Restored (A Caleo Selection)

34 ~ A Princess So Hated

The remaining Selected took the news of our relationship with cheers, congratulations, and smug grins. I almost broke down as they showered us with support -- not a single one of them was anything less than thrilled for us.

Even Juniper hugged me, jumping up and down. "I knew it would be you! Can I come to the wedding?"

I reassured her that I wouldn't dream of a wedding without any of them.

There weren't many left. Piper, Thalia, Reyna, Juniper, Lavinia, Kayla, Hazel, and Nyssa. Nine remaining, of thirty-five. The rest were all dead, except for two who had refused to come back to the palace.

Everything seemed to remind me of them. An ambassador from Japan brought Alice to mind. A curl of auburn hair invoked memories of brave Skye. Someone with a laugh too loud resembled Lou Ellen. The paintings we'd admired together renewed my thoughts of Jade.

The palace didn't take long to resume its normal rhythm. New servants were found and old ones relieved so as not to be constantly reminded of the coworkers and friends they'd lost.

The king hired several workers to build a memorial garden in the courtyard for those lost in the attack. Each of the Selected had a plaque and a different type of flower representing them, and in the center was the queen's headstone, wreathed in white roses.

It was surrounded by hedges, but from my window, I could see the king when he walked the rows, always stopping at his wife's grave for a while. Sometimes Leo joined him.

Leo gave me a room on the fourth floor across from Piper's, in the north wing. I moved my little pot of moonlace there and set to work actually making it my own in a way I never had with my Selection-deemed room, simple and tidy in shades of blue and white and silver. Frequently I would enter to find Piper chilling on my bed or at my desk or even just sprawled across the floor.

I decided I would never again keep secrets from either of them. I had nothing left to hide, and I wanted to keep it that way. But that rule didn't apply to the rest of the country.

True to his word, Leo gave me a full two weeks before he brought up the public again. "Don't you think we ought to give them some good news?"

"Why?" I swept my gaze over his room, where I'd come to check on him. "The rebels have been quelled. The palace is rebuilt completely. Life is back to normal."

"We have to do it sometime. It's almost December -- why not do it near the holidays? We haven't given an update on the Selection in weeks and they're clamoring for a choice."

I swallowed. "I know. I've seen the articles."

Leo said nothing, spinning a pen between his fingers.

"We can announce it." The words were out of my mouth before I could convince myself otherwise. "You're right. It's time."

"We don't have to. I have infinite time," he said hesitantly. "I don't want you to have any doubts going into -- "

"I don't," I assured him. "And it would reflect badly on you to let it drag. I'm ready. We can tell them."

"Are you sure?" Leo looked up at me. "Once we announce it, there's no going back. You'll be in the spotlight for the rest of your life."

I leaned on the back of his chair, brushing my fingertips over his hair, reveling in the fact that I could. "I know. I'll do it for your sake. If you can handle it, then I'm pretty sure I can manage."

He grinned then, and it was a look I thought I'd kill to see again. When he smiled like that, I always knew I'd made the right decision.

"Thank you, Calypso. I know this won't be easy for you. Like, at all." He flipped the pen over his wrist. "But it's got to happen."