Matched

Chapter 3

Kate watched as the palace guards carried all of her belongings out of her house. She still couldn't believe where the events of the day had taken her. First, she had been the only eighteen-year-old to not receive a match, and then she had been chosen for a position she didn't want and was now being moved to a place she didn't want to go to.

Some of the soldiers that guarded the palace had taken the train with Kate back to her place to be sure that she was going to go back to the palace and fulfill her duties.

Kate didn't want to do this, but Zoe explained that those not given a match were left to poverty and menial jobs. She explained that she was just trying to give Kate a chance at a better life through the position.

Kate found it kind of odd that she was being given this promotion when it was never necessary for Dax to ever have an assistant before. She shrugged this fact off though, as she realized that if she hadn't been offered the position, she would have only had a year left with her mother and then her life on the streets would have began. The Matched only had a year to find their partner for the rest of their life among the people that came up on their results. Kate would have a year in the castle and hopefully would find a job higher up than chef to support herself. She saw how Zoe was caring for her, but she still didn't trust her fully.

Kate picked up the last of her luggage and her mother walked in to say goodbye. "I'll see you everyday," Kate said, tearfully.

Her mom nodded. "I'll have something special made for you everyday to be brought up to you." She kissed Kate's head. "Be safe. I love you."

With that, her mom stepped aside and the guard motioned for Kate to follow him outside.

Kate followed the guard to the train station outside and took one last fleeting look at her house behind her. She shook her head. That was her old life. She took a step onto the train. This, she thought, was her new life. She had to embrace it.

***
As she walked up the back steps to the palace, Kate suddenly realized that despite the events of the day, the celebratory ball for the Matched would happen in the palace that night. She technically couldn't celebrate, but she would have to be there to make sure that Dax had everything he needed.

Dax. The thought of him disgusted Kate. He got seven women as a match, and she got nobody? The thought dawned on Kate that she never really got to see her results, but shrugged off this fact. Her mother had checked with Zoe and that was good enough. She was just going to have to put up with the fact that she was going to be living as a Matchless around Matched. A nobody among somebodies.

She was led up a flight of stairs and down a long hallway to where there were three doors again. They looked similar to the doors she had seen in the simulation. The guard who had been leading her turned to her and said, "The middle room is yours. The two boys are on either side of you. Dax on the left, Preston on the right."

Kate nodded and walked past him towards the door, and it took a minute for what he said to sink in. "Preston?" she said, turning around, "Who's Preston?"

She turned the knob to the door of the bedroom behind her as she said this, and it was yanked from the other end, pulling her forward. "That would be me," a man said, smiling at her as she stumbled forward into the room. He took the bags from the guards and with a wave dismissed them. He turned around and smiled at Kate. "Welcome to hell."

***
Kate was sorting through the clothes she had brought with her while Preston sat silently on her new bed. It was purple with a white netted canopy above it. It was a feminine room, obviously prepared for a girl-of-sorts, with a white dresser and mirror set, with a vanity and a small chair. There was two doors on either side He watched her every move, careful to note the way she carefully folded the minimal articles of clothing she had.