The Picking

Chapter One

Claire and I snuggled together under the warmth of the silky blanket. It kept both of us nice and snug throughout the night. The stars glistened above us and the moon shone brightly.

One thing that I knew about Claire was that she was fearless. Tonight, she didn't care that we were sleeping on the soil. It was the safest thing I could come up with.

After Claire had fallen asleep, I stayed up to keep watch of the guards.

According to the strict rules of Pinna and Pipoll, no woman under the age of thirty was supposed to be wandering outside past curfew. It was safe for everyone that way. I had also learned that the guards stayed off duty after midnight.

That's when they left their posts and slept in their tents until six in the morning. I had learned so after a close call at five when I went out hunting for Claire and I.

Just as I was coming back to our camp spot, I was carelessly singing a lullaby. One of the guards must have heard me because he ventured off in my direction. I have managed to keep us off their scent but it won't be long until they see us.

"Wake up, Claire. We're leaving," I whispered to her and collected the blanket and backpacks.

"Where? We have to stay here one more night to be able to pass the fence." She responded. "I know. We have to find a better place to hide. Now c'mon." I grabbed her hand and we walked off into the woods.

"Attention!" Over the thousands of loudspeakers that were scattered meticulously in trees and shrubs, I heard Queen Elizabeth. We could hear her booming voice coming from all over the woods. This was also an upgrade after World War 3.

A few decades ago, Dad and the two other kings of Pipoll and West Barron installed thousands of speakers across our provinces so if there was a war, the monarchies could inform everyone to go into shelter before it would be too late.

So far, there was only one false alarm over the forty years of being invented. These speakers were also used for special events or updates.

Queen Elizabeth of Pinna, King James and Queen Patricia of West Barron, and King Kenneth and Queen Amanda of Pipoll used the microphones often to talk about the daily news going on in every province. After Queen Elizabeth cleared her throat, she began to speak.

"Attention, people of Pipoll, West Barron, and the lovely Pinna! I have an announcement considering The Picking! Prince David of West Barron, and Prince Kingsley of Pipoll are extremely excited to meet the lucky and lovely ladies. We hope that these princes will meet wonderful women during The Picking. This generation for Pinna won't be apart of this Picking. Hopefully next time." Queen Elizabeth signed off with her air kiss and turned off the speaker.

"It's all our fault, Brittany!" Claire whined. "What's our fault?" I scoffed. "Pinna won't have any more generations to do The Picking! You would have been the princess representing Pinna but we left!" Claire exclaimed.

"Don't even get me started. I'm glad I left that death trap. They would be setting up love for me! I'd rather die than be the unfortunate princess that's forced into that deed!" I complained. Claire whined as we stayed in the same position for over an hour.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps filled the air and we held our breath.

Hoofs raced past us, only a couple of meters away from our hideout. "What's the problem?" One of the guards rushed up to the horses. I strained my ears to listen to their conversation and was thankfully successful.

"I have news from Queen Elizabeth. She's in a frenzy to find Princess Brittany and Princess Claire. Now that The Picking is coming up, she really wants to find them so that Pinna can participate." One of the sergeants exclaimed.