THE CROWN ( chapter 1 )
Roma was untangling my caramel brown curls. I frowned looking at myself in the mirror, trying to recognize myself in that pastel pink chiffon V-neck ruffle dress.
"What do you think, miss," she asked as she settled me into the chair once she had finished fixing my caramel curls
the hairdo was too much for me and that shiny sequined headband was making it more excessive. But I found a smile to give her, as fake as it was, no one could tell
"It's very nice, Roma. Thank you so much"
However, the smile that came next from her was totally genuine "The prince will be delighted with you."
Like I care. I internally rolled my eyes.
"You think so?" I spoke feigning interest, running a hand down my perfectly smooth dress
She nodded immediately with a wide smile on her face "Of course" she turned around "You look beautiful, Miss."
I was supposed to pretend to be interested because I had to protect my parents. I knew there was very little in store for us if we were discovered, we might even get kicked out of the kingdom, but there was nowhere to go. The town of Canaan was desolate and without opportunities, the people who lived there barely slept on a roof made of dry straw and shared food in camps, but there was no life out there. Outside the realm of Alsace, everything was desert. And people didn't survive long away from it.
But Balraj was my biggest worry, he knew all our secrets. We owed him much more than some bucks. We had to pay off our debt to him before he ratted us out and took everything we had, but I feared that he wouldn't leave us alone, no matter what.
Since I've been here I hadn't been able to stop thinking about him for a minute, I slept with guilt fearing that at any moment he would reveal everything and turn my family in for what we did. That at any moment I would wake up to the screams of a security officer dragging me off to a dungeon for breaking not one but four laws written by the King himself.
That I would never be able to see my family again.
If I could turn back time I would do anything to convince my father to keep us away from Balraj, but we were never more than ignorant peasants. We gave him our most dangerous secrets and now he could do with them as he pleased. And we were protecting him without realizing it.
I thought our destiny would be to starve to death in Canaan or live by torture in a dungeon until The Chosen arrived, my greatest rejection, but the only thing that could save us.
Or so Balraj said.
The Chosen was a contest that had been going on for years in the kingdom, but I never witnessed one. My mother, on the other hand, lived The Chosen that united King Mohan and Queen Radha. And she told me everything I needed to know before I entered the wolf cave, things no one would tell me in here about The Chosen.
Its purpose was to get Prince Rishabh to find a worthy wife to occupy the throne of queen at his side, while he was king. But princess Tara was also looking to get married and for that The Chosen did not make exclusivity only on the prince, but on the one who managed to get married first. And that would be who would reign from then on.
The little I knew about The Chosen was merely rumors, when last year it was tried and failed, it was cancelled very quickly; I didn't know much about it, but I knew that it was a phenomenon for the kingdom. There were even historical books about it. Everybody talked about The Chosen, and when it was a failure the kingdom suffered for many months, until they tried it again.
There were three phases, the first one was the simplest; all the young people, boys and girls who lived in the kingdom, between 18 and 21 years old. Every one of them had to take the first test, no exceptions. Even those who did not want to - who honestly were few, far between and counted with the fingers of one hand - would have to present themselves at least to the first and then give up if they did not want to continue.
That elimination was the second phase, not only those who did not want to be there but also those who were considered to have a "Low Profile".
In the third phase, we were subtracted with interviews and tests, until finally 20 of each gender would be selected. Before starting the selection, we were taken to an "academy" where we were given behavioural classes and taught everything we had to know, say and do while in the palace.
And honestly it was a nightmare.
I never thought I would have a chance to be selected. When they told me I would have to apply I thought it would be the same as last year, that they would tell me to go back because I didn't have the needed profile. But no, this year was different. The kingdom was falling apart and the testing process was getting shorter and easier. It seemed they had no more time and the desperation of the kingdom had left them with no options.
"You will be in the selection, say goodbye to your family."
My parents were not happy, but they were relieved that at least, I had a way to save us.
They told me I had to do well, and that I had to last a long time in The Chosen to get rewarded for my jobs inside the palace. Even Balraj had pushed me to get in, which was a bit suspicious but I knew I had no choice.
"Come on, it's time" Roma said tapping me on the shoulder.
And I sighed with a nod.
In the best of cases, my parents would have no way to survive and we would be forced to leave the kingdom and arrive in Canaan, dying after a few months from a plague that had spread around the small town.
Worst case scenario Balraj would rat us out, tell all our secrets after leaving us empty handed and everything would fall into pieces for us. I was terrified of being owned by the Alsace kingdom, I knew what happened to people who broke rules, who betrayed, who lied. Living in Canaan wouldn't be as bad as that. A shiver ran down my spine just by thinking about it
And I came in here knowing I was a traitor, a betrayer.
I was adamant about the fact that I didn't want to marry anyone, much less the prince. And if anyone found aut about my intentions, I would possibly be dragged out of the palace with one fist of my hair
Second intentions were severely punished. That made five broken laws already.
I stood up on the heels Roma had given me and walked out meeting the other selectees in the hallway of our ward. They were all magnificent, and I was sure any of them could win.
But I felt bad for one of them in particular, the one who was going to marry the prince. They all worshipped the ground he walked on, but even thinking about him infuriated me to no extent.
Although surely the chosen one would be completely happy to be part of the monarch system. I, on the other hand, could not wait to run away and not relate to them anymore, nothing would cure all the fear they had sown in my family.
I had to keep up appearances, I could not show my thoughts. As much as I wanted to scream and end this slave reign, I didn't have the power or the tools to do it and my family depended on me.
"Madhu, you look wonderful," Riya said with a beaming smile, looking me over from head to toe. She reached up to brush the top of my hair in admiration "You have such beautiful hair"
I smiled in response "Thank you so much, Riya" I replied "You look beautiful too."
Riya was arguably the one I got along with the best out of all the girls, I spent a lot of time with her in the academy.
Trishna soon came up to greet me too "Madhu!" She came towards me effusively "I love your dress."
I kept smiling "Thank you" I told her "And I love yours."
Trishna would be the perfect candidate to be the prince's wife. The prince would fall in love with her instantly. But I couldn't stand the idea of trishna marrying the prince. It was a cruel fate. She deserved better than to be bound for life to the royals. For me, being married to the prince was nothing more than a punishment.
A royal punshiment
Meera appeared, clearing her throat and calling the attention of all the girls.
"Follow me" she ordered giving us a hard look and turning around to walk, her heels echoing loudly throughout the hallway.
We did as she ordered and followed her, walking down the corridor that led to the wide stairs and the hall where all the nobles of the palace and even outside of it were waiting for us. As we walked down I realized that I had never seen so many people together at the same time.
"Stop" Meera commanded. I kept a neutral face, I couldn't let all those emotions that were rippling through my body appear on my face. "Form a line and wait for the prince." She added.
Today was the first day of The Chosen and we had to present ourselves before the entire palace.
The king appeared a few minutes later with his uniform perfectly arranged, giving the announcement to start the gala.
"The king is so elegant" I heard an exciting voice. If only they knew how rotten his heart is from inside. If only they knew how many lives he has spoiled, If only they knew about the tragedy that was dawned upon my family because of him.
I just wanted to be with my family right now, with my mother.
Everything around me suddenly became unbearable. All i wanted to do was scream and scream until i couldn't hear my own thoughts.
I had heard rumors that the queen was ill and had relinquished her crown. The kingdom was falling apart which was why The Chosen was happening.
King Mohan announced the entrance of Prince Rishabh and everyone bowed. Meera gave us a hard glance and we understood that we had to do the same.
"Your Highness" Meera greeted, just when the Prince was in front of her.
Highness. I wanted to roll my eyes, again.
I stiffened when I felt his gaze on me, I couldnt look at him, it was not allowed yet. Although I avoided his gaze for pleasure.
He stood in front of Riya, who responded with a bow.
"What is your name?" I heard the prince's voice, I had heard it before but never so close, it was a very fresh and relaxed voice, tranquil, if i may say.
"Riya, your highness" she answered this time looking at him.
"You can go and sit down, Riya." i could hear him smiling.
"Thank you" she answered with a nod and walked to the selection table. A butler approached her serving the most elegant dish my eyes had even seen
A few seconds had already passed. The prince stood in front of me after a few seconds and I felt a sudden warmth rush to my cheeks. I answered with a quiet bow.
"What is your name?" he asked and that giving me the 'consent' to look at him.
We couldn't look up until he spoke to us, by doing so, he gave us permission to look at him. It was ridiculous. I realized how irritable I was at the very moment, mainly because I had to fake being interesting in him, knowing very well what his family did to mine.
I looked up and found myself staring into a pair of unsettlingly deep, black eyes. I'd never seen such dark eyes with so much light in them. it would be an understatement to say I was stunned. I didn't know what i was hoping to find in them, but it was definitely not this.
"Madhu" I softly mumbled, not breaking the eye gaze.
I saw a glimpse of astonishment in his eyes and it took me only two seconds to figure out that i messed up. I had forgotten the highness part. I saw meera giving me death glares from the corner of my eyes.
"The rest of you sit down." he ordered, with his eyes still on me.
The girls looked puzzled but did not hesitate. Bowing down to the prince one last time, they walked over to the table to join riya.
Everyone was staring hard and some of them looked at me like I was in trouble or something, but I really did not care at this point. It was exhausting for me to even breathe in the same air as the royals did.
The prince gave me one last look before he held out his arm in my direction and I was forced to entwine it with mine. He led me to the core of the hall where the gala melodies were playing. I knew where this was going and I was not liking it.
Everybody was staring at us, smiling ear to ear, murmuring among themselves. My anxiety was creeping in.
He took my hand and swiveled me into his arms, interlocking his calloused but gentle fingers with my soft and shivering ones. I felt the heat growing on my cheeks when he circled his arm around my waist. We swayed to the slow music which was twirling like a thread around us.
I realized my anxiety was gone and my nerves were relaxed, which was weird but I let it go.
I thanked myself for paying attention to meera when she taught us the steps back in the academy.
"Did you like the dress?" He asked, easy.
"Yes, your highness" I mumbled, making sure I don't screw up again. He chuckled lightly.
The Prince had chosen the designs of all the dresses, including mine. He didn't do it because of any special cause, he did it because it was one of the rules.
The prince's twin sister, Tara, was dancing next to us with one of her selected as well. They were both looking for a partner to get to lead the kingdom when King Mohan retires altogether to take care of his wife.
It would be better for me if the princess got one first, so I wouldn't have to go through the guilt of having to tell my parents that I hadn't made it.
The prince gave me a light twirl and I felt the breeze making the dress hit my shivering skin. "Has anyone from your family come with you?" he asked and I shook my head immediately.
"No, they didn't."
"Don't you have any siblings?"
I shook my head again, my eyes fell on his admirable features. He had a well sculpted face; his luminous raven eyes fringed with long lashes, chiseled cheekbones, a squared jaw and his somewhat wavy hair were the soulful shades of ebony and walnut. It was true that the Prince was handsome. Everyone knew and I was supposed to know it too. but the only beauty he possessed was on the outside. on the inside he was nothing more than a prince, a figure of rejection.
"No, Your Highness " I limited myself to answer and he nodded his head.
He took one of my hands between his fingers to make me turn in the center of the room and instantly another person was holding my waist. It were brown eyes that were looking at me now, a selected one of Princess Tara.
In front of us, the twin siblings were dancing around looking at each other and talking in whispers.
"She's very pretty, isn't she?" I asked the boy and he nodded his head.
"She is beautiful."'he affirmed and I smiled
"Any luck?" I asked him, I was more at ease talking to a selectee, even if I didn't know him.
He shrugged his shoulders without breaking his perfect dancing posture "I don't know, she is very nice to everyone. What about you?"
I was saved from answering when the king asked everyone present to join the dance too
A few minutes later the center was full of selectees from the prince and the princess, dancing with the royal siblings, even between selectees themselves.
A million thoughts were running on my mind so I let the music drown them out
Edited by mrskundraa - 3 years ago
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