The Princess of Darkness

Chapter 7: Abby's Visit

Chapter 7 (Elizabeth)

"What was she thinking?"

"I don't know, but the prince seemed to enjoy it."

"How can one girl annoy so many princesses?"

"Shhh, I think she's awake."

I rubbed my eyes and sat up in my bed. "Were you guys talking about me?" I asked.

Amelia, Jennifer, and Isabelle shifted uncomfortably on their heels. "Um, no Elizabeth..." Amelia said. Wow she is a really bad liar.

"Seriously though, what were you talking about?" I stared all three of them down.

"Um, well last night you kind of got on some of the other princesses bad sides." Jennifer said quietly.

"Yeah, you didn't talk to any of the other princesses, and the prince didn't pay any attention to the other girls besides you." Amelia added.

"Oh, and the prince is sending two princesses home today. Good luck your highness." Isabelle finished. Then the three girls hastily turned around and headed for the door.

"Wait!" I yelled. "How did that offend the other princesses?" I was really confused.

"Well, they see you as a threat. You were the only one who actually spoke to the prince and didn't shove food into your mouth like you were starving."

I knew that was true, but I just wasn't hungry. I don't understand why the other princesses feel threatened by that. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if I got eliminated today.

"Did they film it on television?" I inquired. I loved saying that word, I had only recently learned what television, film, and broadcasting were.

"Yes." Isabelle said. "Everything that takes place in this competition will be filmed. That's probably why some of the girls from your village feel like your acting for the cameras."

"I doubt that, I still barely understand this crazy teknolog- tecmeg..."

"Technolgy." Amelia corrected. I really need to remember that word.

"Yeah that. If i can barely understand technology then why would other girls be able to understand it and use it as a tool to win?" I was starting to become really confused. Jennifer sighed loudly.

"Look, if you win the entire competition and become queen then none of this will even matter." Jennifer said. "But if you don't want a bunch of crazy 16 year-old girls plotting your downfall then it might not be such a bad idea to make some friends." She finished.

Ok got it. Make friends, don't stuff face, and win. But I knew that I wasn't going to win, I mean come on. I don't think that a prince would choose someone from my village. I also know that I probably won't make it to the real competition. This is just the small part of The Choosing, I doubt that I will make it to the big contest.

Isabelle broke the silence. "Well, we'll give you 30 minutes to get ready and then we'll be back to get you ready for elimination."

The trio left quickly, and Amelia closed the door silently behind them.

"Ugh." I groaned, and collapsed back onto the bed. Then I heard a knock at the door.

"Come in." I said.

A tall figure stepped into the room. His face was covered by a hood, and he was dressed in a navy cloak. "Um... hello?" I asked the person.

"Hello." a familiar voice responded. "It took me a really long time to find you." The figure removed its cloak to reveal my 12 year old sister Abby.

"Abby!" I yelled. "How did you get here?" I hugged her tightly.

"Well, when the soldiers came to our house and took you away, I decided to follow you." She paused and looked down.

"What happened Abby?" I inquired. I know when my sister is lying.

"Um, well mom and dad don't know that I'm gone." She blurted.

"What?!" I shouted.

"Well once I sneak you out of here then they will be so greatful that I brought you home that they'll forget all about me running away to find you." She said.

"I can't believe that you would do tha- wait what do you mean by sneaking me out of here?" I asked.

"Well I mean you can't actually like it here." She said. "They took you away from us. They're evil." I then occured to me that I had never once felt homesick in the past few days. I immediately felt guilty.

"I'm sorry Abby, but I can't leave. This is The Choosing, and if I stay in this conmpetition then I might make it to the real Choosing."

"What do you mean?" Abby asked.

"Well you know about The Choosing right? You know the competition that finds the future queen of Mortalius?" I said.

"Well yeah, we learned about it in school"

"Exactly. Well something happened in our village and now all of the eligible girls from there have to compete in a mini version of The Choosing. They will eliminate 13 of the 15 girls from our home town." I summed it up as quickly as I could. (Abby has a very short attention span.)

"Oh my gosh! You might become the queen!" Abby squealed.

"Well I don't think that I-..." Abby cut me off.

"Then I'd be the princess right?" Abby asked.

"Look." I said. "The prince will probably choose one of the girls from the kingdom to be his queen. I barely have a chance."

Abby looked crushed. "I'm sorry" I said. "I didn't mean to make you sad, but you needed to hear the truth."

"It's okay, I get it." She sniffled a few times, and then pulled herself back together. "Well I should go before anyone sees me."

She walked to the door and turned around to look at me. "They installed this thing in all of the houses called televisions so we can watch you in the competition. I'll see you." And with that Abby left through the "closet" door.

Less then seconds after my little sister left, the door opened again.

"Are you ready for today's elimination ceremony?" Amelia asked as she walked into my bedrrom. I put all of the memories of Abby's visit behind me.

"Of course I am." I replied.

Isabelle opened the closet and pulled out a short silver above-the-knee dress. She held the dress up to me, and sqealed. "Let's get you ready!"