queen

Whispers made their way throughout the palace.

The Queen Dowager would be meeting the candidates for the princess selection.

Everyone was stunned. The royal family themselves never took part in the selection except for when there were the final two candidates remaining.

Upon hearing the rumours, Gaya understood the second prince’s warning. Once the Dowager took a liking to you it was impossible to not make the cut. She was nervous and thus had made the decision to keep shut and follow the advice given to her.

‘I’m going to mess everything up’ Daera thought for the 100^th time. She looked over to Gaya and admired her calm features not knowing it was a facade. She decided to try her best to appeal to the Dowager and make it to the finals. Afterall she had far too much to lose if she couldn’t make it. In Daera’s mind the possibility of becoming queen hadn’t registered yet, she just wanted to get past the next obstacle thrown her way. She took a deep breath and remembered the advice given to her. Be your true self. She intended to do just that as she and the remaining nine candidates sat upon beautiful, intricately woven mats waiting for the Dowager’s entrance. They were about to meet the lady who indirectly controlled the entire women quarters and also their fate.

A eunuch announced the entrance of the Dowager. The selections were getting more interesting by the minute.

All candidates deeply bowed and payed their respects to the oldest living royal. The Dowager gave of a kind yet stern appearance. An irony of sorts. After all of them introduced themselves, the true test began.

‘What is the worth of this old woman sitting in front of you?’ everyone present was left speechless. Did the Dowager just ask the candidates what her worth was?

‘Hurry up, I want to know what you think.’ The dowager looked more impatient by the second.

The first girl stuttered for a good ten minutes until her opportunity was passed on to the next.

‘You are the foundation of the royal family’ she stuttered.

‘What about the king?’ The Dowager counter attacked. At this the girl was left speechless. Her chance was passed on to the next and the next. The dowager found ways to attack the answers given by the girls. Finally it was Daera’s turn.

‘Your worth cannot be measured. It is as if you are asking me to tell me the distance between heaven and earth. It simply cannot be measured.’ Daera answered what her heart told her to. She earned a small smile from the Dowager and all that was left was the final girls’ answer. Gaya’s answer.

‘You are the sun’ Gaya answered fearlessly.

Audible gasps could be heard throughout the room. The sun was a metaphor only used to describe the king of the nation. Never was a female named the sun.

‘The sun?’ the Dowager raised her eyebrows.

‘Yes, the sun. The king has come to life because of you. Does that not make up of a higher rank than him? A sun can never be in its place without someone placing it there. Daebi-mama you are the put who has put the sun where it belongs. You are the beginning without whom this land would not have its sun.’

The dowager smiled at the young girl with such a wisdom and knack for thought. In the land of Shilla, women were never considered to be equal to men. She indirectly went against the long held customs to the land by naming the Dowager higher than the king. She reminded the Dowager of herself when she was young and wanted to have the same choices that were presented to the men of their family. She wanted to be considered equal.

At exiting the hall after their meet with the Dowager, Gaya regretted all of it. She wished she had stuttered something and gotten away with it but she had to open . She sighed. Her only hope was that her answer could be considered invalid since it went against the long held customs of shilla.

The names of the final two candidates were announced.

Song Gaya

Lee Daera.

Gaya felt faint from shock whereas Deara couldn’t contain her excitement. In the end they had to battle it out as that was their fate.

The crown prince looked at the names of the girls who had made it to the final two. There was her name again, Song Gaya. Her felt disgust at her ambition at such a young age. She followed in the footsteps of her brother Song Yunho.

Six years ago when Hoon was still a child of 14, he witnessed something no child should be allowed to witness. The death of his beloved aunt. All because of the false testimony of Song Yunho. Immediately after the death of his aunt the liar increased in his ranks at the royal court and was appointed minister. All it took was the death of a single person, the most important person to the crown prince of Shilla.

Hoon couldn’t help but think that Yunho set up his sister with the same poisonous thoughts so that he may increase further in ranks as the queen’s brother. Hoon would never let that happen.

The day of the final selection both the girls were prepped to their finest. With the finest silks and gold and jewels. Their family was permitted to meet them and ofcourse the first person to meet Gaya was her brother.

‘I had no doubts about you making it this far. Just make it through this round and we shall have the world in our hands.’ He told Gaya with a glint in his eyes.

‘You want the world in your hands brother. I have no such interest’ Gaya curtly nodded and left the room.

Her meeting with her father was also brief and full of emotion.

On the other side of the hall Daera’s adoptive parents had come to meet her.

‘We were sure we chose the right girl and now I am proven right. Just get past through this hurdle Daera and you shall possess everything you ever wanted. Do not let you parent’s sacrifice go in vain’ her mother told her. ‘This is your only chance, make sure it counts or you go back to the rut where you came from’

Daera nodded, a fierce determination in her. She remembered all the cold nights without shelter, and the days spent starving, begging for food and any kind of job. She would get through this, it was her only way, even if she had to fight the person who gave her courage.

They both entered the hall though the west side, sitting down carefully so as to not mess up their clothing or accessories. Gaya smiled at Daera but was confused when she didn’t smile back.

Gaya’s plan was to thoroughly embarrass herself when they would have tea along with the prince. She also would throw compliments about Daera along the way. It was a futile attempt, but it was the best she could do.

The prince finally entered through the east side of the pavilion and upon seeing his face Gaya felt a rush of recognition.

It was six years ago, on a snowy night. A boy of around 14 was crying at the footsteps of their residence. Screaming to bring his aunt back. Shouting curses at our family. A 12 year old Gaya was keen to see what all the commotion was about. All she saw was the most beautiful boy she had ever seen, his face streaked with tears and a heart-breaking expression on his face. It wasn’t long before guards came and pulled him away, telling him to forget. It was the night Gaya thought that she would do anything to put the boy out of his misery.

Gaya never asked who that boy was and kept him dear in her heart, now he was here, standing in front of her as the crown prince, for whom she had spent a month in the palace, running away from the fate of being his bride. He had the same heart-breaking expression hidden deep within his eyes and same sorrow on his shoulders. Then he said something that rocked her.

‘I choose Lee Daera as my bride’

At that moment Gaya wished for nothing more than to be selected as the future queen.

Trailer is up in the foreword.