"Natasha, who's that?"
Natasha looked up at the blonde, muscular woman who sat across from them. The girl caught her eye and waved rather hesitantly.
Her lips pulled into a straight line and she looked back down at her lap, uninterested.
"I dunno."
The carriage rumbled as it passed through the rocky roads of the outer city, entering the capital. Of course, Natasha didn't really care- well… maybe she cared a bit. She snuck a glance outside the window, where hundreds of merchants crowded the area, civilians passing by the stalls of food and beautiful silk cloth. And there, in the middle of it all, stood the richer areas, where the rich stone buildings towered over the filthy wooden streets, and the palace shone as the sun crept behind it so that it looked like the sun itself, its beautiful rays of life bringing peace and goodwill to the citizens.
Yeah, right.
All Natasha saw was the rest of the city, shrouded in darkness, trying to find a shred of light, but nothing to be found. All of it was contained in that shiny palace, with none left to spare for anyone else.
"Nat, we're in the city!" Mercedes cried, her eyes wide as she looked over at the bustling streets, taking in the sights.
"I know."
Mercedes laughed. "I can't believe it. We're really going… there." She pointed at the glistening palace.
Natasha looked at the palace, then looked at the merchant they were passing by, arguing with some lady about the price of his fish. "I'd rather bargain for fish with that guy. He sounds like my type of person."
Mercedes scooted over to her, leaning over her head to watch. "Who?"
"We just passed him."
"Bummer." Mercedes scooted back, then flashed the muscular girl a bright smile.
"Hey, my name is Mary! What's yours?"
"Eva," said the girl, smiling. "Nice to meet you."
Mercedes turned to Natasha. "Her name is Eva!"
"... I know."
"I know that you know, it was a joke." Mercedes turned back to Eva. Who was the muscular girl. Wow, that was the only thing that Natasha had to describe her, huh? She wondered what Eva would describe her as, though they had only just met. The quiet girl? The sarcastic girl?
"How are you feeling?" Mercedes asked.
"I'm fine, how about you?" Eva replied.
"I'm excited!" Mercedes looked to the palace again, which was drawing ever nearer. "We're going to the palace. I still can't believe it."
"What don't you believe?" Natasha asked. "There were fancy blue letters and everything."
"I don't think she means-" Eva started to say, before Natasha glared at her. Eva gulped and slinked away.
Which was weird, because this woman could probably beat her in a fight, given what little Natasha knew about her, which was, wait for it, the fact that she was muscular. But Natasha was pretty darn intimidating, and she was proud of it. Enough to make a wimp like Eva cower, anyway.
They sat in silence for a moment, watching as the carriage rolled forth, closer and closer to the palace with every passing… monkey? Why was there a guy selling monkeys?!
This city just kept getting weirder and weirder.
Finally, they pulled up at the shining palace (not so shiny now, as the sun had already passed above it.) Mercedes gasped when the driver opened the door for her, muttered something like: "This is so cool," and hopped off.
Eva glanced at Natasha. She glanced back. Eva got the memo and hopped off the carriage next.
Natasha smirked.
She strode out of the carriage, the satisfying sound of the carriage door shutting behind her, and she followed Mary and Eva as they stumbled up the steps, marveling at the sheer splendor of the marble and the gold- was that real gold? Or was it gilded? Surely the royals couldn't be that rich… right?
They followed a maid to the Selected's quarter of the palace, adjacent to the Ares quarter and opposite from the Royal quarters. Usually, the maid explained, this part of the palace was reserved for royal guests and grand balls… which happened to fit exactly into the quota of The Selection.
They entered the main room of the Selected. A girl was already there, a maid fawning over her dress. It didn't take Natasha long to register who that girl was. An organized brown bun, several scars on her arm, a pointed nose, and an expression of a warrior — Julia Ares.
Natasha glanced at her, raised her eyebrows, then looked back at her own seat, where her own assigned maid urged her to sit. She obliged and the young lady frantically got to work, examining her closely without a single word uttered.
She looked past her mirror to check on the other Selected, who were piling in with each passing moment. There was Mary and Evie… no, Eve… wait, no what was her name again?
Ahem.
There was Mary and the muscular girl, happily chatting a few seats away from her as their maids began touching up their hair. Of course, Natasha's mother had already gotten her and Mercedes cleaned up fairly well, but apparently it wasn't good enough for the royals. She stifled a grimace as her nameless, very quiet maid started pulling on her dark brown hair… hard. If all of her hair got pulled off and she met the Prince bald, she wouldn't be surprised.
She watched as Mercedes' maid started chiming in on whatever they were talking about, and soon enough the entire room (which was now near-full) was turned to them, some of the girls frowning, giving them judgemental glances, while others jumped into their conversation like the reckless fools they were. Although Natasha wasn't afraid to express her disapproval of the stur Mercedes was creating, she had to admit, her stepsister was very good at making friends.
She looked back at her own maid, who stepped back and gave her a short curtsy, indicating that she was done. Natasha noticed that her hands shook a bit as she scurried away, leaving Natasha alone on her chair.
"Attention, girls? Attention!"
"Attention, girls? Attention!"
Julia perked up, turning to who she knew was to be the Coordinator for the Selection. She was actually interested to find out who it was, as there weren't many-
Her eyes widened.
Before her stood a middle-aged woman, with wrinkled cheeks spotted with freckles that faded with time. Her hair was tied in a messy bun, but despite this unkempt look, her upright posture spoke waves—for this was no ordinary lady.
This was Lady Caroline Domanshee, King Eadger the Second's second mistress.
Julia had never really spoken to the Mistress. Sure, she saw her passing by during patrols, but Lady Domanshee was known for her ambiguity. She spent her days locked up in her room, and the only times she ever went elsewhere was to do her duty in King Eadger's bedroom, which was only a few steps away. So her surprise was merited indeed, to find this mysterious woman standing somewhere that was not her own room.
Why would King Eadger allow this lady to be the Coordinator? First of all, she was simply his Mistress, and Mistresses already had a terrible reputation to begin with. Second of all, Lady Domanshee wasn't even a Lady; she was born a commoner and was only granted a title for her deeds in King Eadger's bed.
Lady Domanshee's maid, who was frantically calling for the Selected to quiet down, breathed a huge sigh of relief when all of the girls turned to the Lady, who was standing very menacingly at the door, her arms crossed, looking very displeased.
"So," Lady Domanshee finally said. Julia raised her eyebrows. Her voice was… clearer than she had thought. Based on the amount of time Lady Domanshee spent in her room, she had naturally assumed she had never done anything but sleep and eat. She had expected her voice to be… raspier, creepier. Not like it wasn't scary right now. "These are the batch of girls to become the next Queen?"
Even the loudest of the Selected flinched at how she spat out every syllable with animosity.
"Yes, My Lady," said the shuddering maid.
Lady Domanshee strode to a blonde girl with very impressive muscles. Her heels clicked with each step and she looked up at the tall Selected. It was a shock that even though Lady Domanshee was so much shorter than this poor girl, she still sent ripples of terror through the Selected's features. "Hm," she muttered, raising a gloved hand to push the girl's head upwards. "Your name?"
"Eva Schmidt," said the blonde girl. Eva gulped.
"Eva," Lady Domanshee repeated, like it was some kind of virus. "Do you really think that you'd ever become a princess?"
Eva's eyes widened and she stumbled over her words. "Well… uh…"
"Hmph." She dropped Eva's chin and Eva gasped, heaving over, taking heavy breaths against the chair as Lady Domanshee strode to the Asian girl Julia remembered to be Mary, the bright, friendly girl that had been so eager to connect with her. Mary tried not to look scared, but her eyes twitched.
This time, Lady Domanshee did not touch her. She merely raised her eyebrows, her red lips pursed. "Your name?"
"Mercedes Kim," she said loudly.
"Mercedes," Lady Domanshee repeated, but there were no questions asked of her. She simply spun around to the next girl, and Mary breathed a huge sigh of relief.
Next to Mary stood a girl wearing a simple black gown. She glared at the Mistress, which wasn't very wise, because Lady Domanshee's eyes narrowed so hard Julia thought they might snap out of her face. "... And you?"
"Natasha."
"Natalie," Lady Domanshee said. "What is your purpose for being here?"
"It's Natasha."
"Hmph," Lady Domanshee said. "Do you think I care?"
Natasha didn't reply. She merely held her head high, looking at the Coordinator with a determined gaze. Lady Domanshee merely smirked and went on to Julia. She locked eyes with her.
"Julia," she said.
"Lady Domanshee," Julia said, curtsying.
Lady Domanshee seemed unimpressed. "What exactly do you think you're doing?"
Julia looked at her posture and her arms, making sure they weren't someplace unsuited for royal etiquette. As far as she knew, she had done nothing wrong. "I'm not exactly sure what you mean, My Lady."
"I know Annalisa selected your name for you," she said. Julia grimaced as the rest of the Selected gasped. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
Julia kept her eyes trained on the floor. "My Lady, with all due respect… When did my Princess give you permission to refer to her name so casually?"
Lady Domanshee looked taken aback. "What?"
"A member of the Royal Family can only be referred to with their title, unless given permission. To my knowledge, Annalisa never gave you permission to speak her name so casually… My Lady." Julia tried to hide her smirk. She turned to the rest of the Selected. "Quite frankly, if our Coordinator doesn't even know simple etiquette, how is she qualified to enlighten us with the complexities of court?"
Some of the other Selected snickered, while others continued to glare at her.
Lady Domanshee gritted her teeth. "Watch your tongue, Ares. Princess Annalisa is our King's daughter; I am basically her stepmother. I may address her however I like."
Julia stood up straight. "Bold for a woman of common blood."
Lady Domanshee glared at her, then strutted away, turning to the next girl.
"Your name?"
"Amaya," said the almond-skinned girl.
Lady Domanshee simply passed by her without a second thought.
Next was an Asian girl called Giavanna, then a redhead named Thalia. Girl after girl she went through, asking for their names, sometimes asking them questions that couldn't be answered.
The last girl stood timidly in the corner of the room, her blonde hair and blue eyes prominent as she looked up at the Mistress, whimpering.
"You?"
"Y-yekat-yekaterina, My Lady," she stuttered.
Lady Domanshee scoffed. "Stand up straight, girl. A true lady never cowers."
Katya sniffed, standing up, her entire body shaking as Lady Domanshee stepped towards her.
"And do you, Miss Ivanov, know what it means to be Queen?"
Katya froze, her blue eyes wide in shock and fear.
Lady Domanshee tapped her heels. "Tut-tut. Seems like-"
"A Queen," a voice said. "Is someone who treats her each and every one of her citizens with respect, isn't it?"
They all turned to Mary. Lady Domanshee raised her eyebrows, her lips curling into an eerie smile.
"I don't recall asking you, darling," she said shortly. "I'm afraid that speaking out of turn-"
"She answered the question for her friend," Natasha said. There were a series of gasps around the room. "She knew what she was going to say, anyway. She was simply helping her."
"Hm." was all she said before walking towards the door, turning back only to look at the Selected.
"Now that I am well acquainted with you," she said. Julia raised her eyebrows. She didn't know that scaring all of the girls to death counted as 'being well acquainted.' "I shall give you your instructions. Tomorrow morning you will be directed to quick introductions with the Prince, about three to five minutes each. Except for Miss Ares."
Several whispers emerged in the room. Julia could catch some of the girls looking towards her. She pretended not to notice.
"Some rules: You may not venture outside of the Selected quarters. All areas outside of this main room and your bedrooms are strictly prohibited. Ares, that applies to you, too. If you are caught somewhere you should not be, you will be eliminated immediately. Do you understand?"
Several girls nodded, and without another word, she turned and slammed the door behind her, sending her maid flying backwards, hitting her head on the floor. All of the girls grimaced, watching as the maid scrambled to her feet and scurried after her master.
And so the Selection begins.
A/N Okay uhh my character descriptions aren't exactly accurate. I have no clue... Just don't rely on the character descriptions on my profile because when I write their description, I have an idea of who they are, but then they come alive and suddenly they're completely different from the people on the descriptions! So I did a few edits but I think they'll change even more as I write and develop them because these characters straight up have minds of their own. So be warned: the character descriptions on my profile are not set in stone.
Pretty proud of this chapter, the descriptions were so lovely-I feel like my writing has become so lackluster and dialogue oriented that one can confuse it with a script! Anyway, thank you for reading and enjoy the weekend!