He sighed and rolled his eyes, pretending like a disappointed little kid now that she had to talk to someone else, "Aww, but it was just getting fun." Alex swapped his act for a polite grin seconds later though, nodding and motioning to the next guy at the table, "It was fun while it lasted I guess, and I'm sure I'll be able to talk to you again. Have a fun time meeting everyone else, Princess." He didn't want her to have to talk to someone else, but it would be rude to take her attention any longer, so sadly he let her move onto the next guy.
Lacey gave him a mock, two fingered salute. She noticed that other guys, although they looked angry and jealous, were not as annoyed as she thought. Boys definitely weren't like girls, she thought with a chuckle. They didn't try to tear down and undermine and destroy each other the way girls did. She turned to the next guy. "Got anything interesting about yourself?" She asked, leaning on her elbow.
"Not really, I work with music and music," The guy said, smiling politely at Lacey, "I don't think that counts as interesting, especially compared to Alex." He turned and glanced at him, matching the grin that Alex showed back to him, "Hard to beat an actor."
"Music can be cool," Lacey commented. "As long as it's not classical." Classical was so boring to her. All music and no words, all peace and no excitement. She was glad to see that the guys weren't getting on each other's nerves, or trying to beat each other or out-do each other. "Do you have a favorite kind to make?"
He shrugged, thinking for a minute, "Not really. If I had to choose a favorite it would probably be something upbeat and happy, probably containing some good vocals and no slow parts." The guy chuckled and shrugged, "I don't have a favorite genre to create in, it all depends on my mood. What's your favorite kind of music?"
"Not classical," Lacey said instantly. "I dunno. Something upbeat and good to dance to." She sent him a bright grin. "Oh my goodness, I am so sorry! I totally forgot to ask your name!" She popped a chocolate-covered strawberry into her mouth and smiled blissfully at the mexplosion of flavor in her mouth.
“I’m Kohen, nice to meet you Princess Lacey,” He replied with a musical laugh, smiling brightly at her, “Don’t worry about it by the way, plenty of people don’t even bother to ask my name.” Kohen looked over the selection of deserts, admiring everything and trying to decide what he wanted.
"Why not?" Lacey asked, stuffing another desert into her mouth, not acting very much at all like a lady. "Do they not caer, or so they just forget?"
He shrugged, picking up a cookie and popping a small piece in his mouth, "Not sure. More likely than not they just don't care, I've only met a few people who've just forgotten to ask." Even if his reply seemed a little boring or even sad, he seemed like he was anything but, his tone light and matching his mostly carefree attitude, "It doesn't bother me though, I know the people who actually want to get to know me will remember to do something as simple as learn my name."
Lacey swallowed her food and smiled at Kohen. "Well, I look forward to getting to know you."
She went through every guy at the table. She tried to give them all equal attention, but some of them were just so boring! Like seriously, she would be so sad if she was paired with some of them. Like the guy who adored chickens more than his own life, or the man who had thirty-two siblings and step siblings and would never stop talking about them… it was sweet, yes, but so annoying!
Finally, she was done. She had talked with them all, and she had eaten her fill, and she was tired. She stood from the table. "After you guys are finished eating, you'll be escorted to your room for a few minutes before meeting with the king, or someone like him, for a final introduction. Or introduction. Or something like that. I have no idea what it'll be about. After that, you have free time until you decide to go to bed. So… see you guys around, I guess." She blew an air kiss to them all and left the room in a hurry.
The guys replied in various ways, some calling goodnight to her, others saying they would see her at breakfast. Alex did both though, smiling at her and bowing his head towards her as he called, "Goodnight Princess, I'll see you around." It was much more gentlemanly of a gesture and showed a different side of him that hadn't surfaced fully when he talked to her.
It didn't take much longer for the men to finish once she left, and Kohen just smiled at Alex as he and the rest of them stood and made their way towards their rooms for the meeting with whoever was coming to see them. It was anything but a silent walk, the group of guys accompanied by their guards and chatting easily among themselves as they branched off towards their respective rooms.
Lacey chewed her bottom lip. She leaned against the wall, out of sight of everyone else, and took a deep, soothing breath. She could do this. It was just a bunch of potential suitors. Nobody important.
Her father went to find her. "How was it?" He asked. He was one of the last people to leave the room, preferring to talk to the maids as they cleaned up. He loved his people, loved to talk to them and get to know them. "Are you okay? You seem a little overwhelmed."
"A little." She gave a shaky laugh.
Alex reached his room easily, and after a minute of looking around in awe again, he made his way to the bed. It was an amazing room, similar enough to his room back home that he wouldn't get homesick too fast. Or at least he hoped he wouldn't. Not being around his sister was going to be a weird experience, and being a potential suitor for the princess was going to be even weirder.
There were hundreds of thoughts flying around his head, enough to make him lay back on his bed and just stay silent for a moment. One day down, now just months worth of more to go.
"You can do it, my little lioness," her father said comfortingly. "Just muscle through it. There comes a time in life when you need to do the things that you don't want to, the things that make you feel tired and weary. Just get through it. It will end. Not all bad things last forever." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Who knows? Maybe you'll find a guy you'll like, someone good to spend the rest of your life with."
Lacey pushed his hand away. "If you say so." She sounded unconvinced.
"I do. Now, I should go," he said. "And speak to those potential suitors of yours."
Alex sat up after a few minutes, putting the clothes that he had brought with away in their respective places and studying the array of other clothes. There was enough that he could probably wear a different outfit every day and still not run out of choices. That thought alone made him smile, thinking of how excited his sister would be to see all of this, how excited she would be to be at the palace in general.
The smile stayed on his face as he roamed around the room, exploring and generally just getting settled in.
The king waited in the room for the other men. He had seen how frightened his daughter was of the Selection, and he wanted to meet all of the young men. Background checks had been done on all of them, but he wanted to be sure. He was a pretty good judge of character.
As soon as Alex finished putting his things away, he made his way down to the room they were supposed to meet the king in, being one of the first to arrive. Only Kohen arrived before him, giving him a bring smile and motioning for Alex to sit by him. Easily, he did so as the rest of the other men trickled in until the room was full and everyone was there. All to hear what the king had to say about this entire thing.
"Hello, gentlemen," the king said, smiling warmly. It had often been said that he was one of the kindest kings in the history of the country, and it wasn't hard to see why. He seemed to radiate a warmth that very few others could.
There was a chorus of replies, most along the lines of, "Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you King (Insert name cuz I don't think you've said what it was)." Alex went right along and greeted the King with them this time, smiling back at him and trying not to admit that he was actually quite nervous to be in the same room as the king when he could potentially talk directly to him.
(I didn't lol, whoops. It's Corbin.)
The king smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you all, too."
He put his hands behind his back and started to pace the length of the room. "As you all are aware, there will be rules for this Selection. There aren't many, and they aren't hard to keep. Do any of you gentlemen know what they are?"
One well-tanned hand raised in the back of the group and one man rattled off, "No being in a relationship outside of this, royal suits are off-limits and no sabotaging other contestants." He smiled at the king, as if he was extremely confident with his answer.
"Correct," the King said, smiling. "Those are some of the rules. Do you think you can follow those rules? There are only a few." He looked around at them. "The rules are simple. You can go anywhere in the castle, except for the royal suites. I will have maps made, so that you can see where they are, but it should be pretty obvious." He smiled. "Oh, and one more thing: if any of you hurt my daughter, you are going to automatically be kicked out, or imprisoned. So be warned."
(Sorry for disappearing! I was gone for the Fourth with friends but I'm here now!)
All of the men nodded in return, a few exchanging nervous glances at his last words. Most of them seemed to understand everything though, and Alex already knew without a doubt he would never try to hurt the princess in any way. Now he just hoped none of the other guys were going to be stupid enough to even talk to Lacey when she didn't want them too.
(It's fine! I've been gone for a while, too, so I don't blame you XD. How was it?)
The King laughed. "Now then, I hope to get to know you boys better. I take pleasure in knowing the people I rule, and you all are no exception. Plus, one of you gentlemen will be my future son-in-law, so…"
He snorted. "Anyway if any of you have any questions, the guards posted around the castle can answer them. Breakfast is from 8 to 11, so if any of you sleep in, there will still be food."
(It was amazing I loved it :D)
The men seemed to relax slightly, replying to the King's words with a faint smile and small nods. Most of them seemed still slightly on edge, including Kohen. "Another perk to being in the Selection, you can eat whenever," Alex joked quietly, bumping Kohen in the side and grinning lightly. He didn't usually mind getting up early, but just having the choice of when to eat sounded like a nice luxury.
