When I wake up, I'm still sat next to Hero's bed and I have the worst cramp in my neck.
"Good morning," Hero says sleepily, "I'm sorry that you had to sleep in a chair..."
A nurse rushes over and takes Hero's pulse. I watch as they remove the bandages to change the dressings. Hero lies motionless, only moving if a nurse asks her to. She flinches every few seconds and I reach for her hand, remembering her helping me out so many times as well as her helping my whole family out when she came to meet me with May at my home.
This causes a wave of home sickness and I miss my mom and Georgia. They're so far away and I might not see them for months now. I just wish that I could see them right now. And seeing Esmay so much doesn't help.
"I'm sorry that I can't stay much longer but I've got to go," I tell Hero apologetically.
She waves feebly as I rush out. I hurry down the corridors and eventually end up in my room. May is waiting for me with a turquoise silk shift dress. I change into it quickly and team it with some brown, leather ankle boots. I pull on a grey wool cardigan. May applies some eyeliner and I go down to breakfast.
I enter the room and Caxon's eyes flicker to me. His eyes follow me to my seat. As I sit, he goes back to talking the Queen. I turn to talk to Cerys.
"Did you stay in the hospital wing all night?" Sophie asks.
"Yes, Hero used to be my head maid so I wanted to stay with her," I tell them.
"That's so nice of you. I mean, you spent a night in a chair for her," Cerys says.
,"Well, she's done so much for me so it was the best thing to do," I reply.
Caxon's claps his hands and we stop talking to listen.
"Okay, ladies, today, you have to team up for a treasure hunt in the gardens. You are allowed an unlabelled map, three horses and a pager. The prize is a mystery!!" He announces with a cheesy wink.
The Queen giggles and stands up next to Caxon.
"Please get yourself into teams of three." She tells us.
Esmay turns to me, "Marie, do you want to be in a group with me?"
"I'm sorry, sis, but I'm in a team with Sophie and Cerys," I reply apologetically.
She pulls a dramatic sad face with her bottom lip stuck out but she turns away to get in a team with two other girls who don't talk much.
We go up to Caxon and collect our map, instructions for which horses and the pager.
"Lady Marie, can I talk to you?" He asks, then, as I nod, he turns to the Queen, " Mom, can you hand out the stuff for me?"
"Of course I can, darling," Queen Eadhlyn says.
Caxon leads me out of the room as Sophie and Cerys start to look at the map.
"After dinner tonight, meet me in our place." Caxon tells me and I agree before I rush to my room to change for the treasure hunt.
I change into a purple light wool jumper and some jodhpurs. May hands me some knee high riding boots and tug them on.
I meet Sophie and Cerys outside of Sophie's room and we rush out to the stables. The stable boy brings out my usual horse and two others for Sophie and Cerys.
We look at the map and gallop off to where we think it is. It is marked with a flashing light in purple, our team color. We open the securely locked chest beneath it.
YOU ARE READING
Scintillate {The Selection}
Fanfiction{EDITING} In Illea, the Selection is an opportunity of a lifetime for one average girl to be catapulted into the royalty. Marie entered, never thinking she would have a chance at even getting to the Palace, and it changed her perception of her past...
