Mom was talking to Miss Marlee, and they waved me over the moment I was through the doorway.

Miss Marlee put her hand on mine as I sat. “I wanted to explain about Kile. He doesn’t want to leave because of you. He’s been talking about going for a long time, and I thought the semester away would put an end to it. I can’t bear to let him go.”

“You’ll have to let him make his own choice sooner or later,” Mom urged. Funny, since she was the one trying to marry her daughter to a stranger.

“I don’t understand it. Josie never talks about leaving.”

I rolled my eyes. Of course she doesn’t.

“But what can you do? You can’t force him to stay.” Mom poured a cup of tea and set it in front of me.

“I’m hiring another tutor. This one has hands-on experience and can give Kile more than a book could, so I think I’ve bought some more time. I keep hoping—”

Aunt May burst into the room, looking as if she stepped out of a magazine. I bolted over to her and gave her a bone-crushing hug.

“Your Highness,” she greeted.

“Shut up.”

She laughed and pulled me back, grasping me by both shoulders and looking into my eyes. “I want to hear everything about the Selection. How are you feeling? Some of those pictures were cute. Are you already in love?”

“Not even close,” I replied with a laugh.

“Well, give ’em a few days.”

That’s how it was with Aunt May. A new love every few months or so. She treated the four of us—and our cousins, Astra and Leo—like we were her kids since she never settled down herself. I particularly enjoyed her company, and the palace always felt more exciting when she was here.

“How long are you staying?” Mom asked, and May held my hand as we crossed back to her.

“Leaving again Thursday.”

I gasped.

“I know. I’m going to miss all the excitement!” She pouted at me. “But Leo has a game Friday afternoon, and Astra’s dance recital is on Saturday, and I promised I’d be there. She’s really coming along,” Aunt May said, turning to Mom. “You can tell her mother was an artist.”

They shared a smile. “I wish I could go,” Mom lamented.

“Why don’t we?” I suggested, picking up some cookies for my tea.

Aunt May gave me a questioning look. “You do realize you already have plans for this weekend, right? Big plans? Life-changing plans?”

I shrugged. “I’m not too worried about missing them.”

“Eadlyn,” Mom reprimanded.

“Sorry! It’s just overwhelming. I like the way things are now.”

“Where are the pictures?” May asked.

“In my room, on my desk. I’m trying to learn the names, but I haven’t gotten very far yet.”

May waved her arm at a maid. “Dearie, will you go up to the princess’s room and grab the stack of Selection candidates’ forms off her desk?”

The maid beamed and curtsied, and I suspected she’d be thumbing through the pile on her way down.

Mom leaned in toward her sister. “I just want to remind you that, one, they’re off-limits, and, two, even if they weren’t, you’re twice their age.”

Miss Marlee and I laughed, while Miss Lucy only smiled. She was much easier on Aunt May than the rest of us.

“Don’t tease her,” Miss Lucy protested. “I’m sure she has the best intentions.”

“Thank you, Lucy. This isn’t for me; it’s for Eadlyn!” she vowed. “We’re going to help her get a head start.”

“That’s not really how it works.” Mom leaned back, drinking her tea with an air of superiority.

Miss Marlee laughed loudly. “This from you! Do we need to remind you of your head start?”

“What?” I asked, shocked. How many details had my parents omitted from their story? “What does she mean?”

Mom put down her tea and held up a hand defensively. “I accidentally ran into your father the night before the Selection started, and, I will have you know,” she said, more to Miss Marlee than to me, “I could easily have been kicked out for that. It wasn’t exactly the first impression you hope for.”

I sat there gaping. “Mom, exactly how many rules did you break?”

Her eyes darted up as if she was trying to tally them. “Okay, you know what, go through the pictures all you want; you win.”

Aunt May laughed with delight, and I tried to memorize the way her head sloped gracefully to one side and her eyes sparkled. Everything about her was so effortlessly glamorous, and I adored her with a love close to what I held for my mother. While I felt a little slighted by Josie being my closest female playmate growing up, Mom’s circle of friends more than made up for it. Aunt May’s spirit, Miss Lucy’s kindness, Miss Marlee’s buoyancy, and Mom’s strength were invaluable, and more enlightening than any class I ever took.

The maid came back, placing the pile of forms and pictures in front of me. To my surprise, it was Miss Marlee who grabbed the first handful of applications to graze through. Aunt May was close behind, and while Mom didn’t pick up any herself, she did lean over Miss Marlee’s shoulder to peek. Miss Lucy looked like she was trying not to be curious but in the end had a pile in her own lap as well.

“Oh, he looks promising.” Aunt May shoved a picture in front of me. I stared into a set of dark eyes embedded deep in ebony skin. His hair was cropped short, and he wore a bright smile. “Baden Trains, nineteen, from Sumner.”

“He’s handsome,” Mom gushed.

“Well, obviously,” May agreed. “And with a last name like Trains, he probably comes from a family of Sevens. It says here he’s in his first year studying advertising. That means either he or someone in his family is very determined.”

“True,” Miss Marlee agreed. “That’s no small feat.”

I pulled a couple of the forms over, picking through them.

“So how are you feeling?” Aunt May asked. “Is everything ready to go?”

“I think so.” I flipped over an application, scanning for something that might seem remotely interesting. I just didn’t care. “For a while everyone was in such a tizzy I thought it might never end. It looks like all the rooms are finished, the food calculations have been made, and now that the list is official, travel arrangements should be done by tomorrow.”