The Bride

4

"Zeke?" The queen called.

"Yes, mother?"

"Come meet me in my office later. We have something to talk about."

"Okay." He responded and continued eating.

I met his eyes, asking him 'What's wrong?'. He shrugged.

I sat back down on the overly comfy bed. I couldn't sleep. I was bored and I wanted to do something. Then I heard a knock on my door.

I opened it and saw Tony, "What brought you here at this hour?"

He entered and closed the door, "I have good news for you."

"What is it?" I asked as I sat down on my bed.

"When I went to my mother's office, she and the Prime minister were talking. I went inside and sat down to get their attention. My mother looked at me with a little sympathy and seriousness. I suddenly felt nervous." He said.

"Go on," I urged.

"The prime minister said that the people of Illéa didn't like the idea of me being wedded to another country's princess. They wanted me to be wedded to a true daughter of Illéa."

"The point?" I asked.

"The point is that we're having a selection. And mother told me that Celestiana is to be married to William and have you enter the selection."

"What?" I asked in bewilderment.

"Don't worry. If you really don't like it then I could send you home after the first day." He said.

I couldn't say something. I'm not sure if I really wanted to go home, Not when I was getting used to the life in the palace. Not to mention the people that I would miss.

"Tomorrow morning, you and Celestiana should switch back to your original appearances since Mother is going to discuss this in the morning." He stated.

"Does Celestiana already know?" I asked.

He shook his head, "Not yet. But I'm about to go there to tell her."

"No! Don't. I bet it'll cause a scandal if somebody saw you and a girl who is supposedly me. I'll go and maybe we could switch back to normal." I said.

He smiled, "Okay." He took my hand and looked into my eyes, "Sorry if you got tangled up in this mess."

I smiled back, "It's okay. It's not like I have anything to do back at home."

"Thank you for understanding." He said.

"No worries. Now I have to go meet Celestiana." I said and stood up.

I was about to leave the room but he held my arm, preventing me from leaving.

"Before you go. I wanted to tell you that," He hesitated.

"That?" I prompted.

"That I had fun with you all week." He said with a genuine smile.

I smiled back and carefully removed his hand from my arm and squeezed it, "I had fun too. Don't worry, though. We can still have fun when the Selection begins."

He smiled sadly, "Yeah, we can. But my time will be split into thirty four other girls. We might not see each other for a while."

I smiled, "Aww. Are you going to miss me?"

He laughed, "I know it's just been a week, but I felt like those days with you were the happiest of days. Just so you know, I haven't had a duet with other people."