“It’s Fox. Fox Wesley,” he answered. Fox had a bit of a tan, but, unlike me, I could see that he wasn’t born with it. He must spend a lot of time outside. “Honestly, and I hope I’m not alone here, so far the biggest challenge is mealtimes. They set out at least a dozen forks for each of us.”
A few people chuckled, and Gavril nodded. “You have to wonder where we could possibly store so much cutlery.”
“It’s crazy,” mumbled the boy behind Fox.
“Oh, Sir Ivan, yes?” Gavril stretched to put the mic in front of him.
“Yes, sir. Happy to meet you.”
“And you as well. How are you managing at mealtimes?”
Ivan held both hands in front of him as if this was very serious. “My current approach is using one fork for each bite and then making a pile of them in the middle of the table. It’s working so far.”
The room laughed even more at Ivan’s ridiculous answer, and Gavril stepped away from the group, turning to the cameras.
“Clearly, we have an extremely entertaining pool of candidates here. So why don’t we take a moment to speak with the young lady who somehow has to narrow it down to only one? Ladies and gentlemen, Her Royal Highness, Princess Eadlyn Schreave.”
“Go get ’em,” Ahren whispered as I pushed myself out of my seat and crossed the floor, embracing dear Gavril.
“Always nice to see you, Your Highness,” he said as I sat in the chair opposite him center stage.
“And you, Gavril.”
“So here we are, one week into the first-ever female-led Selection. How would you say it’s going?”
I gave an award-winning smile. “I think it’s going well. Of course, I still have work to do each day, so we’re off to a fairly slow start.”
Gavril glanced back over his shoulder. “Judging by the thinning crowd, I wouldn’t say it’s that slow.”
Batting my eyes, I giggled. “Yes, about a third of the gentlemen invited to the palace have been eliminated. I have to trust my gut, and between our initial meetings and the information I’ve been given, I feel very confident about my choices.”
Gavril inclined his head. “It sounds like you’re using more of your head than your heart at the moment.”
I fought the blush. I couldn’t tell how well I’d done, but I refused to touch my face to check.
“Would you suggest that I fall in love with thirty-five young men at once?”
He raised his eyebrows. “Well, when you put it that way . . .”
“Exactly. I only have one heart, and I’m saving it.”
I heard sighs around the room, and I felt I’d gotten away with something. How many more lines could I dream up over the following months to keep everyone entertained and at bay? Then I realized, I hadn’t planned those words. I really felt them, and they escaped under pressure.
“It seems you may have let your heart lead the way at least once,” he said knowingly. “I have a picture to prove it.”
I watched as a huge picture of me and Kile was displayed, and the room erupted with hoots and claps.
“Could we get him down here for a moment? Where’s Sir Kile?”
He hopped up from his place and sat on a chair next to me.
“Now, this is a very unique position for me,” Gavril began, “because I’ve known both of you your entire lives.”
Kile laughed. “I was thinking about this the other day. My mom said I crawled on set once as a baby, and you held me for the closing of the Report.”
Gavril’s eyes widened. “That’s true! I’d forgotten all about that!”
I looked at Kile, giggling at this new story. That must have happened before I was born.
“So, from the pictures, it looks like perhaps a childhood friendship is growing into something more?”
Kile stared at me, and I shook my head. No way was I going first on this.
He finally caved. “Honestly, I don’t think either of us ever thought about the other as a possibility until we were forced to.”
Our families laughed boisterously.
“Although, if he had gotten a haircut years ago, I might have considered it,” I teased.
Gavril shook his head at us. “Everyone’s dying to know: how was this infamous kiss?”
I knew it was coming, but I was mortified. This was much worse than I imagined it would be, having my private life on display.
Mercifully, Kile addressed it. “I think I can speak for both of us when I say it was a surprise. And while it was special, I don’t think we’re going to put too much stock in it. I mean, I’ve been spending time with these other guys, and so many of them would make a wonderful prince.”
“Really? And would you agree with that, Princess? Have you had one-on-one time with anyone else this week?”
It felt like Gavril’s words were on a delay. I didn’t hear them until I’d processed everything Kile had just said. Did he mean that? Did he not feel anything at all? Or was he only saying that to maintain some level of privacy?
I snapped back into the moment and nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, a few.”
Gavril eyed me. “And?”