The room is silent, and I need to figure out if Darius knows."Are there any other pictures?" I glance at him, trying to see if he knows. He is calm, though; surely he wouldn't be if Luca had put that picture in his room.It shows I'm marked and claimed, so maybe he didn't? Maybe Luca is set to make me look bad by making me lie?"No, this is everyone." Darius sits confused. "What did he look like?" He looks at me. I sense he thinks I'm lying. To what? Cover that I went into Kellan's office, locked myself in and magically put the key on the outside?"He was about five eight, blond hair, green eyes. He was about 200 lbs, and he had a scar at the side of his eye.""So he was real then." I laugh at his words."No, I dreamt him, walked into that room, locked myself in, magically put the key outside, attacked myself and waited to be rescued.""I didn't mean it how it sounded. Had someone used magic to mask their appearance, there wouldn't have been a scar.""Oh. Sorry." How am I still alive
It's been a quiet three days. I have rarely seen Darius and Kellan; they have taken Sage, Emalicia, and a few others on dates. The contestants seemed to be calmer as if Aurora was the one making them crazed.Either that or the fact Aurora was thrown out for her actions has made them realise their glares and words towards me might actually impact their progress here.Either way, no one has called me Mutt since that night. There have been no sly digs or petty behaviour, and while I want to say it's great, it won't last long. These women are like vultures; soon, one of them will slip, and it will return to how it was.The last few days, though, have made me realise how hectic and crazed it was. The whole thing became a sham and just chaos. We're meant to be proving we're the best Luna for the king. Yet right now, I'm not sure any of us are. We have all done things we shouldn't.We have all acted in selfish, irresponsible ways. In ways, the king's Luna never should.I glance up, hearing t
I wake to the loud banging. Jumping from the bed, I force my mind to wake up. Beta Yori walked me back to my room at about four this morning.Grabbing the robe, I wrap it around my body and rush to open the door, hoping the banging stops. It's only 6 am? What the hell?As the door swings open, Beta Pete stands with Beta William."Elara, you need to follow us now." Beta William grips my arm and drags me from the room. I move my feet, trying to keep up with them and fail.My legs are just dragged behind me, and I feel this isn't a good thing. Their faces have no friendliness; they are stern, and their gaze's fixed forward.Beta Luca, the picture. I begin to panic as I am pretty much dragged and thrown into a room. I land hard and groan."You can leave." I glance up, hearing Darius, and the door closes."I'm sorry." Shit, maybe if I explained why I lied before now, this wouldn't be so goddamn bad."Sorry!" His word is loud, and I lean away as he approaches me. "Do you have any remorse as
I sit in this room for an hour while considering how to fix this. There's no way, though.Sure, Darius can say it wasn't me. It will look bad, no proof it wasn't me, yet he's defending me? People already thought I got special treatment.If Darius stands there and says I wasn't the one who did it without showing proof, it makes it look like I’m being treated differently.Sure, he's the king and could just say he isn't willing to share how he knows it wasn't me, but again, it looks suspicious; he showed proof of Aurora and her actions.I hear the door and look up. Darius walks in."You have a choice to make. Not my brother, you. The impact of both choices lies with you, not him. I can't see anything to use that would prove you didn't do it."He sighs. "There is nothing. That hall has no cameras. Even if I got Beta Marcus to lie and say you were in your room, it's still two people to one.""Darius, it's fine." It's my fault."No, it isn't because someone has done this to make you look b
I wake up feeling more alive, unable to decipher what happened after Kellan carried me inside. I no longer have my own gown wrapped around me.This one is bigger and softer. I know I'm in Kellan's bed. Moving, I sit up and look around me. This is not Kellan's room. Where the hell am I? I want to get up and leave. I glance at the clock; it's four, and food will be soon.I don't want to walk through the halls like this. I'm still in my sleepwear. I didn't precisely get a chance to get dressed before they dragged me from my room.This room is so much bigger than Kellan's. I sit confused, trying to remember what happened after Kellan carried me in, but my mind is blank.Did I really pass out?The sound of the door opening has me turning to look at it, and I watch Darius walk in."Good, you're awake." He stands by the bed."Where is Kellan?" I was with him. It was definitely him who came out and got me."He's, I don't know. He said he was working towards something and needed to leave. We c
Getting ready, I walk back through. Everyone is already sitting. Today, Darius is sitting with us. There are two spare seats. Why isn't Kellan Here?Ignoring the thoughts, I walk through and sit. Everyone averts their eyes and avoids looking at me.I smile at Sage, but she turns away from me. Of course, everyone knows. Like Willow would keep it to herself. My eyes go to her, and her hair is now up to her ears. It was always so long and beautiful, so I feel for her.Part of me wants to apologise; the fact that someone used magic to look like me to do it makes it my fault. Even if I didn't cut it, apologising doesn't seem enough. I can only imagine how I would feel to lose my hair.The conversations are quiet, and the producer clearly senses something is wrong. So he doesn't know, which is good. No doubt Darius has said no one can be told. It's clear that something has happened; there is so much tension.I need to explain to Sage it wasn't me. She won't care about me being with Kellan,
Other than eating. I have avoided everything and everyone. I'm safer in my room. It also gives me time to plan. May is amazing. She's been asking me questions others may ask me at the event.It gives me time to think of the answer I should reply with. Kellan and Darius have been on another two dates. That night, after we saw the footage showing it wasn't me. I was brought down to speak with Darius.He apologised again for the punishment, stating he cleared my name. Then he asked what was wrong with my face during dinner.It was just sheer luck that no one else had noticed the scratch, as he hadn't noticed it. Apparently, I'm no good at charades. Who would have thought? After he apologised and I expressed that I wasn't pulling faces at him to cheer him up, even if it made him chuckle, I returned to my room. At least now I know what to do to make him laugh.I've not seen Kellan. Darius has told us he's working on something, that something I am guessing is who is in charge of the missing
I fell asleep against Kellan, talking and finding out more about him. When I woke, he was gone, which was a good thing. I know he is talking to his friend again today.I have spent all day with Sage and Astrid. We have been practising for tonight, Sage has been teaching me to dance. Something I hadn't considered.If any of the benefactors ask to dance, I need to. It's also said that both Kellan and Darius will dance with us all at least once tonight. While also spending at least fifteen minutes with us to speak to the benefactors.We have a list of the people coming. Now, the other ladies are planning it, so they talk to the bigger ones when the King is with them. The issue with that? What happens if that benefactor is busy at that moment? So I won't. My plan is to go to the one that is free. I'm not set on focusing on the more significant payers first like many.So, regardless of who is with me, I'm not planning to have Darius at my side for the high-payers. It isn't just benefactors