Chapter 162

“Don’t worry,” Mark told me. “I will not leave this room. Elva will not leave my sight.”

I nodded. That did make me feel marginally better.

We’d received word earlier in the day that Terry himself was coming to the palace to personally deliver the results of his event. Since then, we’d mostly barricaded ourselves inside of the bedroom.

However, I was required to attend this meeting, which was to be treated as an official event, broadcasted live across the kingdom.

I wasn’t looking forward to seeing Terry again, by any stretch. But at least, with Mark’s promise to protect Elva, I didn’t have to worry about her.

I hugged Elva goodbye.

“Good luck, Mommy!” she said brightly. Thank God I had protected her from the worst of the trauma I had experienced from Terry’s hands. I would rip the whole world apart before I ever let Terry enter within a hundred feet of my daughter.

“Be good, Elva. Listen to Mark and the nanny.”

“I will.”

After one last squeeze, I released Elva and stood. Then I walked to the door, where Nicholas was waiting for me.

“Ready?” he asked, as I stepped into the hallway.

“Not really.” I didn’t think I’d ever be ready to see Terry again.

“I won’t let anything happen to you,” Nicholas said, determination making his voice strong. “I will be your shadow tonight.”

“I’m sure you have other duties…”

“They can wait. Your safety takes precedence.”

With relief, I laced my arm with his and together, we walked down to the ballroom.

In the ballroom, the other candidates were already waiting around, while Nathan spoke with a camera crew on a makeshift stage. Terry wasn’t there yet. Neither was the rest of the royal family.

Susie approached Nicholas and me when we entered. “Have you seen him yet?” she asked.

I shook my head.

It was strange. Maybe it was the anticipation of seeing Terry, or the knowledge that he was in the same building, but my nerves prickled since coming here. Even with Nicholas’s closeness, I could not release the tension of my shoulders.

All too soon, Nathan cleared his throat and the event began. It felt more informal, compared to the rest. The candidates were in our nice gowns, with our hair and makeup done in the modern fashion. But there were no other guests, and no fanfare.

The royal family came in them, Terry among them, with Julian sauntering along behind.

When I saw Terry, my stomach clenched uncomfortably.

The royal family all moved onto the stage, sans Nicholas who stayed beside me as promised.

On the stage, the Queen was standing between the King and Terry, though she was physically much closer to her brother than her husband, almost as if an invisible barrier has separated her and the King.

The King did not look at her once while he stood there, nor did he so much as glance at Terry, even, after his introduction, Terry began speaking.

“I will now reveal the distribution of points for the evening event at my mansion. The points were accrued through the candidate’s decency as a dinner guest, including politeness, demeanor, and general likeability.”

A skewed scoring criteria for sure. Terry would just arbitrarily assign points to whoever he felt like, to hell with the rest. I could only imagine the type of mind games he wanted to play with me. Would he assign me many points or only a few?

The points would go toward our standing. Those with more points would do better in the overall competition.

I wasn’t ready for this. I wished I could escape back to my room.

Terry cleared his throat. “Only one candidate received full points. This woman is not only a delight to converse with, but a beauty to watch. Congratulations, Olivia.”

The candidates and royal family politely clapped.

Olivia smiled graciously, though she didn’t seem all that surprised.

Terry continued, listing each girl as well as the points they earned.

Toward the end, he said, “Susie. Two points.” He offered no explanation. Susie looked relieved.

“As for our final candidate,” Terry began. I held my breath because by now, I was the only one who had yet to be mentioned. “I recommend the royal family dismiss her from the competition entirely.”

My breath caught. Some of the other girls turned to look at me. I wanted to crawl out of my skin.

Terry looked straight at the camera, as if speaking directly to the viewers at home. “This woman attempted to seduce me in my own home. She flirted relentlessly. When I attempted to refute her, she grew violent.”

He turned toward the royal family. “Please. I implore you. For the sake of the competition… For the good of the kingdom… remove this girl that has been nothing but a blight among us.”

The Luna nodded, clearly agreeing.

The King frowned, seemingly less sure.

Beside me Nicholas started growling.

I felt numb, like I was trapped inside of a nightmare. This couldn’t be reality. He couldn’t have just stood up there on that stage and insisted to the entire world that he was the one who was wronged. That I was the one who attempted to assault him, and not the other way around.

In the King’s hesitation, the Queen stepped forward. “Bring Piper to the stage,” she demanded.

Guards began to weave through the crowd.

Nicholas tugged me behind him. As the guards came close, he snarled, “Fucking try it, and I’ll tear your throat out.”

The guards seemed unsure, their brows crumpling.

“I said, bring her to the stage,” the Queen said again, more forcefully.

The guards began to inch forward again. The hierarchy was clear. In the royal family and beyond, the Queen’s word weighed more than the prince’s.

Nicholas’s growl became louder. His body tensed. His hands curled like they might become claws.

I touched his shoulder. I didn’t want there to be a brawl. Besides, “They are just following orders.”

“That’s no excuse,” Nicholas said.

Yet before Nicholas could start a brawl, I pushed forward and offered myself up to the guard.

“Piper!” Nicholas called.

The guards gripped me roughly by the arms and pulled me toward the stage. I was dragged up the stairs and then shoved across it. I stumbled, tripped over the hem of my dress, and fell to my knees at Terry and the Luna’s feet.

They both sneered down at me, the Luna in obvious distain, Terry with a hint of a smile. He was enjoying this.

Julian took one step toward me from the end of the stage. The Queen shot him a sharp glare. “You stay there, Julian, and don’t you dare interfere.”

Julian’s hands formed fists.

The Luna looked down at me.

“Piper, it is against the rules of the competition for a candidate to flirt with another man outside of the three princes,” the Luna said. “You have broken this rule.”

“I’m innocent,” I said.

“Silence,” the Luna snapped with such ferocity that it startled me. “The cameras have captured evidence of your deception and now you will face judgement for what you’ve done.”

A sob caught in my throat. I couldn’t handle the injustice of it all. I was the one who had been harassed and then assaulted. I had almost been raped.

Yet now, I was the one being paraded like a criminal, thrown down to my knees, and told I needed to face judgement. Judgement for what? Being the object of a sick man’s obsession?

I could have cried, but I held back the tears. Terry would want me to cry. He’d want to see my desperation.

I wasn’t going to give him anything that he wanted.

“Piper, as Luna, I decree –”

Suddenly, the King came to stand beside his wife and said, “Stop.”