"Yes, we have one of the largest libraries in the country in this very palace." He said, eating his cake a little at a time as he talked to her. He didn't seem to mind her question, or lack of formality that he was used to, happy that someone other than his parents talked to him like he was a normal being, and not the prince of a country.
"No way!" Holly gasped. "That's awesome! Do you go there often?" She loved to read, loved libraries and books and everything to do with them.
Sam shrugged, thinking about his busy schedule and smiling politely, "Not as much as I would like to, but when I have the time I usually stop in to try to find a book I haven't yet read. It's actually a pretty easy task, but getting harder as I get older and read more." He did really like the library in the palace, with its towering rows and ladders used to get to the top of the shelves.
"That's so sad! Who doesn't have much time to read?" Holly cocked her head. "Well, you must have read a lot of books." Then she glanced around and saw how many girls were glaring at her, and realized how long she had been talking to the Prince. She smiled apologetically to all of them and looked down at her food, a blush rising on her cheeks. Did they honestly think that he would choose her? She was just a nobody, and not even that interesting! She took a bite of some desert, which turned out to be chocolate cake, and gave a sigh of contentment. It was delicious!
"You could say that." He said, laughing softly and not paying attention to any of the dirty looks from any of the girls. Sam himself dug into his own desert, knowing that after this the girls would get to see their rooms, as well as get a small orientation of sorts. Then he wouldn't see them again until before dinner when the reporters would barge in and get pictures of all of the girls, along with a little about them before getting yet more pictures of him and even more about himself.
When it was time to be done eating, Holly stood reluctantly and pushed her plate away from her. It still had some cake on top of it. She had had several slices. She didn't know what was happing next, but she knew that she couldn't eat any more of that delisciousness now. She moved over to Sophie and the twins. "Hey," she said, waving.
At the end of the meal, the king and queen stood up, both nodding to the girls before exiting. Sam didn't stay much longer after, finishing off the last bite of his dessert before standing on his own and making a small announcement, "After you ladies are finished with your meal, you'll be escorted to your room for a few minutes before meeting with the queen in the ladies parlor for a final introduction. After that, you have free time before dinner, which is at promptly 6 o'clock. See you then." He smiled and waved at them before making his way out of the room, not sure what to do with his own free time.
Lacey shook her head at his words. "But why? I mean, I mean, I get that we need an introduction talk or whatever, but this is annoying."
Holly shrugged. "Come on. I can't wait to see what my room looks like!"
Sam took his time as he walked back to his room, whistling softly and messing with his hair until it was no longer combed nice. Paperwork would probably arise that he would need to do in his free time, and so he purposely was going to take longer to get there because of that.
Holly lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling. Now that she was alone, she could feel all of the pent-up emotions bursting out of her. She knew she shouldn't, as it would ruin her makeup, but she really didn't care. She was homesick. She sobbed silently, tears leaking down her cheeks, mascara smearing down her face, before she gathered herself together.
Sam found himself at his desk soon enough, filling out things his father had asked him to and taking care of the few things he was in charge of in the country. He didn't have many duties yet, but slowly he was gaining more as his father tried to show him how to keep the country running smoothly. Paperwork was much worse than meetings though, and he thankfully didn't have any more of those for the rest of the day at least.
"I'm okay," she whispered. "I'm okay." She pulled herself together just as there was a knock on the door. She opened it, wiping her face, although it only smeared her makeup more, and saw two woman, only a few years older than her, standing in the doorway. One was tall and stout, with a friendly face, while the other was her opposite, short and slender, almost twig-like. They had the same features, though, kind eyes and warrior-like steel in their movements.
"Hello, dear," the larger one said, smiling kindly. "We are your maids during the Selection. May we come in?"
"O-of course," Holly stammered, opening the door and letting them in, suddenly self-conscious of her appearance. "What are your names?" She asked politely, trying to act friendly.
"I'm Fransisca," the woman said. "And that's Lena. And you must be Ara-Hollin."
"I go by Holly," she said, smiling. "Ara-Hollin is a mouthful."
"Holly it is." Fransisca had a faint accent that Holly couldn't place. "Well, we should probably get you ready for meeting the queen." She clucked her tongue at Holly's appearance. "And you need the work, girl!"
(I found a picture of Holly XD)
(I love her! :D)
Normally as he finished paperwork a palace servant would deliver it to where it needed to go, but Sam decided to do the job himself instead. It took him several more minutes to finish up everything important before he scooped up the untidy stack and headed down the stairs. He hummed softly to himself as he took the stairs down, bouncing with each step and nodding to all of the maids that were on their way up to the girl's rooms. Now he just had to remember where everything was supposed to go.
(Thanks!)
Holly blushed at the bluntness of the woman's words, but agreed. She was poked and prodded and newmakeup was applied. She was even put into a new dress, although she didn't know why it was necessary. It was kind of dumb, honestly. Those stray pieces of hair that always got into her face were neatly pinned up, and then she was ready. After thanking her maids, Holly was led to the palor. She was one of the first girls there, which surprised her. She stood in the corner, waiting awkwardly, unsure of what to do with herself.
He found where each thing went with only a little difficulty, catching up with his mother as he headed back to his room and she was on her way to the parlor. "Hi mom," He said, smiling at her and looking at the royal blue gown she was wearing "Where are you going looking so fancy?"
"The parlor, to talk to the girls." She said, smiling at her son and walking a little slower to draw out the time she had talking to him, "With that, how do you like this so far? Are there any that stick out to you?"
Sam thought for a moment, knowing the spit of their paths was coming up soon and deciding to answer simply, "A few did, but for now that's not going to influence anything. I want to get to know them all, and it's still only the first day."
The queen nodded and her smile grew, "That's a good answer. Now, shoo and go finish whatever you're up to, and also tell your father that there was an advisor that wanted to see him If you see him around." She waved jokingly as the hallway split and she took the way to the parlor, finding most of the girls to be there when she stepped in.
Holly spotted the other three girls as they entered the room. She made ready to go to them, then stopped as Casey whispered something to Sophie, who looked at Holly and laughed cruelly.
Holly felt her face go red, and she turned away. She should have known that talking to the prince would result in being isolated by the other girls.
Lacey walked over. "Sorry about my sister and Sophie." She sat on the chair next to Holly. "They're just… jealous."
"I gathered that," Holly said. She smiled weakly. "It's okay, though, I understand."
The queen entered then, and she stood up quickly, Lacey following. A hush covered the room at the sight of her.
"Good afternoon ladies," The queen said, smiling lightly with no sign of the regal side of her that normally appeared with the media. She seemed calm in the parlor, helping herself to a cookie from one of the trays of snacks brought in by servers. "You can relax, no need for most of those formalities in this room. This is one of the only rooms in this place that no male is allowed to enter, and a place you ladies will spend a fair amount of time in during the Selection."
Sam watched as his mother walked away and smiled, heading off to find the king and relay the message. It gave him something he was happy to do besides go through the list of tasks he had to do. The thought came to his mind to wander to the library once he was done, take Holly's suggestion from lunch into consideration and pick up something to read.
Holly wasn't sure how to act. She was around the queen, and the queen had just told her - well, all of the girls - to relax. How could she do that? She glanced at Lacey, who shrugged. They sat back down, Lacey in the chair, Holly on the armrest. The rest of the girls followed suit.
Holly glanced at the cookies, then shook her head. She didn't need any more sweets. She had already had enough cake already… but still…
"So, how many of you girls already know the rules that go along with this?" She asked, spinning one of the heavy chairs around to face the girls before sitting in it and breaking off pieces of the cookie to eat. Queen Nura looked around at the girls and smiled, seeing some nervous and tentative looks on some of the girl's faces. "Even if you just know some of the basics, I can list off the rest much quicker and leave you girls to explore the palace."
A tall, willowy girl with sharp features and a beautiful body, smiled arrogantly. "I know them." She held up a hand, counting on the fingers. "Don't go into the royal suite, don't be in a romantic relationship during the Selection, and don't try to sabotage anyone."
She smiled and nodded, "Good. Those are the three essential rules that I need you to remember for now, with one more thing, does anyone know the consequences to these?" The queen wasn't trying to scare the girls, that was the last thing she wanted to do, but it was her duty to make sure they knew how serious this was and how terrible the results could be.
The arrogant girl who had first spoken didn't answer. Slowly, the other girls shook their heads no. Holly glanced at Lacey. There were consequences? She shouldn't have been surprised, but this… she shook her head. She should have expected this. It wasn't like she had any plans to break the rules, but still…
"In most cases, immediate disqualification along with severe punishment." The queen said, her tone solemn, "In rare cases..the consequence can be death." She looked up at the girls and finished her cookie before nodding, "Well, anything else you girls would like to know? Everything you need to know to become proper ladies and to run the kingdom will be covered in your daily lessons, but I can also answer questions right now or any time you see me around."
Sam whistled as he finally made his way to the library, taking his time as he explored and picked out some books to read. He even picked some books from genres he had never read from, adding to the growing stack in his arms that he found himself carefully carrying up to his room after several more minutes. At least now he had something to read in all his small amount of free time he had.
Holly raised her hand. "Will we be getting a map of the palace? Or should we just ask our way around?" She smiled sheepishly. "I'm bad with directions."
Queen Nura smiled in response and answered her question after a moment, "We have maps for any of you ladies that want one, learning the layout of this place can be confusing, I know from experience." She nodded to one of the two server girls standing quietly near the door, who quickly dashed out and returned only a minute later with a stack of maps. Each had the layout of the floors they were allowed on, while the one containing the royal suits just showed the hallway and large lettering filled where the rooms would be, 'Off Limits".