Chapter 8: House of Gold
Mo Maldonado stood up from the chair and brushed off her skirt as the interviewer thanked her for her time and wished her luck in the Selection. She gave him an off handed thank you and moved away from the cameras and lights of the corner of the Women's Room that had been set up for interviews. She had been one of the last girls to be interviewed, so she did not have to wait long before they were all finished. Once everyone had gathered on the couches and chairs where they had waited before and after their interviews and Evelyn had finished talking with the camera men and reporters, she came to stand in front of them. She waited a moment as the last maids lined up behind her along the wall. Once everyone was quiet, she cleared her voice and began speaking.
"Congratulations to each and every one of you on completing your first interviews as Daughters of Illéa! You all did wonderful jobs, and I am exceedingly proud. Of course, in the coming weeks you will be trained on many things, one of which will be how to properly talk to media. Now that you are at the palace, your lives will constantly be filmed and photographed. The only people allowed inside the palace are the Royal Photographers and hand picked reporters who will never be permitted inside your private rooms, but beyond these walls, you will have little to no privacy. My staff and I will do all we can to preserve your privacy as much as possible, but there is only so much we can do. You must acclimate yourselves to a life in the spotlight. Everything you do, every date, every activity, everything is publicised. The Selection is just as much for the people as it is for you and His Majesty, in some ways it is even more for them. You are to treat all reporters and photographers within the palace walls with respect at all times and cooperate with them as they do their job.
"I will give you the information you will require for tonight, but all expectations and other information will be given tomorrow. You will have lessons every week day after breakfast from 9:00 to 12:00. Absence or tardiness will not be tolerated unless you are given explicit permission by myself or His Majesty. Tomorrow's lesson will consist of a tour of the castle, an explanation of your role as a Selected and the expectations as such, as well as other general information. All you need to know for today is that once we are finished here you will be escorted to your rooms which are in the same wing as the Women's Room, where we are now. Once you have been shown to your room you are free to make yourself comfortable and get to know the other Selected. However, you are not to leave this wing. You are to stay in your room or in the Women's Room. Once I have given you a tour tomorrow you will be allowed to freely roam with palace, with some exceptions of course, and intermingle with your male counterparts. For today, however, you are to stay in this wing. You will meet here no later than 6:45 when I will escort you to the dining hall for dinner where you will be joined by Her Highness Princess Katarina.
"Have I made myself clear? Are there any questions?" Evelyn stopped and scanned the room. She was about to begin speaking again when a tall, redheaded girl raised her hand.
"Yes?" Evelyn asked, motioning for the girl to speak.
"When will we meet King Nils?"
"You will meet His Majesty the day after tomorrow at the Welcome Banquet. Are there any other questions?" She paused, and another girl raised her hand.
"Where are the bathrooms?
Evelyn sighed and closed her eyes for a moment before answering, "You each have a bathroom in your rooms. Now, are there any other serious questions?" She waited another moment, "No? In that case, when I call your name your maids will take you to your room and help you settle in. Ruta Sepetys, Allens…Thomas Peck, Angeles…Avery Mozen, Atiln…Aaron Seaver, Baffin…"
Evelyn continued calling names, each time a girl would stand up and a set of maids would step forward and lead her out of the Women's Room and down the hall. After several minutes, Mo heard her name called. She stood up and followed her three maids out of the Women's Room. They took her down the hall quite a ways, finally stopping at a door on the left. They opened the door and stood aside to let Mo walk into her room. She stepped in and looked at the room, barely helping the smile that spread across her face. It was a beautiful, spacious room with lovely natural light and an airy feel. It was a simple room, with only a closet, a bookshelf, a desk, a door which presumably led to a bathroom, and a four poster bed next to the door. Despite the simplicity, it was a lovely room. And sitting in the corner was her small pile of bags with things from home.
"We'll help you unpack then help you pick something out to wear to dinner, ma'am."
Mo turned around to see her three maids standing in the door. The shorter, dark haired one had spoken.
"Thank you, that would be very nice."
...o0o...
Elaine Kingley put down the shirt she had been folding and looked over her shoulder at her maids, who were pulling out a few dresses for her to try for dinner tonight. She sighed; she was not at all used to all this help. If she were being honest, it made her a bit uncomfortable. She just wanted to have a few moments to herself. One of the maids, Ellen, looked over at her, causing Elaine to smile faintly and quickly look back to her hands in her lap.
"My Lady, if you are ready, we have a few dresses for you to try."
Elaine forced herself to smile before standing up, "Thank you, that would be lovely."
Elaine tried on several dresses before settling on a floor length dress made of several layers of embroidered, light pink chiffon. She liked it enough, it made her feel like a fairy princess, but it was so strange to be wearing such fancy clothing.
Once her maids had finished touching up her makeup and putting her hair into a long braid down her back, she still had an hour before she was supposed to meet the other female Selected in the Women's Room. She couldn't stand another minute in her room with the three maids waiting at her beck and call, so she decided to explore the castle. She politely excused herself and made her way down the hall in the opposite direction of the Women's Room. She remembered Evelyn's orders not to leave the Selected's wing, so she was careful not to stray too far.
After a few minutes she came to a large set of glass french doors that seemed to lead to the gardens. She tried the doors, but they seemed to be locked, so she studied the small portion of the gardens she could see through the doors before moving on. The hall was lined with identical white doors that she could only assume led to her fellow Selected's rooms. However, once she had been walking for awhile the hall started to change. The more modern, marble walls changed to dark wood as did the tile floors. She worried for a moment that she had strayed too far, but quickly pushed that thought from her mind. She hadn't taken any detours or anything, she was sure it would be fine.
Another thing that had changed about the hall was that there were no longer any doors on the left side of the wall. The right continued to have the occasional mahogany door, but the left wall was bare. That made the door she finally came to even more interesting. It stood out already, a plain wooden door opposed to the ornately decorated doors of the right side of the hall. Somehow she knew she was not supposed to open the door, but her curiosity overcame her. She reached out a hand and pushed open the door. She drew in a sharp breath when her eyes fell on what was on the other side of the door.
Through the plain, mahogany door was the largest, most beautiful library Elaine had ever seen. The room was dark, with just enough natural light peeking in through the tall, narrow windows to rear by. The walls were lined from floor to ceiling with shelves and shelves of books. There was even a second floor, a narrow hall running along the walls about halfway up. It was a beautiful room, from the dark wood paneling, to the cozy reading chairs in every corner. It was the perfect room for reading.
Elaine stepped into the room, letting her hand reach out and run along the seeming endless rows of books as she walked along the wall. She was so lost in thought she failed to notice the person sitting in one of the chairs until she nearly ran into him.
"Oh, oh, I'm so sorry!" She rushed to apologize as she stepped back from the armchair she had nearly tripped over.
"No worries, I should be going anyway,"
"No, no, I shouldn't even be here."
"I don't recognize you, are you…" his voice trailed off as he smiled, as if something had just cliched in his brain, "You must be one of the Selected. Evelyn said you would be arriving."
"Yes," Elaine said, looking down at her feet and blushing, "I'm Elaine. And you are?"
"Gunnar, nice to meet you," the boy said, reaching out a hand.
Elaine's eyes widened in horror, "Gunnar… Gunnar as in Prince Gunnar?"
"Yes, I suppose so." The boy smiled awkwardly, pulling his hand back when Elaine did not take it.
"Oh, oh my goodness, I'm so sorry! Um," Elaine curtsied, almost tripping over her dress in the process, "Uh, I've never met a prince before, Your Highness, please forgive me."
"Not to worry, it's your first day. How could you possibly have known?"
"I suppose…"
"Well, I better be going, it was wonderful to meet you Lady Elaine. I wish you the best of luck with my brother." He smiled at her once more before disappearing out the door.
Elaine sunk down into the seat he had been sitting in and put her hands over her face. What had she just done?
...o0o...
Aurora Reads looked over her outfit once more. She liked it, but it was different. The pale pink was not like anything she normally wore, but she was glad she had tried. It looked nice on her.
"My Lady? Is there anything else you need from us?"
Aurora turned around and smiled. "No, thank you, Charlotte."
"Alright, thank you, My Lady. Enjoy your evening, and we will see you when you return."
Aurora smiled and stepped out of her room and into the hall. She turned down the hallway and walked down to the Women's Room. When she arrived, most of the other girls seemed to be there already. She sat down with a group of girls, but no one really seemed to be interested in talking.
After a few minutes of waiting, Evelyn walked into the room.
"Ladies. You will now follow me to the dining hall. Remember, you are guests in His Majesty's home, so please be quiet and courteous as we walk through the halls. When we arrive in the dining hall, you are to find your seats; you each have a place at the table, so do not sit in the seat of another girl or boy.
"His Highness Prince Gunnar has decided to join us as well, and he and his sister will be sitting at the Royal Family's table. You are not to approach their table or make conversation with them unless they reach out to you. You have not yet begun your etiquette lessons, but please use your best manners and be on your best behavior. This is the Royal Family of Illéa. Now, follow me"
Evelyn led them out of the Women's Room and away from their rooms. When they came to an intersection, they met their male counterparts and continued down the winding halls of the palace together until they arrived at a tall pair of double doors. The doors were opened by a pair of footmen, and the Selected were led into the room.
It was a grand room, decorated with art and elaborate gold trimming. Huge, gold chandeliers hung from the ceiling, each one adorned with hundreds of burning candles. In front of them was a long table with seats for each of the selected, each with a name tag sitting on the plate. In front of the long table was a smaller table on a slightly raised platform. This table had chairs only on one side and each chair seemed to be different. Aurora could only assume each royal had their own specific spot at the table.
The Selected were ushered into the room and given a few moments to find their seats before they were instructed to take their seats. They sat, conversing amongst themselves for a few moments before the royal siblings arrived.
Suddenly, the doors on the opposite side of the room opened and the footman rapped his staff on the floor three times..
"Her Royal Highness, Princess Katarina of Illéa and Lady Claudia von Amsberg"
A few of the Selected, those who had been raised in high society, stood, followed quickly by the others. The doors opened and a regal looking woman walked in, accompanied by a taller, dark haired woman. They both nodded to the Selected before silently taking their places next to each other at the royal table. Once they had taken their seats, the doors opened again.
"His Royal Highness, Prince Gunnar of Illéa."
A tall, blond boy walked in and took his place next to his sister, not acknowledging the Selected as she had. The light haired, shorter woman, presumably Princess Katarina, stood and smiled at the Selected.
"Please, take your seats."
Once all the selected had sat down, she continued speaking, "It is my pleasure, as well as my brother's," she gestured to Gunnar, who was sitting next to her, "to welcome you to our home. We are thrilled to have you hear and hope to get to know as many of you as we can in the coming months. One of you, after all, will one day be our sister or brother-in-law. Now, please enjoy your first meal at the palace."
With that, the princess sat down and a smaller door, barely visible behind the royals, opened to let out a line of butlers and maids, all carrying platters of food.
Hey all! Two chapters in less than five months?! What is this? I know, impressive. Anyway, I have another chapter ready so we'll see when that one goes up.
As always, let me know what you think, and if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, drop a review or PM me here or on the Discord and I will get back to you ASAP!