The Spare: Prince Osten's Selection

Chapter 15

I felt like my the floor had fallen out from beneath my feet. Everything froze.

"Wha-what do you mean?" I asked, trying to keep my composure.

"You didn't strike me as someone who reads the tabloids, and I am not either, of course, but I wanted to get as much info as I could before I came here for the Selection," Katherine said, looking up and down the hallway to check if we were still alone. "But, there are a few photos from the last few years of Osten and Ashlyn out in the Angeles clubs, dancing together, and there have been lots of rumors they had a 'thing.'"

"But, he has never acted like he was interested in her since we have been here," I said, my voice sounding more defensive than I had intended. I thought back to how he had almost scoffed at the idea of him being interested in Ashlyn. He thought she wasn't interesting.

"I can't say for sure, but if you ask me, he is just trying to make it seem like he is not interested," Katherine said. "They are just playing the long game, and I mean I don't think it was just a coincidence that she ended up being picked as a contestant."

I took in a breath. How could I know if I could trust Katherine? What if she was just trying to mess with me as part of the competition. I didn't have a lot of reason not to trust her, but there just was something about her that made me want to be cautious. She didn't have the same warmth and genuineness that Hadley and Olivia had. There was something calculating about her. Although I didn't want to get involved in drama, I had to watch out for myself.

"How have you caught them kissing and holding hands so much and then also caught me and Osten? Have you been following them?" I asked, crossing my hands across my chest. 

She stiffened. 

"Of course not, they just haven't been very careful," she said, crossing her arms across her own chest. "Look, I am just trying to help you, Zara. Prince Osten is clearly just here to be with Ashlyn Blake. I know neither of us is an Ashlyn Blake, but I don't think we should waste our time trying to just be a fun fling for him while he waits until the end of his Selection."

I stared at her, dumbfounded. If I hadn't trusted her before, I definitely didn't now. I stared into her eyes, but then I noticed something about her I hadn't before. Her eyes were a very distinctive gold brown color, nearly like the color of amber. I couldn't place my finger on where I had seen those eyes before, but I swore they looked familiar.

"Katherine, what did you say your last name was?" I asked. 

She looked at me like I had asked her if she had a third arm.

"What? What does that have to do with anything?" she asked, frowning at me.

"Nothing, it's just, you look familiar, from outside the Selection," I said.

"I don't think we would've met given you're from Midston, and I'm from Columbia," she said cooly.

"Forget I said anything I said. But on the other thing, I trust Osten," I said, even though I didn't still know what to believe about Ashlyn Blake. "This is a Selection, and he is supposed to be dating all of us. We can't be angry if he is seeing another girl or focusing a lot on one girl," I said.

"Well, it isn't a secret around the palace that you've put yourself in front of him," Katherine said, a smirk playing at her lips.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked, shocked at the turn of the conversation. "You say you are trying to protect me from him being with Ashlyn, and now you're trying to make me feel bad because I have a connection with Osten."

"Please Zara, we all know you come from some poor little town in Midston. We all know you are an upstart with her eyes on the prince, even though you try to act like you're not interested," she said, the smirk now filling her face. I couldn't help but think she looked like the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland.