His Choice (The Selection)

Chapter Forty One

Wrote by firerose11

§§§

"Ember!" My mother called from downstairs. "There's someone here to see you!"

There was something I couldn't quite identify in her tone, but I ignored her, figuring it was just Tanner coming to pick me up for our outing tonight.

I carefully smoothed a fly-away hair and smiled at myself in the mirror. Despite the fact that I didn't love Tanner, he had become a welcome friend.

Startled by the sound of the door opening, I realized that my mother must have sent whoever it was up, and it was likely Tanner as I first supposed.

"Ember?" A voice that was most definitely not Tanner's yet was familiar asked.

My heart froze in my chest, and I realized that the moment of truth had come. He was standing just outside of my bedroom.

Pretending like I hadn't heard my name, I fussed with the already-perfect sweetheart neckline on my dress. My mind scrambled to prepare for what was coming. No matter what, I would not say yes to him.

"I know you can hear me, Ember," Charles said, and I looked up to finding him standing behind me. "I don't blame you for ignoring me after what I said to you."

I forced my spine to straighten and steel to enter my voice. I was as unfeeling as a brick wall; the prince wasn't going to destroy me again.

"You're the prince," I answered. "Despite the fact that you were wrong in your assumptions, everyone would believe that you had truly done no wrong."

He laid a hand on my shoulder, and I spun, eyes lighting with fire.

"Don't touch me," I growled. "You forfeited that choice when you chose a traitor over me. You forfeited everything that involved me from your right to enter my room to the right to touch me."

Rather than removing his hand from my body, he curled his fingers into the flesh of my shoulder and placed the other on my shoulder. "You have every right to be angry, but nothing has changed how I feel about you. I loved you the night I sent you away, your face was the only thing I could see every time I looked at Bexley, and I still love you now."

I pursed my lips, but before I could fire back with exactly where he could stick his supposed love, the prince leaned forward and pressed his lips against mine in a gentle kiss.

My body responded just as it had almost every other time we had kissed, but I quickly forced my mind to remind the rest of me that we were angry at him.

"Get your hands off of me," I snarled, shoving him away from me. "I'm engaged, prince!"

He looked stunned like he was just seeing that I wasn't the girl he had known. "Ember, I came here to ask you to marry me. You're the only one of the Selected I have even considered."

"I don't want your proposal! I don't want to hear you tell me you love me after what you accused me of! I don't want your hands on me after you took the words of a traitor and murderer over mine!"

Cold horror seeped into me when I realized that I had just said that Bexley was a murderer in front of him. My hands twitched to cover my mouth, but it was already too late.

"What do you mean by 'murderer', Ember?" The prince asked warily, eying me like I was an untamed beast.

"If you had taken the time to listen to me over a month and a half ago, you would have known exactly what Bexley was. One of the other Selected saw her deliberately pointing Giselle towards the hemlock."

He sighed. "Which one?"

"Ask them yourself! I want nothing more to do with you and your family. I have a fiance, I have moved on with my life, and I want you to do the same!" I retorted. "I'm sure while you're asking around the other girls, you'll find someone who doesn't mind being second-best."

"I..." the prince started.

"Ember, your mother said," Tanner stood in the doorway, seeing the two of us facing off. "I see exactly who's here."

His voice had frosted over, and I saw doubt creep into his eyes. Feeling a twinge of worry course through me, I walked over to him and wove my arm through his.

"Tanner, the prince and I were just finishing our conversation," I said firmly. "Prince Charles, meet my future husband, Tanner. Tanner, I believe you're well aware of who this is?"

He nodded slowly, the two men's eyes locked on each other, as I felt the testosterone levels rise in my room. "Do you mind leaving us alone for a minute? I believe we may have a few words to get out of the way."

I gently kissed his cheek, a deliberate move, before strutting out of the room. Once I was out of sight but still in earshot, I halted.

"I know exactly why you're here," Tanner said steadily, "and I want you to know that I'm not going to let you have Ember. You broke her heart by sending her away, and I'm not going to let you shatter her that way again."

"I didn't want to hurt her, but if there was even the remotest chance that I was harboring a rebel under my roof, I had to get rid of them."

My fiance let out a humorless chuckle. "Tell yourself all the excuses you want, but just because you're the prince, you are not given the right to give or take your love as you please. I will not give up the right I have to that brilliant beautiful woman, and I will have you know that I will never push her away on a speculation like you did."

"Does she love you like she loved me?" The prince pressured. "Or have you given a love that will never be returned?"

There was a long pause of silence, and I could imagine the expressions flickering through Tanner's eyes behind his glasses.

"That's none of your business," he managed to say calmly. "However, Ember will never accept you back, knowing that she was the backup in case something fell through. I may be no prince, but she deserves a love that is more than silk and diamonds.

"You may be able to give her a kingdom and everything that money can buy, but I have given her my heart and despite what happens, I'm never going to ask for it back.

"Now, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. My fiancée and I have plans for tonight, and they don't include you in any way."

I heard footsteps coming down the hall, and I was relieved when I found it was Tanner. He gave me a look that told me that he knew I had heard every word exchanged in that room.

With a gentle smile, I took his arm and leaned towards him.

"I love you," I whispered, realizing that it was becoming the truth.

This man, despite the fact that I had told him that I would never love him, had defended me and openly admitted that he was expecting nothing in return for his love. I couldn't withhold my heart after that just because I was afraid of getting hurt again.

A light appeared in the depths of his blue eyes, and Tanner leaned down to kiss me. I willingly complied, wrapping my arms about his neck and feeling the familiar taste of the prince being devoured by the new one.

Another set of footsteps halted, and I broke away from Tanner to find Charles staring in shock at the two of us.

"I won't be your second choice," I said. "I wish you the best in life, but I will not be the princess of a man who runs as soon as there looks like there will be conflict."

Not even waiting for him to recover, I raised my face up to my fiance's again and savored the new kind of love I had found.

Perhaps it wasn't as explosive as the one that I had shared with the man now walking away from my life, but it was a steady flame in the rain. Tanner may be a candle to Charles's firework, but I knew that this candle was never going to flicker out.

And in the light of this candle, I could barely feel my heart breaking from the second rejection, this time one I had chosen.

Disclaimer: Kiera Cass owns the selection, not us.