An hour later I was changed into a comfortable nightgown and my makeup was off. I took the pins out of my hair and the jewelry off my body, except for my necklace. I was next to Mary explaining what was wrong.
"So, if anyone asks, I have a fever and nausea," I declared. "And I won't be able to make it on to the report."
"Are you sure?" Diana asked. I nodded my head.
"Could you inform the Royals?" I requested. Mary nodded her head and left the room.
"What now?" Cecelia asked shyly.
"Well, you could teach me a card game that your always playing," I smiled.
Cecelia's face lit up. "This one is called Woman Horse," she said brightly while folding the cards into a bridge. She continued to shuffle expertly until passing out all of the cards.
"This is how you play...." Diana started.
About 30 minutes into our game, Mary came back to the room. "What is this?" She asked while strolling towards the table. "You're playing this without me?" She gasped suddenly.
"I wanted to know how to play," I shrugged with an innocent smile.
"Deal me in next round," she laughed.
We all played for over an hour, the time passing idly by. I had sunken down to the position of slave, and I couldn't stop losing my good cards. "No fair," I whined. "Why can't I get out of poverty?"
"Because the Queen said you can't," Cecelia replied simply.
"Cecelia, you can't talk about yourself in third person!" Diana squealed.
"The Queen does as she wishes," she replied poshly. We all doubled over in laughter, the sound echoing throughout the room.
There was a loud knock at the door. "Shhhh, quiet!" I whisper-shouted. I sprinted as quietly as possible to my bed before jumping in and pulling the covers up to my chin.
I heard the door open. "May I help you?" Cecelia asked politely.
"Could I speak to Lady Elisa?"
That voice. I knew it was Aaron. I shot Mary a warning look and shook my head violently. cecelia was about to reply when Mary interrupted. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but she isn't feeling well."
"I know. I just wanted to have a quick word-"
"She's quite contagious I'm afraid," Diana lied.
"We wouldn't want you to fall ill as well," Cecelia added.
"No, we wouldn't," Mary chided. "Please excuse us," she said while forcing the door shut on Aaron.
I released a sigh from my chest while popping up in my bed. "Thank you," I said while getting out of bed. There was another knock on the door, and it opened without an answer. I ducked beside the bed where you couldn't see me from the door.
"We said no!" Shrieked Cecelia while turning to the intruder.
"No to what?" I peeked above the bed to see Jeremy Leger with a shocked expression.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Cecelia stammered. Jeremy had a trey in him arms which held food. "We thought you were someone else.
"It's fine with me," he said before setting the trey down. "I was instructed to deliver this to Lady Elisa before the the other selected leave for the report."
"Thank you," she squeaked. Jeremy nodded in understandment and left the room, putting the rest of us in laughter.
"I just yelled at someone," Cecelia said hazily.
"Good job," Mary responded.
"I think I'm going to faint," Cecelia continued. She sat back on the couch with her head in her hands.
"What did he bring?" I asked curiously. Diana uncovered the top to the trey and revealed a bowl of soup.
"Soup," she replied.
I took the trey and sat it in front of me. It held a small bowl of soup and a side of fruit. I loaded a portion of the steaming soup and blew over the spoon before slipping it into my mouth. The warm broth ran down my throat soothingly, along with the chunks of chicken and carrots.
"Chicken soup," I corrected. I took a bite of fruit and wiped the juice dribbling from my lips. "Would you like a peace of fruit?" I offered.
"No thank you," Cecelia said politely.
"I can't eat all of this; I promise it's alright."
"It's not that," she replied. "We've already eaten."
I nodded my head and continued eating my soup. "I can't wait until I'm actually sick here because this soup is delicious. I would definitely appreciate this if I was sick."
"Well, you have two options. One of which I don't want to happen," Mary started.
"Either you get sick later and miss out on all of the fun and drama," Diana began.
"Or you become Princess, which eventually means you'll get sick since you're here full time," Mary finished.
"Does coming up with these theories entertain you?" I giggled.
"Of course!" Cecelia replied.
"Playing cards gets boring eventually," Diana said.
"I'll make sure to give you guys a jigsaw puzzle or something, then," I joked.
The holographic screen appeared automatically, and I jumped up and shrieked. Mary, Diana, and Cecelia didn't even flinch. "What just happened?"
"The Report automatically comes on here, so we all have to watch it. You're just never here when it happens," Mary replied.
I released the breath I wasn't aware I was holding. I jumped onto my bed, settling in the middle of the King sized mattress. I fluffed the pillows to support my back and set others aside for Diana and Mary, who where flanking me on the bed. Cecelia laid at the foot of the bed.
The report's theme music trumpeted through the speakers, and soon enough Gavril appeared on the screen. Queen America, erm, America, sat beside Maxon and their children. America and Maxon held hands, and I could see Aaron, Marlee, and Olivia sitting beside each other.
"Good evening, Illèa! I'm your host, Gavril Fadaye, and as usual we have the wonderful leaders of this country here with us tonight. I'd like to pose a question about the reason for The Report's cancellation a few weeks ago. I heard there was a rebel attack? Is that true?"
"Yes, I can confirm that the first rebel attack in nine years has taken place," Maxon grimaced. "We're still cleaning up the palace form the destruction, and so far it's gone well. However, we have reported a total of 72 deaths and 119 injuries, my son included."
"Your son?" Inquired Gavril. "Prince Aaron, is this true?"
"It is. I saw there was a selected member being dragged away, and fearing the worst, I tried to bring her back to the cellar. I was shot twice- once in the shoulder, and another time in the knee."
"However did you survive? Surely you would have had to have medical attention immediately."
"Luckily, that selected member had medical training. She removed the bullets, and now I can report that they've healed healthily, and so have the wounds of the selected."
"Now, who was the selected member that saved your life?" Gavril delved. He was leaned over on his desk, intrigued.
Please don't tell them, I pleaded in my mind.
"For now, I'd like to ask the palace staff and the selected members to keep her identity a secret."
I released a sigh and slouched back. I didn't want them to know it was me, and I certainly didn't need the attention.
"I understand. After the break, we'll catch up with the ladies of Illèa, the selected!"
Sorry for the short chapter, but I've been pretty busy. I have a dance performance soon, and I have practice four hours on Modays and Wednesdays because I also teach, and my two hour class is on Tuesday. There's also a practice scheduled for Friday, and the performance is Saturday. On top of all those lovely activities, I have language exams this week.
For the next three days, my class will be taking an exam where we will have 50-70 minutes to read a passage and answer the question in essay form. There's a different form of writing and questioning each day.
And next week we do it for math.
And then science.
Dear. God.
Anyways, I'll try to write whenever possible, but I'll probably only get out one update a week. I'm trying guys, but it will all be over soon.
And finally, if you liked the story, please vote, comment, and add to lists. You may not think it's important, but it really does mean the world to me when you do that. I actually get depressed when I see that I have 70-100 views per chapter, but only 15 ever comment or vote.
Love your comments, btw. -Now_Anon.