A Previous Selection

Chapter Six

"Okay, girls. This is the floor that you all will be staying on," Evelynn, the one who is in charge of us while we're here, says. "The third floor is where the royal family stays, and you are not allowed up there unless you are invited by one of them."

She leads us down a long hallway and directs everyone to their own rooms. Luckily, I get one that's kind of hidden off in a corner, so I'm not right in the middle of everything.

As soon as Evelynn drops me off at my room, I take a deep breath and open the door. As soon as I step into the room, three maids immediately rush to greet me with eager smiles on their faces.

"Hello, Lady Wren," the tallest, and probably the oldest, of the three says. "I'm Alice. I'm technically your head maid, but I don't think it's fair to give me that title when these two are just as suited for it."

"I'm Mya," the medium-height maid says.

"And I'm Sophie," the smallest of the group says.

"We will be your maids while you are staying at the palace for the Selection. We are here to dress and undress you, get you ready for each day, make your dresses for the Reports, and pretty much attend to your every need. So whenever you need something, just ask us, and we'll get right on it," Alice explains, and I slowly nod my head once it all starts to make sense.

"Okay. Umm, well, thank you then."

"Do you need anything now?" Sophie pipes up.

"No. I would actually prefer a little alone time to unpack and try to settle in before dinner. If that's alright with you guys."

"Of course, miss," Mya says. "We'll be back later to get you ready for dinner."

And with curtsies from all of them, the three maids make their way out of the room and gently shut the door behind them.

I look around the room with a little sigh before sitting down on the bed. And as soon as I sit down on it, the only thing I want to do is lay back and fall asleep. This bed is the most comfortable thing that I have ever sat on!

After marveling in how soft the bed is, I quickly get up from it before falling asleep. I really need to unpack the small amount of stuff that I brought and try to get somewhat used to this new room of mine before it's time to go to dinner.

I open the little bag that I brought and take out the first thing that I see. Which is Logynn's butterfly necklace that she gave me right before I left. I've only been gone for a few hours, and I miss my huge family like crazy.

I walk over to the huge desk that has a mirror in front of it and find a small jewelry box sitting on it. I open the box and carefully place the necklace in it along with a bracelet and a ring or two that I brought from home. I know that the palace will have unbelievable jewelry options for me to pick from, but I wanted to bring these things to have a piece of home with me.

Next, I pull out the two pairs of outfits that I packed. I brought those because I'll need something to wear when I have to go back home, and because if I get homesick, I was thinking that I could just put them on and that maybe it would help me feel like I'm back home for a little bit.

I store the clothes away in a chest that's sitting at the foot of the bed. The last thing I have packed is a few pictures from home and a notebook that I write in when I feel like I can't talk to someone about something. I brought it because I'm assuming I won't have anyone to talk to about personal stuff here, so hopefully, the notebook will help me get through this experience.

I place the notebook on the nightstand next to the bed and then sit down at the desk in front of the mirror. I take a few minutes to arrange all of the photos on the mirror, and once I'm done, I can't help but feel a little better knowing that I have a few pieces of home here with me. Knowing that this place doesn't have to always be entirely strange to me.