Royal Obligations

Chapter 38: The Mercenaries

"Good evening, Illéa!" Uriah says excitedly toward the camera. "Tonight is a special night," he smirks. "Because tonight, we find out which girls are fighting for who. That's right, everyone. This selection is nearing to an end sadly, but no matter! We will not only have one, but two weddings to look forward to!" 

Valeriya and Mikhail stood just behind the princes's chairs, just out of view from the camera. Harlan and Forrest both seemed a bit anxious. I guess they wanted to see how the girls here were going to be split. Possibly evenly? I didn't know. It's hard for me to stay in the dark, but there is nothing I can do about it in this situation. 

Surprisingly, I haven't seen Forrest since he told me he had a plan to win me over. It's not that any of that mattered now, but I would have for sure thought he would come and ask me who I chose. He was a bit cocky. Bit was an understatement. And I hate to admit, but it felt weird. I haven't seen him in almost a week and I felt weird. I knew it wasn't the good type of weird so I ignored it. I let my emotions get in the way for the last time. It's my moment to get what I want, not follow the rules of another. I want my freedom I don't want love.

Now that I look closer at Forrest, he seemed to be jittery. He couldn't stop bouncing his leg up and down and small beads of sweat hung at the back of his neck. I've never seen him like this before.

Uriah interrupts my thoughts. "Before we get to the big reveal," he grins. "Let's get to know our group of girls a little bit better. After all, one of these beautiful young ladies will be our queen. Let's start with you, Lady Taylor. Tell us about your home life,"

Taylor flips her hair over her shoulder and shoots a sweet smile toward the camera. "Well, my home can be very exciting at times." She gives them a fake laugh and I almost lose my composure and cringe. "I have triplet brothers and they can be a handful sometimes." A soft smile touches her lips and I can tell that this one is genuine. I had no idea Taylor had three little brothers but it's also not like I took the time to get to know her. "But since both my parents are very successful, I basically had to take care of them. I still love my mom and sad to pieces, though." She adds just a little too quickly. I guess there is more to Taylor Cage than I think anyone knew. 

Uriah moves down the line to Shannon. "Lady Shannon, what hobbies do you find yourself enjoying most?" he asks. 

"Well," She smiles. "Since my family origins come from Spain, my mother has had many amazing recipes passed down as well. I really love to cook and it's a passion of mine." She says dreamily. "I also love to read. I have many questions about how basically everything works." Shannon laughs. 

No surprise there.

"How about you, Lady Octavia?" Uriah shifts his attention straight to her. "I have heard you enjoy riding?" 

Octavia's face lights up. "Oh yes, very much. Horses are a very big part of my life. I have been riding since... I don't know, forever." She giggles. "My Horse at home, Da Vinci, is quite handsome. I named him after one of my favorite artists. I enjoy art very much but I'm not going to lie and say I'm any good." Her cheeks redden. 

I already knew what I was going to say once he got to me. It didn't matter what question it was but there seemed to be a pattern. Taylor was home life and Octavia and Shannon were hobbies. Which meant I was- 

"Lady Cordelia," Uriah smiles kindly. "Tell us how it was at your own home?" 

"Well," I begin. "Being raised in a foster home means you either raise yourself then raise the other girls, or you're raised by that girl who created herself. I'm not going to say "unfortunately", because the position I was placed as basically a den mother wasn't miserable. In fact, that was the only highlight of my experience. The girls back at the foster home... They're good ones. They are sweet, caring and forgiving. Which are three hard traits to find in girls living in a foster home." I didn't realize, until I was completely finished, how engaged I was in that conversation. I was going to give him something bland and something that would fit the requirements but it's hard to control yourself when the thing you're talking about means everything to you.