章 24: Control (2)
"Fine. I will leave her be," Tabitha said solely for the sake of not arguing with him now.
Tobias will not see it now, but she controlled this selection. It was the queen's duty to watch the young women and pick the best match for a queen. It was not all up to Tobias to pick his wife and since he had not made a lot of good decisions concerning women in the past, she could not leave this up to him.
He would soon see that he could do nothing but follow the rules just as the princes before him did.
"Get some rest and be dressed in the clothes I picked out for you to wear to dinner. I will not forget the way you looked at me just now. After I am doing my best to make sure you have everything you need for the future. You hurt me," Tabitha said and then exited the room for Tobias to linger on her words.
Tobias sighed, noting his mother's new tactic of making him feel guilty but it wouldn't work this time. He was hellbent on getting what he wanted in this selection.
He looked forward to the time his mother would step down as queen and then she might go back to the mother he loved. Right now, she was pushing him away by trying to get her way as if she were the one to get married.
Her time would be better spent with his sister who was being cared for by someone else while their mother worried about the selection.
Tobias walked to his bed and fell down on it. His coat was still on as he stopped unbuttoning it when his mother left. "Only six more days," he muttered.
In six more days this group of women would be gone and he only had to pick from the best of the two groups. It would be some time before the wedding would happen as the woman he picked needed to be tutored on what she needed to do and say as queen. Even though she was picked to wed him, if she failed the lessons there was a chance she would be replaced.
Then after the wedding would be the coronation for them to be named king and queen. There wasn't going to be a break for him to do whatever he wanted.
"I need to get out of here," Tobias decided.
There was one place he could go that the palace guards could not enter to bring him back to the palace. He only needed to convince his friend to let him stay. Though Edgar would be grumpy about it, the butler there would help convince Edgar.
Tobias sat up from the bed and walked over to the door. When he pulled the door for it to open, it didn't bulge. "Open the fucking door!" He yelled for the guards he knew were still outside.
"You are not to run away," Tabitha answered. She knew him better than he liked to believe. "I will see you at dinner."
"Ha," Tobias scoffed. His mother had to come again if she thought this would stop him from leaving when there was another way out.
Tobias let go of the doorknob since it would be pointless to find a way to open it and then have to fight the guards. Instead, he went to the window which would be tricky for him to get out of because his room was so high up, but it was better than staying here alone in his room until it was time for dinner.
Tobias took off his coat, leaving himself in a shirt and long pants. He opened the window which had vines growing up the side of the wall because of the garden right below his wing of the palace. His mother would be lucky if she were to find him for dinner.
Meanwhile, Hazel was returning to her room. She found a maid and was told some of the other women were still in the garden, but they would soon need to return to their rooms so she came here first to be ahead of them.
"Hazel!'
She stopped walking upon hearing Helena call to her. Hazel turned around and found Helena walking with a maid behind her. She remembered the maid as the one meant to take Helena to her room at the beginning.
"I can walk from here on my own. You can return in an hour with water," Helena ordered the maid. She could get used to having someone follow her around. She didn't see why her parents did not give her or Hazel their own maids.
"I see you have gotten quite comfortable here already," said Hazel, watching the maid walk off. She hadn't thought of sending for the maid meant to help her.
"Of course," Helena answered as she walked to Hazel. 'It shall be my home,' she thought.
"Good for you. Do you know where Linda is?" Hazel asked, turning on her heel to continue her walk to her bedroom. She wanted to hear exactly what deal Linda made with Tobias for Linda to abandon her. She was going to enjoy teasing Linda about how she betrayed her.
Helena frowned as it didn't make sense that Hazel didn't know where Linda was. "Shouldn't she be coming with you from spending time with the prince? Did you leave her with him?"
Helena didn't like the idea of Linda being alone with the prince even though Linda loved someone else. What if the prince were to fall for Linda? What was Hazel thinking? Why wasn't Hazel concerned?
Hazel realised that Linda had not returned to the group. "She must be in her bedroom already. I will leave her be," she said.
"You did not answer me. Why is she not with you and where could she be now? Did you let her spend time with the prince alone?" Helena asked, worried that Linda was still with him now.
"Do not panic. Linda left early and I was the one alone with the prince. Do not ask what we spoke about because I will not be sharing," said Hazel.
Helena sighed in relief. "I was not going to ask. I will no longer expect you to help me and I will not tell you about my time alone with the queen or prince. I shouldn't have asked you to give up your pick today. It won't happen again."
Hazel looked to her right at Helena. She poked Helena just to be sure it wasn't a dream. "How can I be sure that they have not switched my sister with a mature replica?"
Helena swatted Hazel's hand away. "It is me and I am always mature. I know that I can win this selection and I wouldn't need your help to do it. I won't ask you to do something for me or turn down any opportunity you get because I will get it from now on. I hope when that time comes you will not hate me. You can get angry with me once like I did."
"I will not get angry with you, Helena. No man will have me feel that way to you," Hazel replied.
章 25: Sisterly (1)
Helena wished she could say the same, but she was a competitive person and wouldn't be able to hold back being jealous or angry if Tobias was spending a lot of time with other women. Even Hazel was the woman he was spending time with instead of her.
She already saw the prince as hers so she was protective and didn't want to see him with anyone else. She was trying to work on not lashing out at Hazel because of her jealousy. Hazel didn't deserve it and anyone watching would call her childish.
"This is supposed to be fun for the two of us in the palace. We've always talked about what it would be like to stay here and how we would love a chance to explore, but now we are here, I don't find it exciting. Sometimes I think that mother should have only picked one of us," said Helena.
"I don't think you would have loved that decision. You wouldn't be here-"
"Why not?" Helena asked louder than she intended to be. "Why wouldn't I be here?"
"I am older than you and not married. I am near the prince's age and it would have been me entering the selection alone had he returned when he was meant to. We only need to remember that this is a contest and when it is all over, we will want to be in each other's lives so don't let your jealousy make you do or say something you will regret. Deal?" Hazel asked, extending her hand for Helena to shake on it.
Helena shook Hazel's hand, agreeing to it because she knew from that moment on she would shine so brightly that there would be nothing to get upset with Hazel for. "As my sister, don't you want to share what was said between you and the prince-"
"No, Helena. What is said with the prince is private and I don't trust that you won't share it with the new friends you are making. I won't be nosey when your time with him comes so leave me be. Go away," Hazel said, motioning her hand to shoo Helena away.
"I am not a bug for you to do that to me. I would happily tell you what I speak of with the prince," said Helena.
"Unfortunately, I know that you will," Hazel muttered, already annoyed by Helena being like a bee in her ear. She was already tired of hearing about Helena dancing with the prince.
Hazel liked seeing Helena happy, but she wished Tobias had picked another young woman so her ears wouldn't feel like they were about to bleed. She was certain she heard Helena talking in her sleep about the dance when they shared a bed last night.
"We are so different. If I were you, I would be rubbing the fact I was alone with the prince in everyone's faces. Let it be known that the Wallace family is not to be dismissed since we are doing so well. When you left, you were the topic of conversations," said Helena.
She had still been jealous then but when her sister became the topic of conversation and others were trying to guess why she was picked, her mood changed to speak up and boast about her sister. It helped clear anyone feeling like she had been jealous of Hazel. Helena particularly loved getting to shut Jasmine up.
Hazel already knew that her name would have become a sweet treat in everyone's mouth. Perhaps it was even being said wherever the queen had wandered off to.
Hazel had a few thoughts about the queen that she was going to keep to herself. It was only the first time up close to the queen so she could be overthinking and misreading the woman. It was also understandable that the queen would come off a little harsh sometimes because there was an important meeting to be made.
Hazel hoped that the queen wouldn't try to put Helena against her because Helena was mesmerised by the queen and would almost do anything to please her.
"This is my bedroom," Hazel said, stopping in front of her door. "If you don't mind, I want a moment alone to gather my thoughts and prepare for when we will see the queen again."
"You are starting to worry me with how you are acting. If something happened when you were alone with the prince, you can share it with me," Helena said, stepping forward to hold Hazel's hands. "I am here for you."
"That- One of the queen's maids is coming," Hazel said, looking down the hallway.
The maid was walking quickly as if she had no time to waste.
"Lady Helena," the maid addressed Helena. "The queen requests your presence. You are to leave right now for a private seating with the queen and her ladies."
Helena slowly turned to Hazel in disbelief that she was getting an invite from the queen herself. She couldn't believe it and thought her ears were playing tricks on her so she heard the wrong thing.
"You should leave now to not have the queen waiting," Hazel said, excited for Helena. She wanted to close the little gap from Helena's mouth falling open from the shock of the invite, but then thought doing so would bring attention to it.
Hearing Hazel say this, Helena now knew that what she heard was right.
The maid wished Helena would respond faster so they could see the queen. It was bad enough that she had to rush all over to find the young woman because she wasn't in the garden with the others and now her response was slow.
"Lead the way," Helena answered, her hands going to her hair to check if it was perfect. She wished she had a little more time to change into another dress. "I will see you later, Hazel."
Right now, having time alone with the prince seemed like nothing when she was getting to sit with the queen. Helena crossed her fingers hoping there wouldn't be anyone else from the selection present so she could finally have some attention back on her.
The prince might have lost a little interest in her, but with the queen liking her, Tobias would certainly notice her again.
"Goodbye," Hazel said, waving goodbye to Helena.
She was curious why the queen was suddenly calling on Helena. Was it a new part of the selection? Hazel had not heard about anyone getting private meetings with the queen so early on.
Whatever the reason the queen wanted to see Helena, Hazel hoped that it would go well so she wouldn't have to bear with Helena crying later. This time she wouldn't be able to pass Helena off to their mother and as funny as it was to see Helena's crying face, Hazel wasn't in the mood for it now.
Hazel watched Helena get a good distance away from her door and then enter her bedroom. She had much to think about from her time with Tobias which was surprisingly pleasant. There were a few jokes she didn't like and he was flirting with her sometimes, but it wasn't time wasted.
There were moments when she felt affected by the things he said.
"This is confusing," Hazel muttered.
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I am travelling soon so updates will be 1 per day and then 2 per day along with a mass release when I return.
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