The Last Star(The Last Star Trilogy #1)

Chapter 20

The minute those doors opened I knew I was in trouble. There he was, Prince Alec standing casually.

The room had windows that touched the ceiling, the sky outside was orange and pink but there were hints of purple. There were bookshelves stacked with history books and tables covered with papers and maps.

Prince Alec approached me. Curtsy, I told myself but I forgot how to move.

"Good evening" he said.

I somehow found my voice and replied "Good evening"

"You are probably wondering why I called you here" he said after minutes of awkward silence.

"What was it, the confused look or the sweaty palms that gave it away?" I blurted. I cursed myself for saying that but Prince Alec chuckled.

I cleared my throat. "Why am I here?" I pleaded.

Prince Alec's expression turned dark. "Annabelle, I can understand this is hard for you" he started. This is where I wanted to tell him......

"It's hard on me too but we don't have a choice" he added.

"Do you like Lyra?" I don't know why I said that but, then again when do I ever know?

"I don't know what you mean?" he responded casually.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked" I apologized.

"It's alright" he said. I stared out the window and wondered what Lyra would feel if she heard our conversation.

"If I remember correctly Lyra is a Gemini?" he asked. I nodded.

"Gemini always think everyone is in love with them" he sounded irritated.

"Excuse me?" I said sounding rude.

"Well it's true" Prince Alec continued "I'm sure she's upset that I chose you over her and is going around telling everyone that I broke her heart"

I couldn't hold my anger anymore. "Don't talk about Lyra that way" I snapped.

Prince Alec seemed half embarassed and half surprised.

"Tell me I'm wrong?" he said "We only knew each other for tow nights and she developed feelings for....."

I cut him off "Lyra developed no feelings for you. However, she did respect you and maybe she liked you but there were no strong feelings"

I took a few steps away from him. The first thing that popped in my head was to walk away but Prince Alec spoke up.

"Annabelle, I apologize for what I said but what I wanted to talk about was to know if you were okay" he said. I heard fear in his voice. Fear of loosing something. Come to think of it....that's how Alec seemed to me most of the time..

I stopped walking but I didn't turn to look at him. I thought if I should answer.

"I'm fine" I said with my back to him. He sighed.

"But I am not at all happy, Believe me if I could freeze time I would" I answered angrily. I pushed the doors open and ran all the way to the room where Granny was. Turns out Granny wasn't there neither was anyone else.

"Are you looking for your grandmother?" said one of the maids.

"Yes I am, do you now where she is?" I asked.

"She's waiting for you in the dining hall" she informed.

"Oh"

"If you want I could lead the way?" she offered.

"No. That's okay" I said.

I descended a few stairs and headed towards the room where I could hear people cheering and laughing.

"Where have you been?" Granny raged.

"I was just looking for you" I said.

Granny studied me suspiciously.

"When are we leaving?" I asked.

"Not until after dinner" Granny informed "and there are people here to talk to you about your engagement"

"What?" I said in a loud whisper.

"Smile" Granny demanded "There are cameras everywhere"

Genius, I thought. The whole kingdom is going to see me being miserable. The whole scene was giving me anxiety and a headache. I nearly passed out from the strong smell of champagne and was making me dizzy, I would have fainted if someone hadn't caught me before I hit the floor.

"Are you okay?" it was Prince Alec. He helped me up but before that a photographer captured the moment.

"Thank you" I said.

I gave interviews and smiled for pictures. It would have been fun for anyone besides me and the thing that really made me sad was when Granny whispered in my ear.

"Better get used to this. It's going to be like this for the rest of your life" she said with a grim smile.

I din't see Dad for the rest of the night, in fact he wasn't even at dinner. I wanted to ask what happened but I never got the chance.