Young Writers Society

I finally got to look at my story I started a couple months ago. I've been so busy, I wanted to cry. Hopefully in a few weeks I'll be free and can really get back into the swing of things. Here's my chapter 1 redone.

Chapter 1

“It is unbelievable that it is tomorrow already!”

“I am getting anxious.”

“I hope the queen makes the right decision for me.”

“I heard that the lords and ladies get interviews from the queen herself tomorrow morning!”

“Interviews?” Diana asked, looking up from her blank parchment to look at her friend, Lady Margaret. All the ladies around the circular table of the library could not believe what they heard either and fell silent. “What do you mean? We’re only thirteen! I don’t even do my homework, let alone talk royalty.”

“I am not entirely sure why, but my nurse said I have to look nice for the interview with the queen tomorrow morning,” Margaret said with a shrug. Diana’s brow furrowed.

“Why are they changing the system?” Diana continued to ask.

“You speak truth, Diana,” said the drawling voice of Lord Derrick, a handsome lord with shining black hair, his dark blue eyes sparkling in the sunlight, sitting among the ladies at the table, his quill continuing to scratch across the parchment. “They should have waited until next year, so that your empty head would not have to comprehend the new rules.”

“It just doesn’t make sense,” Diana ignored Derrick. “They never did interviews, and, even if they did interviews, I’m shocked to hear that the king is allowing the queen to do them.”

“Where is the Day of Union held again?” Margaret asked the ladies. “It was held in Tyroan last year, so it will be somewhere else, no?”

“Actually,” started one of the ladies with long, auburn hair and gray-blue eyes, “the queen insisted on holding it here in Tyroan this year.”

“The other two kingdoms didn’t argue?” Diana asked, still looking to Lady Margaret rather than the lady who spoke. “I would’ve thought the kingdom of Gallium would have had something to say.”

“I am just as surprised as you,” the auburn-haired lady replied bitterly before Lady Margaret could speak. “My mother would never have gotten away with something so easily. My father must have a good reason for allowing such a thought to happen.”

“Why is that?” Diana asked coldly. Margaret shifted uncomfortably.

“If I knew why, would I tell you?” Lady Adorèe sneered. “I would think it best that you not question my father’s logic. I would trust him above all else.”

“Of course you would,” Diana said under her breath and turned back to her parchment. When silence fell among the circular table, the two other young ladies there began whispering frantically about their essays.

“Diana,” Lady Margaret whispered. Diana looked up, flinging her red curls behind her shoulder. “Diana, why has your essay not started? Your instructor wants it tonight, no?”

Diana sighed, knowing this would be another long speech from her friend on how to be responsible. “Yes, he wants it tonight, but I don’t know what to write. He won’t pass me anyway.”

“That is not true,” Lady Margaret said sternly. “Maybe if you actually tried to write your essay, you will do well according to his standards. Just think of something you are interested in and write.”

Diana gave an exasperated sigh as her green eyes went back to the blank parchment. She put her head in her hand, not really thinking about her essay, but more about the Day of Union. What if Diana does not get united with another lord? What if she is paired with a lord she would not like? What if—the blonde lady across the table was staring at Diana. Diana, getting uncomfortable, looked at the girl, her brow raised. “Do you want something from me?”

The blonde’s blank face looked shocked at Diana’s rude tone. However, she responded in her soft, mellow voice, “Are you not excited for tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow?” Diana repeated hesitantly. Did she look as nervous as she really was? “’Course not! No need to worry myself over something like that. It’s not like I have any control over my future anyway. No, my future is out of my hands.”

“But, Diana—”

“No, Lady Caroline, do not waste your breath,” Lord Derrick said. “Diana knows as well as I she, as her sister, will not have a chance in being paired.”

Diana glared at Lord Derrick. She hated how he insulted her because her older sister was different. Her sister was twenty years old and still has not been united with another lord. Because of this, Lord Derrick has been giving Diana a hard time.

“Did you really think you would have a successful day tomorrow?” Lady Adorèe asked. “Unfortunately, we all know you will not. My father will most generously allow you to stay in the palace for a few more years, much like your sister, in hopes that you will eventually be paired. However, when the time comes, you, like your sister this year, will lose your rank as a noble and become either a servant of the palace or a peasant of Tyroan. It just runs in the family.”

“I would be more than happy to leave this place, m’lady,” Diana sneered, “even if it means peasantry. I won’t be around you, now, will I?”

“I cannot believe you disgrace the princess of Tyroan with such a tone,” Derrick said softly with sarcasm. Diana glared at him. “Just that one comment could throw your entire future away. Even the queen will be unsuccessful in pairing you up with a decent lord because of your rudeness. How could the king trust you to run his piece of land?”

“How could I trust the king to feed me every day?” Diana asked rhetorically. “How could I trust the king to give me a bed to sleep in and an education to gain? How could I trust the king to even give me a chance during the Day of Union? I can’t. He is untrustworthy. All I can do is trust Nana to care for me like she has my whole life. I have no power because of the king. I can’t even trust.”

Diana could go on and on about the unfairness in the palace. She was victim to the change when the king came to power. He came to power a year before she was born, but she knew her instructor had difficulty following the new curriculum in her studies. She knew that Nana had trouble with finding proper food for little Diana to eat. She knew that Nana’s pay had diminished when she overheard Nana speaking with another nurse. Diana had reason to not trust the queen because the queen married the man that made life the Underworld. Diana knew full well that something was wrong. She also knew that it was not her job to fix the problem, but Princess Adorèe’s.

“You might as well not get your hopes up, Diana,” Derrick said. Diana’s hands curled into tight fists in the maroon fabric of her lap, her eyes glared in Derrick’s direction, right past his dark bangs and into his playful blue eyes. “You should start thinking about your future job. Would you like to grow vegetables? Or raise cattle?”

Diana’s chair screeched across the wooden floor and stood up, but Derrick made a small gesture and a much bigger man came their way. Diana froze as her eyes landed on the boy just the age of fifteen, Lord Kieran.

Compared to short, thin Derrick, Lord Kieran was more muscular, his hair messier and his eyes glinted. Diana could see his veins in his temples, his jaw clenched. Occasionally, she had seen Lord Kieran in the training grounds alone, fencing or even shooting some arrows at some targets. He was a bit overwhelming. Diana slowly resumed her seat.

“Good day, Lord Derrick,” said a toneless voice slowly approaching them. Diana turned and saw her older sister walk toward their table and stop behind Margaret and the young blonde lady.

“Lady Autumn,” Derrick sneered playfully, a smirk plastered on his pale face. Diana’s nails dug into her skin as she saw his look. Autumn was more vulnerable for insults and attacks than Diana was. His blue eyes looked Autumn up and down as he thought of a good verbal attack. Diana wanted to punch him in the face, but she knew better than to get herself in trouble with the king. Anything Diana did could be used against her and, as Adorèe said before, her title would be stripped from her name.

“Lady Diana,” Autumn said smoothly, her empty, dark eyes on Diana, “The queen wishes to see me tonight, so I will not accompany you any longer until tomorrow for the Day of Union.” Her voice was as emotionless as before. She simply said what she had to say. No one, not even Lord Derrick, dared interrupt her. “Nana will be with you until you are in bed for sleep, however, and then she will also see the queen.”

Diana’s brow furrowed, ignoring Derrick’s snickering in the background. “Why would the queen want to see you?”

“She is twenty years old, fool!” Derrick blurted with amusement. “She is obviously going to be either hired as a servant of the Palace or sent to live with the peasants down the road.”

“Was I talking to you?” Diana said coldly and turned back to Autumn. “What’s going on?”

“I am afraid I cannot tell you,” Autumn said easily. “Before I depart, I am sure you would like to hear that a package awaits you in your quarters for tonight. Nana brought it there and put it in a safe place, I trust. You can ask her about it.”

“Alright,” Diana muttered. She knew she wouldn’t get much more out of quiet Autumn. Her sister was just too strange for even Diana to understand much about her.

“Good night, Diana,” Autumn said tonelessly.

Diana’s brow furrowed as Autumn turned around and left the library, walking her smooth stroll across the floors and carpets. She came and she went as quickly as she ever.

“Seven years!” Derrick blurted again. “Dear Lady Autumn has been single for seven years! She is not fit for any lord, and I am more than sure it runs in the family,” he added with a sneer to Diana.

“Do you ever have anything new to say?” Diana asked with exasperation, looking back at Derrick.

“I will not sit around and watch you two bicker any longer,” Lady Margaret put in, standing up. “Excuse me while I look for a book.” Diana watched her best friend leave the table, then looked back at Princess Adorèe and Lord Derrick. Lord Kieran stood a short distance away from them, but was still ready to defend Derrick.

“You’re hoping to be paired with Adorèe, aren’t you, Derrick?” Diana asked with a smirk.

Derrick looked from Adorèe to Diana, his gentle expression changed to a smirk. “I have won the king’s favor, Diana,” he replied, “or, my father has, rather. My father is very close to the king, has given money when the king needed it, has gained more land with the little land my father owned beforehand. My father has won the king’s favor for me.”

“Have you forgotten already?” Diana said, disbelieving her ears. “The queen is in charge of the Day of Union, not the king. They ignored tradition this year. It’s up to the queen now, and she may think differently.”

Derrick glared at Diana, his posture straightening. Diana involuntarily leaned an inch back, her hands flat on the table for when she must stand to defend herself. “Watch your mouth, Diana,” he said coldly and Lord Kieran braced himself for Derrick’s order. “I will not be offended in such a way. The king will do all he can to save me for his daughter rather than give me some waste-of-a-wife lady.”

Diana stood up at this. She didn’t know why she felt so offended, especially by Derrick. He always spoke like this to her, yet she could not stand letting him get away with that. Her green eyes flashed behind her red curls and Derrick scooted his chair back involuntarily. Diana spoke between clenched teeth, “Say that again—”

“—Is that a threat?”

“You can bet your head on it, it is—”

“Kieran!”

With a wave of his hand, Derrick ordered Kieran after Diana. Diana’s hands curled into fists. She knew better than to fight a lord. If a lady defended herself against a lord, the lady would get a worse punishment than the lord. Usually, Diana would fight, and would be punished with a servant’s job while Kieran would only get more work from his instructor. However, Diana had a new plan of action.

Kieran grabbed Diana’s wrist and squeezed tightly. Diana winced at his grip and her fingers instantly reacted, her nails digging into his skin. Diana silently cursed at herself. This was not her new plan. This was how she always acted in defense. No, Diana was determined to rid herself of Kieran once and for all.

Diana’s foot didn’t agree. She kicked Kieran in the shin. Kieran yelped, but nothing more. He grabbed a chunk of Diana’s red curls and yanked. Diana shrieked and fell over on the floor. This was what Diana was waiting for.

Kieran yanked on Diana’s arm, pulling her up to her feet. Diana shrieked again, standing on her two feet, looking as helpless as she could. Diana forced herself to begin crying, allowing tears to wet her face, her eyes flooding with tears and turning puffy-red.

“My lord! That is enough, I tell you, enough!”

Diana felt Kieran drop her to the floor and step back. Diana wiped her face on her maroon sleeve before looking up and watching the big Lord Kieran get told off by the frail, old librarian. She prodded him in the chest, yelling at Lord Kieran for his poor manners. Lord Derrick waited for the librarian to speak to Diana next.

“Come now, we shall ask your Nurse what to do with you,” the librarian snapped in her shrill voice. She had no right to even touch Lord Kieran, but she waited for Lord Kieran to move ahead of her, her green-yellow eyes piercing through Kieran’s soul. Kieran had no choice but to obey. Following orders could get him half off the hook.

Derrick was horrified to find his guardian get dragged off without his victim. Diana remained seated on the floor, smirking as she watched Kieran walk away like a child. Diana’s smile faded when she heard a strange growl. Looking up, she saw Derrick’s furious face look down upon her.

“You will pay for this, Diana,” he snarled, his knuckles white from his curled fists. With that, he walked off. Princess Adorèe watched Derrick anxiously. As soon as he walked through the broad, oak doors after Kieran, Adorèe glared at Diana.

“How dare you!” Adorèe shrieked as she watched Diana stand up and brush herself off. “Dear Kieran will be forced to relinquish his noble title! You have disgraced the royal family, the kingdom of Tyroan! You will pay for your acts!”

Without waiting for a response, Adorèe ran out of the library, ignoring the librarian’s reprimand for running in the library. Diana seated herself at the round table with the other ladies. The blonde lady stared at Diana the whole time

“Here,” Margaret said as she dropped a huge brown, ancient-looking book in front of Diana, causing a loud slam to echo around the library. The ladies ignored the librarian’s hiss and glare, examining the dusty volume of The Wonderful Century. “Write your essay on this.”

“You’re joking,” Diana said, staring at the book, completely overwhelmed.

“No, I am not joking,” Margaret with emphasis, giving Diana a stern look. “This is a popular topic and one of the easiest to write about, since our instructors will not give up teaching it to us. Look,” she said and opened the book, flipping through pages, causing dust to tickle Diana’s nose and a sneeze sounded once or twice before Margaret let the pages settle.

“What am I looking at?” Diana asked, recovering from her sneezing attack. Her green eyes skimmed down the page, but it was all just plain script. No pictures to examine. Just script.

“This is a list of summaries on the…” Margaret hesitated, not knowing how to explain in simpler terms. “It’s a list of changes when the Wonderful Century ended. You know when it ended, right?”

“When the king married Queen Katherine,” Diana said bitterly, glaring at Margaret. “I know the stuff. I just don’t care anymore.”

“Well, there you go,” Margaret replied, pushing the book toward Diana. “Write, and don’t leave this library until it’s finished and given to your instructor,” she added sternly.

Diana sighed. “You’re not my mother—”

“Don’t even start that!” Margaret interrupted irritably. “Just write. You’ll think of something, I’m sure, especially with this book in front of you.” Without another word, Margaret spun on her heel, her brown bushy hair whipping around her shoulders, and she marched off. Diana sighed again, put her head in her hand, her quill in the other hand, dipped the quill in the ink, and thought long and hard before the quill finally touched the parchment and started scribbling one word, then two more, then another sentence…

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Keep in mind (I'll say this later on in the story [if i remember]) that they're all around 13 years of age. The relationship between Derrick and Diana will be explained later on, I swear to god I will explain it! Other than that, enjoy tearing it up. ^_^