Emily In The Selection (book 1)

Chapter 14

My heart was pounding in my ears.

It's the rebels.

The way Queen Marcy announced it to us scared me more than anything. Her eyes were widened and her voice was trembling. Hannah, Amelia, and Kathleen all had their mouths open in shock.

We all bundled together. I clenched onto Kathleen's arm and I felt Hannah holding on to my back. Kathleen squeezed my arm as well, and Amelia was attached to Hannah. Queen Marcy, however, stood behind us and placed her hand on Amelia's shoulder.

A guard stood outside the bathroom waiting for us and led us into a safe room with King Jacob, Ryan, Tammy, and Jane standing in the dark.

There was another entrance on the other side and through that door, Jessica and Florida joined us.

"Close the doors!" King Jacob shouted to the guards.

I watched as Queen Marcy walked over to Ryan and spoke, "We better go to our own safety room."

"No, I'm staying here with the girls," Ryan demanded.

"Ryan..."

"Mom, I'll be fine. I want to be here with them."

"Alright, fine. Your dad and I are going to our our safe room now, so you better keep things under control on your own."

"It will be fine," he insisted.

Queen Marcy whispered something into King Jacobs ear and he made everyone go silent.

He spoke, "Girls, you will be here with these two guards and Prince Ryan also. The Queen and I are going to our own room and will come back to get you when everything is alright. Please, stay calm and do not panic."

Panic? I wasn't panicking. I was only sweating with my face hot, feeling a little nauseous, and had my heart pounding rapidly in my ears.
So yes, I guess I might have been panicking.

Hannah, Amelia, and Kathleen were still huddled in a corner. Kathleen looked pale and wasn't paying attention to what they were all saying. I was tempted to ask if she was okay, but what answer was I expecting?
Florida was sitting in a corner, trying to stifle a cry. The room was dark, but I could tell that her eyes had tears in them.

I walked over to Ryan.

"What's going on?"

"Don't worry, Emily, it's just the rebels."

"Just the rebels?"

"Yes. And I believe it is just the northern rebels. They typically don't do any harm."

"What do they do?"

"I've been told that they like to look for information instead of fighting."

"How often does this happen?" I knew I was asking too many questions, but I still had a lot more.

"About once a month. I don't really know, but the palace has been having these attacks for a really long time. The northern and southern rebels have been trying to attack the palace since our nation was called Illèa."

I only knew a little bit about Illèa. Our nation was called that a long time ago until we renamed ourselves America because we gained freedom. Although, we didn't gain a lot. We only have the freedom to vote if we would like to continue the cast system and have the freedom of choosing what we want our jobs to be, regardless of our caste. Of course the eights still have poor jobs and the twos can have the best, but since I was a four I could still have a chance of being a model even though I wasn't a higher cast. According to a text book I once read, certain castes can only have specific jobs when we were called Illèa.