Kingdom of Alba…
Avery's pov:
We are all standing in a line waiting for the tutor mc lady ( I don't know her name *laugh ) to carry on with our ratings and I guess tell us whether the king will choose his consorts or not , hopefully for Ethera he does.
"So majority of you have done extremely well during the season and some gents have come to ask for your hand in marriage , I will read the list for those girls and they may go back to their seats " ;
- Georgia
- Lora
- Capucine
- Lore
- Orlane
- Mary
- Louise
- Anna ….
After reading their names they move out of the center and I remain with 5 other girls.
"To the six ladies present here ; Elmira, Grace, Chantal, Lora, Elizabeth and Ethera . Congratulations , you are the top ladies or rather the gems of this season . You shall be welcomed in the palace to serve his Majesty Tobias as his concubines in his harem. Congratulations again ladies" we made it! Yes , Ethera will be a royal consort , quite the title over here apparently.
I feel someone's glance once again and of course as I look up it is King Tobias, I ignore his stare and hug with the other ladies who got in with me. After the announcement , the king and Queen excuse themselves and leave the gathering as the rest of us mingle for a while and then we make our way back home to pack our belongings because the royal carriages will come pick each one of us from our homes in a few hours. It was still 9pm so it was still early.
As I am packing for Ethera with the help of Heizel , her mom comes in , "Ethera my dear we need to talk a little before you go, Heizel may you leave us please" Heizel nods and leaves the room . Ethera's mom makes us sit on the bed and holds my hand as she prepares herself to give what looks like THE talk , I hope not because that would be awkward. "My daughter , you know how much we have been waiting for an opportunity like this one. The fact that you caught the king's eye is a blessing both to you and to us. Its important that you remember to serve his majesty well, be a good wife , bare him a son who will maybe one day become heir, try to get along with the other concubines to avoid internal enemies but mostly befriend the Queen so as to have her favor and get you a higher rank. You are going to face many difficulties due to rivalry in the harem but just stay strong and surround yourself with people you trust, Heizel will accompany you as your lady's maid , she will guide you and be there where I wont so don't worry about that. I am already proud of where you have reached but I know you will do more . Good luck my little one" she kisses my forehead and leaves the room. "Hey , since when is your mom this , how do I say this? very calm and not stressing over minor issues?" I ask Ethera "I don't know either , normally she would have put pressure on you to represent the family well and to make sure her and father are taken care of financially. but maybe seeing me her only daughter go away from her has created a switch in priority." , ''yeah maybe" there is silence for a while as I concentrate on packing for Ethera as I occasionally ask her what she wants in there. Heizel comes in after I am done and we go ahead and say good bye to Ether's parents and grandma. Her grandma discretely told me some last tips and warnings about our interchanging souls "Remember child, don't let the vile man in the palace discover what you two are doing , let Avery come up when necessary only , don't overdo it so that your contrasting personalities don't sell you out. Rest enough separately so that the magic can be rejuvenated, okay?" I nod and mind note all she said same as Ethera. We hug for the last time then the royal guards announce themselves on the other side of the door, I head out with Heizel and we enter the carriage.
The village at night is quite beautiful , the stars are visible very clearly from here unlike the toxic atmosphere in New York which hides the stars. The carriage suddenly stops and I look up to see we have arrived at the palace , I guess I got star distracted for a while there . As I get out of the carriage, an eunuch approaches us and tells the guards to bring the luggage to my apparent room as he gestures for me and Heizel to follow him. We walk for a few minutes and arrive at a whole house lit up from inside out with servants lined up from the entrance up to where we were standing , they all had lamps in their hands and once they saw me they bowed and the Eunuch explained it was so as to show respect to the new mistress of the house . So this is what the Eunuch called a room? This is a total package house with what seems like a front yard with big trees. Royalty. After me greeting and being briefly introduced to the servants , the Eunuch tells Heizel to escort me to the room and he introduced himself as Hygai and that he was my personal/quarters Eunuch which was given to all the other consorts as well. Hygai leaves us as he informs me that tomorrow we will all formally meet the king. Heizel has a bed across the room so as to be as close to me as possible . "I think I have to head back to my home now Heizel, you take care and take care of Ethera as usual. Tell her to try enjoying herself while I am away." Heizel nods and once again I give Ethera her body back.