Tabitha feared she would soon be trying to hide another scandal about her son being caught alone with one of the young ladies in front of her. She was never able to convince her son to not get too close to women. What she had to do was remind the young women of the consequences of being caught with Tobias when they were not supposed to be near him.
Tabitha looked over the crowd, trying to find a young lady who stood out to her. Her eyes settled on the young Wallace girl Helena who was the only one to get a dance from Tobias. The dance was her doing since she had to nudge Tobias to do it, but the young woman did not need to know that.
The queen wanted to see how Helena would keep the attention on her and try to impress the royal family. So far, she liked what she saw when it came to Helena.
Tabitha looked beside her at Hazel who was a little older than her sister. She didn't see why the family hadn't married off the older one instead of making her wait for Tobias. She preferred someone young with a young body to make heirs as soon as they wed Tobias.
"Close the doors," Tabitha ordered the servants. Anyone who wasn't in this room by now was not taking the selection seriously. They could find their carriage and head right back home to find their future husband elsewhere.
Tobias watched the servants rush to fulfil his mother's orders to close the doors. Once again, his gaze lingered on Hazel whose attention was on the large doors closing in. He imagined that she wanted to make a run to the doors to be out of the selection but she would not shame her family.
Still, if she was crazy enough to not think of how her actions would affect her family and make a run for the door, Tobias would join her in getting far away from this room. He was looking for any and every possible escape to get out of being forced to pick a wife.
Normally, having women compete for his attention was something he would enjoy, but if it was up to him solely, he wouldn't have picked any of the women in front of him to take part in the selection for a future queen.
Most of them were his mother's followers. Most of them were obsessed with his mother. Acting and dressing like her. Tobias was trying to get away from his mother and all her rules. The last thing he planned to do was marry someone who was like her and unfortunately for him, that was what the queen was trying to do.
"I thank all of you for joining us here today to take part in the selection. I know many of you must be a little nervous to be standing here in the palace soon having to say goodbye to your parents. I assure you that you will find your time in the palace to be pleasant," Tabitha said, smiling to help ease the nervousness that young women before her were feeling.
Tabitha had carefully planned their time in the palace and put together the right servants to look after the young women, but what might make their stay in the palace hard would be themselves. Becoming the next queen was at stake and because of the pressure from their families, some young women would play dirty tricks to get ahead.
Tabitha didn't have time to waste stopping them from playing these tricks. Rather than get involved in stopping them, she observed how the women interacted with each other. Who was able to keep themselves reserved while responding to what was being said by their peers.
Tabitha wanted a young woman who wasn't easy to break. What she didn't need in the future was for Tobias to be troubled by his wife's problems when he was meant to be taking care of the kingdom. She was not going to let someone who couldn't stand on their own take her seat.
"You can all take a deep breath and relax. I trust that your parents have spent enough time and effort in preparing you for a moment like this. I want each of you to always remember that out of all the young women in the kingdom, the palace selected you for a reason. Do your best to make the most of this moment," said Tabitha.
Now that she had addressed the young ladies and their families, Tabitha had no reason to stay here for much longer when they were to be escorted to their rooms and then meet with her and Tobias soon.
Used to his mother's looks, Tobias knew to get ready to follow her so they could discuss who already had his attention. Before his mother could get caught up in picking women she liked, he could give his list. While he was at it, Tobias was going to mess with someone for turning down a dance from him.
Tabitha continued to say, "To the parents, you already know that there is to be limited communication with your daughters. It is to ensure that you do not attempt to mess with the process of this selection and get in your daughter's way. I'm afraid it is time that you say goodbye to your daughters as they need to be shown to their rooms and begin their first test."
Hazel wasn't happy to hear that her parents had to leave already. Why couldn't they walk to the rooms they were assigned and then say goodbye to their parents? Why was the welcome so short?
"You will be fine. You have Helena and Linda," Renee said, hugging Hazel goodbye. "Please try not to get in any trouble and keep an eye on your sister. You two are old enough to take care of yourselves, but you are still her older sister."
"It'll be hard for me to keep an eye on Helena when she looks ready to run off and have a word with the queen, but I will try my best. You two should take this time to enjoy the peace with us not around," Hazel said, letting go of her mother to go to her father.
It was only a week but she knew those days would go by slowly.
"We will," Nathan said, looking forward to not hearing about dresses he had to spend money on or a gentleman one of them noticed. It was about time he got to be alone with his wife after eighteen years of his daughter's running around.
It wouldn't be long before Hazel and Helena would no longer be his responsibility. He would get to save money and be alone with Renee.
"Don't look too excited father," Hazel said, looking up at her father as she stepped into his embrace. "You will make me think that you didn't like us around," she joked.
Helena gave her mother a quick hug goodbye so she could go back to standing up straight. The queen and prince had started to walk away, but there were still the other young women participating who would look for a single flaw in her.
They would not find it since Helena had prepared for this moment.
A maid came where the queen previously stood and announced, "You are to follow me to your rooms."
"Come, Hazel!" Helena said, holding Hazel's hand so they could walk together to find their rooms. "Isn't it exciting?"
"I will tell you when it starts feeling exciting," Hazel replied.