The Crown (The Selection #5) - Kiera Cass Page 0,33

shrug. “Even if you can’t fix it, we thought meeting with the princess might help things.”

“Your Highness,” the producer said. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but we’re starting.” She showed the Shells to their seats, and I sat across from everyone, unsure of how to begin.

I laughed, trying to break the tension. “Since we’ve never done this before, we don’t really have an outline to follow. Does anyone have any questions?”

One of the young men—Blake, I remembered—raised his hand, and I watched as cameras changed angles to focus on his face.

“Yes, Blake?”

“When will the king be back?”

And, just like that, I became insignificant. “I’m not sure. It depends on when my mother is fully recovered.”

“But he will be back, right?”

I forced myself to smile. “If, for some reason, he didn’t return, the state would continue as usual. I have always been next in line to rule, and I have the same ideals as my father. He wanted so badly to see the castes brought to an end, and now that they’re gone, I would seek to further erase the lines they’ve left in their wake.”

I peeked over at Marid, who gave me a quick thumbs-up.

“But that’s the thing,” Andrew Barns began. “The palace has done nothing to help those of us whose parents were Fives and Sixes or lower.”

“I think we’ve been at a loss as to what would be most effective. That’s part of why you’re here today. We want to hear from you.” I crossed my hands on my lap, hoping I looked put together.

“Do monarchs ever really hear their people?” Bree asked. “Have you considered handing the government over to the public? Don’t you think there’s a chance we might do a better job than you?”

“Well—”

Sharron cut me off, turning to Bree. “Sweetie, you can barely dress yourself. How do you think you could possibly run a country?”

“Give me a vote!” Bree demanded. “That alone would change plenty.”

Mr. Palter—Jamal—leaned forward. “You’re too young,” he said, also ganging up on Bree. “I want to see change myself. I’ve lived through the castes. I was a Three, and I lost a lot since then. You kids don’t know enough about where we’ve been to even contribute to the conversation.”

The other single boy stood up, enraged. “Just because I’m young doesn’t mean I don’t pay attention or that I don’t know people who’ve struggled. I want this country to be better for everyone, not just me.”

We were less than five minutes in, and the entire conversation had turned into a barking contest. It didn’t even seem to matter that I was there. Plenty of people mentioned me, of course, but no one actually spoke to me.

I supposed trying to get a glimpse at a wide range of lifestyles meant we were going to have conflict, but I wished Marid had vetted these people better. Then again, maybe he had, and we still ended up with people who didn’t care if I was present or not. I’d spent so much time worrying that they’d hate me that I hadn’t paused to consider the possibility that I was simply irrelevant in their eyes.

“If we could maybe raise our hands,” I suggested, trying to regain control. “I can’t hear your thoughts if you’re all speaking at once.”

“I demand a vote!” Bree yelled, and the others fell silent. She glared at me. “You people have no idea what our lives are actually like. Look at this room.” She gestured to the expertly coordinated paint and tapestries, the porcelain dishes and sparkling glasses. “How can we trust your judgment when you are this disconnected from your people? You rule over our lives with no understanding of what it means to live the way we do.”

“She has a point,” said Suzette Palter. “You’ve never spent a day in the dirt or on the run. It’s easy to make decisions about other people’s lives when you don’t have to live them.”

I sat there, staring at these strangers. I was responsible for them. But how could I be? How could one person make sure each and every soul had every chance they could, everything they needed? It wasn’t possible. And yet, stepping down didn’t seem like the solution either.

“I’m sorry, I have to stop this,” Marid said, coming out of the shadows. “The princess is too gracious to remind you of exactly who she is, but as her very dear friend, I cannot allow you to speak to her this way.”

He reminded me of some of my tutors, the