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them in protocol the way she instructed me
when I was younger.
 Hello, Silvia. If you don t mind, I would
like to introduce myself to these young
women.
 Of course, she said breathlessly, bend-
ing again. She could be so dramatic
sometimes.
I surveyed the faces, looking for the flame
of her hair. It took a moment, as I was a bit
distracted by the light glinting off nearly
every wrist, ear, and neck in the room. I
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finally found her, a few rows in on the end,
looking at me with a different expression
than the others. I smiled, but instead of smil-
ing back, she looked confused.
 Ladies, if you don t mind, I started,
 one at a time, I ll be calling you over to meet
with me. I m sure you re all eager to eat, as
am I. So I won t take up too much of your
time. Do forgive me if I m slow with names;
there are quite a few of you.
Some of the girls giggled, and I was
happy to realize I could identify more of
them than I thought I would. I went to the
young lady in the front corner, and extended
my hand. She took it enthusiastically, and we
walked over to the couches that I knew
would be set up specifically for this purpose.
Sadly, Lyssa was no more attractive in
person than she was in her picture. Still, she
deserved the benefit of the doubt, so we
spoke all the same.
 Good morning, Lyssa.
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 Good morning, Your Majesty. She
smiled so widely, it looked like it must hurt
her to do so.
 How are you finding the palace?
 It s beautiful. I ve never seen anything so
beautiful. It s really beautiful here. Gosh, I
already said that, didn t I?
I answered with a smile.  It s quite all
right. I m glad you re so pleased. What do
you do at home?
 I m a Five. My whole family works ex-
clusively in sculpting. You have some incred-
ible pieces here. Really beautiful.
I tried to seem interested, but she didn t
engage me at all. Still, what if I passed on
someone for no good reason?
 Thank you. Um, how many siblings do
you have?
After a few minutes of conversation in
which she used the word beautiful no less
than twelve times, I knew that there was
nothing else I wanted to know about this girl.
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It was time for me to move on, but it
seemed so cruel to keep her here knowing
there was no chance for us. I decided that I
was going to start making cuts here and now.
It would be kinder to the girls, and maybe
also impress Father. After all, he did say he
wanted me to make some real choices in my
life.
 Lyssa, thank you so much for your time.
Once I m done with everyone, would you
mind staying a little longer so I could speak
with you?
She blushed.  Absolutely.
We rose, and I felt awful knowing that
she assumed that request meant something
it didn t.  Would you please send the next
young lady over?
She nodded and curtsied before she went
to get the girl beside her, who I recognized
immediately as Celeste Newsome. It would
take a dim man indeed to forget that face.
 Good morning, Lady Celeste.
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 Good morning, Your Majesty, she said
as she curtsied. Her voice was sugary, and I
realized right away that many of these girls
might have a hold on me. Maybe all this
worry about not being able to love any of
them wasn t the true problem. Maybe I d fall
for all of them and never be able to choose.
I motioned for her to sit across from me.
 I understand you model.
 I do, she answered brightly, thrilled to
see I already knew this about her.  Primarily
clothing. I ve been told I have a good shape
for it.
Of course, at those words, I was forced to
look at said shape, and there was no denying
just how striking she was.
 Do you enjoy your work?
 Oh, yes. It s amazing how photography
can capture just a split second of something
exquisite.
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I lit up.  Absolutely. I don t know if you re
aware, but I m very into photography
myself.
 Really? We should do a shoot
sometime.
 That would be wonderful. Ah! This was
going better than I thought. Within ten
minutes I d already weeded out a definite no
and found someone with a common interest.
I could have probably gone on for anoth-
er hour with Celeste, but if we were ever go-
ing to eat, I really needed to hurry. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]