The British Prince

25 | Struggling

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Samantha

I felt like I was walking in to a lions den, knowing I'm going to be eaten alive. What if they just kick me out straight away? What if the Queen wants to make a lesson of me and humiliate me in front of all the other girls, or worse, kick me out. I didn't know Queen Isabelle well, so this meeting could go one of many different ways.

Entering the day room all the other selected girls were seated around the tea tables, waiting. Queen Isabelle stood at the head of the room, and nodded to us as we entered.

"Please sit down ladies."

I met the Queen's eyes to see if she was angry and about to yell at us, but she was surprisingly pokerfaced. She didn't seem furious though.

Jess and I take a seat at a table with Mary and Kaya, where they'd saved us some chairs.

Then we all sat and waited for the Queen to being. She definitely appeared royal and commanding at the front of the room, not a hair out of place in her neat updo.

She clasps her hands in front of her as she begins, "I didn't think you ladies needed this lecture this soon on, and I was hoping to do it with a smaller group, but here we are."

"I, like you all, have been through a selection. I know it's tough, and stressful being away from home, and ultimately can get competitive. But as potential future royalty I expect better behaviour. The incident of the attack proves you need to take this seriously. You are not on holiday and this is not the same as living at home. There are rules you must follow."

Her eyes trial across the crowd until she pauses on me, "Especially knowing when it's appropriate to act. And it's certainly not appropriate to storm out of a formal meal."

I couldn't look at her. She seemed so disappointed.

"If you are not taking this seriously you will be asked to leave. This is a privilege to be here, not a right."

I glance to my right as I see Molly putting up her hand. The queen nods so she can speak.

"I haven't done anything wrong." Molly says.

"I'm not saying you all have. I just suggest you all think about whether you are all truely willing to put in effort to continue being here. It's not just for the next few weeks, this impacts your entire life."

The queen takes a deep breath and then motions to the door.

"You ladies can all go now."

Everyone starts walking out when she speaks once more.

"Not you Samantha."

I freeze, turning to the queen as the girls around me continue to file out of the room, eager to get away before they too are called on.

I wait until everyone's gone, the door swinging shut after the last selected is out of the room.

"Come over here dear."

"Are you sending me home?" I ask as I walk over to the queen, the sinking feeling in my stomach increasing as each second I imagine leaving and never coming back.

The queen shakes her head, "No. I would never take that choice away from my son."

I breath out a sigh of relief, fiddling with the bracelet on my wrist and feeling oddly like I was going to cry.

"However Samantha, I hope you take this more seriously. You need to be strong to be a royal. Resilient. Fearless. Sometimes when things may make you want to cry, you have to suck it up and smile."