My Selection

Yep, that's Prince Rhode

I wake up to my maids shaking me.
"Five more minutes? I had a tough night." I ask me maids and they sadly shake their heads.
"Sorry. But we probably should've even woken you up earlier. We need to do something about those puffy eyes." They don't ask questions. I hope they just assume it was homesickness.
They get me up and tell me I can pick out the dress today. I decide to go with something simple. I choose a green dress that I would wear to brunch. (Picture. It just looks like a brunch-like dress to me.)
The get me into the dress, fix my puffy eye problem, and send me off with a little amount of makeup.
I briskly walk to the dining room, picking up Brighton along the way.
When we sit down together, we start talking. She asks me how my night was. I don't want to tell her about Prince Rhode yet, so I just answer, "it was kinda hard to fall asleep."
She nods her head. "I couldn't stop thinking about home." She admits with a longing sigh. "But I still love it here."
I'm about to say something when the Royal family walks in. First King Branson and Queen Lilliana, then Princess Ophelia and Prince Rhode.
We all stand up, curtesy, then politely sit back down.
"That was a little awkward." I whisper to Brighton and she giggles at me.
Almost every head turns our way because it was dead silent at the moment. They didn't hear what I said, only Brighton laughing.
It's like Brighton and I are having a staring contest with everybody else. We are on the other side of the table from the Royal family, so I have a clear look at Prince Rhode.
He just stares at me, intrigued. I stare back, not wanting to lose this silent staring contest that started out of nowhere. The food comes and he finally looks away. I have this odd sense of accomplishment, beating a Prince at a staring contest.
But then memories of last night come flooding back. 'It was for the better'
I eat my food slowly and I am the last one to finish. It's so quiet it's kind of frightening while we are eating.
Finally Prince Rhode gets up and says, "I will be speaking with each of you individually, so we will go clockwise around the table, starting with Lady Raelyn and ending with Lady Tinley.
We all nod our heads and he takes Raelyn with him to a nook of the room with two comfy chairs.
They talk for about seven minutes and he dismisses her, and the next person in line goes.
About a half hour later, Brighton gets up to talk to Prince Rhode.
I'm next. What am I going to say to him after what happened yesterday? Why did I have to slam the door in his face? A simple goodnight would have been fine.
I'm broken out of my thoughts a few minutes later when I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn around in my seat and I see Prince Rhode with a cheeky grin on his face. He actually looks pretty handsome like that. "Forgot about me? Or did you not want to talk?"
I glare at him as he leads me over to the chairs.
"So umm... Lady Caspian?" He asks as his grin falls.
"Just Caspian." I say.
He nods and continues. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that yesterday. I didn't mean for the better. I meant... I'm sorry that happened."
My face contorts into a look of confusion. "Those two sound nothing alike." I accuse.
"Which is why I am confused I said that! I am so bad at comforting people." He says, a little louder than usual.
I see a few people looking over at us. "What? Never experienced death here?" I say rather harshly. "Because it happens every day out in the real world." I roll my eyes. Princes. What's wrong with them?
His eyes harden a little. "I don't appreciate your attitude." He says through clenched teeth.
I bark out a laugh. "And I don't appreciate you saying my mother's death was 'for the better'" I'm still glaring at him and he is glaring right back.
"We should really stop getting into staring competitions." He says finally and I'm taken aback by his change of subject.
"I guess you're right."
"I'm really, really sorry about yesterday. And your mother." He says as his eyes soften again.
"It's fine. I'm sorry for my attitude and getting into really intense staring competitions."
He chuckles a little. "I don't mind. I could stare at your beautiful blue eyes all day, sweetheart."
"Please. No nicknames."
"What's wrong with sweetheart?" He asks.
"You've probably called everybody in this room sweetheart and only meant it one fifth of the time."
"But I still haven't talked to half of the room. So your math could be wrong."
"I was never good at math." I admit. Then I stand up. "I should probably be going." I say and hold out my hand.
He gets up too. "But I have to dismiss you."
"You don't have to do anything, sweetheart, besides sit there and look pretty." I say, and pat his head like he's a little preschooler before walking off.
I look over my shoulder and he has a dumbfounded look on his face.
I walk back to him and whisper, "I haven't quite forgiven you yet. After all, it is for the better." I spit out the last words and walk away one last time. I can feel the hatred in his eyes burning into my back. I smile a little, knowing I can only go uphill from here.

So... What do you think. Prince Rhode: good or bad? Caspian: good or bad decision?