Jealousy (1)

Hazel only got to spend a few minutes in her room before there was a knock at her door and upon opening it, she was greeted by a maid who instructed her it was time to sit with the queen.

Hazel exited her bedroom and followed the maid. At the same time, all the other young women were following maids so she walked with Helena and Linda.

"Did you change your hairstyle, Helena?" Hazel asked, noticing a slight difference in her sister's hair.

"I had no choice but to fix it myself. I got a little excited when I entered my room and messed it up. Don't tell mother about it. She wouldn't let it go that I messed my hair up so soon," Helena said, touching the bun she had to do over.

"So the little Helena is not so perfect," Linda teased. She knew how Helena liked to be as if she had no flaws. When they got to witness Helena messing up, it was always fun to tease her. 

"Please hush," Helena muttered, wishing she hadn't told them, but Hazel always noticed everything off about her. "It is not like I am the only one to change something. Look around. Others' hair or the jewels they wore have changed. We need to do better. What if the queen thinks we are not taking this seriously?"

"I'm sure we will be fine, Helena. Our appearances look fine and it should show we are confident with how we entered the palace. You almost tripped. You can hold my hand," Hazel said, placing her left hand up for Helena to hold.

Helena looked at Hazel's hand. She wanted to do it but she didn't want to appear like she needed her big sister. One of her goals here in the palace aside from becoming the queen was to step out of her sister's shadow. She was no longer a child needing Hazel's help. 

"I am fine," Helena said, looking at where the maids were leading them.

"My hand is free whenever you need it. So is my room if you ever need a hug in private," said Hazel.

Hazel had noticed her sister was trying to stop doing things they used to do often growing up. It was a sign that Helena was ready to take care of herself. 

"What are you doing?" Hazel asked, looking down at where her hand was held by Linda.

"I can use your hand right now. It is a bit scary to meet the queen. I'm nervous," Linda confessed, continuing to hold Hazel's hand. 

Like Hazel, she had visited the palace in her youth with her father and brothers. Linda had been around the queen a few times, but it did not mean she would feel comfortable around the queen today.

Helena snuck a glance at Linda. With Linda here and interested in Edgar Collins, she wished someone would have spoken up to take Linda out of the selection. As much as she loved Linda, it was a spot wasted.

Helena had friends who would have loved to come into the palace to take part in the selection, but there were ten spots so only if one of the selected young women were to marry, quit, or die before the selection started.

Another reason she would have liked for Linda to not join would be to get rid of strong competition. With Linda's family having strong connections in the army, it would be expected the royal family would want her to become queen.

Helena still considered herself lucky that Linda was so blinded by Edgar that the queen would lose interest in picking her. The next queen should be herself or Hazel and as of right now, it looked like it could be her.

Hazel continued to hold Linda's hand until they reached the garden where numerous guards were walking around near a long table with seats and the queen at the end of the table. A single maid stood fanning the queen. 

Hazel, Linda, and Helena now had to separate to be taken to their seats. Helena was taken to be seated to the right of the queen while Linda was taken to sit on the left. Instead of Hazel sitting beside Helena, she was seated beside Linda. Not that she minded. 

Jasmine Green was seated beside Helena. The other young women filled the seats going down the table. Hazel felt sorry for who was at the end and far away from the queen because they must feel as though they did not capture the queen's interest.

Hazel looked around the table and noticed they were seated according to their family ties in the palace. While her family along with Linda's were involved in the army, some of the young ladies had relatives involved in the court. Others came from wealthy families with noble titles. 

Hazel wondered if anyone else noticed that the queen was already ranking them. She hoped they had not because it was best that she was the only one to notice since those closest to the queen would become targets.

"I hope you all have taken a liking to the rooms I have assigned you. You will find the maids who guided you here at your side for the next seven days. You should get properly acquainted with them as they will tell you all you need to know. Should you have any problems, please seek out the head maid," Tabitha said, hoping no one in this group would be so careless as to address their problems with the maids or each other to her.

It was a quick way to lose her interest in you.

"Now, I'm sure your mothers have been preparing you for this moment since you received the invitation to the palace. I expect that you will all be on your best behaviour so I don't need to send you home before the selection ends. You won't be able to bear the shame that comes with walking out early," said Tabitha.

She would see to it that the young lady would not become part of the future queen's inner court and other young ladies would not want to associate themselves with whoever walked out before the selection was over.

"The selection is simple as you have heard. My son will spend time with all of you, getting to know you better. He may choose to spend some supervised time with one lady he wishes to speak with away from the group. At the end of the seven days when your parents return, you will know who will stay here. Do your best to amuse my son," Tabitha said, looking around the table at the many faces the next queen was hidden among.

So far, Tabitha already had her pick of Helena or Linda. Of the two Wallace sisters, she preferred to go to the younger one though Hazel was closer to Tobias's age. She had to account for the young lady being able to conceive the future king shortly after the marriage and Hazel was two years older than Tabitha wanted.

Still, she would speak to Hazel from time to time in case Helena would disappoint her in the future.