Chapter Two:
"Hey Louis," The voice of his older sister fills the room. Reaching out to shake his shoulder, Gwyneth says, "Wake up Louis."
Reaching to hide the pack of cigarettes from Louis bedside, Gwyneth puts them into her pocket and shakes Louis once more.
"Stop that." Louis mumbles.
Shaking him harder, Gwyneth tells him, "If you'd use an alarm, mom wouldn't have had to send me up here to wake you."
"Get out, Gwyneth."
"Breakfast is in 10 minutes."
The family sits at the front end of the dining table. Drinks have been served and King Jonathan reads off his list of daily announcements, "Hello, hello. Welcome home Gwyneth. With the Selection coming up, our schedule will be more eventful. So, at 9:00am, Louis will be memorizing a speech that has been written for the Report tonight. At 10:30am, Gwyneth, Charlene, and Rosalind shall be meeting with the interior designers. At 11:00am, I shall be meeting with Ryan Fontaine about the details of the Report. At 12:00pm, lunch will be served whether you are here or not. At 2:00pm, Gwyneth, Charlene, and Louis have fittings. At 6:00pm, we have dinner. At 7:30pm we all leave for the Report. Finally, at 9:00pm, we have The Report. Try not to be late or skip out on anything. Today is an important day so for god's sake Charlene get off your phone!"
"Fine fine." A chuckle emits from Charlie and the phone is flipped face down on the table.
Soon after his announcements are done, breakfast is served. Plates of apple strudel are placed in front of the family. Drinks are refilled and the fresh fruit is placed in the center of their end of the table.
The Head Chef, Emmanuel Hill, tells them whats for breakfast, "Today I have served traditional apple strudel, each of y'alls drinks of choice, and fresh fruit grown in our very own garden."
Gwyneth eats first, "This is divine Emmanuel. It's as good as the strudel back home."
"Thank you Empress Gwyneth." Emmanuel bows and retreats to the back of the kitchen, preparing their lunch.
"Here is your speech Prince Louis." One of King Jonathan's advisors sets the paper on Louis desk and he skims over it.
"This sounds like something my dad would say. In fact…" Louis clears his throat and drops his voice down an octave, "Dear people of Illéa, I cordially invite you to uphold this long standing tradition with me…"
A laugh stops Louis from finishing the sentence and he tries again after it's subsided.
Gwyneth knocks on the door, "I brought you food."
"Oh, uh…" Louis turns to look at her, "Thanks."
Putting the plate down and plucking the cigarette out of Louis hand, she gives him the food, "You must be working hard."
"Don't give me so much credit."
"Hurry up and eat." Gwyneth tells him, "We have fittings in 15 minutes."
The two meet Charlie for their fitting. Acelet has already started getting Charlie's measurements.
"Empress Gwyneth, Prince Louis, welcome back to my corner of the world." Acelet says, "Please sit down while I work with Princess Charlene."
"What caused you to be late?" Charlie starts the idle conversation between the siblings.
Louis answers, "The stupid speech I have to do."
"You should get used to it." Gwen notes, "You'll have to do a lot of them when you become King."
"I know, I know," Louis replies, "I'll have to do everything when I become King. What if I don't want to become King?"
"You'd leave the country in my hands?" Charlie asks in shock.
Louis furiously shakes his head and he siblings laugh.
The first thing Queen Rosalind says to Louis is: "Did you end up eating earlier?"
"Uh, yeah," Louis answers, taking his seat.
Gwyneth tell her, "I brought him a plate. He was engrossed in his speech."
"Good." It was the only thing King Jonathan said that night.
The family ate in silence. King Jonathan was watching his family. Queen Rosalind was swirling her wine glass. Empress Gwyneth was working on plans for the Selected. Prince Louis was going over the speech. Princess Charlene was texting.
The king's valet, a greying man by the name of William tells them, "Your ride is ready."
The family of five gets into the limousine awaiting in the front gates. King Jonathan and Queen Rosalind enter last; opting to exit first once they get to the set of the Report.
Once they are all in the limo, King Jonathan gives them a brief rundown of the schedule for tonight's episode, "So, tonight is a very big night for the Report. Ryan will do his intro and then introduce us. We'll smile, give them some updates and whatnot. No talking about rebels, here me. Then Ryan will focus the attention onto Gwen and he'll ask her about her. You know the amount you can disclose. Then we'll have audience questions, but right before the show ends, Louis will give his big announcement. There will be clapping and tears and general pandemonium. We'll leave and call it a night. Understood?"
A chorus of yesses are heard. They turn into the set and exit the limo.
The drive isn't that far.
Crowds of people are yelling and Louis refrains from wincing at the loud noise. His mother and sisters engage with the crowd and King Jonathan shakes a hand or two; however, Louis stands awkwardly with them and quickly waves at the crowd.
King Jonathan orders, "Let's go."
The five of them are whisked away into their respective makeup sections. At one point, Louis switches ties and shoes, but he doesn't notice. The speech and upcoming Selection is what's swirling around in his brain.
"Ryan on in thirty seconds! The Royal Family on in ninety seconds!" A slightly familiar voice yells.
Louis is watching Ryan Fontaine appear onstage, "Welcome Illéa! This friday night we shall be hosting our loving royal family as well as Empress Gwyneth Wilhelm of the German Federation!" Applause erupts at the end of Ryan's sentence. He continues, "and may you please help me give a warm welcome to King Jonathan, Queen Rosalind and their lovely family!"
Applause once again fills the room as the family gathers onstage.
"Thank you Ryan for, once again, letting us use your platform to reach the citizens of Illéa." Queen Rosalind spoke first.
"It's my pleasure Queen Rosalind." Ryan flashes a smile, "Is there anything interesting going on in the castle."
"We are hosting Empress Gwyneth of the German Federation." The camera pans to Gwyneth as King Jonathan talks about her.
Gwyneth picks up the conversation, "I missed my family, so I decided to return to Illéa. I do believe I'm staying longer than usual; my trip will consist the rest of the year at the least."
"Will the rest of your family be joining us?" Ryan asks.
Gwyneth replies, "Yes; I don't know how I can survive months without seeing my daughter, but it will be a little bit before her and my husband visit."
"That's good." Ryan says, "Audience, do you have any questions?"
Many people raised their hands and the entire family had at least, a question or two to answer. After about fifteen or so questions, Ryan reeled the audience back in.
"Hey Ryan," Louis asks, standing up, "Can I say something?"
"Sure, kid." Ryan replies.
Louis clears his throat and begins his speech, "Dear people of Illéa, I cordially invite you to uphold this long standing tradition with me. As we all know, my sister married Emperor Leopold eight years ago and they now rule over a thriving nation. I, Prince Louis, am ready to do the same. Now, in the course of Illéa's history, many things have changed. Most notably, the removal and reinstatement of caste system. However, during all that we've gone through as a country, we have one tradition that keeps us together. It is the Selection. So, young ladies ages 17 to 22, I invite you to the castle, so you can participate in my Selection."
Author's Note:
Honestly, I'm amazed that people actually clicked on my story. Y'all made my day when I saw characters in my inbox. I immediatly worked on this story and I have been doing as much as I can. I hope I can keep this speed up.
And, to all of the people who either reviewed or submitted a girl, from the bottom of my heart, thank you!
Sincerely, Slytherwitch