I flicked my hair over my shoulder as I approached the first floor and went back to focusing on whether there was more that I was supposed to be doing. I didn’t see anything, so I moved on, eager to get to the Women’s Room. One of the heels seemed to be snagging on the carpet. I paused on the stairs to look at my shoe. Did Queen Amberly do this? She seemed effortlessly stunning all the time. I also wanted him to think I was beautiful, so it felt like I wanted Maxon to think that I was smart and well-rounded. I’d even written some of it down to keep handy if I forgot something. I’d memorized everything from Silvia’s history lesson earlier this week. I merely needed to keep trying, that was all. I felt like I had missed some important lesson, and now I was woefully behind.
They had spent their time talking about clothes, and makeup, and boys-while I had paid more mind to my tutors’ lectures. I realized I should have paid much more attention to myįriends back home who had always seemed to be in a rush when it came to finding a husband and settling down. But now that I was in the middle of a bunch of other girls whose daily mission was to impress one particular boy, I felt dim and dull and less. Before being Selected, I had thought that I was funny and pretty and smart. Was there something wrong with me? While I was certainly having a wonderful time in the palace, I kept feeling like there was something the other girls-well, some of them at least -understood that I didn’t. Maxon was polite and friendly, but I didn’t think I had a connection with him the way some of the other girls did. And at that point, of course, I’d reapply all my makeup and change my outfit anyway. I knew it was silly -Maxon wouldn’t even see me again until the evening. Still, nearly every day after breakfast, I felt like I had to go back to my room and touch up my makeup before heading to the Women’s Room. Carter, what have we done? I didn’t think I was a vain person. How had this happened? How had I gone from being one of the beloved members of the Selection to being labeled a traitor, awaiting my punishment? Oh, Carter. This the end? I shut my eyes quickly, trying to hold back my tears. Something stirred in the hallway, and my heart started racing. Even now, alone in this cell, all I wanted was for his pain to stop.
I’d rather have my last memory be of his death than suffer knowing that his last memory was of mine. A noose? A bullet? Something much more elaborate and painful? I couldn’t help wishing that Carter’s silence meant he was already gone. How could we have stopped? I wondered how we would die. Another tear slid down myĬheek, and I was grateful for it if only because it was warm on my skin. I shivered as I drew my knees closer to my chest. It had been horrific to hear his grunts of pain as the guards beat the hope out of him, but at least then I knew he was breathing. Carter was quiet now, and his silence sent deeper chills through my body than the lack of heat in the palace cells did. PART I I PULLED THE TOP LAYERS of my dress a little tighter over my shoulders. CONTENTS Part I Part II Excerpt from The Siren One Two Back Ads About the Author Books by Kiera Cass Copyright