"But O, how bitter a thing it is to look into happiness through another man's eyes."

William Shakespeare

Lessons

The days passed with strange consistency. Girls met with Kota and returned, nearly half were sent home however. Within two days the size of the group had shrunk from 31 to 18. Josie felt a nagging feeling, fearing that she'd be punished for talking with Xavian even though he'd invited her. Eventually all the girls had been interviewed, all except Josie. There were rumours going around according to Lexa, who had found a kindred spirit in a girl named Aalyne.

Josie rose to attend the first class of the day. She was dressed in a basic cream dress, similar to the one she'd been dressed in on the first day. She and Mirra walked to the small sitting room turned study hall and were greeted by the loud din of twenty girls. Maps of the world spread over the walls, and rows of old books offered themselves to be read. Josie had looked over most of the titles in the spare time before lessons and found that most of them missed vast sections of history. The legendary Diary of Gregory Illea was nowhere to be seemed, and Josie felt insulted by it. The contents of the books had been retold many times but her father had once pointed out that there was only one copy and that was at the Royal Palace.

She sat down in the room's far right corner. She placed her body ready to appear to be listening, but today she didn't want to learn about far away nations and their inner politics. Half the information was gossip, juicy things that involved people she'd never heard of and probably never would. She clasp the book that was handed out to them and watched as Lexa almost skipped over to greet her. A series of cameras came into the room, the photographers, the sound mechanics, even the director Magomory Gym was here. Mirra grimaced, "And here I was ready to learn something important."

She flicked the book open and browsed the contents page, she scoffed at something and pointedly stared out of the window. Lexa leaned in close and tapped Josie's shoulder. "What happened to her?" Josie looked Mirra over but shrugged, "haven't the faintest."

"Gosh, something's gotten her like that." Then Lexa smiled, and stood, "I'm going ask her, wish me luck."

"Good luck…" Josie said not totally sure what else to say. If Mirra was upset then she probably didn't want to talk about it, certainly not here where everyone was hanging around. Lexa pulled her chair over to Mirra and smiled with the effort to comfort. Mirra sighed and smiled back in a polite, educated way. Josie looked away, if Mirra talked about it, she didn't think that she should snoop without permission. Instead Josie stood and moved over to sit with Adele, Selene, Marina and Liana.

Rachelle collected herself at the front of the room and gestured to two servants to hang a large scroll. The paper rolled out with the power of gravity and a series of names were placed in front of them. In previous lessons mutters, whispers and even giggles had been produced whenever the topic of the lesson was introduced. But today there was none, either it was because this particular topic had not cause for debate or they had been scolded enough by Rachelle.

"Good morning, ladies, today we while be memorising the family tree of the royals. This will be very important for you when we move to the Autumn Palace and join the court. There will be hundreds of new faces, visiting dignitaries, cousins, aunts, respected individuals. When you are there you will learn the ones you need to know but the royal family is a must." She stepped through to the centre of the room, all eyes on her, albeit in a polite boredom from quite a few.

"We will begin with the nucleus, we have King Maxon and Queen America. Their children are; Caia who is married to Victor di Turin of the Italian Kingdom. Her daughter will be born in three weeks so you will not likely see her for a while. The next daughter is Marlia who is married to Alexander Skalaczajka of the Skalaski Empire, it is hoped you all remember her recent wedding to him. You have met Lucienne, Xavian and Daphne.

We move to extended family. You should start taking notes, this will not be repeated." Paper and pens were passed to them. Rachelle walked over to the scroll. "The photos," She said with an outstretched hand to the nearest servant. They hurried over to the nearby door and came out with a stack of photos. "These are the official images of the family, please, do not forget these faces while you are here."

"Regretfully the king's parents have left us so we will begin with the Queen's. Shalom and Magda Singer live near the Winter Palace and make a regular visit to that residency and the Autumn Palace on a less regular period. Due to a recent change in circumstances you may even meet them here. Be polite, they will expect it." Rachelle pointed at Shalom and Magda Singer at the top of her scroll. Underneath five lines extended down in fine ink.

"They have five children: Lord Kota, Lady Kenna, our Queen America, Lady May, and Lord Gerald." Josie scribbled the names down, forgoing the titles because she didn't have the time to write all the names. Rachelle moved on quickly as she always did. "Lord Kota is married to Lady Rebecca. He has two children, Maria Heart and Kota Singer the Second. Kota is a childhood friends of the Prince and often visits the palaces. If you see him, treat him with the utmost respect." Four small paintings were placed on the table. The person Josie knew as Prince Xavian looked back at her with a cheeky smile, he looked a few years younger than he did now and he wore a dark purple military uniform. It seemed if truly they had both swapped lives.

"Lady Kenna Orders, married to James Orders. They have four children, Astra, Aenor, Haakon, and Oscar. This side of the family rarely visits; exceptions include Haakon and Oscar Orders who are a childhoods friend of Princess Lucienne and Prince Xavian in turn. Lady Astra is married to Lewis Crofter with three young children, Vivian, Rengin and Roman. They all live in Hansport. Lady Aenor is married to Carter Dancer with two boys Kyros and Casimir. They live in Bonita," Rachelle did not seem to need a reference and the family trees and photos were purely to help the girls and the people watching at home; though if they were watching this Josie wondered if they had much work to do.

"We move onto Lady May Leger, who married to Reed Leger." Something made Josie pause, the lesson ran passed her and she stared at the paper, having no idea why she stopped but unable to continue until she knew. She ran through the names. Kota…Kenna…Astra…Aenor…she gasped. Aenor Crofter. Who lived in Bonita. She started at the paper forcing down a laugh. Aenor Crofter was the niece of Queen America. She realised then that the lesson had stopped; she looked up and smiled meekly.

"Sorry," Rachelle tsked and sighed then resumed her position.

"Lord Gerald is not currently married but has two boys, Piers and Nickolas." Rachelle finished this in a huff and looked over the rapidly writing girls. "Does anyone have any questions before I move onto second cousins?" A few hands rose and Josie took the chance to change seats to sit next to Mirra and Lexa.

"What caused you to interrupt the class?" Mirra asked, looking at Josie's paper. Josie grimaced at Mirra's fine, polished handwriting, next to it was a series of short lines which Josie didn't understand. She smiled meekly and said, "Well, you know how Rachelle said Aenor Crofter lived in Bonita?" Lexa frowned but Mirra checked her notes and nodded. "I've met her, she lives in my town, I…was just surprised is all."

"So you knew a One before you even got here good on you. I think you're chances just increased by a lot," Josie shook her head.

"I didn't know she was an old One before I heard just now. All I knew was she came from another province. She was a bit of an outsider you know. Where I come from…strangers are few to come by." Mirra nodded, and shrugged.

"I'm from a large city, the capitol of Dominica actually. Though it's a small town compared to the ones in Angeles." She hmmed. "What about you Lexa, what was your life like at home."

"Well…I live in Denbeigh with my grandparents. Both my parents have job that requires moving them around. My brothers all have gone and joined the military like my father. I was planning to join my mother one day – after school – on the high seas." Lexa laughed a single hard noise. "Can't see myself doing it though, all though long hours with the woman." Her tone was light and soft but her words were scathing in a way that caused Josie to reassess her position on Lexa. "I just need to be around people, I like it here, lots of girls to talk too. You and Aalyne, I love you."

Mirra nodded. "You argument is logical, just because you're parents can do it doesn't mean you can, or should." Lexa smiled at that.

"Thanks Mirra."

"Pleasure."

The day was quiet and uneventful. Calm before the storm.