Saffron's Fire

A Checkmate 3:37 Choosing Day

Evelyn glided gracefully around the assembled choosers. Her hair, piled in a high ponytail braid, felt like a million pounds and her black sleek dress was hard to move in properly. She distracted herself from this state of affairs by scanning the crowd to see if she could see a red rose.

Minutes passed, then an hour, she saw no one with a red rose or carrying her journal. She racked her brain for anything she might have missed. It was hard though, choosers kept coming up to her and talking which was breaking her concentration.

Finally the dinner hour was announced and Evelyn stood aloof in order to observe the throng more minutely. It was her special power. She could send out an aura, much like the cat she resembled that said "leave me alone" and people would not bother her. She saw many interesting things such as Marisol Oro switching drinks with the chooser she was talking to by catching them when their back was turned to her, but she did not see even a chooser with so much as a flower on them. Flowers were not a typical adornment for a Choosing Ceremony. It gave the wrong impression.

Suddenly, she heard a slight cough behind her, Someone had obviously not gotten the leave me alone vibe she thought, annoyed. Evelyn turned and there was a server. This waitress was a cute blond with pixie cut hair and an impish face to match. Mischief radiated from her face as she asked Evelyn, " Coconut Shrimp?" and lifted the tantalizing hors d'oeuvres towards Evelyn's great height.

Evelyn stared at the young woman, who was not that much older than herself with a slight Eastern European accent. " Why are you offering me food? Isn't that prohibited unless I have a Chooser order for me?"

Pixie girl just grinned and lifted her tray a little more insistently towards Evelyn. All Evelyn could see on the tray were her favorite food on Earth, Shrimp, and her tummy growled.

Her rapid thoughts tried to work out the reason for this servers persistence. One, someone had ordered it for her, an obvious and logical deduction. Two, the food was tainted in some way, it could be another aspect of this test she had been undergoing all this day. Three, this server had been sent on purpose to deliver a message or clue. Which that last bit of reasoning, Evelyn looked closely at her server, taking in her entire person. That was when she saw it. There on the neat grey server's vest was an embroidered red rose.

Evelyn could have kicked herself! She had only been looking at the choosers and had not been paying any attention to anyone else, like the servers. Pixie had grown tired of waiting for Evelyn to take the scrumptious smelling hors d'oeuvre and with a smirk she quickly walked on, weaving her way through the crowd of people. Evelyn followed her at a discreet distance but Pixie showed no more suspicious actions and went about her duties.

Then out of the corner of her eye, she saw a rapid movement. Her sister Carrigan had been chosen and had disappeared through the floor of the room. It was always an entertaining distraction to the choosers, because each girl reacted to this surprising event differently. Some screamed, some tried to climb back out, some were silent and graceful. Carrigan was silent as she descended. Throughout the chamber there was an audible sigh of sadness, she had been a favorite. Evelyn stared at the place where her sister had been and saw a man with a nice white suit jacket but there underneath it was a servers vest. Grey, with the embroidered red rose. Evelyn walked a few paces closer to the young man, with white blond hair. She was somewhat hidden by the crowd so she watched him for a few more moments. His jacket bulged.

This was him. It had to be. He finished a drink he had just ordered and started moving rapidly towards the kitchens. Evelyn followed him and waited. He came out of the kitchens sans jacket a few moments later and went to talk to Pixie. Evelyn pretended like she was engaged in a conversation with a groups of choosers and girls. She could feel their eyes on her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Pixie emphatically shake her head and saw Him throw his head back in laughter. Anger boiled inside Evelyn. Who did this guy think he was messing with? Two could play his game. All she needed was a distraction.

Time passed interminably, really it was only about five minutes, before the distraction Evelyn was waiting for happened. Two tables over, Lainey Windemere let out a loud shriek as the floor swallowed her up. This caused everyone to turn and look and some even to laugh.

Evelyn, who had been waiting for just such an event, snuck into the kitchen. None of the cooking or serving staff paid her any attention as she entered the busy domain. She made her way quickly to the back room where the server's extra uniforms were and stole an outfit. She then made her way to the changing room and quickly assumed the servers uniform as well as happily wiping her make up and letting down some of her hair. When the transformation was complete, she grabbed a half empty tray and made her way back out into the dining room. He had moved to the side of the room where a lot of foreign choosers had congregated. He was evidently listening to them, maybe even spying. She could tell because he was taking too long serving and his expression was somewhat focused.

Evelyn saw this as her chance, she walked over to where He was serving items from his tray. She neatly and purposefully tripped up a chooser, who then ran into her nemesis, sending both chooser and would-be-waiter crashing to the ground. Evelyn was first on the scene to help him up. using his distraction, she picked his pockets, and sure enough, there were her book and journal. She didn't even bother to hide them. She stuck them in her uniform pants back pocket picked up her own tray and walked away.

She made her way back through the crowd. Allowing herself a rare smug smile. Her last thought before she too was swallowed into the ground was checkmate.