Monday: History lessons

                                    ♚♚♚

A carriage was waiting in front of the Palace just shortly after sunrise. It was the Queen's request that I follow her into town to honour an invitation from a close friend.

Although my nerves lay in nervous knots, I climbed into the Royal Carriage, smiling politely at the Queen.

Coincidentally, we're dressed in the same colours. Ivory. It blends pleasantly with her
skin tone and makes a lovely contrast with mine.

I had Symphony take out my braids and put it in a messy bun, after settling on minimal jewellery. A single ruby bracelet sits on my wrist and nothing more.

"Good morning Your Majesty." I greet, bowing my head respectfully at the kind-faced Queen.

"Morning, my dear. I hope you slept well."

"Well, an owl decided to bother me at some point but that's fine." Honestly, last night I had wanted to climb in that oak tree and give the owl a piece of my mind.

The Queen smiles. "I'm so sorry, Alanna. Those owls are quite pesky during this time of the year."

This information amazes me because at Eaton we don't have owls.

"There are no owls at Eaton." I tell the woman who's studying my face closely.

"How fortunate for your people." She comments.

I feel like I'm talking to my mother and not a queen. She just has this air of peace around her.

We slip into mundane conversations until the carriage rolls past a pair of brass gates hastily flung open, and stops in front of a fairly large mansion.

A woman, well curved and blessed with plump cheeks and beautiful fierce red hair, throws herself into the Queen's outstretched arms.

"There there, Rose, you must be careful not to hurt the baby." Our Queen says, referring to the visible baby bump. In my fair guess, Rose should be four months in her pregnancy and it seems to be faring well with her unlike some women who would be on a rampage and irregular bursts of temper and irritation.

Rose laughs. "This baby will be a fighter and will take after her mother." She says, rubbing her tummy. Then her eyes spot me.

"Who's the sweet little thing?" She asks.

I resist the urge to snort. Me sweet? Never.

The Queen laughs. "Oh, this is Alanna Kennedy. She's part of Alek's Choosing Ceremony and quite mischievous too."

Rose nods, scanning me over. "I have a strong feeling you and my daughter Raine would be best of friends." Then, turning to the Queen, she rolls her eyes."And you, dear friend have a lot of explaining to do." She says, looping her hands with ours and pulling us along with such sheer strength surprising for a pregnant woman.

↭↭↭

"I used to be in the army, Roland and I until love found us and this little one got in." Rose explains, tenderly patting her stomach.

Everyone laughs, that's, me, Queen Stella, Rose, and Raine, her daughter who had eyed me suspiciously when her mother introduced us. Of course, I passed a test when I could spot the spider she intended sneaking into my dress.

"How about Raine?" I ask.

"Raine used to be my sister's child until she passed away last year. Such a pesky little girl though." Rose mulls, thoughtfully eyeing Raine who only sighs but continues shoving more bread into her mouth.

"Where's Rolly?"

"You know how much I hate it when you call me that, Stella." A deep masculine voice answers. Our eyes are drawn to the tall, muscular male strolling towards us dressed casually in a loose white shirt and trousers.

"Of course I do, Rolly."

It feels a little weird seated with the Queen of Explodia and watching her in a friendly banter with her best friends.

How did I get in such honour?

Shortly after breakfast, the women retired to Rose's bedroom to have a private conversation while Sir Roland dared me to a game of chess with Raine.

I beat them both in all four rounds.

"How did you learn to play so well?" The man asks, staring at me in wonder.

"From the best there is. My father."

Sir Roland raises a brow. "And who might that be?"

"Citizen Harry Kennedy."

Recognition flashes across both daughter and father's faces and I brace myself up for the incoming questions.

↭↭↭

And even more questions arose when most of the girls spotted me alighting from the Royal Carriage with the Queen herself.

I feel the weight of jealousy oozing from them even after the Queen had gracefully been escorted to wherever she needed to be.

I yelp when a figure suddenly appears in front of me.

"I'm so mad at you right now."

However the giant smile on Harriet's face tells a different story.

It's nothing special." I supply, a feeble attempt at defending myself.

Harriet slaps me hard on my shoulder. "Nothing special? We just saw you climbing out of the Queen's private carriage with her. So start explaining, you vixen."

Sighing, I walk with her to her room, waiting until the doors securely shut behind us. I was supposed to meet up with my History teacher to receive the notes I missed but that would have to wait till later.

In my narration however, I mask the part where the Queen visited her childhood friend with me.

An intuition suggested that although Harriet might be the closest I had to a friend right now, she might not take the news well.

"There's going to be a ball tomorrow, our official first outing to the public besides the interview. My maids will take me to test out my ball gown tonight." Harriet announces, bouncing in excitement on her bed.

A ball?

I groan out loud, receiving a look of confusion. "There's going to be so much people and unfortunately, I don't like being the center of attention."

Harriet sighs. "You're so hopeless, Alan."

Shrugging, I make a visual tour of her room which is themed yellow, unlike mine which has all the dull shades of colours.

I can't wait until all this is over and when I can finally go home.

Consider this a clear warning to leave The Choosing . I won't be so merciful next time.

-F

I regard the badly scrawled note with caution and contempt before glancing around my room to check for any signs of intrusion.

Not a single object is out of place, leaving me with a question.

How did this note get into my room?

⇨⇨⇨

Some drama is about to unfold. Let's watch out.

What are your theories about the note?