The Selection + SGE

Yara

Wow, is the first thing I think when entering the palace. Everything is so ornately decorated. Gold everywhere. The floor is sparkling it is so clean.

Its obvious that i'm not the only one who's dazzled. The other girls - even Beatrix - are looking around in awe. Kiko has the cutest smile on her face, like there is nowhere else she would rather be. I turned towards her to say something, anything, even though I wasn't sure what yet.

That was until we heard someone clapping behind us.

"Ladies, ladies, I'm glad you are here," the woman had the most striking purple eyes which matched her heels that clicked along the floor, "Though you are quite late."

Something about this woman made me cower in her presence, so filled with authority and a trait I couldn't quite place.

"I'm very sorry, it was my fault." Agatha had stepped forward, head hanging. "I was the one who made us wait at the airport, it won't happen again." The woman's gaze fell upon Agatha and began to inspect her top do bottom.

"Hmm," she hummed, "You aren't what I was expecting." She said the last part so quietly I almost didn't catch it. "Very well. From now on, I expect you to be punctual at all times. You may call me Lady Lesso."

She abruptly turned on her heel and barked out a command, "Follow me."

We trailed after her through a maze of corridors, walking past all kinds of servants rushing around trying to prepare for the selection.

Lady Lesso kept talking as we went. "This is the Grand Hall," or "This is the East Staircase." So many places and so many different names. "This is our destination. It is the women's room. You will be spending quite a lot of time in here. It is my job to prepare you for palace life and life once the selection is over-"

"Excuse me, Lady Lesso, but what will we be doing here?" Kiko had even raised her hand to ask the question.

She's so cute.

Lady Lesso glared at Kiko but answered the question nevertheless - after giving us a lecture on manners and how she would fix that for us very soon and 'what she would do if the stupid palace wasn't watching her' though I don't believe we were supposed to hear that part. "You will get your makeover today and a short interview. The pictures are for a piece on the selection for the Illea Report showing before and after pictures. The interview is for the papers. The I will prepare you all for two weeks to have your live interviews."

Without further ado, Lady Lesso flung the doors behind her open to reveal the chaos behind. I heard yells of "I need the scissors" and "Where are the straighteners!" It was manic. As we were being ushered into the room, I slipped away as quietly as possible and followed the instructions I had already memorised.

Once you reach the women's room, walk to the nearest staircase on the left. Walk around it into a quiet corridor and into the bathroom. Stay there until the count of 10 to make sure no one is following you. Leave, turn right, and you will see a crooked picture frame. Straighten it. I will be there, waiting for you.

~T

The painting was one of the daughter of Gregory Illea, the founder of our country. She sat on a throne belonging to a faraway country as that is what happened to girls in the royal family, they were married off to princes to make alliances. I looked closer and saw the picture was level but the frame looked as though it was on a slight angle. I carefully reached out my hands and straightened it.

The portrait retracted into the wall leaving only the name of the princess on a gold plaque. From where I was standing, it could almost have been mistaken for-