The Selection

SUMMARY: Fifteen girls. Two princes. One crown. The competition of a lifetime.

CHAPTER ONE

POLITICAL CURRUPTIONS

CHAPTER WORD COUNT: 1590

The arrow flew from my bow, quickly and silently making contact with the target, killing the deer instantly. Before the creature had even hit the ground, the Queen's Bandits had pounced, knives out to cut dinner down to smaller pieces.

"That was a good kill, Rosabella!" Thor was quick to lavishly praise me, a hint of jealously shining in his eyes; his father had been one of the village hunters before he died three years previously due to bandits.

I leaned my bow onto the toe as my boot as I leaned forward, watching my little band of misfits hard at work. For the millionth time, I cursed King Joseph, if he could even be called a king; he had sworn to care for his people, but had neglected my small village by allowing bandits to invade us nearly every other week.

I ducked my head to pick at my threadbare blouse, all but see through due to one too many washings. My boots were no better- practically falling apart, with duct tape wrapped around the ankles and heels, making the sad looking footwear wearable- for the moment being.

I glanced around the dense trees nervously; even though I knew that the eight of us could take down bandits, should they dare to make an appearance, I was still wary out in these dangerous woods.

"Victor, do you think this will be enough for dinner, or should we continue hunting?" I asked quietly, speaking for the first time that day.

The red haired man quickly took inventory of the meat, skins, bones and organs, all which were tucked in heavy duty leather bags to make transportation easier on us all.

"I would get at least one more kill," he answered with a simple shrug, his voice soft as well, waiting for me to make the call.

I nodded silently before turning, nodding to my close friends, who all quickly fell into line behind me; Sam, with his on the spot sense of humor and heavily tattooed body; Victor with his quick mind and even quick ability to do mathematics in his head on the spot; Thor, with his brutish strength and sweet, easy going nature; Loki with his graceful agility and ambidextrous hands, Pietro with his charming smile and sweet kisses; Peter with his nimble ability to quickly scale trees to keep a lookout for kills and bandits.

And then there was me.

Rosabella Swan.

I was skilled enough with many weapons, my main weapons of choice being deadly close combat and throwing knives and my trusty bow. My ability to skillfully hunt and my general distrust towards all except my Queen's Bandits made my temper somewhat unpredictable; but what I lacked in social skills, I made up for in being the village sheriff.

"Loki, do you hear anything?" I asked, my voice coming out as a quiet whisper. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw him tilt his head as he closed his eyes for the briefest of moments. His eyes shot open as he quickly took up the lead, taking up deeper into the wood on a heart thumping chase.

At long last, I spied our target, and I loaded my bow with an arrow and got ready to take aim. I breathed in silently before letting the projectile fly. A smirk took over my face as the deer fell, and once more, my Queen's Bandits got to work.

I watched them work as I slipped back into my thoughts once more; da's brutal murder still fresh on my mind. The hand that wasn't holding my bow clenched into a tight fist and I had to stop myself from breathing heavily. My father had sent countless letters to King Joseph, begging for help in defending the village from bandit raids, only to get chirping crickets in response.

The king had da's blood on his hands; if I should ever meet him, I would deck him and most defiantly break his nose. I honestly didn't care if assaulting a member of the royal family was certain death, I knew I had to make the king feel what I had felt for the past three years.

He had worked so hard to make the capitol and all the surrounding cities and towns prosperous, so why had he ignored the little village of mine?

I was snapped from my thought by Loki standing in front of me and placing a gentle hand onto my shoulder.

"Are you alright?" he asked me softly, his hand rubbing a comforting circle into my skin. I smiled up at him before pulling away.

"Come on; we should be heading back now," I called out in a soft voice, avoiding his concerned question. "I don't feel safe this deep in the woods with bandits running underfoot once the sun goes down."

"Following right behind you, sheriff," Pietro said, his easy smile nearly making me swoon at my dark haired lover. I barely managed to stop myself from making doeful heart eyes at him as I turned, a light blush dusting my cheeks as I led the way, my boots silently marching through the underbrush and leaves.

I skillfully followed the subtle X's that I had marked the trees with to help lead us back to the village, my eyes darting from every tree to every bush; it wouldn't surprise me if bandits attacked us in the open.

I didn't like beingvulnerable; it only led to certain death around this neck of the country.

Within minutes, we were on the less traveled road that led to the village; I couldn't help0 but notice fresh tire tracks in the dust.

"Careful, now," I warned in a soft voice. "I don't think it's the bandits, but be sure to keep your guard up!" I'd didn't have to turn my head to see that everyone was nodding their heads in silent agreement as I slowly led the way towards the only exit into the crudely fortified village.

I was about to round the bend when Thor placed a hand onto my shoulder.

"Wait here; I'll go check it out," he breathed into my ear before going first before I could kick up a protest.

Barely even a minute passed before he called out to us.

"It's safe!" his booming voice nearly making me jump. I was first to go around the bend, where I saw a motorcade was all but blocking to entrance. As we approached, we all couldn't help but notice a man in an expensive looking suit was arguing with the half dozen sentries who were guarding the village from bandits.

"Look, you going to have to wait for the sheriff to return from hunting," one of the sentries was saying firmly over the other man's blusterings, clearly done listening to whatever crap the he was trying to feed the armed sentry. I could only roll my eyes as I marched up to the front of the village with most of the male population of the Queen's Bandits falling in behind me.

"Sheriff! Welcome back!" a second sentry called out in an annoyed tone of voice. "These blokes are trying to get in… some kind of official business… I'm sorry to say that I tuned them out after they mentioned something about royalty or whatever…"

"You're the sheriff?" Mr. Fancy Pants asked in shock. "But you're a girl!"

This made me stop and slowly turn to face him. I drew myself up to my embarrassingly short height before marching straight up to that sonofabitch and staring him directly in the eye.

"I am not a girl, I am a dangerous storm with skin that will destroy you unless you tell me what you Goddamned hillbillies think you're doing in my village," I hissed venomously, ignoring everything until Pietro placed his hand onto my shoulder, messaging my skin gently. My hand went up to his as I stared up at the messenger, who was clearly trembling in his spotless shiny boots.

"I'm afraid this is between King Joseph and Miss Rosabella Swan," he sniffed delicately, making my blood boil at the name of the king.

"It would be a wise choice to state your business," I growled, not at all amused with the colors that the man's face was turning. "Right now." When he didn't answer, my volatile mood turned even further south. "Turn them away!" I barked before beginning to storm into the village.

The sound of a car door opening caught my attention and my hand went to the knife I carried at my back, my head turning to see who was emerging from the motorcade.

My blood went cold as King Joseph ambled up to the little cluster of people blocking the front of the village.

"You!" I snarled, beginning to charge towards the man who was responsible for my father's murder; I was stopped by Thor and Loki, each grabbing a hold of my arms as two more men joined the king. I didn't recognize them; one was a scrawny blond who looked like a gust of wind would blow him over; the second was a well-built man with dark hair that lightly brushed his shoulders.

I laughed bitterly at the shocked expression on everyone's face.

"What brings such a murdersome king like you to my small village of Wakanda?" I asked with a deep scowl etched into my face.