Manservant

Every 20 years, a new Kada is elected in Phinia. Women and girls across the country dream of being Kada. It's what they fantasize about when they do menial chores around the house and what they talk about when they've run out of topics. I imagine them, in their brown dresses and their hair a mess, leaning over their kitchen tables and asking each other, "What would you do if you were Kada?" Well I'll tell you what I would do if I was Kada: I'd be f*****g livid. My cousin, Princess Alexa of Brunya was supposed to be Kada; everyone knew it. Well, everyone that was anyone knew it. I've heard many of the commoners believe it to be a true, democratic election. It, like so many things, is a political tool used to keep the royal families in a position of posterity. The only better political move than having someone of your palace be elected Kada is to marry someone from your palace to someone in another palace. That's where beautiful little Alexa is now, planning her palace wedding to the Prince of Who-Cares. I am planning my 'pilgrimage' to the temple where I will be bathed in holy water and serenaded with a day's worth of sweet, religious nothings. I'll live the rest of my life in the same palace I grew up in, leaving only to light ceremonial torches and wave at festivals. I'll also have the wonderful privilege of standing motionless on a pedestal during the Hathor Gala; right in the center of the dance floor. Men will stare up at me, hoping to see up my dress. I'm sure most of them will be too distracted by my status to notice how unfit I am to be Kada. Undoubtedly, the women will notice. They'll murmur amongst themselves about how she couldn't possibly be the most beautiful woman in the land. The smarter ones will just be thankful to look in the mirror and confidently tell themselves that they are, in fact, more beautiful than the woman elected 'most hot' by royal decree. My bags have already been packed for me, courtesy of Masuma. A parade of nameless servants have formed a line that stretches from my chamber door to the front door of my palace. "That's the last of them." Masuma says, leaning over me. I'm sitting at my vanity, staring hard at my face and praying for it to morph into Alexa's. Then I could run off to marry Prince Who Cares and she could take her rightful place as Kada. I sigh. "Fine, let's go then."