Fed up with their strong-headed, rebellious son, the King and Queen of the Kingdom of Terrigal come up with a plan for him to settle down by sending invitations to all the eligible young women of the land, to contest for his love, much to the Prince...
"This is for the wellbeing of our Kingdom, son." King Stefan muttered to Alex as he looked straight ahead, watching the people getting acquainted with one another respectfully as they waited for the eligibles.
Inhaling through his nose, Alex didn't reply, he just stared his clasped hands on his laps until a moment later were he heard numerous footsteps approaching from outside the doors with the murmuring of hushed voices before the doors to the throne room were opened and Madam Eunice walked in, capturing everyone's attention in the room.
"Your highnesses." She did a little curtsey a few feet away from the foot of the platform.
King Stefan acknowledged with a single nod. "Welcome back Madam Eunice. Are the last of the contestants here?"
"Thank you your highness and yes. They are here and are waiting outside with the rest of the eligibles."
"Alright. Please bring them in." He instructed.
Hearing this, Alex sat up straight on his throne in anticipation. He was curious and slightly impatient to see the eligibles from the town as he watched Madam Eunice turned around and walked back out of the room before the guards closed the door behind her.
The conversations in the room immediately seized and everyone turned in their seats to look at the doors, waiting to see the contestants walk in as Alex faintly heard Madam Eunice give some last minute instructions to them as they stood outside. Then the doors opened again and there was a louder sound of numerous footsteps approaching, and Madam Eunice reentered with two orderly lines of beautifully dressed diverse young women, following behind her.
He ran his eyes over all the faces but stopped at the end at a dark haired girl who had her head down, avoiding looking at the people in the room, he could sense her nervousness from where he was.
Feeling the eyes of the Prince on her, the young woman look up at him and her amber-coloured eyes widened slightly in shock and embarrassment before she quickly diverted her eyes, making him have bite the inside of his cheeks to stop himself from grinning. It was Avery, she was one of the selected girls from the town. He didn't know why, but he felt a sense of calmness wash over him seeing her there. He wanted to get to know her a little better.
The girls all stopped when Madam Eunice stopped a few feet from the thrones, then they knowingly spread out in orderly fashion from behind her before coming to standing beside her, making one long line in front of the royal family with Avery only a few feet in front of Alex but making certain not to make any eye contact with him whatsoever, which allowed him to look at her properly tonight without the embarrassment of being caught.
He saw that she wore a simple but beautiful blush-pink one shoulder dress that flowed elegantly down her tall, slender figure with light nude makeup on that didn't hide her youthfulness unlike most of the other girls with a silver necklace and her dark hair cascading down to her back in perfect waves. She just made simple things look emaculate.
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After this assemble, everyone excluding the royal family and the guards, maids and butlers who were already standing, all stood up as the King stood up from his throne and walked up to the end of the platform, looking out at all the young women that would be competing for his son's love and who would be the next Queen of their small, but beloved island nation.
"Please arise." He told them in a loud and authoritative voice when they all curtsed. "Welcome to the Terrigal Palace. Before we begin with the opening of the ceremony I would like to thank each one of you young women for giving us your time to partake in this contest. It takes a lot of courage, sacrifice and commitment to do this, and I pray that this will bring honour to each one of your family. Now, Pastor Fitzgerald, would you be so kind as to open our contest with a word of prayer?"
"I would be honoured your highness." The local Seventh-Day Adventist church Pastor gave a nod in respect then he walked up to the stand set up beside the platform where the royal family sat.
Bowing his head down, Alex closed his eyes and clasped both of his hands in front of his abdomen as the Pastor prayed then reopened his eyes and looked up once he had finished, and saw Madam Eunice gesture for the eligibles to take their seats before the Prime Minister stood up and walked to the stand to give his speech. The ceremony mostly consisted of speeches from some of the guests as well as the King and Queen themselves before everyone was ushered into the dinning hall for dinner which followed afterwards by a splendid firework show, then the contestants were allowed to retreat back to their bedrooms for the night.
