Welcome to Chapter 2 of the Selection! This chapter is a bit shorter then I'm hoping to have in the future. It's just a filler to set up the Selection! There is a special appearance featuring your favourite red-haired queen, Cheryl Blossom! (By the way, Jason hasn't died in my world). Oh! And there is a special character coming up in this chapter who works on the Report. (The Report is basically a news show with updates about the royal family and the country that the royal family hosts).
Feel free to follow if you want to meet another iconic member of the Riverdale gang next chapter, and please let me know what you think!
Plus, Happy International Women's Day!
I hope you enjoy! 3
"Knock knock!" Toni entered my room and saw me sitting sullenly on my bed. "Hey, is everything okay?"
"My mother and the council want me to hold a Selection."
"Oh my god." Something I love about Toni is that she literally completely forgets formality and protocol when it's just us. It makes me feel almost normal. "Can they even do that?"
"Apparently, since I'm announcing it on the Report tonight."
"That's some Shakespearean-level drama." Toni sat down on the bed next to me, pulling her cap off and letting her brown and pink waves fall loose.
"I know!" I groaned and flopped back on the bed. "What am I going to do?"
"I think you'll have to just go through with it. She can't force you to fall in love, or pick someone for you without everyone else knowing. If you don't find someone suitable, then so be it."
"That actually kind of makes sense." I thought about it.
"And who knows. Maybe you'll meet some knock-out guy and fall hopelessly in love." She teased with a dreamy smile on her face.
"Or maybe, I can find the perfect guy for you." I teased back.
"Eh." She shrugged.
"Seriously. You can have your pick at any of them." I promised.
"No, it's not that." She hesitated before continuing. "It's just that… I'm more into girls?" Her voice went up slightly, as though she was asking a question.
I sat up straight. "Oh my god. How did I not know this about you?! I've known you for almost a year!"
"So it's okay?"
"Of course it's okay. Why wouldn't it be?"
"Well because I didn't think it would be protocol for a bisexual women to work in the palace." Her expression was confused.
"I don't know if the palace has ever had an openly LGBTQ+ staff member work for us before."
"I'm open, for sure. I just don't exactly publicly announce it. I didn't think you guys would approve."
"Toni, even my mother won't discriminate against you because of this. She's always been… I don't know exactly. She won't treat you differently because of that."
"It's the rest of me that bothers her, right?"
"She just doesn't understand how I can be friends with the help. Her words, not mine."
"So, I was kind of eavesdropping and I might have heard that, but I loved that you stuck up for me. Thank you."
"Of course." I gave her a hug.
"Now let's get you ready for dinner."
"Oh, I'm eating up here." I said quickly. "I can barely look at my mother right now."
"Oh, I think you'll want to be downstairs for this." She tried to hide her knowing smile but failed as she stood and wandered to my closet.
"What? What's happening?"
"Word travels fast. Clifford showed up at the council meeting after you left. Apparently the Blossoms are coming for dinner."
"And my mother hasn't lost it yet?" I chuckled. The Blossoms were my cousins on my dad's side and my mom despised them. It didn't help that Jason (their son) and Polly had once dated, before the two of us and my mother were informed that they were cousins.
"I was thinking of putting you in a nice pink, to clash with the red." Toni continued to dig through my closet. The Blossom's signature colour was red, for reasons I will never understand. I used to think red fell under the category of colours that redheads couldn't pull off until I started seeing pictures of Cheryl (Jason's twin sister) in gorgeous red gowns.
"What do you think of this?" Toni came out of the closet with a silver dress. The front of the pleated bottom stopped at the knee and the back fell to about mid-calf. The straps were thick bands that were just below my shoulders and met in the middle of the dress with a small V.
"Perfect."
"Elizabeth. I didn't think you'd be joining me." My mother sat at the head of a long table.
"Neither did I. But plans change." I shrugged and sat down, fixing my hair slightly. Toni had helped pull my hair back on one side and we'd gone light on the makeup.
"You look nice. Too nice for just dinner."
"Yeah, well, this is also my dress for the Report tonight, so I thought I might as well look nice while ruining my life."
"Thank you, Elizabeth."
"Not doing it for you." A butler placed a tray in front of me and pulled the top off. "Thank you, Ezra." I said. He nodded and stepped back.
After a moment of us eating in silence, a guard burst into the room. "Uh, your Majesty, you have guests."
"Who?" My mother looked irritated.
"The Duke and Duchess, Clifford and Penelope Blossom and their children, the marquess and marchioness, Jason and Cheryl Blossom."
"I suppose telling them to go away would be pointless." My mother sighed. "Send them in." The guard nodded and left to get them. My mother and I stood to greet them.
"Hello dear cousin. Aunty A." Cheryl strood in wearing a tight red dress that fell mid-thigh. The straps curved the dress in an upside down pentagon look. It was quite… scandalous... for the palace, but that was Cheryl Blossom. Her Twitter handle was literally cheryl_bombshell because that was just who she was.
She walked over to me and kissed my cheeks. "That dress looks stunning on you. Although, you would look fabulous in red."
"Cheryl, lovely to see you." I said, forcing a smile to my face. She moved onto my mother as Penelope approached me. Believe it or not, Cheryl was warmer than her parents. Jason was the nicest, but he was quieter than the rest.
"Elizabeth." Penelope nodded to me, and Clifford followed her lead. Jason moved forward, and bowed slightly. I let out a little laugh.
"Jason, that's really not necessary."
"Sorry. I still struggle with when to or when not to. And it's a whole different world when someone bows to me." He smiled and I laughed. Cheryl came over to us.
"Shall we eat, cousin?"
"Let's."
"This is cute." Cheryl commented, coming into my room and looking around. "Very… pink?" I snorted.
"Two guesses on who designed it." I said.
"Mmm. That cute guard outside your room?" Cheryl smirked.
"Nice try."
"I don't even know why you would bother with a Selection when you have all these guards around. They're all fit and muscular and hot…" She trailed off as Toni stepped into the room.
"Oh! Sorry, Betty. I didn't know you had company." She looked Cheryl up and down.
"That's alright, Toni. Um, this is my cousin, Cheryl Blossom. Cheryl, this is my maid," I glanced at Toni, to confirm my next statement.
"Slash best friend," Toni said. I smiled.
"Slash best friend, Antoinette Topaz."
"Toni." Toni held out her hand for Cheryl to shake and Cheryl just stared at her.
"Um, Cheryl is a marioness." I mentioned trying to break the ice. Toni pulled her hand away. "So, Toni, would you like to join us, or?"
"Oh! Your mother sent me. She said that they're ready for the Report and that you'll be receiving guests soon."
"Who? The Blossoms are already here. Is it the Andrews'? I just met Fred's son earlier today. He seemed nice."
"Once again, why hold a Selection?" Cheryl commented.
Toni glanced at Cheryl, confused, before looking back at me. "Um, she said something about Lodge?"
"The Lodges? Isn't the husband the mayor of SoDale?" Cheryl asked.
"Yeah. I think his wife is mayor of a different province though." I nodded. "I think they have a daughter our age."
Cheryl pulled out her phone and typed into it quickly. "Hiram Lodge, mayor of SoDale, married to Hermione Lodge, mayor of Pembrooke, and father to Veronica Lodge. They used to live in the province of New York where Hermione was mayor. Some St. Clair is mayor now." Cheryl rattled off the facts from her phone.
"Veronica. That's it. I've met her once, I think. Way back."
There was a knock at the door.
"Come in!" I called. Another maid, named Harper, entered.
"Your Highness, they're ready for you downstairs."
"Thank you, Harper. We'll be right down." She nodded and slipped back out.
"Toni?" I asked her.
She gave me a once over. "Looking fabulous, your Highness." She gave me an over-exaggerated curtsy and smirked.
"Good-bye!" I cried out in fake-exasperation.
"Break a leg." She called as she left the room.
"Well, cousin? Shall we?" Cheryl extended her arm to me.
"We shall."
"Alright, Princess Elizabeth. I'm told you have a very special announcement for the country." Mr. Weatherbee commented. He was the announcer for the Report and worked closely with Fred.
"Yes. Thank you, Mr. Weatherbee." I smiled genuinely at him before turning to face the camera and plastering on an ever bigger, faker smile. "People of Riverdale, as you all know, my mother is currently running our country with the help of our trusted council. I only see a fraction of their work, and I get exhausted just looking at that." The members of the council that were in the room gave a little chuckle at that. "I know that one day, that work will be mine. And while I love my mother and can't wait to become your queen, it's a hard job to do alone. That is why we've decided it would be best to hold a Selection!" Some people that hadn't heard of this yet gasped in excitement. I tried to make my smile even wider. "Which is why I'm pleased to announce that it will be held like traditional Selections, but instead of a prince, it'll be me. There will be a letter sent to all eligible gentlemen shortly and I will be selecting the young men in two weeks time, right here. I can't wait to meet everyone and maybe, dare I say, the one?" I smiled again and turned back to Mr. Weatherbee.
"Wow. So exciting, your Highness. I can't wait to watch you grow up even more!" Mr. Weatherbee smiled. He was on the council and I'd known him for all my life.
"Okay. We don't need a recount on how adorable I was when I was in diapers." I teased.
"Oh, I wasn't going to say anything like that. More that you wouldn't stop screaming."
"Mr. Weatherbee!" I cried in fake-astonishment. "I want these gentlemen to apply, not scare them away!"
"My bad, your Highness." He called me Betty when the cameras were off but I'd told him many times he could do it when they were on as well. My mother had put a stop to that. She was basically the only one in the palace that called me Elizabeth.
"Alright! You heard the princess! Gentlemen, get your lassos ready because she is a hard one to wrangle in!"
