I see the ten lucky girls crying with their families as they won't be allowed to meet until the marriage, well at least one of them.
My brother appears besides me and puts an arm around my shoulder.
I look up at him and tears well up in my eyes.
"Its okay." he says kissing my forehead. He does not say anything else and just stands besides me. I feel thankful, because I don't know how I would react as I am not quite able to figure out my emotions right now.
"Caden?" I look up to see one of my brother's friends from the monitoring department. He gives me a small smile showing nothing but pity.
My brother looks at me and I just nod, not trusting my voice. He leaves with his friend and all the thoughts immediately start flooding back to my mind.
The only thing I wanted before the ceremony was not to get selected. So I should have felt good right? Scratch that. Ecstatic. I should felt ecstatic.
But all I feel is something being pulled apart from me. My destiny. Like something was glued to my skin for a long time and is now being pulled by someone.
I am snapped out of my thoughts when I feel my brother's hand on my shoulder. "Come with me." he says and pulls me along with him without even waiting for my response.
As soon as I see we are walking towards our parents, I move behind my brother. I don't know how my parents will react to all that has happened today even if it is for the best.
"Mom, we need to go home. Me and Cassy are going to have to stay in the palace for a couple of days." my brother says already dragging both of them towards the exit with me trailing behind them.
"Why would you do that?" my mother asks when we get out of the hall. "She did not get selected." she says frowning at me.
"Well yeah, and we know that it is for the best. But some of the people from the monitoring department are supposed to monitor all the events for the selection of the Prince's wife in the palace, since they don't want anyone breaking any rules." he tells my mother, still jogging towards our house. "And since Cassy has been placed in the monitoring department, she has to come with us."
My mother does not ask anymore questions. On our way my brother tells me that he is not sure how long we would have to live there and hence I would have to take a lot of clothes with me, since we are not allowed to leave the palace once we enter it.
As soon as we reach home, I start packing my things into a bag my mom gave me or should I say the one she made for me.
I take my bag to the living room where I see Caden is already waiting for me.
"Hurry up! We are late!" he yells at me when mom and dad pull me into a hug.
We practically run on our way to the hall. Once we reach there, my brother introduces me to his boss, and that's when I come to know that my own brother is my boss.
So technically, I just met my boss's boss, Luke, who is quite young. He is one of those people who look handsome just effortlessly. He has the typical just-got-out-of-bed blonde hair and blue eyes. He has high cheek bones and overall qualifies as very good looking and hot.
He is also one of the few people I have seen who is confident when he speaks but not arrogant, I notice, as I observe him talking to all his juniors.
We are all divided into groups to go into separate chariots.
I get into the chariot with Luke, and a new fairy who got placed in the monitoring department today. I smile at him and he smirks at me. Another overconfident jerk.
The new guy sits next to me and Luke sits right in front of me, our knees touching. I have never been this close to a boy . I try to get rid of the nervousness by thinking about other things.
"So," Luke says grabbing my attention. "Lets start by introducing ourselves. I am Luke and I am your boss. You would be monitoring all the events and I am the one who is responsible if anything goes wrong anywhere. Okay?"
The boy next to me nods," I am Alex." he stretches out his hand towards me.
"I am Cassandra." I say taking his hand.
"Beautiful name for a beautiful fairy." he says, my hand still in his.
I hear Luke clear his throat and immediately pull my hand away, color rushing to my cheeks.
"So Cassandra, you will be assisting me and I will be teaching you all the basics. And Alex, you will be assisting Caden. You won't be in direct contact with me. In case of any problem you will be contacting Caden who will contact me. You are only supposed to get in touch with me only when it is a life or death situation. Literally. Understood?" Luke says authoritatively.
"Y.. Yes.. Yes Sir." stammers the confident Alex.
I know that it is going to be a long journey, at least 5-6 hours to the palace.
"Do you mind if I take a nap?" I ask Luke.
"No. But I'll be waking you up in an hour or so to guide you about our duties. Is that okay?"
I nod and take the pillow lying next to me. I place it behind my neck and lean into it.
When I open my eyes, the first thing I see is someone's chin.
I try to get up but someone's holding me in place. I feel someone kiss my hair. "Go to sleep Cassandra." Alex whispers.
I quickly glance sideways to see no one where Luke was sitting. I feel that we have come to a stop.
"Get off me you pervert" I hiss at Alex and he lets me go reluctantly. He chuckles slightly when I glare at him. He is really sick.
I get out of the chariot to find out whats going on. I see Luke talking to our charioteer. They both seem look exhausted and I see some mud on Luke's face.
I turn my head to the left to see a beautiful valley. We are at the very edge of the narrow road, climbing up to the palace.
I take a few steps closer towards the edge until I stumble upon a rock and I see nothing but valley beneath me.
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A/N
Hey! I hope you all liked this chapter.
Don't forget to vote and add to your library if you haven't already!! :)
Until next time...
-Sia.
