April 18th, 2065
The Main Hall, Illea Palace
Etheri was standing in the main hall with a huge bouquet in her arms. The flowers were lilacs, and even though they were pretty, they were heavy.
Sythe was standing next to her, playing with his sleeve. Rune on her right side was humming a tune that Etheri didn't recognize.
"She'll be here any second." The queen, aka her mother, said.
Etheri nodded her head.
"Do I have to babysit the baby, Mom? I don't like kids." Rune asked, "They are gross and slimy."
"Well, I want you to learn for when you have a child." Vita retorted.
Rune grimaced slightly, "Right. I have to make an heir."
"I can't wait until I see the twins! They were so tiny the last time I saw them." Conji said, "Man I love kids."
"When you get married, you can have kids," Etheri said.
Conji laughed slightly, "Nah. I'm more of a fun Uncle type of person."
The doors suddenly opened, a loud whooshing passing by Etheri.
"Heads up guys, they are coming." Vita hissed, "Do not embarrass me."
"You'll do that yourself," Rune muttered to herself, but Etheri heard. Etheri chuckled slightly.
"Where's Dad?" Etheri asked.
Vita rolled her eyes at her question. "I don't know, Etheri." Her mom said, but Etheri could tell it was a lie.
The clicking of high heels echoed through the halls as two children ran ahead of their mother. Etheri saw Vira - her Aunt - holding a baby in one arm and then holding her four-year-old child in another hand. Two females were behind her aunt, which Etheri recognized as her cousins.
"Asher and Felix don't run in front of me!" Her aunt called.
"Welcome back, Sister!" Vita stated, a fake smile plastered on her face.
"Thank you, Vita." Vira smiled, looking at Etheri and seeing the bouquet, "Oh! Jasmine is allergic to Lilacs, please get those out of here."
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Etheri said, handing the flowers off to her guard.
"You didn't know, sweetie. I'm sure your mother was just trying to kill my new daughter." Vira laughed slightly.
"Such a warm hello, Vira. Still fertile, I see." Her mother said with disgust as she looked down at the baby in Aunt Vira's hands.
"And you're still Queen, I see." Vira retaliated, with even more disgust in her voice.
"So, Vira, when's the next child? You can't seem to keep your legs shut for more than four years." her mother asked, sarcasm dripping with every word she said.
"Oh, you're just jealous that Diaboli isn't giving you anything anymore," Vira said with a wave of her hand.
"Gross," Rune muttered.
Vira looked over to Rune, "Ah! Amazing, here." Vira stated as she handed over her baby to Rune.
Rune looked discombobulated as she held the baby as far away from her as possible.
"She needs a diaper in Thirty-two minutes. She gets cream I make her, and she needs the cream otherwise she'll get a huge red rash." Vira explained as she took off a bag from her shoulder and handed it to Rune.
"I have to change a diaper?" Rune whispered.
"Oh, you'll be fine, Darling! It's like swaddling babies, it's so easy." Vira waved her hand.
"I've never swaddled a baby," Rune whispered to her mother.
Vita shrugged and mouthed, "Just do it."
"Asher and Felix do not touch that!" Vira called.
Etheri looked over to the two children who were grabbing onto a vase and about to play ball with it.
"Control your children!" Vita hissed, "That vase is very expensive."
"Oh please." Vira rolled her eyes, "You have a million vases. Asher and Felix are just excited to be back in the palace!"
"Mom my friends want to go to a party tonight." Elodie, Vira's oldest daughter, said.
"You are at the palace, Elodie. Show some respect." Vira demanded. Elodie rolled her eyes and looked back down at her phone.
"I saw it first!" Asher yelled.
"No, I did!" Felix replied.
Etheri looked back over to the children, who were now fighting over the vase. All of the children made Etheri's head spin.
Jasmine started screaming in Rune's arms. Rune looked terrified.
"What's wrong with it?" Rune asked, "I didn't even do anything!"
"She's probably just hungry." Vira responded, "She'll need a bottle soon too. Go take care of her, Rune!"
Rune huffed slightly, muttering something that Etheri didn't understand as she walked away.
Vira turned her head over to Sythe, "There he is! My favorite Nephew!"
Sythe paused slightly, "You've never even spoken to me before…" He muttered.
"Oh don't be ridiculous!" Vira waved her hand, "I have, remember… at the… at the um, thing two years ago…"
Sythe shrugged slightly.
"Anyway, you're having a Selection!" Vira squealed slightly, "Oh, I remember Rune's selection like it was yesterday! It was so amazing. I wasn't expecting August to win… Rune kind of seemed to like him out of nowhere. She hadn't even had many dates with him when she announced him the winner after just two months."
Etheri remembered Rune's selection well, mostly because Rune did not want one initially. Yet, she was forced to.
Now look at her, she has the love of her life.
Etheri felt a twinge of jealousy before quickly brushing off the feeling and burying it deep inside.
"I can't wait until you find your true love, Sythe! It's going to be so magical." Vira sighed slightly, looking up at the ceiling slightly.
"Mom we are hungry!" Asher said as he tugged on his mother's pants.
"In a minute, Asher." Vira brushed Asher off slightly as she looked back at Sythe, "Have you seen any of the forms? What do you think? You're announcing them in two days, so you must know who's going to be here!"
"I don't know who's getting Selected." Sythe answered, "It's random."
Vira gasped slightly, "Random? What if you get a murderer in your Selection!"
"I highly doubt a murderer will get chosen. We have to go through extensive background searches." The Queen stated, "The Selection is perfectly safe."
Vira scoffed slightly, "You don't remember your Selection, Sister."
Etheri raised her eyebrows, "What happened during your Selection, Mom?"
Vita sighed, "It's a story for another day."
"Oh please, they are old enough!" Her aunt stated, "My sister was almost killed by a Rebel Selected!"
"What?" Conji asked, "Mom why didn't you tell us?"
"Because it's not important." Vita said, "I still won. It doesn't change the outcome."
"You barely won, that other girl… what was her name… Monica?" Vira asked.
"Maroe," Vita answered.
"Right! Maroe from Denbeigh almost won." Vira laughed, "To be honest, She was one of the nicer Selected, I met her when the families visited the castle."
"Who was the Rebel Selected?" Etheri asked, enthralled by the story.
"Oh… what was her name… I'm so bad with names…" Vira held her hand up to her chin in thought.
"Her name was Lina, a Four from Hudson." Vita answered, "She seemed to be a nice girl, but it changed when Diaboli went on a date with her. The rebels attacked the palace and she almost drove a knife into his heart."
"Wow." Sythe muttered, "That's reassuring."
"It was terrifying to hear on the news. They didn't even let the Selected contact their families. We didn't know if Vita was okay until two days after the attack." Vira explained.
"It's all in the past now, Lina was executed and all of the rebels that were caught are rotting away in prison." Vita stated, "I won Diaboli's heart in the end."
"I wouldn't say you won his heart." Vira stated, "You won his Father's heart."
"That's enough." Vita hissed, "I am the Queen and you will not disrespect me in that way! I love my husband, and my husband loves me."
"And yet, He's not here when his wife's family comes to visit." Vira retaliated.
"Etheri, Conji, and Sythe, you are dismissed." Vita ordered, "Take Vira's children with you too."
"Mom I'm hungry!" Felix groaned.
"Go get food with your cousins," Vira stated simply.
Asher and Felix looked at each other before frowning slightly and walking up to Conji.
Conji bent down and whispered, "Wanna go get some cookies?"
"YES!" Asher and Felix screamed as they bolted towards the kitchen.
"Wait up!" Conji yelled, quickly running after them.
Etheri's older cousins, Elodie and Alinta started walking behind Conji. Etheri hesitated before following them.
Sythe picked up their final cousin - Reese, who was four years old - and started walking behind Etheri.
They left Vira and Vita to hash out their sibling drama.
Etheri sighed slightly as they walked towards the Kitchen.
She knew that her father didn't love her mother the way her mother did. Vita idolized Diaboli, but Diaboli never showed any love for her. Only brief contentment was ever shown by her father.
He was always like that.
Never showing emotions, never loving them.
Etheri sometimes wondered why.
Yet maybe, she would never find out.
~0~0~
It's been awhile, but here is another chapter! I forgot to mention this, but the deadline for characters is now changed to July 16th! If you cannot submit a character anymore, I totally understand, but please tell me! Thanks again, and happy reading!