Celia
Christmas Day was chaotic, to say the least. As there were so many people, the celebrations took place in the Great Hall.

"We normally stick to the Women's Room," Aspen told me, "We can usually all fit in there."

"It's odd to have so many people here," I said, used to much fewer people in the palace.

"Just wait until the selection is over, then the palace will feel really empty." Aspen looked whistful, "it's much easier to hide when there are fewer people."

"What do you have to hide from?" I asked.

Aspen shrugged, looking somewhat whistful, "anyway, Mum and Dad told me to tell you that we're gathering in the Women's Room just before lunch to exchange gifts."

"We?"

"Mum, Dad, Shalom, you and me," Aspen told me, "just the five of us, then we'll rejoin everyone else for lunch. Mum said that this will be the only Christmas that we can spend just the five of us because Shalom and I will probably be married by next Christmas." He looked somewhat down at the mention of getting married, but I decided not to press the issue with him. 

It was strange to think, but I hadn't really spent any time with just the four members of my biological immediate family. I had spent a fair amount of time with America and Aspen, a small amount of time with Maxon (as he was always busy with his work) and hardly any time at all with Shalom who had openly told me that he didn't like me.

"I told my parents that I'd meet them in the gardens, so I'll see you in the Women's Room," I told Aspen, who gave me a thumbs-up before heading off down the hallway. I closed my bedroom door, which I had been stood in when Aspen stopped me to talk and I headed off down the hall.

The palace was decorated beautifully. Mistletoe hung anywhere that it could be hung, and some of the guards wore Santa hats, which made me have to stifle laughter to see some of the buff young men with Santa hats that looked far too small for their heads. Tinsel hung over the frames of the many paintings that decorated the walls and in almost every corner there was a small Christmas tree. 

At home, our decoration at Christmas had only ever extended to one tree that my father cut down from the woods a few weeks before Christmas. We had some fairy lights that we wrapped around the tree, along with some ball-balls and an angel that I always placed on the top of the tree. 

I was lost in my thoughts as I wandered out into the gardens. 

"Celia!" My Mum pulled me into a hug before I even noticed that she was there.

"Happy Christmas," I grinned and hugged her back.

"Happy Christmas to you too my Princess," my Dad winked at me.

I laughed and moved to hug him, before linking arms with each of my parents and beginning our planned walk around the gardens.

The Angeles air was chilly and I was suddenly glad that my maids had dressed me in a warm long-sleeved dress with a fluffy cosy lining. 

"So how has your first royal Christmas been so far?" Dad teased me.

"It hasn't got anything on our cosy home ones," I replied.

Mum smiled and shook her head lightly, "there's no need to spare our feelings, Cece."

"I'm not sparing anything," I said, "I'd take our little tree over anything the palace has to offer."

"You've been pretending that you are a princess since you could walk," said Mum, "what changed."

"It's just much more overwhelming than I expected," I admitted, "America and Maxon are so welcoming, and so is AJ, but Shalom isn't quite so nice."

"I think Shalom is a lot like you sweetie," Dad told me, "I think he takes a while to warm up to people, but when he does he's beyond loyal."

"Am I really that brash to people though?"

"You can be, I don't think you mean to, but that's how it comes across sometimes," said Mum.

We lapse into silence as our walk continues. I started to think that perhaps I had misjudged Shalom, perhaps he wasn't being mean to me on purpose, it could perhaps be simply who he is.