To Choose

The Beginning

I watched as the deer bent down to take a drink by the river, following the target with my arrow, ready to pierce the heart. The cold, sharp snap of a branch under my old leather boots, startled me. The String of my bow snapped back into place, releasing my arrow to strike the tree a little too far left from the deer.

"Damn." I cursed under my breath, as the deer ran away.

'That deer could have fed my family for weeks' She thought to herself. Her family wasn't the richest in the castes, in fact they were one of the poorest. She and her family were fives, not the best in the system, but nowhere near the worst. It was still kind of bad, though. She still needed to provide for her whole family.

The castes were specifically designed to put a label on people, and to state their place in the kingdom. Eights being the lowest and Ones being the highest. Every child is educated on their place in the world along with others. Eights were called the 'untouchables', these were the sick, injured, mentally/physically unstable people, addicts, illegitimate, abandoned, and homeless people, unable to prove their caste and unemployable. Sevens were the manual laborers; including gardeners, construction workers, farm hands, gutter/pool cleaners, and trash collectors. Sixes were the workers including secretaries, waiters/waitresses, housekeepers, seamstresses, store clerks, cooks, and drivers. Sixes and Sevens were very similar, but Seven were required to work outdoor. Sera was a five. Fives were Artists and performers; including stage actors, classical musicians, singers, and dancers. Fours were Business men; Jewelers, real estate agents, insurance brokers, Head Chefs, construction managers, business workers, and farmers. Threes were inventors, teachers, philosopher, scientists, doctors, dentists, architects, film directors, music producers, lawyers, and writers. Twos were Celebrities; Athletes, Singers, Actors, Musicians, models, politicians, police officers, firefighter's guards, and military members. The highest caste is a one, but that titles reserved for the Royal Family only- A loud snap of a branch snapped her out of her thoughts...

She couldn't continue to hunt; the Calling was today. That means the Forrest and the town would be crawling with guards. The Calling was an announcement made to each of the castes, every time a new prince came of age. Every year, 2 girls were chosen from each caste, up to 5, to compete in the selection. A system of physical trials were created for the Chosen to compete in, and the only way to win was to end up as the final Chosen one, by the prince.

Sera had to go get ready for the ceremony, she started to head home, keeping her bow drawn and ready, just in case she saw another animal, or one of the guards spotted her. She hid her weapons in the little air pocket under the cave, then she covered it with dirt, and headed over to the opened side of the underground cave. She discovered this old abandoned cave was unknown to the Guards, so she uses it to get to the forest undetected.

She makes her way through the crowds of people heading to the town center, trying remain undetected. 'She just had to get to the little house on the corner, quickly and-'

CRASH

She had knocked over a man just standing in the middle of the crowd, and fallen over herself in the process.

"Ouch" The stranger said. He was kind of muscular, but not muscular enough to be a seven, but he was a really attractive, he had platinum blonde hair, the perfect length, and icy blue eyes, with little grey rings around the edges. He was in a nice blue business suit, so maybe he is a four?

"I am so sorry, sir. Here, let me help you up." Sera apologized.

"No, no, it's fine, what is your name?" The strange man asked, as he was getting up off the ground, and brushing the dust off, from the ground below him.