KELLEY SWETHA

"Ladies, settle down please," Anna called, sweeping into the room gracefully in her floor-length dress and high-heeled shoes. I could never understand quite how she managed to make it look so graceful while I could barely walk in flat feet. I settled down next to Caitlin, who flinched when I tried to talk to her. Wow, shy much?

"Today, as you know, the second elimination will take place. However, instead of it being broadcast live on the Report, it will be taking place privately, at dinner," Anna announced, causing a ripple of anxious chatter to flutter throughout the room. Anna waited for a few moments for the girls to quiet down before continuing.

"In preparation for the night, you will all be fitted for new gowns, as the entire royal family will be at the dinner, along with a personal guest of Prince Asher's. You may know of Prince William of England, the heir to the throne of that country. He is visiting for the week, so I expect you all to be on your best behavior while the guests are here. Not that you shouldn't already be well-behaved in the first place." I looked nervously over at Esperanza, who sat across the room from me, twisting her hands nervously. I could tell how she felt, and she had good cause for it too. No one wanted to be eliminated in front of a foreign prince, especially not a close friend of their own prince.

We spent the rest of the day learning more about manners and etiquette and all sorts of other boring things. Who knew there could be so many rules about how to eat your soup? I was partnered with Maia for our etiquette examination, where we each staged a little dinner situation and quizzed each other on the proper etiquette. It was grueling. Maia seemed to have everything down though, and she took the liberty to laugh at me while I floundered through the dinner.

Finally, after wasting most of our afternoon on stupid manners lessons, we were dismissed to go prepare for the dinner. From what I overheard the maids talking about as they brushed my sleek blonde hair up into some loose curls, tonight's dinner was a very informal occasion out in the pavillion, so we didn't have to worry about fancy gowns or anything like that. I breathed a heavy sigh of relief to myself. No ocean of fabric to worry about tripping over! At least, for this occasion. I sat back and watched as Gabriella, Daphne, and Jane (my maids) picked out a sheer turquoise blouse and some white skinny jeans that had little rips in the knees. While Jane finished picking out my jewelry, Gabriella started on my makeup and Daphne coated a thin layer of turquoise polish onto my nails.

"There you go darling," Gabriella mused in her thick Spanish accent, stepping back to admire her work. I smiled gratefully then moved to get dressed. I was so ready for this dinner.

KENDALL GRANT

I fiddled with the hem of my loose black shift dress. Was I too dressed up? No, there was Roselyn wearing a full-length gown and plenty of makeup - I was fine. Why was I so nervous? I wasn't going to get eliminated, as far as I could tell. I hadn't had much interaction with the prince over the short time I'd been here, but the few times we had talked had been nice enough. He couldn't eliminate someone he hadn't met, could he? I gulped. A steward dressed in the customary palace purple livery led me to my table, where Lady Roselyn was already seated, examining her fingernails in a bored manner. I sat down and gave her a little smile, but before any conversation could start - thankfully - the Prince and his guest entered the pavilion and sat down at their table, signaling that it was time to eat.

The dinner passed in a flash. I was so nervous, I could barely remember what I ate. By the end of the dessert course, my hands were shaking. Please don't let it be me, I chanted like a mantra. I didn't want to go home. I wanted to stay here and marry the Prince, or at least get a damn good chance at it. Finally, Asher stood up, and an eerie silence fell over the room. I watched him with determination, as if the harder I stared at him, the less likely it would be that I would be going home. He cleared his throat and began to speak.

"Good evening, ladies. Tonight, as you know, we have the pleasure of hosting a very special guest, the Prince of England. He will be staying for a few days, but unfortunately, some of you will not be staying to get to know him. As you know, there is an elimination taking place tonight, and four of you ladies will not be staying at the palace any longer. Now, without further ado, it is with much remorse that I announce the four lovely women that are leaving us tonight. Please join me in saying farewell to Lady Maia, Lady Kelley, Lady Engalu, and Lady Laila. It was a pleasure to have you stay with us." I felt the crushing fist of disappointment enclose around me. Wait… he didn't say my name! I wasn't going home! The constricting feeling of sadness loosened considerably, and I was overjoyed. I pretended to be sad, however, as I clapped for the four girls that were going home. Suckers!

Author's Note

Squee! I'm back! It's a sucky chapter but it's an elimination, so that's better than nothing. I'm sorry I've been gone so long, I've just been really busy. Chances are, though, after these next few weeks I'll be back with more regular chapters, so just bear with me for a little bit longer until I can get regular chapters back up and running. Hopefully you liked this, and I'll try and update again on Tuesday like I usually do, but we'll see. Make sure to check out my Polyvore to see the outfits of the girls who got eliminated, and keep checking back to my blog to keep up with everything. If I'm not going to be posting this week, I'll try and tell you there. Love you lots!

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