The Spare: Prince Osten's Selection

Chapter 9

A guard let me into a large room that I was told was called the Women's Room. When I stepped in, I gasped. Not only was the room large and opulent, but it was also filled with racks of clothes, salon chairs, camera crews, and people bustling in every direction.

"Zara, over here!" 

I turned to see Olivia sitting with Hadley off in a corner of the room and walked over to join them. They were wearing thick fluffy robes and holding cups of tea. They had both been toward the front of the line to meet Prince Osten so I guessed they had already gone through the makeover process.

"You were in there a while!" Olivia said, giggling. "That other girl who was right before you came back here a bit ago."

"Maybe since I was last he didn't feel as rushed because there were no more girls to get through," I hedged, hoping she wouldn't press me. Just in case, I quickly changed the subject. "Have you guys already been through all this?" I gestured in the general direction of the makeover chaos that was happening around us. 

"We have! They didn't do anything to Olivia's hair so she got through super quickly! The stylist said she had the most gorgeous hair he had ever seen!" Hadley said, grinning. Olivia's expression grew excited.

"And Zara, it was right in front of Ashlyn Blake! Ashlyn Blake who is known for having like the best hair in the world! Her stylist asked her if she wanted to get a trim because her ends were a bit dry," Olivia said excitedly. "Hadley was on the other side of me so she saw the whole thing."

"It is true," Hadley said with an amused expression on her face. "We are going to have to keep an eye out for you though, Olivia. You never know what Ashlyn will do after hearing that."

"Oh god, do you think she will slip into my room in the night and try to cut off my hair?" Olivia gasped, a serious expression forming on her face for the first time since I had met her. 

"There is a reason they have guards in the palace, Olivia," I said with a giggle. I was happy I was already starting to make friends. Hadley and Olivia could not be more different than I was, but for that reason, I found I really enjoyed having them around me. Olivia was so joyful and bubbly, it was just hard not to feel uplifted around her, and Hadley was so calm and easy-going, something I hoped maybe could rub off on me a bit. My parents were always telling me I needed to relax a bit.

But with that thought, I remembered I couldn't relax. I had to do my best to be here and to be present because I needed to be here long enough in order to get as much compensation as possible to get to university. That was why I was here. I realized though in that moment that staying here would mean I needed to be on Prince Osten's good side. But, I had already just told him why I was here when I met him, and he seemed oddly okay with it?

I shook my head, I really needed to stop thinking about that conversation. Normally, my thoughts were not so befuddled. I was always good at staying focused and on task, but the conversation with Prince Osten had put everything in my brain into chaos. I did my best to calm my thoughts and moved to sit next to when a shrill voice called my name.

"Lady Zara, there you are, you should have come straight to me when you arrived in the room after speaking with His Highness," Judith spat, as she came clopping over to me in her matronly pumps. "We need to get your makeover started and keep everyone on schedule."

Without waiting for a reply, she grabbed my hand and pulled me off in the direction of one of the salon chairs.

"Wait here, someone will be with you shortly," she said and stalked off, probably to yell at someone.

I settled in the chair and looked over to see that Katherine was in the middle of having her hair highlighted next to me. 

"Hi Katherine," I said, and she turned and smiled at me. So far, aside from Hadley and Olivia, she was the person I had gotten to know the most. However, from the conversation I had had with her, I had not felt the immediate warmth and ease I had felt with them. I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was, but I brushed it off, thankful at least to have someone to speak to in the makeover madness.