The Luna Choosing Game by Jane Above Story

Nicholas held Elva safe and secure in his arms as he stood to his full height. Elva buried her face into the corner of his neck and shoulder. He gently patted her back.

He glanced down at Elva, his gaze so tender that it made my heart clench.

“There, there,” he whispered. “You are safe now.”

“Oh my God,” said one of the other girls in the room, fanning herself. “Of course he’s good with children.”

“Someone pinch me,” said another. “I think I’m dreaming.”

Nicholas’s soft expression hardened as he glared out at the rest of the room. “Whose child is this? Why is she here?”

I started forward, but the girl in the pink dress spoke before I could reach him.

“An outsider sneaked in, unless she’s a maid.”

Some of the other girls snickered at my expense.

“She can’t be a participant,” another girl fake-whispered, loud enough for half-the room to hear. “I thought we had to be virgins, and she’s got a kid.”

I wanted to disappear into a corner. Whether virgin or not, I was nothing compared to the rest of these girls.

My clothes weren’t as nice as theirs, and my figure wasn’t like what it had been at the Academy. I’d lost much of my musculature. I was skinny from too many nights of skipped dinners.

Elva’s wellbeing had always come before my own.

Her sake was the only reason I continued forward rather than hide in embarrassment. I stopped only when I reached Nicholas.

He looked at me, and I looked at him.

I’d forgotten how gorgeous his eyes were, golden brown with flakes of green. When we’d dated, I had spent hours looking at them, trying to memorize that color, but it had seemed different each time.

Before, when I’d stared long enough, I could earn a bashful smile from him. Now, his face was totally devoid of emotion. He looked at me like I was a stranger.

Did he… not recognize me?

truly had sealed me away in his past and moved

great embarrassment to him, showing up here, years after leaving him, and with a

Maybe he hated me.

the outsider.” The girl in pink motioned

Another moment of

I followed him. He led me

man in a suit hurried toward him. “Your Royal Highness, please remember that per the selection

look at the man, who nervously backed

is an exception,”

sir. Of course, sir.” The man bowed

after them. A servant stepped forward and closed the door behind us, leaving Nicholas, Elva, and I alone

I had never imagined I’d meet Nicholas again,

say. What would he think of me, to see me as I was?

who seemed at ease against his chest. She must have cried herself to sleep, eyes closed and drooling. She seemed at

and at once, his perfect façade cracked. He frowned. His golden eyes filled with

stayed gentle on Elva, his arm looped more protectively

you hide my

once, twice, but, no, I couldn’t make sense of what

Eloquently, I said, “Huh?”

arms. She was three years old. That lined up

tried to recall the memory. We’d been so young

where he was when

fueled it seemed to slide into bewilderment. His

hoping to give

Nicholas wanted children. He’d even said so on television. For me to hide a child from him would have been a cruelty. He would likely have struggled forever

her name. But she’s

before the anger

to say, he seemed to struggle

and Elva.

Her birth mother was my identical twin sister. But I wouldn’t tell that to Nicholas. Elva was mine in every way that mattered. I would not

silence seemed to answer some unspoken question for him,

startled. What could

immediately cut off the deep rumbling

he lowered Elva down onto one

be mad at Mommy,”