Chapitre 10: Welcome (1)
As Hazel walked into the palace beside her mother, she inspected the walls to see what had changed from the last time she was there. She had been so interested in looking around for Linda when they entered the palace for the ball last night that she missed looking around at the palace decor.
It was always entertaining to see what could be added to the walls. What art she might recognise or which former royal they created a new portrait for. Sometimes there were portraits she couldn't help laughing at.
Once she had seen enough, she looked ahead at where Helena walked with her father. Helena reminded Hazel of a bunny at the moment because of how she couldn't stay still.
No matter the outcome of the selection, Hazel decided to walk out of here happy. Many dreamt of entering the palace and not only was she doing that, but she was getting to sleep here for the first time in her life. It was an experience she could not let go to waste.
"It is beautiful," Renee said, looking around for ideas for switching up her furniture in a few weeks.
The palace was one of the many places others looked to for the start of new trends whether it had to do with clothing, art, or decor. Her family had two chances of the next queen being picked from it so there was pressure for her to have everything perfect from the way she acted to how her house looked so no one could use it against her daughters.
"Why did he have to be here already?" Hazel muttered upon seeing Prince Tobias standing with a palace guard.
The queen was nowhere in sight most likely because there were a few minutes left before the second and final selection group would be welcomed to the palace.
Hazel was glad the queen was not here yet so she could avoid the woman's intense gaze. The queen's presence oftentimes led many to become nervous and lose their footing, accidentally tripping up in front of the queen and ending up being talked about for a season or more.
Hazel did not have the slightest clue of what the queen thought about her or Helena. Though she had been in the palace before and to many balls, the queen briefly acknowledged her presence when her parents were around, but when she was alone, it was like the queen did not see her.
Hazel had not been invited to the palace like many young ladies were when she came of age despite her family having close relations to the palace, but she took it as she was yet to impress the queen. She realised that the queen did not only care if you came from a good family. The queen must like your presence.
Hazel and Renee joined Helena standing off to the side away from the other young ladies and their families. Already there were glances made Helena's way because she danced with the prince at the ball and seeing this, Hazel could not be any more happy that she had turned down Tobias's offer to dance.
Hazel leaned close to Helena to whisper, "You must feel like you are floating with all this attention on you."
Helena didn't respond to Hazel since she needed to stay focused. The queen was arriving any minute now so she was trying to recite in her head how she planned to greet her. She was also trying to catch the attention of the prince who was currently more interested in the walls than the women.
Hazel's attention also went to Tobias. She thought that he must be enjoying having women fight for his hand with his player ways. After not seeing him in a few years since he was more involved in wars than the palace, she remembered their encounters when they were younger and how unpleasant they could be.
Despite the many times he annoyed her, Hazel had to admit now that she saw him in daylight that he had gotten more good-looking since the last time she got a glimpse of him before he went off to join the royal army. Even if he wasn't a prince, he would have many looking to court him for his looks.
Hazel was suddenly taken aback by Tobias looking her way. Her eyes widened because of his gaze.
Hazel looked away, thinking he could not possibly be looking at her when he was not long ago acting like he did not see any of the young women standing around in the spacious room. He was looking her way, but she wasn't alone so he might have been looking at Helena.
Hazel slowly turned her head to look his way and found him still looking her way, but this time, he was smiling. She would have thought he was looking at Helena if not for the smile he wore. His smile was directed to her and she knew he would look to annoy her later. Their conversation at the ball was far from over since he wouldn't easily let go of her turning down a dance with him.
If not for there being others in the room, she would tell him to find something else to look at. Hazel turned to face the door she walked in to avoid his gaze. Eventually, he should get bored and find someone else to bother.
Tobias enjoyed every bit of Hazel starting to act like he didn't exist. She was the only young lady in the room not looking his way. He wondered if she regretted turning down his offer for a dance last night. It would have helped to put her at the top of the list among the women in the room.
Had Hazel not been standing near Linda's brothers, he would have picked her over her younger sister. Tobias tried not to meet Helena's eyes to avoid making her think he was interested in her. She was just the best option at that point last night.
'How long is she going to avoid me?' Tobias wondered as he continued to sneak glances at Hazel. He tried not to make it obvious since it would end in her being messed with by the other young women.
Though the women slept far away from his bedroom, the stories about their arguments and foolish fights had reached his ears. They were stopping at nothing to aim for the seat of the future queen.
Tobias would rather be anywhere than here at the moment, having to force himself to entertain the advances of these women. He already had a plan in mind to sneak out of the palace and stay with a friend tonight.
"Announcing Queen Tabitha Castro!"
Just as the queen entered the room, Linda rushed in with her mother right behind her to get in place for the queen to address them.
Tabitha paid no attention to the young women and their mothers as her eyes were focused on her son. She wasn't surprised to see that he was not wearing the outfit she had made just for the day. He was sometimes too stubborn for her liking but there was nothing she could do about it.
Tabitha approached Tobias and resisted the urge to straighten his clothes. "Try not to make a scandal with this group," she said.
"I will make no such promises," Tobias said, looking away from his mother.
They dragged him back to the palace to make him get married so they had to deal with the way he chose to go through this selection.
Chapitre 11: Welcome (2)
Tabitha feared she would soon be trying to hide another scandal about her son being caught alone with one of the young ladies in front of her. She was never able to convince her son to not get too close to women. What she had to do was remind the young women of the consequences of being caught with Tobias when they were not supposed to be near him.
Tabitha looked over the crowd, trying to find a young lady who stood out to her. Her eyes settled on the young Wallace girl Helena who was the only one to get a dance from Tobias. The dance was her doing since she had to nudge Tobias to do it, but the young woman did not need to know that.
The queen wanted to see how Helena would keep the attention on her and try to impress the royal family. So far, she liked what she saw when it came to Helena.
Tabitha looked beside her at Hazel who was a little older than her sister. She didn't see why the family hadn't married off the older one instead of making her wait for Tobias. She preferred someone young with a young body to make heirs as soon as they wed Tobias.
"Close the doors," Tabitha ordered the servants. Anyone who wasn't in this room by now was not taking the selection seriously. They could find their carriage and head right back home to find their future husband elsewhere.
Tobias watched the servants rush to fulfil his mother's orders to close the doors. Once again, his gaze lingered on Hazel whose attention was on the large doors closing in. He imagined that she wanted to make a run to the doors to be out of the selection but she would not shame her family.
Still, if she was crazy enough to not think of how her actions would affect her family and make a run for the door, Tobias would join her in getting far away from this room. He was looking for any and every possible escape to get out of being forced to pick a wife.
Normally, having women compete for his attention was something he would enjoy, but if it was up to him solely, he wouldn't have picked any of the women in front of him to take part in the selection for a future queen.
Most of them were his mother's followers. Most of them were obsessed with his mother. Acting and dressing like her. Tobias was trying to get away from his mother and all her rules. The last thing he planned to do was marry someone who was like her and unfortunately for him, that was what the queen was trying to do.
"I thank all of you for joining us here today to take part in the selection. I know many of you must be a little nervous to be standing here in the palace soon having to say goodbye to your parents. I assure you that you will find your time in the palace to be pleasant," Tabitha said, smiling to help ease the nervousness that young women before her were feeling.
Tabitha had carefully planned their time in the palace and put together the right servants to look after the young women, but what might make their stay in the palace hard would be themselves. Becoming the next queen was at stake and because of the pressure from their families, some young women would play dirty tricks to get ahead.
Tabitha didn't have time to waste stopping them from playing these tricks. Rather than get involved in stopping them, she observed how the women interacted with each other. Who was able to keep themselves reserved while responding to what was being said by their peers.
Tabitha wanted a young woman who wasn't easy to break. What she didn't need in the future was for Tobias to be troubled by his wife's problems when he was meant to be taking care of the kingdom. She was not going to let someone who couldn't stand on their own take her seat.
"You can all take a deep breath and relax. I trust that your parents have spent enough time and effort in preparing you for a moment like this. I want each of you to always remember that out of all the young women in the kingdom, the palace selected you for a reason. Do your best to make the most of this moment," said Tabitha.
Now that she had addressed the young ladies and their families, Tabitha had no reason to stay here for much longer when they were to be escorted to their rooms and then meet with her and Tobias soon.
Used to his mother's looks, Tobias knew to get ready to follow her so they could discuss who already had his attention. Before his mother could get caught up in picking women she liked, he could give his list. While he was at it, Tobias was going to mess with someone for turning down a dance from him.
Tabitha continued to say, "To the parents, you already know that there is to be limited communication with your daughters. It is to ensure that you do not attempt to mess with the process of this selection and get in your daughter's way. I'm afraid it is time that you say goodbye to your daughters as they need to be shown to their rooms and begin their first test."
Hazel wasn't happy to hear that her parents had to leave already. Why couldn't they walk to the rooms they were assigned and then say goodbye to their parents? Why was the welcome so short?
"You will be fine. You have Helena and Linda," Renee said, hugging Hazel goodbye. "Please try not to get in any trouble and keep an eye on your sister. You two are old enough to take care of yourselves, but you are still her older sister."
"It'll be hard for me to keep an eye on Helena when she looks ready to run off and have a word with the queen, but I will try my best. You two should take this time to enjoy the peace with us not around," Hazel said, letting go of her mother to go to her father.
It was only a week but she knew those days would go by slowly.
"We will," Nathan said, looking forward to not hearing about dresses he had to spend money on or a gentleman one of them noticed. It was about time he got to be alone with his wife after eighteen years of his daughter's running around.
It wouldn't be long before Hazel and Helena would no longer be his responsibility. He would get to save money and be alone with Renee.
"Don't look too excited father," Hazel said, looking up at her father as she stepped into his embrace. "You will make me think that you didn't like us around," she joked.
Helena gave her mother a quick hug goodbye so she could go back to standing up straight. The queen and prince had started to walk away, but there were still the other young women participating who would look for a single flaw in her.
They would not find it since Helena had prepared for this moment.
A maid came where the queen previously stood and announced, "You are to follow me to your rooms."
"Come, Hazel!" Helena said, holding Hazel's hand so they could walk together to find their rooms. "Isn't it exciting?"
"I will tell you when it starts feeling exciting," Hazel replied.
Cadeaux
-- Cadeau
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