The Marriage Contest

Chapter Forty Five - The Obstacle

Chapter Forty Five - The Obstacle

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Keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through
Just stay strong
'Cause you know I'm here for you, I'm here for you
There's nothing you could say
Nothing you could do
There's no other way when it comes to the truth
So keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through

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I turned on my heel, leaving the king standing there completely surprised at what I had just said. I couldn't help the smirk that curled onto my face as I walked up the steps with my head held high. I walked into my room to see Aleene sitting on my bed. The room was the same room that I had stayed in the first time I had stayed at the castle.

"What did His Majesty say?" Aleene asked once she saw me.

I shut the door behind me and my smile grew wider when I looked back to Aleene's questioning eyes. "He talked about how he didn't want me and Sue fighting. Sue told him that it was all my fault and he believed her. From there I decided to 'question his ethics'. He got really mad. He told me and Sue that if he heard us bickering again that he would disqualify us. I told him that I wouldn't start anything, but if Sue started it I would stand up for myself. Then, I walked away without being dismissed."

Aleene started laughing loudly. She walked up to me and wrapped me in her arms. "Never have I ever heard of someone so bluntly standing up to the king. You, my dear, are braver than you give yourself credit for," Aleene whispered in my ear.

I smiled at her compliment. "I'm surprised that he didn't throw me out of the castle then and there."

Aleene pulled away and waved her hand dismissively. "Please, Andrew would have slit his throat if he did such a thing."

"You should have seen Sue's face. Oh goodness! She looked at me as if I had grown another head!" I laughed.

Aleene's face suddenly grew serious and she grabbed my shoulders to whisper in my ear. "I have heard some of the other girls talk," Aleene started. "I've heard them talk about how they want you to win this. I've heard them promise that they won't try very hard because they want you to be ahead of them. I figure that Sue will make her cronies not try because she wants to win, so really your only competition is Sue. I know that Sue doesn't have the same wits and common sense that you do, but whatever you do, do not underestimate her. She has some very strong determination Belinda. If you match her determination and add in your knowledge then you should be fine, but don't think for one minute that you have this in a bag. Anything can happen, Belinda. You will never know the future, but you can change it by what you do in the present."

She pulled away from me and I stood there, just staring at her for a while trying to commit everything that she said to me to memory. I nodded my head.

"I'm glad you understand. Now I must tell you what all you will be doing in the next three months. Basically to be a queen you have to be ready to step into place and serve as a king when and if the king dies before you, goes insane, gets sick, or is gone because of a war. So throughout these three months the queen will come in and help you with this and actually show you around her study and tell about the things that she does. To be able to be prepared to jump in you will have to sit in with the king sometimes also. You will have to be able to deal with foreign affairs, laws, keeping the people calm, deal with lawbreakers, numerous things. This first month is mostly studying. There will be a test at the end of this month and depending on how well everyone does, depends on who is winning. The second month will be when the king and queen start taking turns on talking to you all and telling you their experiences during their reign so far. At the end of that month there will be another test. The third month is all hands on stuff. You will deal with fake paper work and see if you can handle the pressure and late nights of trying to figure everything out. You will also stand in on a fake trial that will be put together. At the end of this month you will go through two test. One test will be handwritten, like the last two, but it will be over everything that you have learned so far. The second test will involve you doing some hands on type duties. The king or queen will sit in and watch you work on files and you will have to do a fake trial yourself while the king or queen watches. You will also be given a scenario and write a speech fit for giving to the people. You won't have to memorize the speech, but if you do, it would definitely give you some bonus points. You will have to present this speech in front of the royals, and the girls along with their etiquette teachers. It's a pretty large crowd for a first time speech, but they want to see if you can handle all eyes being on you. This will be a very hard three months in front of us, Belinda. It will take a lot of determination on your behalf. You will have some sleepless nights and you will be very frustrated by the end of this, but I will be here to guide you along the path as you study about everything. There will be times when you want to rip every single paper and simply give up. You can't do that, Belinda. You have to win this for the sake of this country. If you don't win this I don't know what Andrew will do. I can't even imagine..." Aleene's voice trailed off and she shut her eyes while drawing in a shaky breath. "There's no telling what Andrew would do to himself. I'm not sure if he would kill himself or become insane from not being with you. He may even become cold-hearted and corrupt. We don't need another corrupt leader, Belinda. I'm not trying to scare you or anything, but there is a lot of pressure on you."