Everyone chuckled, and I smiled at Kile. He made being on camera look so easy, always coming up with wonderful things to say. It made me feel surer I’d made the right call telling him how I felt.
Carrying the momentum, Gavril bypassed Henri and headed straight to Ean. I hated that Henri was being excluded, but it looked like Gavril had a plan.
“Sir Ean, you are maybe the quietest one of the bunch. Do you have anything to add?”
His expression was as cool as ever. “I am a man of few words,” he agreed, “but I will say that the princess is incredibly thoughtful. Though there are only five of us left, none of the eliminations were made flippantly. Just by getting to know these other gentlemen, I can see the effort the princess has put into making the best possible choice for herself and for her people.
“What the cameras couldn’t capture was the mood in the Men’s Parlor when she had to make her most recent elimination. There wasn’t a drop of animosity in the air. She’s been so generous with us that it was impossible to be upset. All the other suitors left satisfied.”
Gavril nodded. “So how do you think your chances are? You’ve made it to the top five!”
Ean, as always, was nothing but smooth. “I am at Her Highness’s disposal. She is the best woman any of us could possibly attain, and as such has incredible standards. It’s not about my assessment of my odds, it’s about her preference. For that we will all wait and see.”
I’d never heard Ean speak so much at once, but I found myself feeling instantly indebted to him. Though we had an understanding in our relationship, and it was admittedly unromantic, he still saw so much good in me. That, or he was an incredible actor.
“Very interesting. What about you, Sir Hale? As I recall, you had the first date with the princess. How are you feeling right now?”
“I feel lucky,” he said warmly. “I’ve grown up seeing her in parades, and watching her on television, and seeing her face in magazines.” He pointed across the room at me. “She’s so pretty it’s intimidating, and she has this look like maybe she could burn you with her eyes if she felt like it.”
Part of that stung, but there was something so terribly honest about it that I couldn’t not smile.
“But I got to have dinner with her once and made her laugh so hard she spit her drink out.”
“Hale!”
He shrugged. “Someone would find out someday. You might as well share!”
I covered my face with my hands, wondering what Mom and Dad would think of all this.
“My point is, everything we’ve said about her is true. She’s tough, she’s a leader, and, yes, I think if she wanted to shoot fire from her eyes, she could do it.” The room chuckled. “But she’s also a great listener, and is invested, and knows how to laugh. Like, really laugh. I’m not sure everyone will get to see that, so I feel lucky that I did.”
The entire segment was such a glorious tribute to my finer qualities that I almost wondered if the boys had been coached. And if they had, then I owed something huge to whoever thought of it.
As the cameras went down, I walked over to Gavril. “Thank you. You were outstanding tonight.”
“I have always been on your side, and I always will be.” He winked at me and went on his way.
I watched as the audience filtered out, and I stood there a moment feeling proud. I’d gotten through it, almost entirely on my own. The Elite were fantastic, kinder than I could have guessed or hoped. Mom and Dad were going to be so pleased.
“Well done.” Kile wrapped an arm around me. “Your first solo Report is in the books!”
“I seriously thought tonight might be a disaster, but look!” I said, leaping away and holding out my arms. “I’m still in one piece.”
Hale came over and chuckled. “Did you think people would stream in through the doors and tear you to bits?”
“You never know!”
Fox laughed, and Ean stood back, still smiling. I was so grateful. If I’d known how to articulate it, I’d have unabashedly gushed about how great they’d been tonight.
“Dinner?” Fox asked, and the boys all nodded.
I heard Henri saying one word over and over again excitedly, which I assumed meant he was thrilled to be getting food. We all formed a little group and walked to the dining hall together.
I FELT SO CONTENT AS we walked up the stairs and down the hallways, a sense of familiarity and peace surrounding me that I suspected had a lot to do with me feeling so comfortable with my company.
It lasted right up until the moment we walked through the dining-hall doors.
Mom and Dad were still upstairs, and Grandma had retreated to her room. Osten wasn’t feeling well this evening, so Kaden was keeping him company, and my twin was still an ocean away from me and then some.