Royal 2 (Book two in my Selection series)

Chapter 12

Will leads me to a small section of the garden with a small round table and two chairs. There was a meal set out and two glasses. One had water and the other had a shimmering liquid.

"You aren't vegetarian or anything are you?" He asks, suddenly worried. I shake my head and laugh.

"No, not at all." I sit in the chair and look at the food trying to decide what to start with. I look up and see Will take a sip from his champagne. "What's the chance that that'll kill me?" I ask sarcastically, eyeing the liquid.

"It's not that bad, I promise. Some people just don't drink it or don't like it." He shrugs. I lift the glass and press it to my lips and take a sip. The cold, sizzling liquid burns my throat and leaves a sour taste in my stomach.

I squint my eyes and try and keep from laughing at myself. I can feel my cheeks flush as I struggle to keep it down.

"You know," I start. "At first I thought it wouldn't be that bad and I'd get used to it, but that is honestly disgusting." I put the glass down and earn a laugh from Will. We eat for a minute before Will speaks up.

"What's your favorite thing to do?" He asks. It takes me a minute to think but nothing really comes to mind.

"I haven't really had a lot of free time in the last couple of years, but when I was younger I liked to write stories and books." I tell him.

"Really? Entire books?" He seemed surprised.

"Yeah." I laugh. "They weren't very good or anything but it kept me occupied and I'd bring them home to my mom to read."

"Do you like to read too?" He questions me.

"Mostly short stories. It's hard for me to dedicate my time to one book if I don't absolutely love it." I shrug.

"I take that as a challenge. I bet I'll find a good book that'll interest you." Will sits up in his chair with a mischievous glint in his gaze.

"Okay." I shrug. "You have two days starting at the time we get back in the palace."

"Challenge accepted." Will says. We both laugh and I shake my head in the childishness we both portrayed. That's the thing about everyone here. We were all still children trying to be adults.

"Why did you sign up for the selection?" Will asks out of the blue.

"I want to see the world. I've been cooped up in my small little neighborhood barely ever going to the main part of town, but I've always wanted to see everything. I guess I thought this was just a more excusable way of getting away." I shrug and turn away.

"That's fair. Your life is your own and no matter how much you want to help the people in it sometimes you help them more by helping yourself." I look to Will and he was looking at me as he said it.

"I hope." I mutter, unsure.

"It will be." His reassuring smile was almost enough to convince me.

I looked up at the sky and the sun had just started to set opposite us and was painting the sky with its colors.

"Come here." Will says and offers me his hand. "Let's go up to the roof. You can see the sun set better." He tells me. I nod eagerly and follow him through the palace and onto the roof.

We sit on the slanted roof and watch the changing colors.

I look over at Will and he didn't look at me, but instead just wrapped one arm around me. A shiver was sent through my spine, but I tried to ignore it.

I didn't know why I was already falling for him after a few short days, but it felt like a sudden rush and I couldn't ignore it. I wondered if he liked me the same way. I always told myself I wasn't worried if he liked me but that was before I liked him so much.

He starts to move as if he were about to stand up but I grab his arm gently. The sky had just darkened and turned into some abstract art.

"Look at the stars." I whisper. "It's always so cloudy back home and I've never seen them like this."

I catch a smile playing on Will's lips as he sits back down and I watch and find constellations Ive never seen in the stars before. We stay there for nearly ten more minutes in the dark before we head back into the palace.

Will leads me back to my room and stops at the door.

"Thank you for opening up. It really does mean a lot to me." Will looks at me and smiles.

"You're welcome. Thank you for taking me." I return his smile.

"Me pleasure." He says and kisses my hand. "I'll see you at breakfast tomorrow I hope?"

"You will." I nod and turn into my room after he leaves. My maids wait inside and I felt like skipping and dancing around.

"Did it go well?" Liliana asks with a wide smile.

"Perfect. Everything was perfect. We walked in the gardens and had dinner together and watched the sun set and counted the stars. I've never been afraid that he wouldn't love me until after I stared to fall for me." I sigh and sit on me bed. "What am I going to do?" I groan.

"You're going to make him fall in love with you." Amelia says and moves over to me with a smile. "If you feel the spark then he must too. Just believe in yourself okay?"

"I'll try." I say weakly.

"No you will. We'll make sure of it." And that was when my maids became my most trusted friends in the kingdom.