The Heir
A Fanfiction by Sarah Calvert
Disclaimer: This is merely a fan fiction. All rights to the Selection series go to Kiera Cass. Please note that I was not aware of the name of the boy she will fall for so I MADE ONE UP. I have no clue how The Heir will go whatsoever and this is from my own crazy brain. Thank you and please enjoy the story :)
I stormed outside, basically fuming. How dare Mom say she knew how I felt. She didn’t know! She was never the one having to choose from a bunch of boys fighting over her- if anyone knew what I was going through, it was Dad. And I still didn’t understand why a stupid Selection was so crucial to me finding a husband. I broke down and sat at the edge of the fountain. The world blurred around me as I sobbed angry tears, kicking the ground repeatedly with my shoe.
“Your Highness?”
A voice came up from behind me, making me jump. I crashed backwards into the fountain, the water completely immersing me. I barely had time to register how absolutely freezing it was before a pair of arms yanked me out of the water and onto the grass. Barely thinking, I clung to the person who had rescued me, my teeth chattering, soaking wet in liquid ice, before I realized it was a boy I had never seen before.
“Your Highness?” he tried again. “Are you alright?”
“What in the world do you think you’re doing?” I burst out. A princess never curses, a princess never curses, I repeated in my head. “How did you even get back here?”
“Well, technically I am not supposed to be back here, but I heard crying and I came to see if everything was okay-” he started, but I cut him off.
“Actually, I was perfectly fine until you showed up and gave me a heart attack. Thank you so very much for that, by the way.” I gestured to my dress, giving him a glare of pure hatred.
If it bothered him, he didn’t show it. He moved to take of his coat before crouching down and wrapping it around me. I was squished between the base of the fountain and his arms. His face was dangerously close to mine and I could feel my cheeks flushing with embarrassment. I tried to pull it off as anger instead. “No, thank you. I appreciate your courtesy, even though this is your fault in the first place, but this coat isn’t even helping.”
I was lying, and he knew it. The coat was warm against my skin, and it felt heavenly. I wanted nothing more in that moment than to keep it wrapped around me.
I shrugged it off.
He glared at me, and I couldn’t contain my surprise. What was going on with him? First chivalry and now glaring? I couldn’t think of a single person besides my brother who had ever glared at me. “Princess,” he said. “I’m not going to lie, you look absolutely awful. You need to wear a coat until you get dry.”
Now an insult, as well as a glare? “Well! If all of the men are this dreadfully honest, I think I should cancel the Selection right away.”
“If this is how you always act, I think you’ll scare most of them off,” he mumbled, wrapping the coat around me again.
I tried to shrug it off, but his arms pinned me on both sides, stopping the action. “Princess, please,” he said, more gently than before. “Your nose is turning purple.”
“Oh, no,” I said, absolutely mortified. “Do I really look that awful?” I could only imagine my dreadful hair. Whenever it got wet, it curled until I looked like a poodle. It would take hours for me to straighten it again.
“Well,” he said, offering me a small smile. “It’s my understanding that purple noses only magnify a woman’s beauty.”
I blushed at the compliment. If all of the boys were going to make me blush this way, I didn’t stand a chance. “Did you just call me beautiful?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
He raised his eyebrows as well. “Do you think I would be here if I didn’t think so?”
I rolled my eyes. “So you’re saying the only reason you came is because I’m nice to look at and you wanted to steal a peek every once in a while? Well, I’m telling you right now that I am not planning to ever show any skin other than my ankles and my wrists to any of you barbarians.”
He laughed. “Are you always this funny?” he asked.
“Are you always this straightforward?” I retorted.
“Yes,” he said, surprising me. “If a woman is beautiful, she should be told so. Just because I point out the truth does not mean I have any intentions of using it to my advantage.”
“Oh?” I shoved him off of me, quite rougher than I had meant to. He stumbled back in surprise as I stood, tossing his coat to the ground. “Of course, you have no intentions of using it to my advantage. You’re simply here for a party, am I right? Not because you want my money, or the crown, or the chance to take advantage of the princess.” The bitterness rolled off my tongue, and he stared at me in astonishment, still knelt on the ground.
He opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off. “Do not humor me with your lies. You’re here for the same reason as everybody else, and I am all too well aware of that.”
“Your Highness-” he tried again.
“Go,” I said, softly. “The Selection begins tomorrow, and we both require rest.”
I turned away, folding my arms. He was silent for a moment, both of us waiting for the other to speak again. Then, he rose and picked up his coat. When I was certain he had gone, I turned back, tears trailing down my cheeks. He was still there, his coat slung over one of his arms. He watched me with a soft expression, saying nothing.
Tentatively, he stepped towards me, waiting for my reaction. When I did nothing, closed the distance between us, taking one of my hands in his. Never dropping his gaze from mine, he pressed my fingers to his lips. “Forgive me,” he whispered, his breath tickling my skin.
Then, without another word, he turned and exited the garden, leaving me in a stunned silence, my dress still dripping with fountain water.
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