The Royal Games

Chapter 5 : Draft Pick

            Right there in the middle, a young man who looks thin and weak walked slowly towards at this platform and stood right in front of the people shaking and trembling. "Now bow in front of our guest of honors and look at the crowd for one more time." He did exactly what he said and the escort continued, "Once again, may I present to you your champion, Valkyrie Carter."

            A woman from afar shouted and cried, "Noooo! Valkyrie my poor son, please come back soon, and I'll cook you your favorite stew okay?" Valkyrie nodded and bowed to his mother, and the guards came up the stage to get and bring him to the quarters in our castle.

            I felt even sadder today after seeing that weeping mother hoping that her son will come back. But by the looks of him I think he has no chance of winning and will eventually die in the arena. I would not even want him to be my future husband anyway.

            I never expected that this whole Draft Pick event could be more emotional than what I watch on the television every year. This is the first time that I experienced Draft Pick in front of me since this is the Ultimatum anyway.

            We went back to our carriage and proceeded to District 2. Same thing happened in this place, after singing the anthem, the escort took another envelop from the Goblet of the Stars since no one volunteered for this district too. "The champion selected to represent the district 2 is ... Xavier Lace!". This one has a curled hair and slightly taller than me but I do not like him to become my future husband too. I am not hoping that he should be killed soon but it is the way what the actual bloody combat in the Royal Games do. His family said goodbye to him from the distance and waved their hands and I can see the tears in their faces too.

            Before going to district 3, I imagined that we will do this thing the whole day until we reach district 32 and thinking about it makes me tired even though we have just passed two districts. Even so, I will have a chance to get some first impressions of who my future husband will going to be. It will help me to choose who I will give a head start in the actual games in the arena.

            We arrived in district 3 and they have a volunteer who signed up for the games so the escort does not have to pick a random name from the goblet anymore. "The champion selected to represent district 3 is ... Howard Train.". A man about six-feet tall with a bald head is excitedly jogging and skipping until he reached the platform. Before the escort instructs him to bow but he already know what to do and he looks prepared for this. He smiled at me like he is flirting with a girl.

             Wait, I am a girl!

            Maybe attracting me is a part of his plan. Yeah, he is quite cool but too arrogant, so I do not like him either.

            I am starting to feel dizzy right now. I do not know why but something is fogging my mind and I think I am really not feeling well today. I do not want anybody to know about this because not even Dmitri because he will only laugh at me.

            I started gazing and sometimes I feel like I am in a blank space. I do not know what is happening right now. I am only imagining the view with my eyes closed so I can not see anything, not even the champion selected for this district. The next thing I knew, the Draft Pick is done and we are getting ready to district 5.

            Same thing happened, I can now only understand few words, "Goldstein, anthem, champion... Marcus". What is his name again? Forget it. I'll check the list later.

            I am starting to pant and catch a deep breath as we wait for the announcement of the champion from district 6. It is so blurry that I can barely understand any words. I think his name is Warren.

            I am completely lost and I think I can not continue anymore, I am starting to lose focus.

            As I sit in the chair and wait for the ceremony to finish, something from my mind told me that district 7's champion is a volunteer. "The champion selected to represent the district 7 is ... Evangelo Zennett".

             I tried to gather all my strength just to look at this one because his face might be a joke so I can have something to laugh at and maybe it could wake me up just a little bit. I stood up and see nothing but a unhappy face, but why? He is a volunteer so he should be angry and wanting some blood from the other champions. That is the expression that I am expecting from him.

            I tried to walk near him to see him clearly, but I blacked out.