The Heir And The Spare

#21

TWENTY-ONE

'Thinking here goes nothing could be the start of everything.' – Drew Wagner

Friday afternoon has all thirteen of us girls filing into the gallery room – the same room where my portrait now hangs and I can't stop the uneasy feeling that washes over my body as my face stares back at everyone, blown up for all too see. I see a few of the girls glance my way as we take our seats in the middle of the room.

"Afternoon ladies," Rubella greets us with a smile. "This morning you should have received your order of presenting."

I'm going last, as always.

I sit down in the back row beside Amberley who is presenting just before me. I can feel the apprehension radiating from her, from her jumpy leg to the way she can't stop moving her eyes across the room.

"You're going to smash it," I reassure her, placing my hand down on her jumpy leg. Amberley peers up at me and smiles.

"Eva, I'm so nervous I could puke."

"James would be an idiot not to see something special in you," I tell her because I know when I next see him, I will tell him my choice. Amberley embodies everything I know James wants and those things will also make her a good queen. Out of all the girls, she is the humblest. She steps back and observes situations before she makes an opinion on them and her opinions are always fair. She's beautiful and kind and most of all, she doesn't treat me like I'm a pedestal she wants to climb. She is in it for the right reasons.

I promised James I would help him find a bride and I have done that.

"Ladies, would you lease welcome Her Majesty Queen Katherine and His Royal Highness Prince James," Rubella announces. We all stand and I watch as the girls simultaneously drop their heads in a bow. I drop mine too as Katherine appears first but not before my eyes land on James and his pale blue shirt and black slacks as he strolls across the gallery. His eyes meet mine almost like he was searching for them and the way his lips quirk has my heart racing and my ears screaming all at once as if I can hear the wind howling inside my head. I'm not sure if I want to punch him or understand him anymore and I don't know how to move past this feeling.

"You may take your seats, ladies. Thank you for being here." Queen Katherine addresses. "I believe my son has a few words."

James clears his throat. "I want to thank you all for not only coming here but for your continued efforts in this process, particularly with other events going on."

I can almost swear the tension in the room picks up a bit.

"This particular task is important to me because not only am I looking for a partner to share my life with but a queen to rule alongside me. I am looking for a teammate. What's a queen without a king?"

I fight the urge to scoff because if history says anything then better.

"Thank you very much, Your Highness," Rubella smiles at turns to us. "Lady Eloise, it looks like you're up first."

*

"And that's why I believe I would make a great queen," Henna concludes her slideshow. "I know the facts, I know the figures and even more, I know the people." The girls, Katherine and James include, applaud her as they have with every other girl and Henna retakes her seat with a bright smile. Her presentation was well thought out, yes, but was surface-level like everything else she does.

Amberley's name is called next, and I watch her fidget with her hands as she nervously gathers her cards in her hand and waits for her sideshow to be loaded onto the screen. I catch her eye and give her an encouraging smile. I almost want to cross my fingers and toes she makes it through this with enough confidence I know she has.