The Girl : A Selection Fanfic

Chapter 15

"Ladies, as you all know, in two weeks it will be Halloween, and every year, since the year it has become a holiday again, we host a Halloween ball here in the Palace." Several girls looked to one another in obvious excitement. I, on the other hand, could dread nothing else more.

                        We had all known what was coming of course, I mean the royal family hosts a ball every year. But now that it was actually being spoken of, everyone was buzzing with elation. Well, everyone, that is, except me.

"Now girls, settle down. I know this is quite exciting, but first, before any discussion of the ball, we have some other things to talk about." The Queen stepped forward after Silvia finished speaking, her fiery red hair hanging in one long braid. Now whispers of a different sort were being sent out in waves across the room.

"Hello ladies. As you all know, we are now down to nineteen girls, which isn't very many. And, sadly, the time is coming up for the Elite to be named." She paused, allowing this to sink in for everyone. Many of the girls now looked around in fear, that or superiority, depending on how confident they felt in this competition, while I just couldn't get my mind off something else the Queen had mentioned.

She had said that there were only nineteen of us, but I could have sworn we had twenty. I glanced around the room, trying to see if I noticed anyone missing, but it appeared as if everyone was there, especially since I knew very few of the Selected. But, something did feel missing from the room. I just couldn't place my finger on it.

"Calm down. The Elite is not absolute yet, but the week of the ball, there will be an elimination, confirming the final ten. However, this week, we will be having guests from all over the world. For five days this week, we will be accompanied by representatives from five different countries." Everyone looked around, some confused as to what this had to do with anything, while others were excited. I wasn't either, being that I knew where this must be going.

"Now, usually it's the job of the Queen to host these types of events, but, since one of you will be our future queen, it will be all of you hosting this week. You will be put into five separate groups, each group hosting one day, and each group will obviously also be assigned to host one country each. We already have your groups picked out, which I will read off in a moment, after which you will get together with your group and start planning. But, first, I must warn you: this could or could not decide whether you stay with us. As Queen, you will be expected to host things like this all the time, and some of these meetings confirm whether or not we will become allies with an important country. So do your best. Now for the groups..." She read off the groups in order of who would be going first in the week to who would be going last. I only listened for when she called my name and group day. My mind was still stuck on trying to place what was missing here. Well, that, and my mind was also on Devon.

                  It was only last night when all of...well, that, happened, but it felt as if it were eons away. Except for the pain. The pain didn't feel far away, in fact it felt as if it had been inflicted upon me just seconds ago. I hadn't seen the Prince all day either. He wasn't at breakfast, and I'm kind of glad he wasn't, because I don't think I would have been able to stand it if he had tried to get me alone, to "explain". But, then again, I wouldn't be able to stand it if he didn't try either.

"...on Friday. Ok, now that you all know what group your in, please go get with them and start preparing." We all started to disperse into our groups when a servant came in, making a beeline to the Queen. Almost everyone, including me, stopped to watch as the Queen and the servant spoke together for a few moments in hushed tones. Then, the Queen nodded, saying one last thing towards the maid, and in turn the worker bowed and left the room just as quickly as she had come. The Queen glanced up, realized everyone was watching and dismissed us all with a wave.