The Selected | ✓

Chapter 13

A/N: I just love Wrecking Ball asdfghjkl Sorry it has nothing to do with the chapter (i don't think) I just love it

The next day, despite the fact that I should be in the Women's Room, since it's Saturday, I meet Mason in the garden. We sit on a bench by the lake- the same one, I think with a slightly sick feeling, that Alexander and I sat on just last night.

Mason smiles and holds my hand, even when we sit down. "So you know everything about my family, pretty much. Correct?"

I nod, smiling at him. My mind is elsewhere, though, with the full moon reflecting off of the lake and a sad feeling for the man next to me echoing through me, straight to my core. "Can you tell me about your family?"

"My family?" I ask.

He nods. "I would like to know more about you, Cassiana."

I sigh. "Well, I have no idea where to start." I get an idea. "I have no siblings. I am the only child in my family."

"Do you have any pets?" I shake my head. "What about your parents?"

I let out a breath. "Well, my father died when I was five. He was shot for no reason by a Six that went insane." Mason sucks in a breath. "My mother's still alive and healthy. She was eighteen when she had me, so she's pretty young. She and my father met when she was a Two and he was an Eight posing as a Six. She said that she gave him a bit of her lunch that she didn't want, and just the way he looked at her..." I stare off at the lake.

I turn back to him. "I've always hoped to fall in love like that- just the moment I see that person, I just know that they're different. But then I got older and logic and street smarts took over."

"So your mother went from a Two to an Eight? Why would she do that?"

"Love, Mason. And she tells me that she would do it all over again, if it meant that she could still be with him for those few years. She said that he was so happy to have a girl, even if it meant I'd grown up on the streets and sleep on park benches."

"And what about you?"

"Me? I'm pretty unremarkable. I spend my time practicing self-defense on walls. I do odd jobs and pose as a person of a higher caste just to make some money. I  attempt to seduce men so that I can work for five hours and get dinner. My mother teaches me what she knows when she's not doing whatever jobs she does."

"You don't know what your mother does?"

I shake my head. "I don't ask her, and she doesn't ask me. That's how we work."

"So you...?" He trails off.

I feel my eyes widen. My cheeks flame with embarrassment. "No. No, um, not... not that."

He seems to relax.

"But, there have been times where...where it's come close. But I've never been kissed. Like a real kiss. Not on the lips, I don't let them do that."

"Why not?" This seems to confuse him even more. 

I sigh. I guess he wouldn't know. "I want my first kiss to be special, you know? Not just to get some job. I want to actually want to kiss the person." I shake my head. "Stupid, I know."

He shakes his head. "It's not stupid. Cassiana-"

"There you two are!" Clara rushes towards us in a light pink and white gown, her blonde hair let loose. Alexander follows quickly behind her. A look of brief heartbreak flashes in his eyes, but it's gone quickly. I must've just imagined it. "Mason, Father has been asking for you for hours."

Alexander turns towards me. "Lady Aquia has been searching for you as well, Lady Cassiana." He says it very formally, like I'm just a random person on the street.

I keep my hands folded against my stomach and bow my head. "Thank you...Prince Alexander. I should be going." I start to leave.

"Alexander, why don't you walk Cassiana to the Women's Room? My tutor is expecting me in the library."

Alexander clears his throat. "If Lady Cassiana doesn't mind."

I turn to face him. I look him in the eye, even though he avoids my eyes. "Only if you don't mind, Your Majesty."

Clara rolls her eyes. "Oh, just walk her there, Alexander!"

He finally looks me in the eye. Without a word, he holds out his arm. I take it and allow him to walk me there.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Mason watches his brother walk Cassiana away. He can't help but feel slightly jealous, knowing that not only did his brother talk to her here last night, but also that he's the one walking her back. Mason is the one in love with her!

Clara chatters on as she skips beside him. Mason pays her no mind. He instead thinks of Cassiana, and what others are saying- that Alexander loves her, and she loves him. Mason doubts this very much- Alexander gives her the same blank look that he gives everyone.

He enters his father's study and sighs. He really needs to stop thinking of this girl and pay attention to his work. After all, he will be king one day.