The first thing everyone noticed was the wall. The towering white mass of stone with a polished wooden drawbridge. Well, there was more than one way in, probably, but the path we took made us cross the river just at the edge of the capital. Thus, the drawbridge.
Beyond that drawbridge was a huge city full of giant buildings. It was just what I expected from a fantasy world. That’s right, even from the road I could see magic happening everywhere! Not only that but I saw other species. Elves, beastkin, and fairies. Surprisingly fairies just looked like normal people but with beautiful wings.
Everything seemed cheerful and peaceful. I hadn’t thought about it before, but wasn’t the king supposed to be half lion beastkin? I didn’t notice when I saw him earlier, but maybe I just hadn’t been paying attention. I know the queen is an elf. It seems a shame, looking at all this, that I am just an ordinary human.
People had gathered on the edges of the streets as if watching a parade. “Why do they keep staring?” Mr. Book complained.
“Because we are celebrities!” Lily answered enthusiastically, “And maybe one day we might become someone amazing!”
“Ugh,” he grumbled, “Then they should hold their stares until then.”
“We are traveling with royalty,” I spoke up, Even if it isn’t in the same carriage.”
For some reason, Mr. Book glared at me again, but at least he didn’t say anything this time. Or maybe that was worse?
The carriages continued on through the streets of the capital until they reached the castle gates. “Do you think we are staying there?” I wondered, “I thought we would all be separated.”
“It is probably the easiest place to separate us,” Marcus said. He was trying his very best not to look interested in the castle.
I giggled. “Right, that makes sense.”
The carriage came to a stop after pulling through the gates. A few moments the door to the carriage opened and Ryder stood in the doorway along with Lily’s guard. No, knight. I was going to think of them as knights from now on. We were in a fantasy world after all. Though, I suppose I am the only one who would understand that.
Lily stepped out of the carriage first and I followed. Once we had descended the boys were urged to follow.
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“It looks so much bigger this close,” Marcus commented with a shiver.
“It can be intimidating,” the king agreed.
I barely stopped myself from jerking in surprise. So the royalty had returned. Now that I had this chance… There they are! The lion ears were hidden in the king’s fluffy hair, or was it a mane? His tail must be hidden by the royal robe.
“Did you need something?” the king asked me.
Oops… I had been staring. I felt my cheeks heat up. “I… um… I just remembered something and I wanted to see…”
“This, right?” the king said, whipping out his lion tail with a chuckle. He saw through me completely!
“Thank you,” I murmured.
Luckily it turned out I wasn’t the only curious one. Even Mr. Book had his eyes locked on the tail. Well, we were still kids, right?
“Lily, Caleb,” the head magician called, “I will be taking you to your new residence.”
So we were separating here. I waved goodbye, but only Lily responded. Caleb had regained his book.
The queen took my hand. “I will take you to where the other queen candidates are staying. Are you ready to meet them?”
“Yep!”
I was taken to a building near the castle that seemed to be some sort of dormitory. It was filled with girls my age, and some older. The oldest was fifteen. I wasn’t the only human, but there was a wide variety in the other species.
The first person who noticed me was a gorgeous fairy with blue butterfly wings. “Oh look! Someone new!”
“Is this the last one yet for this year?” a porcupine beastkin complained.
“She is,” the queen assured her, “Make sure everyone is gathered. I want to be sure you all understand the rules.”
A couple of girls ran off to get the others, and soon everyone was gathered. I took a seat among them.
“From now until the time you enter Nobility, I want you to strive hard. If you get lazy thinking you already have it in the bag you will lose your place. In other words, you will be sent home and no longer be a queen candidate. The headmaster will choose candidates of his own at that time who will enter Nobility with only basic training given by the headmaster himself.”
I hadn’t heard of this, but it wasn’t surprising. People can change when they grow up. I would just have to work harder to make sure I wasn’t eliminated. Even if I didn’t manage to become queen if I held on until graduation I could work with her or the Magic Council.
“My goal is not only to prepare you for your future at Nobility, but to groom you into queens this country can rely on before you even enter that school. If you cannot handle this, a transfer of departments can be requested at the end of each month,” the queen continued, “Any questions?”
“What if the transfer is refused?”
“You and I will have a private meeting where we can discuss what to do,” the queen answered, “However most choose to drop out and return to their lives as citizens.”
It was really starting to feel real now, and I could somehow feel my excitement rising.
“I expect all of you to get along. Do not think of yourselves as rivals, but as partners. The job of Queen cannot be done by one person alone, even if only one person gets the title. Fools who will be blinded by desire for the title will be dismissed. However, that does not mean you should quell your desire. Just be sure not to be blinded by it. The friends you make here will be irreplaceable should you move on to the next stage.”
The more I heard the more I was absolutely and completely convinced, being the Queen would be so cool. Though, it would be fine to work with the Queen too. I would absolutely throw my all into this!
Within the first month, almost half of those in the queen course transferred or were expelled. The day after that, a trip to the castle was announced. There we would be allowed to mingle with students from other courses.
I wonder, just what kind of students are in the other courses?