Royal 2 (Book two in my Selection series)

Chapter 8

I stood at the Great Hall doors and waited to be called in. We would have an initial meeting with the prince where we would walk into the room, curtsy, and sit in our designated seats.

"Autumn Meadows." A voice rang from inside the doors. I step through the doors and hide my smile with a deep curtsy. When I raise my eyes, I see the prince had his own hint of amusement in his eyes. The queen gaze me an odd glance and I quickly straighten my expression and sit in the seat I was required to sit it. I had been the fifth girl in, so there was already four other girls sitting in the seats. I hadn't seen any of them before.

"Hi." The girl beside of me says. "I'm Josie." She says with a plain smile.

"I'm Autumn." I reply. The girl was pretty, with blond hair and a bright dress. If I looked around, I would imagine her being the perfect picture of a princess.

"Isn't the prince so pretty in real life?" The girl asks me.

"Yeah." I agree quietly and look up at him. His eyes scanned the room of girls and met the eyes of the girls who were just entering.

Josie soon realized I wasn't any good for conversation and turned to the girl on the other side of her. I got caught up in my thoughts and ended up fiddling with my fake nails again. I honestly hated the things and decided I would ask my maids to take them off for me when I got back.

The clink Of metal on glass brings my attention to the table with the royal family and I look up, intrigued.

"I'm so glad you have all got settled into the palace and now get to enjoy your stay. To start off the dinner, I'm going to announce an opening Ball tomorrow night at 10' o clock. Your maids have been notified and are starting on your dresses immediately." Prince William stands from his seat. The girls around me start to giggle and smile frantically. "So now enjoy the dinner!"

Food is brought at us from every direction with different spices and sauces on every different piece of meat. Plates and plates of unnecessarily large amounts of food are out before us. The girls start to take the large silverware and serve themselves. I follow their lead and use a claw like utensil go take a roll from the bowl and onto my plate. I bring a few pieces of a pot roast in front of me and start to eat.

The food here was a lot more fresh and had more flavor than anything I'd had at home since my mother couldn't cook anymore.

I spend the entire dinner listening to conversations around me but doing no conversing myself. I knew I'd never have any friends if I never tried to be nice to people.

I keep to myself until some of the girls start to dismiss themselves. I stand after a while and curtsy slightly before leaving. I feel eyes on me as I leave but I couldn't place whose they were.

I make my way down the hallway and into my room. My maids work to dust the perfectly clean shelves with feathered dusters.

"Hello darling, are you alright?" Liliana says and moves toward me, worried.

"Yes, very. Just tired. It's been a long day." I tell them with a smile.

"Well what about we get you ready for bed and you can tell us all about it?" Amelia joins Liliana and they start to prep me for bed.

That night I sit in the bed with the girls doing things around me.

"If I tell you all something," I begin, "Nobody else will figure out, right?" They all turn at once and smile sweetly.

"Of course not." Amelia smiles.

"Well you know how I left early for dinner?" I ask and they all nod. "Well I met someone. The prince happened to be roaming the same hallways I had been. We talked for probably twenty minutes before we had to leave. He was just as sweet in person as he seemed on the television."

My maids listen to me ramble on and on with smiles printed on their faces.

"Honey that's amazing." Tina grins and takes my hand in hers.

"No matter what the other girls do you will always be the first he met." Liliana smiles.

"Curiosity didn't always kill the cat, you know." Tina smiles and stands up. "Tomorrow after breakfast you will go to the Women's Room. The Queen is supposed to be there and it'll be a good impression on Her and Princess Paige."

I nod and listen to their advice. Princess Paige was the youngest of the four siblings, and my age. The oldest was Caroline, who has been married to the successor of Swendway. Now, he was king and she was queen.

The second oldest child, Logan, has been raised as the successor of the crown of Illéa. He was only sixteen when he traveled to New Asia and fell in love with the princess, who was an only child and the only possible successor to their crown. There was no way that she could've became the princess of Illéa so Prince Logan had married the princess and became the prince of New Asia. It had been a big deal on the Report for months after that, but Prince William had stepped up and taken the position of successor.

William was nineteen and Paige was seventeen. They were the only two of the siblings still at home.

Even though Prince William had not been the original successor, we all knew that King Alex would still have him a selection regardless.

Now, there was just more pressure on it. Now, instead of us all fighting for the heart of the prince, there was the crown on the line too.

And somehow that seemed way scarier than falling in love.

A/N
Hi guys! So thanks for the support and comments. I appreciate them a lot. Also, I wanted to apologize for the random capitalization because my phone is stupid. It's just capitalizes almost everything just ignore it lol