"You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation."-Plato

The Royals

The first thing that must be said is that dinner with the royal family was far from what Josie imagined. To begin with was the table, no one sat in them but no separate table had been set up; which meant if they were having dinner with them, the family was going to be sitting at the same table, talking with them, being among them. On reflection one would probably say it was Queen America's idea, after all she was all about bringing people together and 'unlocking talents'. Another noticeable factor was that the room wasn't very large. Yes, it was big enough for thirty-four people to sit comfortably, but it was hardly ostentatious.

A set of two painting lay large against the walls and one wall out looked a forest. The table was laid out similar to the training set up; except there was five more, set up at the end of the table. Two throne like chairs had been set up on either side of the hall. Josie found a set next to Lexa and a girl who introduced herself as Marina. Josie told her that it was a pretty name, and Marina was about to respond when a man stepped into a hall, he had gold on his uniform, "Welcome, High Royal Highness King Maxon, Her Serene Grace Queen America, the Princesses Lucienne and Daphne, and our Prince Xavian." The man bowed and the girls curtsied.

First to enter was Princess Daphne; she gasped with excitement at the sight of the Selected and clapped her hands; however she didn't say anything as she sat on a seat next to one of the thrones. Next was Xavian who simply nodded to them, though Josie swore she sure a moment of irritation when he saw Daphne already siting. She had turned to Maria and was smiling widely. The Prince stood at the other end of the table and Josie realised that she had placed herself at a severe disadvantage at getting the chance to talk with any of the royals.

Princess Lucienne entered by drifting, her dress was long and the palest purple, pearls wrapped around her neck and hanging from her ears. She made the glamorously dressed Selected look like little girls playing at being grown woman. Despite only being a year older than the oldest girls she look like a woman, an idol for all girls growing up. She walked over to the Prince and smiled softly at him. Then she began a walk down the line of girls watching her. She stopped for each of them, talking for a moment; she smiled widely and addressed each of them by name.

Josie felt good before Lucienne had even made it half way. She suddenly wanted to talk to the Princess. In the time that Lucienne had made it three chairs down the King and Queen entered together. The Queen was intense, like a thousand flames joined together burning brightly filling the room with warmth and awe. The King had a friendly smile on his face and all Josie could think of was a lake or river, flowing, soft and hard at the same time, peaceful but ever moving. Despite this opposition they were together, and powerful, not just in title but in the way they dominated the room; not with force but a subtle sense of security. The King stopped next to his son, touching the Prince's shoulder.

"As I understand it my son has greeted you already, but I will take this chance to welcome you to our home. I hope you will find us joyful and connected, one of you will one day join our family and for that I am thankful. You are all beautiful and intelligent, true Daughters of Illéa, I am sure Xavian agrees with me when I say, we are alright in love with you all." The Queen laughed and Daphne made a strange gurgling noise. Xavian's eyes sharpened for a moment and then broke into a smile.

"I am sure I will come to life all out you." The Queen began to walk down the opposite end to Lucienne, talking to each of the girls, bidding them to sit. The King and Prince sat, descending into a deep conversation Josie couldn't here. Lucienne greeted Marina with a shake of her hand and a smile. Marina curtsied. "Princess Lucienne."

"Good evening, Lady Marina, or may I just call you Marina?" Marina nodded, "Thankyou, how are you enjoying the palace so far?"

"It's wonderful, it's beautiful, I'm so overwhelmed, but…ah, sorry." Marina brushed a stray hair behind her ear. Lucienne nodded and touched the girl's chair.

"Its fine, I want you to be open with me, I am here to be your friend, if any part of this becomes confusing or you just need to talk to me. I'm along a set of stairs away."

"Thankyou," She smiled, and brushed a hand as if to tuck some hair behind her ear, but there was no hair to brush. "To tell you the truth, I really wish Prince Xavian would have done this, instead of…you?" Lucienne laughed, it didn't seem to be directed at Marina, but…

"Xavian has grown suddenly shy, don't worry about it, I'm sure he'll love you." Marina lit up and smiled. "Would you like to take a seat?" Marina stepped away and sat. Lucienne turned and took two steps to get to Josie.

"Lady Josephine, it's nice to meet you. May I call you Josephine?" Josie shook her head, there was a stifled gasp from Lexa. "Pardon?" the princess asked.

"Sorry, but, no body calls me Josephine, I'm Josie if anything." Lucienne looked at her for a second then nodded.

"I'm honoured, Josie." She rolled the name, as if feeling it as it touched her lips. "Josie, I've never met a Josie." Josie diverted her eyes and nodded just a bit, not knowing how to respond to that.

"Well, Josie, if you ever wish to talk to me about anything in the palace or the Selection, you can just come to me. I'm sure we'll be fast friends, if you'll let me call you that?" Josie nodded and curtsied, "I'd be honoured."

"Take a seat if you will," Josie nodded and sat. Realising with sudden giddiness that she had just talked to Princess Lucienne, a real life princess. The dinner procession continued slowly and by the end Josie was truly hungry. She chatted with Lexa and Mirra who was on the other side of the table in a slight diagonal to the both of them. The Queen had talked to her and that was the main topic of conversation, sadly Mirra had talked to the Queen even less than Josie had talked to the Princess.

At last the food arrived and Josie was very happy that she remembered the fork for bread. It was not normal bread, no, no, the bread was short curled strips with on side crisp the other soft, small cubes of cheese and tomato were layered around the bread and an odd brown sauce with a sweet spice. Josie might have been a bit baised but she thought her mother's (usually mixed a bit with Camila's and her own) cooking was better, there was something that even these beautifully, no expense spared, meals that were served. She couldn't pin it but the idea of being, 'home made' seemed about right. Going to a restaurant was different from eating at home.

When she was finished the entrée she began to look around the room. She noticed a few girls had finished, their plates practically wiped clean; while others were taking their time, meticulously eating there food focusing completely on savouring the food in front of them. The King stopped talking to his son, encouraging the Prince to talk to the girls around him. Estora responded instantly leaning forward and talking quickly. The Prince seemed to relax as the people around him truly began the selection.

Lexa watched him right through the main meal, as if trying to see through the mirror that was his eyes. Josie watched the Queen instead, wondering what she thought about this competition. She had been the instigated of vast social change and in all of that, the selection still existed. She had gone through the same tradition all those years ago, yet so much had changed, and still so little. The Queen noticed her watching and smiled; Josie smiled back then glanced away. It was one thing to watch from after, it was another to be noticed and acknowledged.

The King stood and the rest of the diners did as well. He then stepped aside for Prince Xavian to talk. "Thank you for joining us for this delicious meal. I hope you have a good sleep and I will see you tomorrow. If Lady Estora and Lady Mariska would stay, I'd like to talk to you." The two girls curtsied an acceptance. "Wonderful, I bid you all good night." Someone clapped, and then as decorum dictated they all clapped, Prince Xavian bowed slightly and his father walked over to his wife. The King and Queen led their two daughters out the same door; the selected all curtsied as they left.

Lexa almost fell over. "Oh! That was great, and the food! The glorious food!" She whispered loudly. Mirra held up a finger and laced a hand around Lexa's pulling her ever so slightly to the door. They walked out together in two lines. Some girls held themselves high as they walked back to their rooms while others burst into instant chatter, gossiping over Estora and Mariska. Maria and Kallia walked at the back in silence. Josie could almost feel the irritation flowing off them. When they turned the corner Mirra leaned in close and said, "Birds of the feather flock together." Josie giggled, then realised suddenly that the same might be applied to themselves.

After all weren't they quite similar? She remembered seeing a few girls without friends and considered the fact that she'd found people who she liked at the palace, let alone find them so quickly. She was lucky they had zeroed her out themselves; after all, she had been considering doing this all alone. Perhaps there was more to being at the palace than just marrying a Prince, maybe she could find friends here too, she hadn't even known that she wanted more friends. But she figured she'd grasp the chance she had. She slipped her arms into theirs and turned to Lexa, "Where's your room? Mirra and I are right next to each other."

Lexa lit up and hurried them down another hall, Josie wondered if she'd be able to find her room again, but she was pretty confident in her sense of direction. They spend an hour in her room exploring the specific details of her wing. She was near most of the other girls and she was happy like that. A few came in and said hello, but left soon after. At last Rachelle came along the hall and announced to them all that it was lights out. Mirra and Josie let together, finding a roundabout route to their small hall way; Rue-Tia was already in her room with the light off by the time they got back.

Josie closed the door and found Thea waiting and she was thankful for help as she felt a wall of tiredness take her at the sight of the grand 'Lit à la Polonaise', which Thea told her had been given to the family for Princess Marlia's wedding. The fancy sounding named for it was nothing to the true bliss she felt when she fell into it; though she would have been happy with a nice patch of carpet at that point. Who knew etiquette lessons and beautification treatments were that tiring? She stretched out on the bed, she could get used to this.

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