Scarlet in Glezentine

Chapter 4 - Traditions

"Well, I might as well tell you. So you know that my mom, the queen, died five years ago, right? Glezentine has this dumb tradition, that when one of the royal parents, the king or queen (in this case the queen) dies, there are . . . competitions." She struggles to find the right word, and even at that one, James snorts.

She continues. "Each of the royal children, minus one, are put up as prizes."

"Why minus one?" I interrupt.

"So they will have company. Anyway, they are the prizes. The competitions are to win the prizes and therefore winning us. The competitions are hard, and there's always death. Those who are left behind, die and no one helps them. It's not done very often, and we have to wait five years after their death to start. It's so the parent gets to spend time with their children.

"So. . . why is my age important?"

"I was just about to get to that. Every girl between the ages of 12 and 16 competes for my brothers as prizes. Every boy between 12 and 16 competes for me as the prize. You're required to compete if you're within the age limit."

"Okay. If I was listening correctly, everyone between 12 and 16 has to compete for the prince's and princess's hand in marriage? Why?"

"Because that is how old they are, and it's to see who would be the best match for the child. They get to pick from a list which challenge they are going to compete in."

"Why?"

James sighs. "Why do you ask so many questions?"

Caroline shoots him a withering glare. "It's okay. They choose competitions that are for specific talents. It's so they get what they want in a husband or wife."

"Oh. That makes sense."

"Good," says James, annoyed.

"And it's going to happen this year, right?"

"Actually, I think it's going to happen tomorrow," corrects Caroline.

"Wow. It's that soon?" She nods. I look over to the boys, still holding the cake, but I see there's a section missing and James' face has a dark smudge on his mouth.

"How old are you guys?"

"Adam's 12, and Cara and I are both 13." Adam shakes his head. "Oh right. Adam's now 13. I keep forgetting."

That means I'm the youngest here. Since I'm in the youngest age group, I don't think I'm going to survive, much less win. What happens if I don't?

"I'm scared to ask, but, I know that people come in first, but what happens to the rest?"

"The first ones get the prizes, medals, and other things like that. People who get somewhere in the middle are fine. Nothing happens to them. Good or bad. But lots of people die on the way. And if you cheat, or do anything like that, you'll die. So the best place to be is in the middle."

I open the mouth to say something, but loud bells interrupt. "What's that?" I ask.

"Bells. Duh." Says James.

I glare at him as we start walking towards the sound. "I know that, but what do they mean?"

He just shrugs. "You know as much as we do."

"Actually, I think it's time for the first round." Says Caroline.

We went over to a big square and there's a huge crowd surrounding the bell tower. At the base, I see a platform, and beside it, two boxes big enough to fit people into.

I squint harder and I notice that the boxes are clear, except for the wall connecting the two, and the wall facing the audience.

We make our way to the front and Caroline slips away to go stand with the other royals. Then I notice what the king is holding. It's a draw box. More people come to gather around the large square that's just big enough to fit everyone comfortably.

The royal family's displayed on a screen overhead.

The king clears his throat and everyone stops talking. It's so quiet, his voice carries through the square easily. "Good day to you all." He says in his deep voice. 

"Good day to you." Everyone echoes. 

"First things first." He continues. "The draw for which two people you'll be competing for." He mixes the three pieces of paper and then draws a slip. "The person staying with me is. . . Prince Carl!" All eyes turn to the tallest of the three children. I can tell he's trying to keep a straight face. "That means you'll be competing for Prince Christopher and Princess Caroline!"

The crowd erupts in cheers. They clearly liked that. Everyone watched as the two chosen ones stepped into the boxes. They had headphones on, but I could tell the box itself was soundproof.

The cameras changed to show the royals circling and checking boxes and writing numbers beside them. There wasn't enough time for me to read it when they stepped out of the box and took off their headphones. They both handed their papers back to the king, and the crowd went wild. Everyone is enthusiastic about this.

I look around and see that it's mostly the parents who are cheering. Some of the kids are, but not as happy.

I look back at the stage and see that the king is reading through the responses. Once he is finished, he clears his throat. I'm beginning to think that's how he gets everyone's attention.

"Here are the results. The contest will happen in this order for Prince Christopher. First is the marathon race. Next is the beauty pageant, and last, of course, is the talent show." The crowd starts murmuring about why he chose those things.

"And this is the order Princess Caroline wishes. First, the test of knowledge, next is the Hunting range, and last, like always, is the talent show."

I don't know what they mean, but I do know that it's not going to be easy.