"I need to go!"
The maid stuttered and stumbled over her words as she tried to reason with her. "Miss Ares, I understand, but Lady Domanshee said-"
Julia pursed her lips, leaning back her head in exasperation. "Please, I have business!"
The maid fidgeted with her fingers. "Well… uh…"
"Look, uh… your name?"
"Cornelia," she squeaked.
"Look, Cornelia. I know you're scared that your boss is going to punish you, but she's only a mistress, for goodness' sake! When push comes to shove, who do you think has the most power? A mere mistress or the daughter of Lord Ares?"
"… Y-you…" Cornelia whimpered.
"Exactly." Julia leaned in on the girl, putting a warm hand on her shoulder. Cornelia shied away. "Just… do this favor for me, please, and let me through? And you'll have the Ares on your side. At least, one of the Ares."
Cornelia seemed to think about it for a moment, before nodding. "Okay…"
Julia stepped past the gateway between the Selected Quarters and the rest of the palace, taking a deep breath.
"Wait!"
Julia turned. Cornelia opened her mouth then closed it, looking at the floor.
"Please… don't tell My Lady of this…"
"Of course, not," Julia said, giving her a warm smile. "And you won't mention this to her, either?"
Cornelia shook her head, and Julia nodded, turning away.
"What brings you here, Julia?"
George Domanshee was reading a book called "How To Make Good Cookies" when Julia walked into his room. She was a bit suspicious as to why he would be reading such a book—was it some kind of code? But she brushed it off.
"I just wanted to talk to you," Julia said. "Have you seen your mom lately?"
"My… mom?" George looked slightly confused. "No. We haven't talked."
"At all? In the last few days? Or weeks?"
"No!" He looked horrified. "Mother hates me. You know that."
"Hm…" She looked down, thinking.
"Why'd you ask?"
"Oh, uh…" Come on, Julia, think. "I just… she's our Selection coordinator."
He looked confused, but before he could say anything, Alexander and Alexei burst in, sing-yelling.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!"
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUUUU!" Alexei screamed.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO GEORGIE!" Alexander laughed.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOOOOOOOOOO-"
"-OOOOOOOOO-"
They spun around, jazz hands in the air.
"YOUUUUU!"
"Yeah!" Alexei kicked the air.
George stared.
"What?" Alexander grinned. "Happy birthday, my favorite half-brother!"
"First of all, I'm your only half-brother," he said, slapping his forehead. "And second of all… my birthday is tomorrow."
Alexei and Alexander spun around to look at each other.
"Whaaaaaaaat?" Alexei said. He glanced at Julia. "Julia! Why didn't you tell us?!"
Julia blinked. "What?"
"I can't believe you said it was today!" Alexander elbowed Alexei, frowning. "You idiot!"
"I swear, I thought it was today! George must have forgotten his own birthday!"
"How would I forget my own birthday?" George laughed. "You guys have known me for twelve years. I can't believe you forgot."
"I DIDN'T FORGET!" Alexander yelled, rushing to him. "I swear, it's all Alexei's fault!"
Alexei blinked. "Wh-"
Alexander glared. Alexei rolled his eyes.
"Yes, it's completely my fault, not His Highness'." Though his tone was firm and plain, Julia could see the tips of her brother's mouth twitch.
George rolled his eyes and started to push the two boys from his room. "Alright, now get out of my room."
Julia locked eyes with Alexander, who pushed George away from his own pushing… That's a lot of pushing. "Why's Julia here? You got a new girlfriend, Georgie?"
"... She's in your Selection, Alexander," George said, violently shoving the Prince out of his room. He yelped. "I wouldn't steal your girl, would I?"
"I would have to kill you if you did," Alexei muttered.
"I wouldn't make you do that, Alexei," Alexander said, rolling his eyes. "I'm not that mean. One of your guards would."
Man, Julia was really fourth-wheeling this entire conversation right now.
"Oh, also." Alexander caught the door before it shut completely. "George, can you tell your mom to stop messing with me? Thanks!"
He blinked. The door shut.
Julia stared at the door, a pit in her stomach. She felt that familiar feeling, that something was missing. And that they had what she longed for deep inside her heart.
"... Why does everyone keep talking about my mom?"
Julia grimaced. "Uh… long story."
Silence.
More silence.
When was anyone going to say anything?
Oh wait.
"Uh… Happy early birthday."
George nodded. "Thanks."
Yet more silence.
Julia scooted towards the door awkwardly, nodding a bit before rushing out of the room, shutting the door behind her and breathing a sigh of relief.
That was… not exactly what she had in mind. After all, a typical interrogation wouldn't have a Prince and his bodyguard burst in in the middle of it. A typical interrogation wouldn't consist of one question. And a typical interrogation would not have awkward silence near the end of it.
But she had found out what she needed, and she didn't need a typical interrogation to find it.
Click click
The girls straightened up, everyone frozen, anticipating the moment when the door opened and h*ll broke loose.
Click click
"What do you think she wants?" Mary whispered in Julia's ear.
"Nothing good," Julia said.
"I hope she'll be easy on us," Eva said. She looked significantly better after Mary had comforted her.
Click click click
The door swung open and Cornelia scrambled to the side, curtsying as Lady Domanshee sauntered in the room, observing the plethora of girls, all staring up at her.
"Curtsy," Lady Domanshee said lazily.
The girls all scrambled to pick up their dresses and bend their knees, and the Mistress pursed her red lips, her head tilting slightly upwards in disgust.
"We will be having our first lesson today," she said. "Cornelia?"
"Yes, My Lady?"
"How many girls are in this room?"
Cornelia's pigtails bounced as she scrambled across the room, her eyes darting nervously as she counted. "Thirty-three, My Lady."
Lady Domannshee clenched her fists. "Tut-tut." She glared at her maid. "Find them."
"Yes, My Lady!" The maid rushed into the girls' individual rooms, darting around each one before pulling two out by the hairs. She was surprisingly strong for such a skinny girl.
Lady Domanshee looked over the two girls; a Latina girl whom Julia remembered to be Natasha, and poor Katya, who was shivering in fright.
"You're late."
"With all due respect, ma'am, we can't be late to an event we never knew was happening," Natasha retorted.
Lady Domanshee ignored her. "You thirty-five dreadful little souls… I don't know where to start!" she said in a mocking tone. "How must I make princesses of you… pigs?"
That wasn't very nice.
No one dared speak, though. They all looked at her expectantly.
"Let's see… you'd think that such pretty faces could be at least exceptional at such a simple thing as curtsying," Lady Domanshee glared at each and every one of them, which should have been impossible, but she did — how could someone glare at thirty-five girls at once? "Let's start learning, then. Form a circle."
Each Selected organized themselves in a lopsided circle, a few 'accidentally' smacking Julia in the face as she squeezed in between Amaya and Natasha. Lady Domanshee stood in the middle of the circle, observing each girl. "Cornelia?"
"Yes, My Lady?"
"Curtsy for me."
She obliged. Lady Domanshee turned to the Selected.
"Did you see that?"
They nodded skeptically.
"If so, you should be able to curtsy perfectly. Do you want me to test you now?"
No one responded.
"I thought so. Again, Cornelia."
Cornelia curtsied again.
"Did you see how she bent her knees? The graceful way she leans her head?"
Amaya raised her hand. Lady Domanshee sighed.
"Mary, this is not school, and I am not your teacher. What do you want?"
"I'm Amaya," Amaya corrected. The Mistress raised her eyebrows. "And I just had a question."
"Well, spit it out already, will you?"
"Why do we need to know how to curtsy?" Amaya asked. "If we marry the Prince and become Queen, wouldn't everyone be curtsying to us, instead?"
"Well, based on your attitude, you needn't worry about becoming Queen, Mary," she said. The actual Mary grimaced.
Lady Domanshee motioned for Cornelia to curtsy again. And again. And again. Until poor little Cornelia's head prickled with sweat and her knees trembled every time they bent. Despite this, Lady Domanshee seemed to enjoy her suffering. Maybe so she could pretend she was actually royalty and have servants bow to her at every moment.
"Cornelia, how must you be an example if you curtsy so dreadfully?" Lady Domanshee snapped.
"I-I'm sorry, My Lady!" Cornelia's lips trembled.
She sighed. "That's enough. I think our Selected here has gotten the idea." She glanced at a golden clock on the wall. "You have five minutes. Practice curtsying with your peers."
Then she strutted to the side, plopping down on the couch and placing a grape in her mouth, and glared at them with a watchful eye.
Julia started working, imitating Cornelia's movements… well, except for the trembling part. That would be weird.
"It's ironic," Natasha said.
Julia turned to her, her eyes widening when she saw how… messy her curtsies were compared to hers. And she thought she was bad at it!
"What?"Julia asked.
"You nobles are supposed to be 'better' than us," said Natasha. "But you'll curtsy and bow down more than we commoners ever will."
Julia stopped. She turned to her, about to respond, before suddenly a body crashed into her and she tumbled to the ground, Mary falling behind her, groaning.
"Sorry!" Katya squeaked. "I didn't- I just-"
"It's okay," Mary laughed. Julia stood, dusting her dress off. Mary extended a hand towards Katya. "We're still practicing."
Katya nodded gratefully and took her hand, her face red.
"I'm just… not good at this!" Katya said.
"Hey, you'll get better. Don't-"
"Time's up!"
"That early?" Mary whispered. The other girls groaned.
"I can't believe that was five minutes!" Eva said.
Lady Domanshee stood from her seat and strutted towards them, studying Katya with a distasteful eye.
"Get in line."
"Yes, My Lady!" Katya shouted, running back into line. Julia followed.
"We will now begin the tests," said Lady Domanshee. A girl snickered.
"Do you find that funny?" Lady Domanshee demanded, turning around wildly, trying to figure out who it was. The girl shut up.
She scoffed. "Since you don't want to take this seriously, I'm afraid that I will have to impose… harsher punishments on those who don't oblige."
There was a collective intake of breath as the-really-scary-lady strutted towards the first Selected, a small, tan-skinned girl.
"Curtsy."
The girl quite literally bowed instead of curtsied, and Lady Domanshee frowned.
"Girl."
"Yeah?" She looked up from her bow. "Can I come up now?"
Lady Domanshee's brown eyes flared with anger. "What. Is. Your. Name?" she said through clenched teeth.
"Gaia Igh," said the girl.
Lady Domanshee nodded, and then turned to the next girl, who actually curtsied. Lady Domanshee raised her eyebrows, not of approval, but of surprise that these slithering sloths could possibly be able to curtsy properly.
After going through a few more girls, she arrived at Mary, who swept her dress back so far that it hit Natasha, who stood next to her.
"Hey!" Natasha complained.
Lady Domanshee pursed her lips. "Your name?"
Why was she asking for the names of random girls? She hadn't asked for the names of the other girls…
Unless…
"Why?" Mary asked.
"Oh, this is a test, my dear," Lady Domanshee said in mock patience. "Those who fail receive punishment."
Mary opened her mouth and closed it. She looked around, her eyes widening in fear.
"… I… uh…"
Behind Lady Domanshee stood Katya, who raised her hand quietly, looking at Mary.
Mary took a sharp breath, but Katya nodded, her blue eyes shining in the light.
"Yekaterina Ivanov, My Lady," Mary said. She glanced at Katya, then at Lady Domanshee. "Please call me Katya."
Lady Domanshee raised her eyebrows.
"You don't look like an Ivanov," she said.
"I take my grandfather's name, My Lady," Mary said quickly.
"Hm," said Lady Domanshee, but she moved on to Natasha, who passed the test, apparently, because there was no name asked of.
Then she arrived at Julia. She gulped. If she failed… She had no way to lie, no way to worm out of any punishment Lady Domanshee had in store.
No. She had been curtsying her entire life. She just had to pick up her dress, and she knew what else to do.
She dipped her head gracefully, keeping herself steady as Lady Domanshee sighed. Julia looked up to see that Lady Domanshee was already walking towards Amaya, who stumbled, but The Mistress sighed and let her be.
Each girl either barely passed the test, or spoke their name, their lips trembling in fear. Eva, of course, passed it beautifully, so perfectly that Lady Domanshee looked almost disappointed that she didn't get to tell her off because, really, there was nothing about that curtsy that she could critique.
After all thirty-five girls were finished with their tests, Lady Domanshee marched back to the middle of the circle, staring straight into Julia's eyes.
"Name the girls that failed the test, Cornelia."
"Uh…" the maid searched her mind for the names. "Gaia Igh, Yekaterina Ivanov, Ella Wang, Waynoka Deere, and Ece Aydin."
"Five girls," said Lady Domanshee. A sinister smile emerged on her face. "Beautiful."
It was so quiet one could hear a pin drop in the room.
"Prince Alexander and Princess Alexandra's birthday ball in two weeks will be your first major event," she said, tapping her heels. "I have the task to prepare you to be at least… presentable until then. All who will make a fool out of me will be promptly removed."
There were a few nods, although most didn't move.
Lady Domanshee glared at Mary. "This will be your first warning."
With that, she strutted off, Cornelia following closely behind, this time darting into the hallway just as the door closed.
The girls were left in stunned silence, each one, no matter their age, height, or personality, frozen in pure shock.
Something sinister was brewing. And for sure, not just five girls were going to be punished.
A/N Probably the cringest chapter so far! The submission forms are officially closed, and I'll be having a two-week long hiatus from now! See you soon!