The Crown (The Selection #5) - Kiera Cass Page 0,34

way they stood over me and made me feel embarrassed even when I wasn’t sure there was a reason I should be.

“Princess Eadlyn may not be your sovereign today, but she is destined for the throne. She has earned it through a long line of tradition and sacrifice. You forget that while you have choice over your profession, location, your very future, hers has been assigned to her at birth. And she has willingly accepted the weight of it for your sake.

“Shouting at her over her youth is unfair, as we all know her father had little more experience when he ascended. Princess Eadlyn has studied tirelessly at his side for years and has already said she plans to carry out his ambitions. Tell her how to do that.”

Bree cocked her head. “I already did.”

“If you’re suggesting we suddenly become a democracy, that would cause more havoc in your life than you can imagine,” Marid insisted.

“But if you want a vote,” I began, “perhaps we can talk about how to implement that locally. It’s much more possible for the leaders closest to you, the ones who actually see your area day to day, to provide what’s needed most for you.”

Bree didn’t smile, but she did relax her tight shoulders. “That would be a start.”

“Okay then.” I saw Neena ferociously taking notes. “Brenton, you mentioned something about housing when you came in. Can you tell me more about that?”

After fifteen minutes the group came to the decision that housing should never be denied to anyone based on their profession or former caste, and that all prices should be made public so they couldn’t be marked up to restrict certain people from applying.

“I don’t want to sound snobby,” Sharron said, “but some of us live in areas where we would prefer … certain people not to come.”

“You failed,” one of the boys said. “That sounds completely snobby.”

I sighed, thinking. “First of all, I assume that if you live in a wealthy neighborhood, it would take a considerable amount of money to move there in the first place. And second of all, you’re assuming that people with little means would make for horrible neighbors.

“What you said about me, Suzette, was right.” She perked up at the sound of her name and smiled over being correct without knowing what it was yet. “I’ve never lived outside the palace. But thanks to the Selection, young men from many different backgrounds have come into my life, and they’ve taught me so much. Some of them were working through school or supporting their families or trying just to master English so they can have more opportunities. They might have gone through their lives with much less than I have, but they’ve enriched my life in ways I can’t begin to express. Sharron?” I asked. “Isn’t that worth something?”

She didn’t answer.

“At the end of the day, I can’t force any of you to treat people the way you should. But it should be on your conscience that whatever laws I pass won’t do much unless each of you takes it upon yourself to show kindness to your fellow citizens.”

I saw Marid smile and knew that while I may not have gotten it perfect, I’d taken a big step. It felt like a victory.

When the town hall meeting was over, I felt ready to collapse from the tension. Nearly two hours of talking felt like a week’s worth of work. Thank goodness the Elite seemed to understand how drained I was and left with little more than polite bows. There’d be plenty of time to discuss this with them later. For now I just wanted to flop onto a couch.

I groaned at Marid. “I get the feeling they’ll want us to do this again, but I refuse until I have fully recovered from today. Which may take years.”

He laughed. “You did great. They’re the ones who made it difficult. But since this was a first, no one knew how to behave. If you do this again, it will be much better on all sides.”

“I hope so.” I rubbed my hands together. “I keep thinking about Bree, how passionate she was.”

“Passionate.” He rolled his eyes. “That’s one word for it.”

“I’m serious. This mattered so much to her,” I lamented, thinking of how she looked close to tears a few times. “I’ve studied political science my whole life. I know about republics and constitutional monarchies and democracies. I wonder if maybe she’s right. Maybe we should—”

“Let me stop you right there.