Riva's POV

I placed the two crates filled with berries in the back of the truck then jumped into the front seat next to my mother. I was going with her to make a delivery off of our tribe's reserve. We drove for about twenty minutes until we were back in the heavily populated area of Belcourt. The reserve is out in the middle of nowhere so it was always a bit of a drive before we got to the shops. My mother and I both grabbed three crates and brought them into my friend Capucine's family's grocery store.

"Ah! Alix you brought the next delivery just in time!" Capucine's father, Harald, greeted my mother. He took the crates from my mother and called over one of his employees to take them from me. "The last fruits you brought were so ripe that people couldn't get enough of them." Alix smiled kindly, "Our tribe grows the finest fruits." Capucine came running down an aisle and crushed me in a hug. "It's been so long!" I laughed, "It's only been a week!" "But that's so long!" We giggled and then Capucine pulled me away to go talk together.

"Remember Riva, we don't have long," my mother called after me. "Oui, maman!" I replied obediently in our native language. Capucine dragged me back into a storeroom where we could talk without any odd looks from customers. "So have you received the letter?" she excitedly questioned me. I listed my head to the side, "What letter?" Capucine slapped a hand to her forehand, "Kjære meg!" I recognized her saying 'dear me' in Norwegian as if I was being silly and this only added to my confusion. She giggled, "The letter for the Selection of course!"

"I don't think I got it, " I told her with my French accent making itself evident in every word I spoke. "Oh sure you did. Every girl in the country did between the ages of sixteen and twenty." I thought about this and I probably was sent the letter. It most definitely wouldn't have been hard to get misplaced on a reserve where everyone is practically family. "It's probably somewhere on the reserve. Anyone could have it." I stated. Capucine grinned, "I can't imagine having as big a family as you do. You know, with your whole tribe." I smiled, "But I love them all. Not that they can not get on your nerves now and then. But that's what family is, no?"

Capucine snorted, "Oh yeah, I agree one hundred percent." With four older brothers, Capucine definitely has some idea what it's like for family to get on your nerves but still love them all the same. "Would someone have taken your letter?" I shook my head, "Accidentally perhaps, or it could still be in the mail basket on the table in the main building." "Well, once you find the letter will you enter?"

I only wondered about her question for a moment before replying, "I think I will. It will be good to see more of Illéa...outside of the reserve." She nodded, "You certainly don't get out much." I chuckled in agreement.

"What about you? Will you enter?" Capucine rolled her eyes at me, "Well of course! It's the chance of a lifetime." I laughed, "Oh Capucine, the people would love you." She playfully slapped my shoulder, "As if they wouldn't love you!" I let out a guffaw and was about to remark when my mother called for me.

"Au revoir, Capucine," I said giving my friend a hug. "Farvel!" she responded in Norwegian and I made my way back to my mother. "Êtes-vous prêt?" my mother asked if I was ready and I nodded. I waved goodbye to Harald whom my mother had been speaking to and then walked back to the truck. We drove back to the reserve and parked it with the few other cars the tribe owns as a whole.

"I can put the keys back, maman." I told her and she thanked me while passing them over. I ran into the main building and hung the keys on the rack. I then went farther into the building where a big oak table was placed. There were three fourteen year olds playing a French card game called belote. One of them looked up and smiled when she saw me, "Bonjour, Riva!" I stepped over to them,"Hey Margaux! And André and Sabine, of course. So you're playing belote, I see." The three dipped there heads as a response. "Oui, and I am beating them every time!" André informed proudly flipping his short hair. "Pas vrai!" the two girls shouted claiming it wasn't true. Sabine added: "He's bluffing!" I laughed, "Well, I would love to play a round but I really ought to get to Camille before she comes searching for me. I don't suppose you could pass me the mail basket though?"

"Bien sûr," Margaux said passing me the woven basket. "Merci," I thanked her and sorted through the letters. I was surprised to find that there were actually a large number of uncollected Selection letters. As I thought about it though, it was rare for people from the tribe to venture far from the preserve and the Selection would require going to Angeles. For though, that was one of the most exciting parts. Not that I don't love my tribe. They're my family, but I had lived on this same piece of land for seventeen years and I yearned to see more.

Once I found the letter addressed to me I returned the basket to the table, said my farewells, and left the building to go to the healer cottage. I walked through the open doorway and Camille was applying a poultice of some sort to a young boy by the name of Jacques' knee. Camille looked up when she heard me come in and grumbled "Finally shown up." I folded up my letter and put it in the pocket of my brown leather jacket. "Désolée," I apologized but despite her tone I knew she wasn't angry.

I walked up to Jacques and rubbed his shoulder, "What happened?" The seven year old's eyes were full of tears as he retold the story, "I was playing with Sebastian and I tripped and fell on a few sharp rocks." I gave him a sympathetic smile, "Aw, well after Camille is all done with you you will be as good as new." Poor Jacques was always coming to us for many different injuries.

"Why don't you go pick some herbs from our garden?" Camille suggested and so I set to work. Our garden was just outside the cottage which was very convenient. I picked whatever was ready so I ended up with some sage, feverfew, catmint, blackberry leaves, and coyote plant. I put the basket of herbs on the counter in the back of the cottage and spread my pickings out. "You didn't happen to pick some anti-inflammatory herbs, did you? I just used the last of what we had." Camille checked with me now having moved on to a scrape on his elbow. "I just picked some blackberry leaves." I informed her while washing a few of them off in the sink. "Perfect. Could you make a rub from the them for me?" I pulled the mortar out and responded, "Oui."

I put the clean blackberry leaves in the mortar, crushed them with the pestle, added a bit of plain cream, and then slid it in front of Camille. I set back to cleaning the rest of the herbs and had almost put them all into their respectable jars when I was called over. "Riva, look at this cut on his arm. I can bind it tightly or you can stitch it." I examined the cut on Jacques' arm and gingerly stroked the cut. "I'll stitch it,"I told her and got what I needed. I gave Jacques a glass of water and a pain relieving medicine to have and then set up my needle and thread. I had him rest his arm on his leg and then began to close his wound. He whimpered a little but obviously the medicine was working because he didn't complain to much. I quickly finished and then stepped back. "There, all done."

"So I can go?" Jacques eagerly asked andI nodded. He pushed himself off of the work table and practically ran out of the cottage. Camille chuckled, "Oh, that little fellow." I grinned in amusement while cleaning off the work space. "You can go for today, there's not much to do." I looked up at her, "Really?" Had she somehow know that I really wanted to go talk to my family? "Oui."

I finished what I was doing then headed to my family's humble little house. I passed many of my fellow tribe members on the way who almost all shared the same blonde hair, gunmetal blue eyes, and pale skin that I sport. When I got to my house I pushed the screen door open to find my mother and father sitting at the dining table. "You're back early, mon cher." my father greeted me with his endearment for me. "There wasn't much left to do so Camille sent me home."

"So maman, père you know of the Selection..." I started and I saw that I then had my parents complete full attention. "I, uh, I would really like to enter!" I blurted out. My parents' eyebrows rose up their foreheads. "Riva, why would you want to leave the reserve?" my mother questioned her eyebrows knitting together. "Maman, entering doesn't even mean I'll be chosen. So, I mean, I just want to send the form and see what happens."

My father was stroking his chin in thought. "If you truly desire to enter then I will check with the elders." A beam lit up my face and I thanked him, "Merci, père!" My mother sighed, "Why don't you make dinner and we'll go ask." I did as she said eagerly awaiting the elders' decision.

I had just finished putting our dinner on plates on the table when my parents returned. I quickly sat down in my chair to listen. "The elders' were hesitant at first, the only reason they allowed it was because the tribe loves you." my father informed me and I squealed with excitement. "That and the odds she's chosen are low." my mother added under her breath but I pretended not to hear her. I was just glad to bramble to send in my entry.

Raziela's POV

The clang of my foil hitting Tanner's echoed through the large room. I would lunge and he would parry; we were always so in sync. My two older brothers Peters and Joshua always said the matches with my twin always took the longest because we could anticipate each other's every move. I feinted to left and then thrust my sword out to the right trying to catch him off guard. The tip of my foil tapped Tanner in the side despite his valiant effort to block it and we both slid our protective masks off. "Nice job, Raz," Tanner complimented me and I smiled.

Peters and Joshua had also been dueling it out and after Peters, the oldest, succeeded in defeating Joshua they joined us. "So who won?" Joshua asked putting his helmet and foil down on a bench. "Me," I informed him and he tousled my hair. I slapped his hand away and he only chuckled. "Got to love some good quality family fencing time." Peters said and I laughed. "Yeah, it's the perfect way to let out any frustration with you boys."

I shed my protective suit and folded it up before sliding it in my bag with my helmet. My brothers then followed suit and eventual we were all heading out. The four of us were commonly found in this community fencing building. Fencing was mutual hobby for all of us siblings and its one of the few things I can stand doing with them. They loosen up with their protectiveness when I'm pointing a sword at them.

"Hey Raz, don't you have a shift at the library to get to?" Tanner reminded me and I sighed. "Yeah, I'm going to head there now. I'll see you later." I ran off to the library and checked in. There weren't many people there so I just grabbed a book off a shelf and sat down behind the main desk to read. That was my favorite thing about working in a library: if there wasn't anybody there you could read.

When people came in I would put the book down and help but beside that I had a relaxing shift. Valeri, the girl who was working before me, had done all the organizing that needed to be done so I was really only there to help people check out books. The job was perfect as well because being a bit shy I never liked being all that social and my job required minimal interactions. By the time eight o'clock rolled around I locked up and walked home without having worked too hard at all.

Before walking up the driveway, I grabbed the mail which consisted of the normal newspapers and bills. Today, though, there was a piece of mail in there that was definitely not ordinary. I entered the house and wasn't surprised to find that my dad wasn't home yet. After my mother died from cancer five years ago he was rarely ever around and came home from work at around midnight. My mother's death was hard on us all, but it hit me right at home. She was the only other girl in the family, and nothing felt right after she was gone. My brothers became way to overprotective of me after that and now sometimes I just want to escape them.

With the Selection coming up, I might have found the perfect escape. I ripped into the letter and eagerly read it. I had to sign up, if I was chosen I would be free to a certain extent even if only for a short period of time. "Peters, are you in here?" I called for my brother and he responded saying he would be right down. He pounded down the stairs and came into the room, "What's wrong?" I rolled my eyes, "Nothing's wrong. I just wanted to tell you I'm signing up for the Selection." Peters lifted an eyebrow, "You are?" I nodded completely sure of my decision. "Maybe you should think about this more."

"Nope, my mind is made up. I'm going to start filling the form out." I told him. It wasn't in question, it was a fact. Tanner and Joshua joined us, probably to try and convince me not to sign up. "Come on, Raz. You don't even know the prince. Why would you want to compete for him?" I was never one to get all that angry at my brothers, but I was getting frustrated. "Is it so wrong to want to fill out the form? Come on, for once just let me do something!"

They backed off at that surprised by my outburst. I was a delicate little flower in their eyes, so for me to be this upset must be mind blowing. "I'm sorry, I love you guys but all I want to do right now is sign up. Is that okay?"

All three of them nodded, I supposed they just didn't want to upset their little baby sister any more.

Alright! I've gotten a bunch more submissions since last time so thank you guys! There are so many amazing girls this is going to be impossible. I still have about ten more spots to fill (I'm still only accepting 25). I hope you guys liked the chapter! I tried valiantly to make the girls sound different and I will continue to attempt this. I can't wait to get the ten more girls so they can get to the palace. I'll do more chapters like this until I have all twenty-five girls. Not all girls will get chapters like this but don't fear, everyone will eventually get a part in their pov. Thanks for reading!