This is Ours

Chapter 1

~oOo~Maxons Pov~oOo~

"Amberley!" Silvia sighed in aggravation. "We need a female heir and we need it now!"

"There are none! All of my family died in the attack," my mother sighed, the pressure of the country, the death of my family, and the pressure of finding an heir all weighing on her shoulders.

The rebels. They are a big problem. There is two different kinds of Rebels. The northern rebels weren't a big problem. They attack but they never kill anyone. And they barely injure them. They just steal and mess up things. They just didn't like that only females rules the country. Or the castes.

The southern rebels are nasty and evil creatures. They want to rule the monarchy themselves. And with them in charge the country would wither until there is nothing less. It's not just my family. They just think they can rule better than we can. Better than the females can.

"I can just be king," I mumbled under my breath.

Apparently my mother heard. "Maxon," she sighed. "We have been over this. Females have rules over the land for decades and I'm not going to be the one to end this. I just can't handle changing the fabric of the country. Or I would make you king."

I nodded and slumped in my chair again. And as usual Miss Silvia yelled at me about posture.

I bet there's a million women out there who would be willing to rule this county. I bet some of them could even do it well, great even. Why can't one of them just rule.

Hmmm...

"What if we hold a competition," I announced, capturing their attention. "One women from each province comes here. To compete for the throne. There would be tests of bravery. And tests of agility and flexibility, because a ruler needs to be able to defend our country as well as any guard can. Also tests that show how well they deal with foreign dignitaries. Tests of manners. Test of talents. Till we find the perfect Queen."

They stared at me. I think they were actually considering it. They never consider my ideas. They always put me in the meetings with all the male advisors but I'm never taken seriously.

Don't go around thinking that there is something against men in Illea. That's not the deal. Before Illea only men ruled the country. They ruled
harshly and unfairly. So once the country was reborn.  Bethany Schreave began the rule of the female. It's only with rulers. There's males advisors and such. But males of royal blood are only good for one thing. Making sure the heir has the royal blood too. So pretty much getting some girl pregnant without even marrying her. Because marriage isn't allowed. It is only female rulers. No partnerships. That entirely goes against my moral beliefs, but mom doesn't need to know that yet.

"That's brilliant sweetie!" My mom exclaimed and hugged me. "What do you think Silvia. Will his idea work?"

She looked at her clipboard with pursed lips. "That just might work. But there has to be guidelines. What is the caste limit? No one below a seven can afford to leave there families. But do we really want dirty sixes waltzing around the palace..."

"No limit. Anyone can enter," Silvia purses her lips so I relented. "Your right anyways. Who below a seven, even a six, can afford to leave there families."

Silvia nodded. "Okay. I'll get right to work on those papers. It'll be announced on next weeks report. Sign ups immediately follow. We will do a drawing of names in the report a month after the announcement."