Hired

Silence followed my words along with some small chatter.

"Lady Adonet, I hope you understand the gravity of your claim."

"I would not be risking my life like this if I did not feel so strongly. I can not bear to see someone smudging the Odete name."

"And what lead you to this conclusion?"

"Well, you see Your Majesty, the Odete people are able to identify one another. So I guess you can say, it takes one to know one."

"What are you hinting at?"

"What I mean, Your Majesty, is that only true Readers, like me, can recognize one another."

Everyone in the room gasped before falling dead silent. It was Lord Iscar's turn to defend himself.

"Don't be ridiculous, little girl. I am a true reader. YOU must be the liar. Besides, you have not physical truth!"

"First of all, if you truly were a reader, there would be no need for this large fiasco. You would be able to find out just who His Highness's string is connected to with a simple glance. And in the case of physical proof, it is well known that Odete people are born with a birthmark."

"And I have that birthmark!" Lord Iscar pulled up his sleeve to show the simple of the Odete people, a special birthmark. Silently, I slid down the left sleeve of my dress.

"I also have the birthmark." The mark was the same as Lord Iscar's, except it was located on my arm.

"Well, since I have it and you have it as well, we must both be Readers!"

"Then why did you not recognize me? This small birthmark says nothing. You could easily find it in a book and copy it. The thing that defines us Readers is when it reacts to the words of our people."

With both of our marks revealed, I began chanting the incantation to prove the mark of our people. My mark shined a bright red while Lord Iscar's remained dull. As soon as the incantation was finished, the king ordered the guards to arrest Lord Iscar and take him to the dungeon. I bowed once again as the king ordered for all of the women to be called to the dining hall once more. Once all the girls were present, His Majesty thanked them and apologized, sending them home with jewelry as compensation.

Then and there, I was asked to be the palace's Reader, an offer I couldn't refuse. Though I never wished to be captured by the royalty, it would mean my head if i were to refuse. With nowhere to go, I accepted the king's offer. Of course, he wasted no time to induct me and move me around as he saw fit. I was assigned an even bigger room, further away from the knight barracks, which I was sad about it, but I guess there was nothing that could be done.

My life immediately turned into that which my parents had always described our ancestors to be: rich and famous with the backing of a country's royal family. I never thought I would get to live that kind of life, since it always felt like a fantasy whenever my mom explained it. It almost feels like a revival of our time.

Finally a new day began. First thing in the morning, four maids entered my quarters and acted as a whirlwind, sweeping me up and out of bed, dressing me in my new clothes before I could wake up properly. Once I came to my senses, I was already half way down the hallway, heading towards the king's hall. My pace slowed as I inched closer and closer, eventually halting completely out of fear. As I stood there, lost in my thoughts, I suddenly felt a hand on my back. I looked to my left to see Emeric much to my surprise. He was on the verge of bursting out in laughter from my trembling body.

"What's up Ro? Why're you just standing in the middle of the hall frozen?"

I put on a confident yet pouty face and held my head high.

"I'm merely processing what's happened recently. No need to laugh, jerk."

With that last comment he just couldn't hold it in. His Laughing could be heard down the hall. The guards even turned towards us, confused as to what was happening. I hit him to get him to stop attracting attention. When that didn't work, I just walked away. He chased after me, trying to catch up, seeming to realize he just looked stupid.

"How dare you leave me alone like that."

"It's only what you deserve."

We continued to argue all the way down the hall but stood properly once we walked through. Inside was the king and queen sitting in their thrones with the princes on either side of them and the princesses on the second step up to their throne. The eldest prince gazed at me with intrigue and curiosity, scaring me a bit. The king spoke up, turning my attention away from the creepy crown prince; "We would like to formally welcome you to the castle, Lady Adonet. We are more than honored to have you present and helping us."

In response to his words, I got on one knee and pulled my dress in a curtsy, as was necessary when greeting royalty. "The honor is all mine, your majesty. May my presence bring your bloodline joyous marriage and happy lives." The king responded to me with a mere smile be fore getting up. "As you may know, I called you here at first to find a wife for my son." I nodded. "Well, the reason for that was because that two-faced Iscar told us it would take a process of maybe months to find the woman of his fate. Therefore, we held that party long before his birthday, which is when we planned to have him take the throne." The king swiftly moved on from his creepy son to stand nex to the princess who was next to her mother.

"The true one I wish for you to judge is my daughter, princess Andelle. We had Lord Iscar judge her before, but upon hearing news that he was indeed a fake, we found it necessary to change her assignment." I stood to get a closer look at her finger. There laid a long, thick red string tied to her ring finger. It led out the window and down the street.

"You must consider it lucky she hadn't married before getting her proper assessment. Her bond with her fated lover is strong. They will have a very happy life together."

"So, you can find him?"

"It should be no issue to read her fate's line."

Hearing my affirmation, his highness let out a hearty laugh, which the rest of his family soon joined.

"I expect nothing but good news then."