butterflies | ✓

apricate.

I was impressed to learn that I was the third girl to get to spend time with the prince.

The note came in a small, cream colored envelope with my name in neat, red cursive on the back. The inside of the note simply asked me to meet him in the gardens after lunch. My maids had chosen a long, strapless violet dress that with a burst of magenta towards the middle. Unfortunately, I was also wearing heels.

The heels themselves were nice and quite lovely—made to look almost like boots but all lace, and magenta like the dress. However, they weren't practical for the gardens, and I feared that the laces would come undone and I'd trip.

Prince Gabriel smiled once he saw me. "You look lovely today, Lady Lysel." I noticed that the smile didn't reach his eyes.

"Thank you." I let him lead me through the maze of bushes and flowers. "Are the gardens the place you prefer bringing us? Or is it just for us first three?"

He shrugged, staring ahead as we walk. "Honestly, I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know how I'm supposed to do this."

I wanted to say that he was a prince and so he could do whatever he wanted, but I held my tongue. I highly doubted that that would have been the right thing to say.

"Don't worry about what you're supposed to do," I said. "Worry about what you want to do."

He led me towards a stone bench by a lake and gestured for me to sit. I did, and he took the seat beside me. "It's a problem," He said. "I didn't even want to do this."

"What? The Selection?"

He nodded, making a face, not looking at me, but at the lake.

"Why?"

"It's too soon." He shook his head and rested it in his hand. "My brother..."

Oh. His brother. Tyler. The prince that died before he would ever be old enough for his Selection. From what I could recall, he and Prince Gabriel were close before he died.

I rested my hand lightly on his shoulder. "It's all going to be fine," I assured him. "You don't have to rush any of this or do anything beyond what you can handle, you know. And you don't...you don't have to go through with this."

He let out a harsh laugh. "But I do," He said. "I'm expected to. I don't really have a choice."

"There's always room for a choice," I replied. My chest ached—not for myself, but for him. Comforting people, despite how good I am at it I always was, often left me feeling empty and sad. I hated seeing people so hurt and vulnerable.

Gabriel shook his head, and his eyes slowly cleared. "I apologize, Lady Lysel. I'm sure that you would much rather spend your time getting to know me than listening to me complain about such insignificant things."

"I can be a friend before a Selected, Prince Gabriel." I said quietly. "I'm an excellent listener, and apparently I can be quite helpful in times of distress."

He let out a sigh and rubbed his hands against his slacks, staring out across the lake. "I wouldn't want to be a burden on you."

"Nonsense," I waved him off. "There is no such thing as one being a burden on another. There is only such thing as one being too weak to help one in need."

He didn't reply.

I let out a small sigh and rested my hand on his shoulder once more. "You don't have to tell me everything, and I don't expect you to. But know that if you need to, you can confide in me."

He turned to look at me and smiled—a small smile, but it was a smile, and that time it reached his eyes. "You don't have anyone waiting for you, do you?"

I shook my head.

"Come. I'd like to show you something." He took my hand and helped me up off of the bench, and he entwined our fingers together as we walked to our destination.

۵

He led me back through the library to a hidden door. He held it open and gestured for me to go through.

The room was large and spacious. It was filled with many glass cases, all holding dresses and crowns and assorted types of weaponry and armor. The door clicked shut behind us.

"This," he said, coming to stand beside me, "is where we keep things that were important in our family's history."

I walked forward, carefully examining a lilac dress. "My great-great-grandmother's," He says. "From when the country first became Illéa."

"It's lovely."

Gabriel patiently told me the history of every single item in the room. We took our time, and when our arms brushed I felt butterflies rise in my stomach.

"You must spend a lot of time in here," I said, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear as I examined a set of armor.

"At least an hour each day. Sometimes, I spend the whole day in here."

"How did you find it?"

"My uncle showed it to me when I was young," he said. "And then when I came back without him, Tyler, Oliver, Maxon, and Lexona thought that it would be funny to lock me in here for a few hours." The memory didn't sound very nice, but he smiled.

"That's cruel." I said with a small laugh.

He shrugged. "It saved me from hiding in a rebel attack, although my mother nearly had a heart attack when I didn't show. I believe they got grounded for that, though I can't really remember."

"How old were you?"

"Nine." He turned to me. "But enough about me, because I'm sure you know a lot. What about you?"

I shrugged. "I have three good friends. I mean, I have others, but I've known these girls my whole life. We played with dolls when we were younger and talked about boys when we were thirteen and then their obsession became you and your family as we got older."

He chuckled. "My family?"

"We were fourteen or fifteen when that started. I'm pretty sure they ranked you and your brothers and male cousins from most attractive to least."

"Who was at the bottom?" When I looked at him, he was grinning.

"You, of course," I said with a serious face.

"Really?" The crease appeared between his eyebrows again.

"No," I laughed. "I honestly don't remember. It wasn't very important. Although, I do believe I remember them gushing about you and Michael the most..."

"Did your friends enter?"

"Yes," I said.

"How did they react when they found out that you were chosen?"

"I don't know. They were at my house, but I had fallen asleep by the time the announcement was made. It was two days before anyone told me," I answered sheepishly and ducked my head.

The door opened, and someone walked in. "Gabriel?" A man's voice called.

"Yes?"

A tall, blonde man walked around the corner, grinning. I immediately recognized him as Gabriel's uncle, Alexander. "I knew I'd find you in here." His eyes landed on me, and his smile fell. He raised his eyebrows. "And you have company? Well, that's a first."