Selection Roleplay discussion

((This where girls are taught how to be ones))

Xander knocked on the door before sticking his head in to see if Samantha was really in the room.

"No I need the bouquets tonight, tomorrow is the big day... Yes that all sounds good..." said Samantha into her phone while attaching a bow onto the back of the last chair. She looked back and saw Xander standing in the doorway. "Alright," she said to the person on the other end of the line. "I have to go now, but please get me those flowers ASAP... Okay. Bye." She smiled at the prince. "Hello, Prince Xander. what can I do for you?"

As usual, Xander felt somewhat intimated in front of Samantha. He knew he was the future ruler of Illea, but there was just something about the way she held herself that made Xander hesitate by the door,"Good evening Samantha. Everything going um..." Xander cleared his throat awkwardly,"I was uh, wondering if I could talk to you about my first "date" with the selected." My god this is embarrassing.

Samantha tried to repress her amusement with Xander's embarrassment but she let a half-smile slip. "Of course, your highness. Did you have a particular venue in mind?"

Xander inched a little closer into the room. At first he was going to attempt standing perfectly still with his best posture, but the words couldn't come out. So instead, he began slowly pacing around the room, pretending to examine arrangements while speaking without making eye contact,"Well, I was talking it over with mother, and she agrees with me,"he said this pointedly to confirm to Samantha but more to himself it wasn't a stupid idea,"that my first meeting with the girls should be a walk around the garden. Not a long one, maybe 10-15 minutes each. Possibly ending at the gazebo. She said it was fine if the guards don't walk around with me. And I don't want any music. Just a quiet talk um..." Was quiet talk an oxymoron? Shit, I sound like a rambling idiot. "So yeah, garden walk, no guards, no music, short period of time...Does that sound good?" He had been peaking out of the corner of his eye for most of what he was saying, but he didn't make direct eye contact till his last sentence.

Samantha paused for a minute, visibly processing the information and adding it to the list of things to be done for tomorrow. "I think that sounds like a wonderful idea, Your Highness. Ten to fifteen minutes is a perfect amount of time with each of the girls," she said. "And if Queen Laylah said she would allow the guards to hang back for this, then it must be alright. Although I hope you do not mind that for security reasons, there still must be guards posted at the farther reaches of the garden. But I will do my best to remove them from plain view." It was then that Samantha's maternal instincts also kicked in after she realized that poor Xander was truly anxious. "Your Highness..." she said easing her shoulders just a bit and taking a step toward him. "Xander, you'll do fine. I'm sure they will love you just as much as we all do." Samantha nodded after this as if this were not some piece of reassurance, but a business agreement. This was perhaps the most casual with Xander that she had ever been and she sincerely hoped her words would calm the young prince.

A sigh of relief escaped Xander's lips,"Thank you Samantha. That means a lot." It was one thing for his mother to say it was a good idea, and another for Samantha to say it. His mom would tell Xander anything he thought was brilliant. Samantha wasn't his mom though, and she'd let him know if she thought he was making a mistake. He felt a little better now, though he was still nervous. He began fidgeting with his shirt sleeve. Claustrophobia was seeping into him, and he knew he'd be wandering the palace tonight. A glance to the window made him realize he'd probably venture outside as well."I hope this whole thing isn't giving you too much trouble. You're probably just as stressed as I am."

"I would not say I am stressed, I actually love the intensity of it all. It is good to be kept on your toes once in a while," she said to Xander. She fussed with the perfection and dimensions of the bows on each chair and then asked, "Prince Xander, do you think there should be light music in the background? Maybe just a violin trio or quartet... Nothing too big. It is just that the garden might feel a little too quiet for your comfort with just one conversation. But perhaps you want the quiet tranquility of it all. It is up to you."

"I want it to feel casual, or natural. Like we're just two people meeting for the first time. Not a Prince and a girl selected to go on dates with me. Music will feel forced. Even the garden might. I'd much rather take a walk in the woods...Not that I've ever been in the forest,"Xander said this in a tone that made it clear he had been in the forest many times but he knew better than to openly flaunt it."I don't want a girl that makes the quiet awkward anyway. I want comfortable silences or lively conversations."

"An excellent point, Your Highness. There will not be any music." Samantha knew good and well about Xander's little excursions to the rooftops and forests but she decided to play along anyways. "I believe that the garden is a better choice than the woods because one could get lost in the forest very easily if they do not know their way around it. Also, the Queen would not approve."

Xander's lip twitched, he was trying not to smile,"I suppose you're right. Very unfortunate I have so little experience walking around the woods. They look so interesting too..."He trailed off thinking about his favorite spot. It was difficult to find unless you knew exactly what you were looking for. But, he still couldn't go there as often as he liked because it was a bit of a hike. Trips had to be coordinated to when the palace was the most busy and people wouldn't notice him gone for extended periods of time. Actually, now he was wondering if he'd ever have a chance to escape back there again. His new wife would definitely notice him being gone. Tonight might be his last opportunity to sneak off there. Everyone was certainly busy enough..."When exactly are the girls arriving?" Xander asked in what he hoped was an off-handed tone,"When exactly do you think it'd be best to have the first meeting?"

(?)

"The girls arrived today and are getting ready as we speak," Samantha said, remembering she needed to tell them to wrap up the makeovers soon seeing as etiquette lessons are supposed to start in an hour and a half. "I believe that tomorrow afternoon would be the best time to walk around the garden. That time of day is lovely and they would still be fresh and different in your mind for dinner later that night."

"Sounds good. I'll leave you to your planning Samantha."

"Your Highness," Samantha said as she curtsied and held the door open for Prince Xander. As soon as he walked out, she turned the corner and power walked to the Spa room...