CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Xavier

Since we had passed the first elimination, even though there really hadn’t been one, scheduling dates had been slightly more relaxed. This was partly due to my mother taking up all my time on wedding preparations. It didn’t seem to matter to her that I was no closer to finding a groom, as long as the table centers were just so. We spent one morning, along with Elise and the four men, tasting cakes. As mother wanted ten tiers, we had a lot to go through. Hundreds of cakes had been laid out in the breakfast room, each delicately labeled with its flavor. I saw everything from passion fruit to red velvet, each decorated in a different style. I watched the men as they tasted cake after cake. Leo looked completely at ease, comparing notes with my mother. Elise kept apart from him, instead choosing to chat to Prince Luca and Xavier while Daniel and I squabbled playfully over the best chocolate flavor. Sadie and her cameraman, Martin, captured the whole thing.

From the outside, it looked like we were all having fun. Inside, the reality was different. I’d enjoyed the cake tasting, but the hours of going through different fabrics and color schemes and songs for the wedding left me drained. It was going to be the biggest occasion that Silverwood had ever seen, and yet, there was only a reluctant bride and still no groom with less than three months to go.

In between cake tastings and bridesmaid fashion shows, I had a bit of time to myself. I spent most of it pouring over past newspapers to find out any more information, but I saw nothing else. The case of the bomber had almost disappeared, with only the occasional snippet that the perpetrator still hadn’t been found. As the police thought it was Cynder, no one was looking for the real bomber, and as he hadn’t been caught, there was nothing much to say. It gave me a little relief, and yet, the propaganda against the Magi grew every day. Each time I opened the current paper, my heart would sink after finding some news article about how some Mage or other had committed a crime. One had a whole page devoted to all the crimes that had been committed in the capital in the last month by Magi. It sounded bad until I read the list of crimes. Stealing bread, breaking into a deli, wand usage. They were starving. Stealing or magic was the only means they had left to get food. These so-called “horrific crimes” gave the police more excuse to make them leave the city. I thought of all the cake we had wasted and hoped that Leo had been able to take some of it out on one of his trips into the city. It was madness that people were starving when Silverwood had an abundance of food. The only good thing to come from looking at the papers was knowing Cynder was free. I knew I should have been happy, but it just meant he was further away. My heart felt a little heavier every day.

After a few weeks of doing very little and with the wedding-without-a-groom looming, even my mother was beginning to panic. She wanted to sort out the groom’s attire, but with four men still in the game, it was she that decided I had to schedule final dates with the men to come to a decision. The wedding was now less than three months away, and my mother’s panic was catching.

With Leo out of the equation, my first thought was Daniel. If nothing else, he was guaranteed to make me laugh, something I sorely needed, but my curiosity about Xavier and the link to my father overcame me.

I sent one of the guards down to his bungalow with a note to meet me in the garden.

Just ten minutes later he showed up wearing only a pair of jeans. Why was it that every time I saw him, he was practically naked? The guy had chiseled abs and liked to show them off.

“Did I catch you coming out of the shower?” I inquired irritably. He was too good looking for his own good, but if any photographer was to catch me with him dressed like this, it would make front-page news. I’d have to explain to my father how I had been caught in a delicate position for a second time. I wondered if that would be enough to have my father let me eliminate him. I scoured the wall, but this time there were no paparazzi to be seen.

“No. Why?”

What was it my father saw in this guy? I knew why half the women in Silverwood drooled over him, but I couldn’t see my father drooling over men’s body type.

“Never mind,” I answered dryly. I sat on the scorched-by-the-sun grass and patted the ground beside me. Trying to ignore his chest, I deliberately kept my eyes on his. I was interested to see that he couldn’t hold my gaze. “Did you know my father before you came here?”

“Yes, of course. He is the king. Everyone knows him.”

Why did I get the feeling he was evading my question? I tried again.

“I don’t mean know of him. I mean had you actually met him?”

His eyes went to mine for a brief second before looking back to the grass. A sure sign a lie was imminent. “No, I had not had the pleasure. Of course, I have met him since. He is a very good man and a great ruler.”

His answer was generic and bland. Now I knew why he kept his body so beautiful. It was all he had. I tried to remember a decent conversation I’d had with him and found I couldn’t recall one. I’d thought him mysterious, when in reality, he was dull. Still, he was hiding something. I just needed to find out what

“What made you decide to enter this competition?”

He moved forward and gazed into my eyes. A month ago, it would have made me melt, but now all I saw were my own suspicions.

“I entered because I thought you were the most beautiful woman I’d ever laid eyes on. I thought that maybe I could be the one to stand by your side forever if you let me love you.” He took my hand in his. His palms were clammy and cold. “I wanted to kiss you.”

He moved even closer. Many girls might have thought it romantic, but it felt like a diversion tactic. Besides, I’d fallen for the romantic kiss routine once with Luca, and I’d been caught by a photographer. I wasn’t about to do it again. I backed away, leaving him dangling there with his lips pursed.

I’d caught him in the lie I knew he was going to tell. When the men had applied for this competition, it was Grace they were competing for. It was only at the last minute that I was roped into it.

“Do you not like me?” His accent seemed stronger than ever, and even though the question was pretty harmless, there was a tinge of anger to it.

“I’m not attracted to you in that way.” Ok, it was an out and out lie. The man was probably the most attractive man I’d ever laid eyes on. There couldn’t be many women in the kingdom that would have resisted a kiss from him, but I didn’t trust him as far as I could throw him.

“I see,” he said, his eyes narrowing. “I cannot say I am not upset by this.”

His voice deepened. Yet another sexy thing about him, but I wasn’t going to be swayed. I didn’t trust the guy. Why did my father want me to marry him? There was a reason; I just didn’t know what it was.

“I’m sorry. I’ve got to go.” It wasn’t working between Xavier and me, and I had to tell my father. It was pointless keeping him in the competition, as I had no intention of marrying him.

I marched straight to my father’s office and knocked on the door. Surprisingly, he was alone.

“Father,” I began, trying to sound as defiant as possible. “I cannot keep Xavier in this competition. Not only do I not love him, I don’t think I ever could. There is no way I could marry him.”

“I see.” he tapped his pen on the table.

I waited for him to finish, but it seemed that was it.

“So can I eliminate him at the next round?”

“I would have thought you’d want to eliminate that Leo chap after catching him with your sister.” His mouth turned up slightly at the sides as though he was happy to impart this information.

I stared open-mouthed in shock. How did he know about that? I’d not told him, and I was pretty sure neither Elise nor Leo would have wanted him to know. They’d been very low-key since I caught them. Not for the first time, I wondered if one of the palace staff was spying on us.

“I want to eliminate Xavier,” I repeated.

His jaw set and his voice firm, he replied. “No.”

“No? Didn’t you hear me? I’m not going to marry him, so what’s the point of keeping him in the competition?” I was aware that I was shouting, but I didn’t care.

He regarded me calmly, and yet, I could see it was just an illusion. The pen began to tap on the table again, and his mouth twitched. He was really angry, but then so was I. I held my own, not dropping my gaze for a second. After what felt like an eternity, he spoke.

“Fine,” he replied with a sigh “I’ll see.”

“Fine!” I repeated back at him.

I stormed out of the room. “I’ll see” was not what I wanted to hear, but it was better than the outright “no” he’d started with. I wasn’t sure what he meant by it, but I’d just come up with the most brilliant plan. One that meant that not only would I not marry Xavier, but there would be nothing my father could do about it.

I was going to propose to Daniel.