Chapter 3
890 Words
I woke before sunrise the next morning, not because I was excited but because someone was hammering on our front door.
I pulled a blanket over my head.
“Lia!”
My mother’s voice came from downstairs.
“Lia, get up.”
“I’m awake.”
“You’re not.”
“I am now.”
The pounding came again, and I dragged myself out of bed, pulled on yesterday’s dress, and went downstairs. A royal messenger stood outside, young, perhaps no older than twenty-five, and looking far too pleased with himself for someone who had just woken an entire household.
“Miss Aurelia Vale?”
“Yes.”
He handed me a sealed envelope. I stared at it.
“What is this?”
“Your invitation.”
“To what?”
He looked at me as if I’d asked him what the sun was.
“The Selection.”
I looked down at the envelope.
“No.”
His eyebrows rose.
“I beg your pardon?”
“I mean.”
I took the envelope.
“I thought I was supposed to wait for further instructions.”
“You were.”
“And this is.”
“Your further instruction.”
“Oh.”
He nodded.
“Be at the eastern station by noon. Transport has been arranged.”
I looked toward my mother, standing several steps behind me, looking unbearably pleased. I turned back to the messenger.
“Do I have to go?”
He blinked.
“Yes.” Right. Of course.
He gave me a final nod and left. I shut the door.
My mother smiled.
“Don’t.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You’re thinking it.”
“I was thinking you look lovely when you’re miserable.”
I sighed.
“You promised me.”
“I know.”
She reached for my hand.
“I also promised myself that if this came, I’d let you go.”
I looked at her. That was not what I expected.
She squeezed my fingers.
“You’ve spent your whole life worrying about us.”
“Someone has to.”
“Maybe someone else could worry about you for once.”
I looked away. I hated when she said things like that, because they made leaving harder.
⸻
By eleven, I had packed one dress.
My mother stared at the bundle.
“One?”
“I’ll be back.”
“You might not be.”
“I will.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I know I won’t be chosen.”
She folded another dress and put it beside mine.
“I’ve seen women chosen for less.”
“I’m not a woman they would choose.”
She stopped.
“What makes you think that?”
I shrugged.
“I don’t know how to dance.”
“You can learn.”
“I’ve never ridden a horse.”
“You can learn.”
“I’ve never been to a palace.”
“Neither have most people.”
“I don’t know how to behave around royalty.”
She smiled.
“Neither does royalty.”
I laughed despite myself. She stepped closer and fixed the collar of my dress.
“You’ll manage.”
“You make it sound easy.”
“No.”
Her smile disappeared.
“I make it sound possible.”
⸻
The eastern station was already crowded when I arrived, far more crowded than yesterday. Carriages lined the road, each marked with the royal crest, guards stationed between them to direct candidates toward their assigned coaches.
I found my number on a wooden board. NORTH DISTRICT, CANDIDATES 31 TO 50.
My stomach dropped. Sixteen women ahead of me, and I hadn’t even reached the palace yet.
I climbed into the carriage. Three women were already inside. One of them looked me over, my dress, then my boots, then back to my face.
“You’re from Northmarch?”
“Yes.”
She smiled, not warmly.
“I thought so.”
I sat opposite her. Another girl leaned toward the window.
“How far from the capital?”
“Four days.”
“Four?”
I nodded, and she looked genuinely surprised.
“Do you have roads?”
“Some.”
“Some?”
I shrugged.
“We have mud.”
The girl beside her laughed. The first girl didn’t.
“What does your family do?”
I looked at her.
“Survive.”
Silence. Then the girl by the window laughed again, and this time, I did too. Maybe this wouldn’t be completely unbearable.
The carriage lurched forward, and I watched our village disappear behind the window. For the first time, I wondered what the capital would actually look like. I’d read about it in books: stone towers, golden roofs, royal gardens, crowds of merchants, a palace large enough to house hundreds of people. I had spent years reading about places I never expected to see, and now I was being taken to one, not as a traveler, not as a reader, but as a candidate.
I touched the wooden token in my pocket. Forty-seven.
I had no idea what would happen when I reached the palace. But I knew one thing.
I was going to be eliminated. And once I was, I would go home.
That was the plan.
At least, it was the plan.
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