The Announcement

Hours later, I found myself right back where I’d been just six months before. The news crews were positioned ready to begin filming, and Marybelle was back. She had a big grin on her face, and who could blame her. She was getting more coverage than any other interviewer in Silverwood. My terrible life was becoming great for her burgeoning career. I didn’t hate her, although I wanted to. She was just another cog in the wheel of the media. Fed by the public’s bizarre desperation for sensationalized stories, she was nothing more than a way to get the news out to the public. She had her job to do, and so did I. I’d spent the earlier part of the afternoon getting primped by Xavi and her crew. If I was going to go through with this, I might as well do it looking good. So much for my plans to wear sweatpants and quietly run the kingdom for the next few weeks.

Marybelle brushed her newly dyed blonde hair and straightened the pretty silk scarf around her neck in preparation for the interview. Her glasses had also been dispensed with. She knew as well as I did that this would be viewed by hundreds of thousands of people. Gone was the kindly old granny she had been just yesterday. Now she was a blonde bombshell. She must have spent all night at the beautician’s.

Thankfully, due to the lateness in setting the event up, there wasn’t much of a crowd, even though the public, as always had not been allowed onto the grounds. I watched as they filled up the space behind the barriers slowly.

I didn’t want to do this. Choosing Luca over Cynder had broken my heart into tiny pieces already. No good could come of putting myself through it again. I was quite frankly astounded that Cynder had agreed to come back. There was no reason for him to. At least I was doing it for a good cause.

Why, oh why, did Cynder say yes?

“Because he’s in love with you,” whispered a voice from behind me. I turned quickly to find Daniel standing there.

“I didn’t realize I said that out loud,” I replied, mortified. I looked back to see if any of the TV crew had picked up what I’d said. Apparently not. They were all still setting up. Thank goodness, I’d not been fitted with a microphone yet!

I stood and pulled Daniel to the side of the stage where no one would overhear us.

“I can’t do this, Daniel. I can’t choose again.”

“Because you don’t want to go through the public scrutiny, or because you don’t know if you’ll pick the same man?”

Daniel could read me like a book.

“I’m picking Luca!” I said with as much force as I could muster. “I have to pick Luca.” I looked down at the floor of the stage, scared to look into his eyes. He already knew more about me than I knew about myself. I couldn’t bear him knowing more truths.

“No one is going to force you to make any other choice. It’s up to you...” He put two fingers under my chin and slowly raised my head so that I had no choice but to look at him. I could feel tears pricking at the corner of my eyes. Xavi would kill me if I let them fall and ruin the perfect mascara. “If that’s what you really want.”

“Hey, not interrupting anything improper am I?” Luca quipped as he bounded over. “This is becoming quite a habit, me turning up and finding you two huddled together.”

“I think you know you’ve got nothing to fear,” said Daniel. “From me,” he added almost inaudibly.

If Luca picked up on it, he didn’t say so. If anything he seemed in high spirits as he bounded across the stage to shake hands with Marybelle.

I saw the flush on Marybelle’s face as he took her hand and turned on the charm. I don’t know what it was about him that could make women weak in the knees. Ok, his stunningly beautiful looks didn’t hurt. I reminded myself that it was good to feel jealous of him talking to other women. It meant I’d made the right decision in picking him. When Marybelle began to giggle, I moved towards them and took Luca’s hand. He kissed my cheek playfully, and we both sat on the sofa provided for us.

The crowd was already cheering at our presence, so I gave them a small wave. They were, after all, the reason we were all here.

Marybelle came over and gave us a brief rundown of the interview. She was going to introduce us (Like we needed any introduction – we’d been headlining the papers for the best part of a year now!) then she’d interview us as a couple. I wondered aloud if it might be better if I was interviewed alone as Cynder wasn’t here to tell his side of the story, but she assured me that we’d get more ratings her way. She looked at Luca as she said this. He gave her a wink, so I gripped his hand harder.

“Cynder will get the chance to tell his side of the story tomorrow,” said Marybelle, turning cherry red again. I bit my tongue so as not to tell her she could do with more powder on her face.

Someone called out ‘Places’ and Marybelle ran to the center of the stage. Patting her, now perfect hair she held the microphone up and fixed her smile in position. Someone ran over and quickly slipped a small microphone on Luca and another one on me. The words I’d been wanting to have with him would have to wait for another time.

I wasn’t nervous anymore. Over the past year, I’d become accustomed to standing on the stage and sharing my life with the world, but this was the first time I really didn’t want to be here. All I could think about was Cynder as Marybelle began her introductions. He would be here tonight or tomorrow morning. I was looking forward to it and dreading it at the same time.

The screams from the crowd made me jump, and, for a second, I thought maybe there had been another bomb scare or shooting, but it was just the excitement of the people as we were introduced. I plastered a fake smile on my face and waved at them. Luca stood and took a bow. The crowd went wild. They loved him.

He was enough for them. Why couldn’t they see that? But as I looked out over the hoards of screaming women (because they were mostly women with only a few men dotted around here and there) I noticed that none of them were Magi. Even though I’d abolished the rule of the Magi having to wear purple, I’d noticed that many of those that came back across the border still wore it. It surprised me at the time, but they were probably making a statement. The mark of the Magi had been one of repression, but now they were wearing it for a show of force.

Marybelle came over with her microphone and sat in the chair opposite us. Her blond curls bobbed up and down as she walked.

“So, Your Majesty. It seems that four men weren’t enough for you to choose from, and you’ve added another into the mix.”

I gritted my teeth. This girl must have taken lessons from Sadie on how to make the most of an interview.

“It’s not like that, Marybelle. I’ve already chosen the man I’m going to marry, and he’s sitting right here next to me...” Luca squeezed my hand tightly. I wasn’t playing the game. “...However, some people think it wasn’t a fair choice, so I’ve elected to open up the rounds again. I’ll date Luca and Cynder equally, and a month before the wedding I’ll pick the man who will become my husband.”

“How thrilling! Prince Luca. You must be devastated to know that the queen’s heart might belong to someone else.”

“Marybelle! I know Charmaine will pick me again. After all, if she picked me out of a hundred men, I feel confident that I can win out of the two of us.”

“What are your thoughts on Cynder. He’s a Mage.”

The crowd booed at his name making me squirm in my seat. This was not how I wanted things to go.

“I know he’s a Mage.” Luca’s voice rose above the crowd. “His magical abilities don’t worry me half as much as his ability to woo women.”

He grinned, and I sighed. This was quite possibly the most embarrassed I’d ever felt in my whole life. Luca was playing up to the crowd something dreadful, and they were lapping up every word. At least, they weren’t booing anymore.

Marybelle smiled widely back. She was lapping it up too.

It was my turn to squeeze Luca’s hand. He got the message.

“Actually, Marybelle, the fact he is a Mage is the reason we are doing this. I’m not worried that Queen Charmaine will choose anyone else. What we both are worried about is that the Magi feel underrepresented here in Silverwood. In the first round of selections last year, the Magi weren’t represented at all. This was not the fault of the queen. She had no choice in picking the hundred bachelors to attend the ball, but if she had, you can be confident that she would have made sure that there was a fair selection.”

I didn’t enlighten him that Daniel was a Mage. I hadn’t known myself when he came to the ball.

Luca continued. “I feel confident, though, that no matter who the queen would have chosen, the end result would have been the same, and it would still be me she ended up with. I know that at the end of this current contest, things will not have changed. I love the queen, and I know she loves me.”

The crowd broke out into the biggest cheer yet.

Marybelle stood and faced the camera.

“What more is there to say? Prince Luca and Queen Charmaine are inseparable. Can Cynder the Mage come between them? It seems unlikely...”

The camera panned back to us. We were both holding hands still.

“We’ll hear his side tomorrow, so tune in then. Same time, same place. Until then, this is Marybelle Foster signing off.”

I stood up quickly and left the stage, my head full of anger and confusion. Luca quickly caught up with me.

“I thought that went pretty well, don’t you?” he said, not noticing how upset I was with the whole thing.

I didn’t answer. The crowds were behind us now, but we could still be seen. I waited until we were back in the palace before I told him what I thought.

“I don’t like this. I’m done with choosing people. Why can’t I just have a normal life? Meet someone and get to know them before they propose to me? This, what we are doing, is ridiculous. It’s demeaning for all of us.”

“I’m sorry you didn’t have the proposal of your dreams but think of the ratings. You saw the crowd. Quite a lot of people turned out even though it was so last minute. There’ll be more tomorrow.”

“They were booing the Magi! They were booing Cynder.”

“You think the Magi won’t be out in force tomorrow? It will be different then, just you wait and see.”

As usual, Luca didn’t understand what it was that was upsetting me. This was his chance to be in the spotlight, and he was going to make the most of it.