and Daxton get together he'll know what he's missing."
I gape, walking further into the room. "That's incredibly mean."
"So what? In, like, two weeks you'll be engaged to Daxton and there'll be nothing he can do about it," Rose shrugs.
I look to Alexa. "And you're okay with this?"
"Why not? I mean, he is kind of a jerk."
With a sigh, I agree to their wishes. They pull me into the bathroom and show me exactly what they plan on having me wear. My jaw drops. "You can't be serious."
"Just put the gown on," Rose says.
As I slip into the gown Sabrina explains. "We picked this gown first just to tease him," she says gesturing to the dress. It's high collard and goes past her knees. It's the exact opposite of what she wore last night. "The second gown will show a little more and the third gown will be close to last nights."
"I'm not going naked am I?"
"Sabrina considered it but I convinced her otherwise," Alexa says and I smiled gratefully.
Breakfast goes exactly as planned. He teases me, saying there's no need to cover up. My cheeks flooded with heat but from anger not for bashfulness. When Daxton saw my dress he was utterly confused but made no comment on it. He did say, "You like my suit?" To which I noticed was an exact replica of the night before without all the rumples and wrinkles.
The rest of their plan worked and at dinner Adam seemed pleased with my dress. Daxton, somewhat catching onto what we were doing, didn't know what to think. He loved the dress but Adam's comments put him in a foul mood.
After dinner, Adam tried to come to my rooms, but thankfully I locked them and told my maids not to let anyone in unless they sounded like Daxton, Sabrina, Rose, Alexa, or James. And Adam sounds like none of them.
***
The next day, Daxton started sending girls. He starts with Macie and Emily. He spends a couple hours with them over the course of two days and then tells them he just feels they aren't the right fit.
This continues over the course of two weeks, each of the girls hoping they won't be sent home. Sadness strikes my heart because I already know their fates. I know their hope is useless and pity courses through me. They know what he's doing. He's getting ready to end this. This crazy drawn out process to find him a wife is coming to an end.
All of the girls but two live in a fear. They're terrified of being sent home, of feeling like they aren't worthy of the prince's attention or love. I only know this because I hear snatches of their conversations in the halls or the gardens.
Only two don't live in fear. Sabrina and Genesis. Sabrina has a sort of calm about her, like she's ready. But I know she isn't calm at all. She's jumping up and down, knowing she isn't going to be chosen but still she's happy for me.
Genesis on the other hand has a smug air about her. While all the other girls are fretting, she feels as if she's got this in the bag. She thinks she still has Daxton wrapped around her finger. I've heard whispers at the dinner table or in the halls that she's going to win. She gloats to the other girls making them loose hope, even though there was no hope to begin with-not even for her. At dinner, she's sent me smug glances as if to say, "There's only one way this can end."
And I know very well there is only one way this can end. And it's not with her. So I smile back as if there's some secret I know and she doesn't, which is very well true, to which she rolls her eyes.
The start of a new beginning is close.
Six more girls.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
***
A/N: OMG I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN FOREVER AND I APOLOGIZE PROFUSELY SO PLEASE FORGIVE ME! I WAS EXTREMELY BUSY THIS SUMMER. I WENT TO YOUTH CAMP THEN HAD VBS AND THEN THE BEACH AND THEN CHEER CAMP AND THEN BIBLE CAMP AND THEN CHEER PRACTICE. AND THAT WHOLE TIME I WAS DOING ONLINE SCHOOL SO I COULD BE AHEAD. SO PLEEEEAAAAASSSEEEE FORGIVE ME FOR NOT UPDATING.
Another reason I didn't update was because I started a new book. I know, I'm an awful person but I've had the idea for a realllly long time and I finally was able to piece it together and so I started it and I just didn't want the stories to overlap each other. Like, I didn't want the new book to have touches of this one in it because their two completely separate books.
Okay, if I forget to update again soon, either blow up my private messages or private message my sister and she'll tell me to write.
Question: How much do you hate me for not updating?
Answer: a lot.