A Royal Kiss

A Royal Kiss ♡ Chapter One

a glimpse of elondri... more on that in chapter three!

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It was time. The sound of a bell slit through the air like a knife.

Elondri accidentally dropped the flowers she was picking, on the ground. She picked them up quickly and opened the front door. Everyone grabbed their coats knowing where to go. The whole family gathered together when she walked through the door and the fresh June air tickled her nostrils.

They almost ran to the square to get a glimpse of Illéa's latest news every Saturday. It was just after dinner time; when the sun was waiting to go down and shone her last beams of sunlight onto the people.

The sun casted weird shadows on the ground and the houses almost disappeared underneath a shade of darkness. The only light was coming from the lamp on Luke's side. He smiled at her when she looked at him, a confident smile that made her forget about every little worry she once had.

When she looked back, Elondri noticed the people had gotten quiet. She had lived in Fennley for about 17 years now and never had it been this still.

The last few residents walked into the crowd. But the friends she once had passed her by as if she never had existed to them. They never really had time for each other; work came before maintaining friendships when your family was struggling.

She looked down into the light blue eyes of Trynne. Her five year younger sister was too small to see the screen on the other side of the square. Elondri had lifted her enough times that she knew Trynne loved looking over the heads of the people just to see everything her little eyes could possibly see. The best thing was when she was the first one to see something; the sun that suddenly disappeared and then appeared in her eyes and said that money wasn't what made people happy. Love was.

Elondri glanced straight into the piercing eyes of Luke who lifted Jort, their five-year-old brother, on his shoulders. His eyes told her that everything was going to be fine, nothing was wrong. It was just an update. Nothing special. She nodded and he smiled as an answer.

The screen slowly changed from pitch-black, a void that could never be filled, to a white light that seemed to poke your eyes out if you looked too long. A tall man appeared on the screen. A shiny white grin, hair as gray as the feathers of a dove and eyes as outstanding as the moon in the dark night. Bariel Clarence, the Royal Announcer. He looked at everyone one by one, although Elondri knew that he probably was just inspecting the corners of the camera for dust.

"Dear beloved people of Illéa," he began, "as you all might know, a Selection is coming our way because, finally, Prince Lucas has grown old enough! I remember the time our lovely Queen Gwendolyn had won the selection... Ah - the good ol' times! But, now it's time for her handsome son! And, a selection isn't a selection without ladies terrorizing the palace!"

Her mom had told Elondri once; how Queen Gwendolyn had won the prince's heart when they went on a date. She was beautiful, smart, witty and very calm; everything King Lawrence wanted. Everyone could watch along on the big screen every Saturday to hear more updates or watch interviews with the selected.

He continued. "We will send out forms to every young lady aged between 16 and 20 years through all over Illéa." He pointed, "Are you just that one girl who's interested... Do not hesitate to apply that form! One of you will become the next Queen. Ah-I'm so exciting!" He paused for a minute to clap his hands. "So if you are interested in finding true love here, fill out that form and return it to the State Providence Office along with a photo of yourself!"

Many girls were muttering to their parents about it. Elondri heard many of them saying that they had to apply that form, like now. Bariel had said his last words about the Selection for today and continued with other news.

Everything moved on. Except Elondri. She closed her eyes and started thinking. She thought about how the Selection could improve the life of her busy family, even though she would be miles away from them if she entered. They would still have to work while she didn't. The only thing she had to do there was sit on her ass in a pretty dress and smile until her family got enough money to give them what they wanted: protection. If they had enough money, they could buy a bigger house and save enough money to eat at least one fresh bread a day. Her family received money each week she stayed at the palace. That meant she had to reach at least the final five before she could go back.

But she didn't want to enter. She didn't know what to expect. They had always lived the hard life; they all earned a little money for food the next day by hard work. She got used to it. She loved working hard. And she loved the thought to see her family again in the late evenings and hug them tight like a day didn't consist 24 but 72 hours.

She looked at the arms of her little sister that held her tight around her shoulders, at the dangling legs that just never seemed to stop moving.

Luke listened intently, curious if there was news about the rebels. He seemed so wise and strong and it was easy to fall in love with his personality - for all, she fell in love with it herself. Why was he so wise, why wasn't she? Why could she blurt things out and hurt people, when he kept his control on the situation and comfort people. She just didn't understand why he looked - outside and inside - so perfect and she was just a badly made copy.

Her mom carefully grabbed her dad's hand, who grabbed it even firmer and pulled her against him so he could wrap his arms around her. Her eyes were full of emotions; full with memories; full of love and grief.

And behind them, he was standing. The boy who secretly comforted her when her hands were covered with blisters again because of work. Who kissed her hand when she saw how hard her parents were fighting to keep standing. But he had never seen her like she had seen him. And even Elondri had to let him go if she wanted to take care of her family.

She wanted to wait so badly until 'the one' found her, but waiting took so long. Did she need to go to the palace for this one time? Would 'the one' be waiting for her there?

Or was this getting too much for her now?

She couldn't think any longer. Two days later they found a letter on the doormat. In elegant letters 'Elondri Lunar' was written and danced on a white envelope. Her mom wanted to open it immediately, but Luke hid the letter and waited patiently until Elondri got home.

She was startled, and scared, and sad and happy and 39 other emotions she couldn't describe. What did she need to do?

It was quite simple actually; just fill in that form and take it with her to the Town Hall in five days. The chance her picture would be picked out of thousands better pictures from girls who didn't only look hotter, but were actually smarter than her and had better connections, was minimal.

And yet did she fill out her form en got herself photographed five days later. She wished she wore a white dress and make up on her face, but if they didn't like her for who she was then what was the point of holding a selection?