The Chosen [COMPLETED]

Chapter 1

My family piled in our small living room after dinner and turned on the TV to one of the only channels we had. Breklyn sat eagerly waiting for The Palace Report to start. 

Tonight, the royal family was going to announce they would be hosting a Queenstrial. Every eighteen-year-old girl was eligible to participate in the Queenstrial. Thirty girls would be chosen to enter and only one would stay and marry Prince Easton. And I was eighteen.

My mother had told my sister and I stories of the Queenstrial from when she was a girl. My sister, Breklyn, loved hearing her stories. But I lost interest when it came to the parts with romance. 

Dillon walked onto the TV with a bright blue suit and matching shoes. His slick brown hair was shinning from too much hair gel. He had a big smile on his face as he started with weekly updates. 

"Ladies and Gentlemen, for the first time on screen, please welcome Prince Easton Montgomery of Avalon," Dillon announced. The prince walked onto stage holding his head high. He had dirty blonde hair and blue eyes and wore a grey suit with a blue tie. 

"Thank you Dillon for the big introduction," Easton said. A big smile spread across Dillon's face.

"I hear you have an announcement to make," Dillon said. Easton nodded his head.

"It is an honor to announce that my parents and I have decided to host a Queenstrial," Easton said to the camera.

"It is hard to believe you have gotten to be eighteen already, I can remember announcing when you were born," Dillon said. Easton laughed along with Dillon at the joke. 

"The rules are simple. Any girl that is eighteen years of age is eligible to become one of thirty chosen girls. Their ranks will not be a factor in choosing. Booths will be open all week to apply, and next week we will be announcing the thirty chosen girls." It was going to be impossible to say that ranks were not going to get in the way, they always did.

I was in rank seven out of ten, and the closer to ten you were, the worse you lived. The royal family lived as ones which meant that everyone else started as twos. I always thought twos were self-centered and never cared about anyone or anything else. They got well-paid jobs while my family had to work in mines just so we could get enough money to last us through the week.

Once Easton was done, he walked off and let Dillon close The Palace Report, but I never paid attention to the rest.

"Mother, do I have to do this?" I asked once she had turned off the TV. 

"Yes. You may not want to, but it won't hurt to try." She said. You have a small chance, I don't know why you are making such a big deal about this." She walked away when she was done that way I was not able to argue with her anymore. 

I went and sat outside on our small porch behind our house. It faced the Darya River. It used to be one of the clearest rivers around here, but when the mines and factories started advancing their technology, the river became polluted.

I watched as two people walked along the bay of the river, holding hands as they went. I had never been interested in finding love. My father ruined that for me when I was ten-years-old. He left us for a better life and some new women. 

I only remember a few things about my father. He had a good sense of humor. and let us do whatever we wanted. I knew that he and my mother disagreed on a lot of things, which was another reason he left. He had been having an affair with another woman for a year before my mother found out. They got into a big fight and he was gone the next day. He moved in with the other woman and started a new life as a four.

I watched birds fly by as I sat outside. I got hungry and went back in to find something to eat. I saw my brother sitting at the table looking at a bunch of papers which I assumed was work stuff. I opened the fridge and found that it was pretty much empty.

"You won't find anything," Aaron said. I knew he was right, but I still checked opened up the door to the pantry. I was not surprised to see that it was empty. 

"I think I am going to go see if I can find anything at the market," I said, reaching for my coat. 

"No need, I already tried," Aaron replied. I pulled my hand away from the coat rack. 

"Fine. I will be in our room." Aaron never responded. Since our house was really small, I shared a bedroom with both of my siblings. We liked it when we were kids, but once we got older, we needed more space. 

I laid down on my bed, and thought about the Queenstrial. From the little bit I had seen him on the TV, I already guessed he was selfish. He did not know what his future country wants. He has never been a lower rank. He always had enough food and lived in a palace that was big enough for well over three hundred people. 

I never agreed with the rank system. There was a time when there were no ranks, and everyone lived without a number, and I wanted to live like that. 

Breklyn walked into my room and told me that mother was taking me to a booth tomorrow morning to apply for the Queenstrial. I picked out a simple white dress that I only wore when I had to dress up. It was the only nice dress I had to choose from. I changed into my pajamas and went to bed since I was going to be up early the next day. I fell asleep to my thoughts of how much I didn't want to go.