The Heir (The Selection #4)(46)

“Eadlyn, dear,” Dad said, taking a break for some tea. “I didn’t get to tell you, but I thought the garden party was a success. I saw some of the stories in the papers this morning, and it was very well covered.”

“I glanced at a few myself. And I caught a little of the special they did, and it all looked nicely done.” I stretched in my chair, achy from sitting still.

He smiled. “Indeed. I think you should try to do another event like that soon—something with the group that people can see.”

“Something that might have an elimination afterward?”

“If you think that would help.”

I walked over to his desk, pouring myself some of his tea. “I think it adds something. Like people might be more interested if their favorite might be on the line.”

He considered that. “Interesting. Any thoughts on how it would be structured?”

“No, but I thought, since we’re supposed to be looking for a prince here, it might be good to test them on the things they would need to know as a prince. History or policy. I think there’s a way to make it playful, kind of like a game show maybe?”

He laughed. “The public would eat that up.”

I sipped my tea. “See, I have great ideas. I don’t need a prince.”

“Eadlyn, you could run the world on your own if you needed to. That’s not the point,” he said with a chuckle.

“We’ll see.”





CHAPTER 19


I STOPPED BY JACK’S ROOM after dinner, and he was waiting for me outside the door. That was kind of strange, but I figured his nerves had gotten the best of him.

“Good evening, Jack,” I said, approaching.

“Your Highness,” he replied with a bow.

“You can call me Eadlyn.”

He smiled. “Great. Eadlyn.”

There was an awkward silence as I waited for him to offer his arm. He simply stood there, his smile tight but his eyes animated. When I finally gave up on him figuring it out, I pointed toward the stairs. “It’s this way.”

“Super.” Then he started walking ahead of me, even though he didn’t know the way.

“No, Jack. We need to turn here.” I said the same thing maybe three or four times as we traveled, and he never apologized. He simply went where I told him as if he’d been planning to go that way all along. I did my best to let his missteps slide. With a handful of boys already mentally lined up for the next elimination, I didn’t want a reason to add Jack to that list.

The palace went up four stories, but it went down much farther. The Report was filmed on the sub-one floor, and there was a storage area as well as the theater. The staff and guards also had rooms on the first and second sublevels, but their quarters weren’t connected to the theater wing. There was also a monstrous safe room beneath all of that. I’d only had to go there twice that I remembered: once during a drill when I was three and once when the last string of rebels attacked us shortly after.

It was strange to think about it. The rebels were gone, but now we were faced with different pockets of people fighting the monarchy. I almost wished the rebels still existed. At least we could put a name to that. At least back then we knew exactly who we were fighting.

I shook my head, coming back to the situation at hand. I was on a date. As I remembered that fact, I chided myself. Dad would have wanted a camera here for this. Oh, well. Next time.

“So, I hope you like movies.”

“I do,” Jack replied enthusiastically.

“Good. I do as well, but it’s not always possible for me to go out to the theater. We have access to a few new films downstairs, though our options are limited. Chances are we’ll have something good.”

“That’s great.” It was strange, this fine line he was walking between being rude and polite. I wondered if he simply didn’t know how many mistakes he was making.

A butler had already made us popcorn, and I used the remote to scroll through our options.

“How about Eye of the Beholder?” I suggested. The brief description hinted at romance and drama, as did the poster image.

“That sounds okay. Any action in that one?”

“I don’t think so. There is in Black Diamonds.” The picture was dark and brooding, with the silhouette of a man with a gun off to one side. It wasn’t something I’d have seen of my own volition.

“Yeah! That sounds good.”

“We have other choices,” I said, trying to make my way back to the menu.

“But this is what I want to watch. It won’t be too scary. And if it is, you can snuggle up next to me.”

I made a face, wondering if I should have given Apsel more consideration. The seats in our theater were wide and very soft. The only way I could snuggle up to anyone would be to squish myself into his seat, which was not going to happen. Also, I’d rather be scarred for life than admit to being afraid.

Then again, that wasn’t what I was worried about with this movie. It simply didn’t seem worth watching.

I sighed, feeling a little overrun. Again, it was as if he wasn’t aware of how foolish he was acting. I let it go, thinking I’d need to tell Dad that the boys as a whole required more etiquette training, and started the movie.

Long story short, Main Guy’s dad was killed by Bad Guy. Main Guy spends his life tracking down Bad Guy, but Bad Guy slips from his grasp several times. Main Guy sleeps with Super Blonde. Super Blonde disappears. Main Guy kills Bad Guy, and Super Blonde shows up again. Oh, and some things explode.