The Chosen [COMPLETED]

Chapter 2

I heard my mother come into my room, but I did not know what time it was. 

"Good morning Meg." I heard her say. I moaned and looked at the clock by my bed.

"But it is 6 a.m. are they even opened yet?" I slowly sat up in my bed. 

"All of the booths open at six which means that they just opened now." My mother said cheerfully. I slowly got myself out of bed and grabbed the dress I had set out last night. I changed into the dress and put my brown hair in a bun. I had a quick breakfast, then we left for the subway station.

When we got on there were a lot of girls with their moms heading to application booths. I could tell some of them put a lot of thought into their appearance. They wore dresses and had hair put back into fancy braids. 

We got off at the stop we needed and I followed my mother. We reached a large parking lot that had a big tent set up. The line of girls was backed up to the grass. I could tell there were girls of all ranks by the clothes they wore, as well as the amount of makeup they had on. 

My mom and I got in line behind a girl with a short blue dress. We waited for what felt like hours, the line slowly moving. 

Once we reached the front of the line, my mother stepped aside and I walked forward. She gestured to me that she would be waiting off to the side where I was going to go once I finished. I was told to follow a woman who was from the palace into the tent. She brought me to a room that had a large camera and a stack of papers. She grabbed one of the papers and began asking me questions. 

"Name?"

"Megan Beckett" I responded, as she wrote it down on the paper. She asked me for my rank number, and my hair and eye color. 

"Are you a virgin?" 

"What." 

"Are you a virgin. We need to know if you are."

"I have never even had a boyfriend," I assured her. I was not expecting any personal questions. She wrote it down on the piece of paper and continued.

She asked me to sit down in front of the camera for my profile picture. I put on my best smile and a bright flash went off. 

And just like that, I was done. The lady thanked me as I left and she went to go get the next girl in line. When I exited the tent, my mother was waiting for me like she said she would be.

"See, it was not that hard." She said as I gave her a sarcastic look.

"Can we go home now?" I whined. She nodded her head and we started for the subway. 

Once we got back home, it was like my sister had been waiting for me. 

"How was it? Did you see Prince Easton?" Breklyn hounded me.

I answered her list of questions as I took my shoes off. I walked past her and back to our room. I fell back onto my bed and didn't move. I repeatably told myself I had no chance of getting chosen. I had seen the line of girls waiting to apply. That was just one booth, there were many more spread throughout the country. 

I must have fallen asleep from waking up early since my sister came in to wake me up. I looked at the clock again and saw that I slept through lunch. I walked out of my room and saw that my brother was home early. My mother was sitting next to him, with one arm on his back. I hesitated before walking into the kitchen to get my late lunch. 

"You're finally up." Mother said when she noticed me. Aaron turned around quickly as I had scared him. His eyes were bruised and he had cloth wrapped around his arms. 

"What happened?" I asked, to no one in particular.

"There was an accident at the mine, and now I can't work for a week," Aaron said. I could tell he was disappointed.

"I'm sorry, it will be ok," I said trying to help.

"No, it won't," Aaron shouted. "We have nothing, and I am the only one actually supporting us!" I stepped back, surprised by his outburst. He turned his back to me and stared at the table. 

I quickly grabbed an apple and left the kitchen. Breklyn was there watching news updates about the Queenstrial. There was a reporter at one of the booths talking about the number of girls who have applied so far. 

"What happened in the kitchen?" She asked. 

"Nothing, Aaron is just a little upset," I told her. I asked her if she knew how many girls have applied for the Queenstrial. 

"They think it is about 2/3 of all eighteen-year-old girls. And it is only the first day." I felt better once I heard that so many people have applied. 

The days past and eventually it was the night if the choosing. We sat around the living room after dinner and turned the TV on. The Palace Report started when Dillon walked out on the stage. Seeing him walk on made my stomach churn.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen." He started. "We have a very big night tonight, and Prince Easton is here to announce the thirty lucky girls who have been chosen for the Queenstrial!" Easton walked out on stage to start the show. This time he was wearing a black suit with a red tie, the colors on Avalons flag. 

"I do not want to keep anyone waiting. I am sure there are many eager young women watching." The Prince glanced at the camera. The King walked on with a large bowl that had little sheets of paper. I knew my name was one of them. King Clarkson gave Prince Easton a small nod, and the Prince drew the first name.

"The first girl to be chosen in this generation Queenstrial is Penny White," Easton announced. One down twenty-nine to go.

"Bradie Tyler, Farley Jones, Nala Schmitt." He announced the names one after one, and every time he grabbed a name, I felt myself holding my breath. I could see the number of names in the bowl, I didn't know why I was so nervous. 

"Charlie Prius, Chloe Brown, Megan Beckett."