Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none. - William Shakespeare

Goodbyes

A group of organisers arrived at her house midday the next day. A dozen men and women arrived in two shiny cars. They'd already visited Susan Clean, the other Bonitan girl, and didn't look to happy about having to travel all the way out to the 'middle of nowhere' while it rained heavily. The family brought out covers and ran the organisers into the house. There were some rushed apologises and many 'it's fine, you can't control the wether', but eventually they were all in the house, rubbing themselves down with a series of towels.

The boys clapped their hands as the rain started clearing and made excuses as to why they had to go out onto the farm. Too much girly such like shoes and make-up would surely kill them. Laia ran out after first chance she got. They sat in the living room, and questions were asked and instructions were made. They measured her everywhere; shoulders, arm length, thigh length, breast size, it went longer than any dressing Josie have ever been in.

Her mother told her she had to start practicing acting like a noble, chin up, shoulder's straight, feet together. Josie closed her eyes and breathed. She was starting to see just what an adversity this particular exploration was going to be. It only make her want to get to the palace more. By the time the leader of the pack of organisers asked to talk to her in her room Josie was absolutely boiling with anticipation.

She led the woman; Rachelle, up the stairs and into her room. The woman looked over small painting in the corner, the flute case, her bags with things she planned on taking, and the horse riding medals. Most girls around where she lived competed in dressage, but prancing around on the backs of horses never appealed to her, while it was tough, and she did participate is the racing and jumping competitions were cancelled or too easy, that sort of thing just wasn't her cup of tea.

Pulling up a chair Rachelle looked Josie in the eye. "Now, first I'd like to know if you've had any romantic relationships with anyone in your life, and how far did you go?" Josie sat down on her bed and nodded her head solemnly.

"Well…when I was fourteen I dated a boy from school?" The woman nodded, Josie sighed, pulling up the story, "We were friends as children and he was nice enough. We only dated because our friends said we should, we kissed once, again under pressure from our friends. To tell you the truth I'd been hoping he'd kiss me for months, but I wasn't all that it's cracked up to be. So I know what to except if the prince ever wants to kiss me. But I'm a virgin to another that question." Then she added in a whisper, "I have self-respect, if that's what you want to know."

Rachelle circled at few things on her pile of notes and nodded. "You may have to leave that self-respect here, if you want to do well in this competition. Don't celebrate just yet." The woman avoided Josie's eyes as she moved onto the next item on her list.

"I have been informed that riding horses sometimes registers our virginity tests unreliable, whoever, if you are under suspicion of lying to us than you will be tested, and you should hope our test proves actuate this time." She paused and sat the stack of papers down. "Now, I require a sample of your blood and then will you tell me how heavy you're period is."

"My what?"

"You seem more surprised than you did for my first question; I assure you any results will not be held against you. The King and Queen simply wish to make sure you are well."

"Sorry, you covered being a virgin before, but nothing about a blood test." Rachelle nodded; she was an old woman, with small eyes and a pretty smile. Age had been good to her, as all women hoped it would be good to them; it made her stronger, not prettier, but stronger. She then pulled out a small container and a sharp knife. "One pick to the finger should do it. Three drops if you can." Josie dropped the blood into the small, long tube.

Rachelle stood and deposited her tube next to another; Susan Clean's. Rachelle had said the results of her blood test wouldn't affect anything, but she was starting to imagine it might. If they found some rare disease in their system would they be thrown out? She hoped she was healthy, or at least be given a chance to explore the palace, and work out what exactly was odd about Prince Xavian.

"Now," She picked up the papers again. "How heavy is your period?" Josie sat straighter.

"I'd say a normal amount, I've never considered it in compared to everyone else." Rachelle nodded, recording her response.

"Now, none of this will leave the room. Everything we have discussed will not be shared with anyone, in your family, to your friends and even to the other selected. Do you understand?" Josie nodded. Rachelle packed up her things and she left the room, Josie was frozen for a second then, a smile on her face, she stood and followed.

She wanted to meet these people for curiosity; once she was satisfied she'd go home, no questions asked, not tears. She wasn't a romantic, she was an explorer. Compared to the other girls, she was in an entirely different story. Rachelle began to talking again once she reached the bottom of the stairs.

"We are required to inform you, that since there have been changes to the competition and our society, so the Selection will be different compared to the one your parents will remember. You will not receive any rise in your social caste, as there are no longer any castes to speak of. Once you are narrowed down to the top 31 your family will begin to receive finical reimbursement until that time, your family will just have to make do.

Since we now have sixty-two contestants compared to the usual thirty-one, the first part of the competition will be held outside palace grounds." Only partially listening Josie's head whipped back to Rachelle; she almost fell off the chair she was about to sit on. "What- ah, I mean, pardon?" Rachelle stopped and looked at her with disapproval. "Please pay attention all of this will be important for later."

"A public vote will be held to choose which girl will go onto the final selected. You will be given the next three days to prove to the people of your province why you should be chosen instead of the other Bonitan. You'll be shown around the province of course, basic places will be attended to and I will need both your signature and your guardian's. Some stop over towns can be negated; both your routes will be the same, just in opposite directions. Of course you can choose not to participate in this section of the selection."

Josie shook her head, that was the get out, if someone ever needed it. The woman probably thought all Bonitan girls wouldn't want to go. Perhaps Susan would choose not to go. She wasn't sure though, so she nodded, knowing that she'd have to sell herself; or at least her family. "When do I start?" Rachelle didn't smile, but Josie's mother did.

"Everything seems to be in order. I need some signatures, so please." She pulled out a piece of paper and set it down on the table. "I would like to talk with you as well, Mrs Agrarian." Her mother nodded and rose, she might have been shorter than Rachelle but that didn't stop her flicking up her chin and looking down slightly on the woman. Then she bowed her head, a mimic of the royals, and led the woman out into the kitchen. Josie laughed when the doors closed and walked over to the window, the rain had stopped and now the fields were shinnying in the dull sun light, a rainbow was faint against the clouds.

There she decided just how she'd get through this round. She sighed; she didn't want her mother to do everything for her. While it was great to have her help, some paths needed to be paved alone. She spun around, sitting down on the window's chair. Her mother was out quickly and Rachelle left soon after, depositing a series of forms she was expected to read by tomorrow, where she'd be rushed off, alone for a three day tour of her province.

It was all a too unreal, and while basking in the fantasy was appealing, she felt she needed to distance herself from it. She picked up the papers and took them to her room; everything that had been covered was in the fine detailed script. The writing was comfortingly normal, as anything like this was normal.

She memorised the rules first;

The contestant cannot leave the palace on her own accord; she can only be dismissed by the prince himself.

There is no timeline for the Selection; no contestant may leave until the prince himself allows it.

The contestant cannot arrange her times with the prince. If in a large social setting, this rule does not apply.

The contestant cannot fight or sabotage other participants. If the contestant is found laying her hands on another contestant, causing her stress, stealing from her, or doing anything that might diminish her personal relationship with the prince, the prince will decide whether to dismiss her or not.

The contestant can only have a romantic relationship with the prince. If caught, the girl's punishment will be decided by the royal family and the royal guard at the time.

If the contestant is found breaking any of Illéa's written laws, her punishment will be tied to that offense.

The contestant cannot eat food or wear any clothes not provided to her by the palace.

The contestant must be courteous to photographers, and allow them to see her lifestyle with the prince.

For each week the contestant stays at the palace, her family will be compensated.

If the contestant is no longer in the Selection, she will have an aide to help her adjust to her new life after the Selection. This aide will continue until the contestant is no longer in need of it, or the royal family deems it unsuitable.

If the contestant makes it to the top ten, she is considered an Elite, and will be required to learn about particular inner workings of the life and obligations she would have as a princess. Until then, the contestant is not allowed to know any more.

If the contestant wins the Selection, she and her family will become members of the royal family. The contestant will also marry the prince and become the crowned princess of Illéa, taking on all the rights and responsibilities of the title.

The contestant must be a virgin.

If the prince invites the contestant to do something with him, she can refuse; however all repercussions of this will be dealt with decisively and will not be changed.

The selection may be suspended at any time, all contestants will be expected to remind with the royal family though this period unless otherwise specified.

The contestant may not go into parts of the palace that have not been cleared for their use; if they grow lost they most stay where they are and wait for a member of staff to show them the way back to their rooms.

The contestant may not leave palace grounds; unless otherwise specified by two members of the royal family, and with the approval of the Head of the Royal Guard.

The contestant may not harm any member of the palace staff during their time in the palace; unless in self-defence.

Then she moved onto her itinerary. She'd start and finished in Sjoase; the biggest city in Bonita. Night fell quickly, with rain falling again. Josie went to bed and only managed to get to sleep after reading a dozen chapters of one of her favourite books. Thoughts fluttered through her mind over what happened in the past few days; the rules and the blood test, and Aenor's story, but one thought hung in her head defying even tiredness; "the boy is only eighteen, his birthday is in December…" Her father's voice echoed, right into her dreams.

In the morning she ran over her plan. She'd be down to earth and noble at the same time, thrown in with a big of dressage, horses she could do. Her mother woke the house up as the sun touched the horizon. Half the house was awake already and the other set was going to get a leg in their belly is they didn't get up with in the next half hour. There were things to do, while they had an excuse on school days, they had no such luck in summer on a weekend.

When Josie came down the stairs her mother made no comment, simply passing over a plate of good wholesome breakfast. Josie picked up her fork and dug in. "Daughters of Illea don't eat like that I'm sure." Camila said coming in, stretching like a cat. She took the offered plate and sat down opposite from Josie. "Why are you wearing that?"

"I'm going to ride into town, if that's okay with you Mama?" Her mother nodded; while she wasn't facing her girls Josie imagined there was a smile on her face. "Okay, so I have a plan of action, but I'm not sure if it's any good. I want to look…um, princessy, but I also want to look like me, I don't want people to vote for me if I'm being someone else. I'd feel like I betrayed them."

Camila laughed, "Good luck getting in though, no one going to like you if you act like you normally do. Food falling out of your face, being a major highlight of your day."

"Camila!" her mother said, turned around and sitting down with her own breakfast.

"Yes, Mama?" She asked sweetly, she dropped the charade after seeing her mother's expression. "Sorry, Mama, she'll do fine, I'm sure. If she walks around in Bonitan clothes too she might get votes. I think you shouldn't focus on being a princess; but a Bonitan representative, most of us don't care which girl becomes princess. And I'm sorry, but that other girl is prettier than you." Josie frowned, but brushed the comment aside, so what if the other girl was better looking? That wasn't the point, it was about who would be the best princess, it wasn't a beauty contest.

Was it?

"I was thinking about wearing traditional clothes, but I thought it would be too much. Also, I think I'll do stuff like the Queen, talk to the people and all that."

"You should do a dance." Laia voice was loud and sudden behind her. The little girl was sitting on the floor, her clothes already dirty. "I like dancing, and you silly when you dance. I want to laugh, if people laugh they will like you."

"I don't want that laughing at me." The little girl shook her head.

"They will be laughing at your dancing. It's okay."

"I'm not dancing; unless there's a proper reason." Laia shrugged. "I packed my flute too, I figured if I get to go to the palace then the Queen will like that. Since she's a former Five; she should like music, right?" Her mother shook her head.

"The Queen likes everyone; I doubt that will give you an advantage, the real one you have to convince is the Prince. Remember it's his competition." Josie nodded, thinking not about the prince, but the Queen. Did the Queen really like everyone she met, Josie doubted it, no one was like that. She thought over the times she had seen the woman, only once in real life, and from a fair distance. She imagined the woman's eyes, nothing like her son's they showed true emotion, fire of determination, soft rose of affection, and an expression that she shared with her husband; sadness.

But unlike with the King the feeling stirred something inside Josie, made her think of the horrible things in the world, and made her want to change them. Over breakfast she decided that no, for her she wasn't going to meet the Prince, to get married. Those thoughts were years away, no, truly, she wanted to meet and talk to her Queen. She had knowledge of the Queen, she knew the common facts, she could imagine the life the Queen lived; but she didn't know the woman. And that was something she decided would be worth more than just exploring the world. She wanted to see the world through Queen America's eyes.

The car arrived soon after and they packed her things. Then Josie climbed onto Imre, brushing his neck. "Time to go on an adventure for a lifetime, Imre, I hope you're up to it," The horse shook his head and made a grunting noise, she laughed, "I thought you might feel that way, don't worry this time, I know where I'm going." The horse shook its head and started walking.

She thought of the Queen as she urged Imre to go faster, she slowly brought him to full speed, resting him once before the town came into view. She didn't want him to be tried when she arrived. The city streets were crowded. Flags were waved, hands reached out into the streets from high balconies. She rode Imre over the bitumen roads. Camila had done her hair in the traditional style. Laia had even collected white flowers for her head band.

In the town music was playing, people were dancing and cloth had been thrown up over held. It looked like a festival was about to begin. Josie realised that the festival had been thrown because of her, she smiled, and waved to the crowd.

As she neared the city centre Josie lifted up her hand, "Siempre tú eres mi Bonita!" She yelled and they sang back. The crowd thickened. "Me voy a mostrar Illéa, Bonita! I will show them our beauty! I will show them our dances and our songs. I am of the old kingdom! I am a daughter of Bonita and Illéa." She told them, the words she'd thought of over and over coming almost smoothly. The people didn't seem to mind, the idea of being Illéans had never sat right with most Bonitans, but to be both, well that's what they were. It was the truth.

She circled the city centre, the car before her showing the way. In the middle of the square she dismounted Imre and rubbed him, "You did well boy, perfect as always." Imre jerked his head up and looked her in the eye as if to say; you expected something different? She smiled and stepped away.

Josie stepped up onto the stage, and liked down on the crowd in front of her. Nerves fluttered in her stomach but she imagined the first time she rode a horse, or danced in front of a crowd, when she had performed at the town concert with her flute in hand. All though time she had been nervous, and in the end she had lived it. She felt a soft smile creep onto her face.

"My name is Josephine Agrarian; I am a girl from out of town, in a farm a little way away from here. I have been raised here, I have visited this town every weekend for as long as I remember. I love it here; I love living in Bonita. I have not joined this competition because I think I love the Prince. My love is the people, all I want is the chance to meet the man who will rule us, to become friends with him, perhaps even love him. I got selected for this, not because I'm pretty, because I believe in every single one of us."

She bowed and stepped away, there were claps, and the attendant assigned to her come over. "Good, good. Now we have to get going. We have to get to Sjoase by this afternoon, or we'll be late." The attendant was named Vukan Raška and he seemed to be in a rush for everything. Here whole family had come to see her off, while the town's people moved away her family came up to her.

First it was Laia who had found the nearby water fountain and splashed water all over herself. Realising she might not see her sister for weeks Josie hugged her, even while she swarmed. Then Leandro and Hugo came up to her, Leandro followed Hugo's example of patting Josie on the shoulder and saying; "I love you, come back soon, alright?" Josie nodded and put her hand on his shoulder. "I love you too, and I will."

Then Anton come up to her and hugged her, lifting her off her feet, crushing her. She kicked him and he let go. "Go, and get them, Josie, don't come back without a crown on your head," Camila laughed behind her. "Josie won't be gone long, nothing there will keep her. Unlike you she has high standards for herself." Camila pushed her younger brother aside with a hand.

"Who can be higher than royalty?"

"Being an old Four, with enough food on the table to feed the family, and the land in your heart. That's what everyone needs, nothing more, nothing less. Happiness comes from the land and the people around you. Remember that Josie."

"I will." She told her sister, who began pushing Anton away. "Go on, come on, we have to watch Laia and Leandro."

"I haven't finished saying goodbye!" Anton exclaimed, then he twisted around, "Good bye, Josephine, see you soon." Josie grinned, and kissed him on the cheek.

"See you soon, Ant." An annoyed expression come to his face, "I'm not an ant…"

"Going," Camila told him, grabbing his shirt and pulling him away. As if just remembering she kissed her hand and held it out to her sister. Josie kissed her own and pushed it against Camila's. "Good luck, little sister." Then she moved away, wrangling up her younger siblings.

Next was Aleix. Who came up to her and nodded, he didn't seem to think anything more needed to be said. Josie hugged him. She felt the words that had not been said in the way he hugged back. There were no need for words with them in that moment, and as they came away and gave him a cheeky smirk. His nice shirt was all wet. He ruffled her hair and moved away.

The last of her siblings came up then. Standing next to each other, the light brown hair and blue eyes of the two oldest Agrarian girls made them look like twins. Both of them were women in their own right, the oldest; Gracia, had married a man who lived in town. He was an old Five, but she didn't seem to mind. He stood back as the two girls came forward, but Josie shook her head and held her hand out to the man. He wasn't her brother in blood, but the heart was all that mattered.

He glanced at the camera man, who stood near the car, filming the goodbyes. A small clip would be broadcasted on next Friday's Report. She embraced all three at once, it wasn't a hard hug, light but meaningful like her sisters. Gracia was a few centimetres taller than her younger sister; Kistine, and close up you could see the differences that made them sisters not identical twins.

Kistine kissed her cheeks twice, but moved away after that. Josie wasn't all that disappointed Kistine and her had never been that close, and it wasn't like she was leaving forever. They'd see each other again, and to Kistine that meant that a big and grand goodbye was pointless, such things were reserved for soldiers and the dead. At least, for Kistine they were. Josie disagreed, this was a show, a story unfolding, a performance with her as one of the lead roles; that meant big goodbyes were important, and playing her part so the show was perfect was all that mattered.

Her mother and father came up last of all. They wore their best, her mother in a pale orange dress and her father in a patterned collared shirt. Her father came to her first; he knelt down as if she was a little girl again. "Good luck, Josephine, I hope you will not need it, and as you're father I hope you don't want it. I'm not sure if I fully approve of this princely character, so if he picks you tell him he will have to talk to me first." Glancing around her father leaned in closer and Josie dropped to her knees. He whispered to her, "If you can, find out if my theories are correct. I know said I don't want to know, but this is my chance to find out as well, do it for your own man, okay? And, if you do decide to marry the prince, well, I trust your judgment most of the time. So…good luck." He nodded, looked up as if checking his mental list, then nodded again. "Love you, Josephine, love you."

She rose with him, feeling tried from all the love and hugs and everything. Her mother came up with a handkerchief, "look at you, all wet, honestly how did this happen? I can't believe I let that girl out of my sight. Straight into the water, honestly, my other girls were never such a fuss." She clucked her tongue and tsked, wiping off the water. Then she sighed. "Darling, you don't have to do this, you know that? I don't care what the other's think, I need you, I don't want you living far away in a palace or some noble's mansion. Money doesn't bring love, I know I act like it does, I know I tell you things about business that maybe I shouldn't; but business is business, and the truth is the truth. I wanted you to know the truth, about things, not to have silly fantasies about this world.

But trust me, darling, if you for one moment thing you want that boy for his crown, or to help the people, don't marry him. You can't help anyone if you hate fate, if you hate yourself, if you hate the world around you. Family loved you without condition, money, power, caste, doesn't." Josie stared at her mother; there were tears in her eyes. Josie thought of Aenor's story, about the Queen's sister and the old Six. Was that the message? Was that what the story meant? Josie nodded. "I know, Mam, I know."

"Good, then I've taught you well." Her mother wiped her eyes turned to the rest of the family. "You're old enough to do whatever you want with your life, I don't want to tell you not to marry the prince, or to come help when you've satisfied you're curiosity. I know I told you that before, but I've been thinking, and I will love you all the same." Josie held her mother's arm, and they walked to the rest of her family together.

One final goodbye, and Josie turned to the people in the town centre. She stepped up again and held up her hand. People clapped and cheered. "And to you, Vivatera, Goodbye!" The music began louder, a dancing song, and some bold people grabbed a friend and began to dance. Josie wanted to join them but she knew she had to get to Sjoase soon, and Vukan would be waiting, but not for long. She came to the car and waved good bye to her family. As she left the town centre she wondered how long she'd be at the palace, and if the Queen would like her.