Silence immediately fell in the room when the adults reentered. The head magician pointed directly to Mister Book and a girl across the room. “I choose the two of you,” he announced.

I felt my nerves rising. Was I a favorite? What if the king and queen hated me? The king stepped forward next. He politely greeted a boy with a cookie in his hands and asked if he would like to be chosen.

After the boy agreed all that was left was one girl position, probably. I still had a chance. I locked eyes with the queen along with many others, and she smiled before approaching me.

“Cassandra, would you like to come with me and fulfill your dream?” she asked.

“Really?” I asked, “Are you sure you choose me?” I asked before I could think.

She nodded.

“I get to pack and inform my parents, right?”

“Of course,” she replied.

I could feel my spirits lift up to the sky and my face broke out in a grin. “Thank you so much!”

“Come back to this place in three days and we shall depart,” the queen instructed, “You can visit your family for vacations, and you will have a private messenger just for communication with them.”

“So cool…” I should have expected such incredible perks with someone amazing like the queen. On the other hand I can’t allow myself to get greedy. A greedy queen is worthless and I would never be selected.

A guard stepped forward. “I will be your personal guard from now on. I am Ryder, lady Cassandra.”

“A pleasure to meet you,” I greeted in return, subconsciously using fancier speech, “Are you staying in my home?”

“That would be preferable while you are there, but not necessary,” Ryder answered.

“Okay,” I said and led the way to my house. It was a boring one story house with four bedrooms, and a large room in the front my mother and father stored business goods in before taking them to their shops.

The guard knocked on the door and my mother opened it. Her eyes opened wide. “Cassandra? You got in?” she gasped.

“She has,” Ryder replied before I could say a word, “I am Ryder, her personal guard-”

“Knight,” I interrupted, “You are a knight, right?”

“Yes…”

“Then call yourself my personal knight. It sounds so much cooler!” I demanded.

Mother chuckled. “I apologize for my daughter. She has always had a strange determination… Which course did she get into?”

“She was personally selected as a queen candidate, my lady,” Ryder replied, “So far the queen has only chosen one other.”

Wait, what? The odds had been that slim?!

Ryder managed to convince my parents to let him stay, and everyone helped me pack what I needed. Those last few days at home felt somewhat alien, like I wasn’t at home at all. Before I knew it I was headed back to the mansion where the test was held. The other three were apparently already there and we would be riding a carriage to the capital together.

The carriage we were riding in was separate from the royal one but still spacious. It was just the children and one guard inside, with our personal guards riding beside the carriage.

“So,” the other girl said, “Let’s get to know each other. I am Lily. I want to be a healer. I really hope that was what I was scouted for.”

Lily elbowed Mr. Book and he sighed. “I am Caleb.”

“And? And?” Lily prompted excitedly.

“We don’t get to choose. I just want to research magic. Since the Head Magician chose me it should be fine,” Caleb complained. Personally, I might still call him Mr. Book in my mind.

Lily turned her bright eyes to me.

“I am Cassandra, and I wish to be Queen, but I guess I am fine with researching magic too… but the Queen does other amazing things like a heroine.”

“Ooh,” Lily said, “How exciting!”

Both of our gazes turned to the boy who was chosen by the king. He scooted away from our pressure.

“I am Marcus,” he managed, “and… I heard that if you got accepted your family can get compensation money to survive with. So, that is why I am here.”

“Oh… I didn’t even think of that,” Lily said with a smile, “I guess I don’t have to worry about my family now. What a relief.”

With that, the conversation switched to families. Lily and Marcus came from poor families, while Mr Book… I mean Caleb came from a fairly well off one. None of our parents were nobles, but Caleb’s grandfather was the village chief back home.

When the conversation turned to me everyone seemed surprised. Apparently, my parents were famous. I had no idea their clothing and shoes were so important in this region. I couldn’t help but feel proud.

Even with magic, the trip to the capital took several days. There were no bandit attacks or anything like that, but one of Caleb’s books got burnt. Since then he refrained from reading books at the campfire.

I would like to think that during this trip we all became good friends, even if Marcus still flinched when Lily and I got together. What was he so afraid of anyway?

And so our journey came to an end, but none of us were ready for the magnificence of the capital. Not even Mr. Book.