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".
"Thank you," Holly said, smiling. She looked through the map, marking off the places.
None of the girls said anything else.
"You're very welcome." The Queen smiled and then nodded to the girls, "You are dismissed for now and can do what you please until dinner at seven. Don't be late and bring a guard with you if you decide to go explore the gardens please." She stood up and nodded again before leaving the parlor, faintly humming as she left.
Holly stood, tugging the sleeves of her dress, and brushed imaginary dust off her dress. She watched the Queen leave, and smiled. If I win, I want to be a Queen like that, she thought. She picked up her map, looking through it. The marks on it were pretty clear, but she was still worried that she would get lost and accidentally wander into somewhere she wasn't supposed to. She sighed and brushed a strand of her blond hair from her face, before moving to the door. She would try to find the library.
After getting lost several times, although, luckily, not anywhere near the forbidden places, and asking a couple of guards for the way, she finally got to the library. It was enormous, and she stood in the doorway, just staring at all the books, for a solid minute, before going in and running her hands along the books and shelves.
Sam didn't start reading right away when he reached his room, thought the thought did cross his mind before he decided he wanted to train instead. Training was the only thing he really really enjoyed about slowly taking over his father's place, even if he had been doing it since he was young. Quickly, he slipped into a comfortable shirt and pants before taking the stairs two at a time on his way down to the arena where hopefully someone would be to train with, a guard maybe.
It was beautiful. Holly felt like she could live here. After she had picked out a few books, she looked at the time, and gasped in panic. There were only 20 minutes before dinner! She ran to the door. She had lost track of time, and she was panicking. Holding her armload of books, she ran back through the hallways of the castle. She stopped to ask the way, and finally got to her room with 10 minutes to spare.
She left her books on her bed and her maids fixed her makeup and hair, before she started off to the dining room. But as soon as she got there, she stopped. How was she the only one there? She glanced around, confused, and sat down. Slowly, other girls started to trickle in, but it took long enough that Holly took out her book that she had brought along and had started to read.
Training flew by and by the time Sam finally looked at the clock in the arena, he was down to fifteen minutes until dinner. Silently he cursed and quickly started packing up, wiping the sweat off his face with a towel and dashing off even though he wanted to help clean up. It took him three minutes just to get to his room, taking the stairs two at a time and washing himself off the fastest he had ever done.
By the time he was dressed and taking the stairs back down, he only had two minutes to spare and his hair was still noticeably damp and messy. Still he made his way to the dining room anyway, making it right on time and receiving only a slightly scolding look from his mother as he smiled at the girls and took his place. At least he now was hungry enough to eat a horse.
When it was time to eat, Holly put her book on her lap. She knew it probably wasn't polite to read at the table, so she only glanced down every once in a while, her quick green eyes drinking in as much of the story as she could. She was eating a lot, and by the time the meal was half way through, she had already finished the book. She closed it and slid it under her chair, glancing around. No one was watching her do so.
Sam didn't talk much, leaving the chatter to the girls and his parents as he ate. The meal tonight was one of his favorites and with his huge appetite, all he wanted to do was eat and figure out what to do after dinner was done. Even the dessert they served was amazing, ice cream topped with plenty of fresh fruit and a free range of toppings to add on top of that.
Holly glanced at the Prince. He hadn't spoken at all, but he didn't look troubled, which was good. She chewed on her bottom lip, unsure if she was allowed to speak to him, and how she should start, if all.
He only glanced up a few times as he ate the dessert, though he did meet Holly's eyes for a moment as he glanced around. It made his cheeks heat up slightly but he smiled at her, wanting to say something but well aware of the amount of ice cream in his mouth at the moment.
She smiled at him, turning red as well. Stop it, she told herself. Don't be such a ninny. He couldn't possibly like you, it's only the first day! She chewed a small bite of chocolate cake, which might be her new favorite food, and tried to keep her eyes away from the prince.
Even just glancing over at the girls put him in a good mood, and getting a smile back from the one girl that already stuck out in the group made it even better. His smile stayed on his face the rest of the meal, and when the servers took the empty plates away and he stood to leave, he was still smiling faintly. It put him in a good mood, and as he walked out, he already wondered if it was too soon to start spending time with the girls tomorrow.
The Prince had seemed in a good mood, and for that, Holly was glad. She didn't know what was making him smile so much, but he was admittedly very handsome when he did so… not that that was the only good thing about him… but still.
After dinner, she picked up the book from under her chair and glanced after him as she left, a faint smile on her lips, before she departed for her room. She would probably be staying up all night reading, which probably wasn't healthy, but she had new books! And they all seemed so interesting… she smiled, already excited for the night ahead.
(Time skip? To the next day?)
(Sure :) )
When Sam woke up in the morning, he just groaned and rolled over, sore from training after dinner and having no desire to start his day off with meetings. He wouldn't even get to see the girls again in the morning for breakfast due to his busy schedule. He pushed himself to think about after lunch though as he crawled out of bed and started getting ready, thinking about how he got the whole afternoon off to do what he wanted, maybe even start to arrange plans to see the girls. That made him smile a little and before he knew it he was already done getting ready, dressed in a formal suit for meetings and looking the part of the prince his father's royal advisors were familiar with.
There was a knock on the door, and Holly awoke. She was still so tired, and she didn't want to leave her nice warm bed…
"My lady, you need to get up. Breakfast is in 45 minutes!"
"It's too early," Holly groaned. She had stayed up most of the night last night, finishing one book and starting another. From how tired she felt, she was pretty sure that she had only gotten about 3 hours of sleep… but it was okay. As a bookworm, she was used to running off of little sleep. It was like her superpower, or something.
After more chiding, she finally pulled herself out of bed, and let her maids dress her. The dress was beautiful, a bright, warm pink, made of smooth cloth that hugged her body and flowed out into long skirts that flared out like a flower. It felt like wearing a cloud. Her hair was brushed, and makeup was applied, although not very much, and she was ushered out of her room… although, not before grabbing her book she had started last night, much to the amusement of Fransisca.