Benjamin Harrison Campfire - Late Wednesday Evening

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

Five days since Rose had seen Lissa, and that was longer than she remembered since they'd met sitting next to each other in kindergarten.  When she was by herself, she couldn't stop mentally poking at that oddly blank spot in her head where Lissa was supposed to be.  Every once and a while, Rose could almost feel a whisper of emotion from the spot, but it was never constant.  It was never the way their bond had always been.

She'd tried to tire herself out today, but she couldn't fall asleep so Rose got up and headed out to the unlit campfire.  She scavenged some bread and peanut butter and sat at the campfire to occupy herself by ripping up the slices and throwing pieces into the firepit.

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[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

She smiled back and offered Elspeth a piece. "Would you like to kick its butt too? And I'm Rose. You're in this cabin too, right?"

[formerbrat.livejournal.com]

"No, I won't deny you your vengeance," Elspeth said. "Nice to meet you, Rose. I'm in alcove A2."

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

"You're too kind, and it's nice to meet you too," Rose said, remembering her manners. "Not just because you're too kind. I'm on the other side in B4."

[formerbrat.livejournal.com]

"Are you one of the new students as well?" Elspeth asked.

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

Rose nodded. "Sometimes I wonder if there's more of us than old students," she commented. "At least I feel like I'm meeting more new ones."

[formerbrat.livejournal.com]

"Probably the old ones aren't wandering around feeling desperately lost like the new ones," Elspeth smiled.

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

"Okay, that's fair enough," Rose laughed. "So we're only running into others like us cause everyone else is pointing and laughing?"

[formerbrat.livejournal.com]

Elspeth laughed. "I didn't say that! But that might explain it. Are you from a place like this?"

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

"Is there any place like this?" she asked, making a face at Elspeth. "But I'm from the same country. Used to go to a boarding school out in Montana."

[formerbrat.livejournal.com]

"I don't know where that is," Elspeth admitted. "I'm from Valdemar, which very few people here have even heard of."

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

"I haven't," Rose said with a shrug. "Montana's west of here. Waaaaaay west of here where there are only cows and prairie and mountains." She tilted her head. "What's Valdemar like?"

[formerbrat.livejournal.com]

"It's... familiar," Elspeth sighed. "Our lanterns burn oil instead of lightning. We have only one Queen at a time and murder is illegal."

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

Rose tilted her head. "Where isn't murder illegal?" she couldn't help asking.

[formerbrat.livejournal.com]

"Kaeleer, where Karla is from," Elspeth said. "I don't know if you've met her."

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

"Not yet," Rose said, trying not to think about what that meant. "We have one queen too. She's chosen from the twelve royal families."

[formerbrat.livejournal.com]

"How is she chosen?" Elspeth asked.

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

Rose had to remember back to her eighth grade Moroi culture class. "The current King or Queen chooses an heir who's not from her family," she explained. "And the royals confirm the choice."

[formerbrat.livejournal.com]

"Not from her family?" Elspeth asked. "That's an unusual exclusion. Do you know why?"

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

"You'd be better asking my best friend," Rose told Elspeth. "She's the Princess of one of the families." She thought again. "Something about not wanting power to grow too concentrated in one family? Is it very different from your Queen?"

[formerbrat.livejournal.com]

Elspeth nodded. "The Heir is usually the eldest child of the current Monarch," she said. "Is your best friend here, too?"

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

"Usually? Why not?" she asked, preferring to avoid the topic of Lisa. But then she shook her head. "No. She's not."

[formerbrat.livejournal.com]

"Sometimes there is no legitimate child in the direct line," Elspeth said. "And other times, the potential Heir is not qualified to become Monarch, so another candidate must be found."

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

"Like the kid is insane or just stupid?" Rose asked, not really too tactful at the best of times.

[formerbrat.livejournal.com]

Elspeth laughed. "Not exactly. The Monarch must be a Herald, though being insane or stupid might prevent a potential Heir from being Chosen." She could guess the question to follow, so she continued, "Heralds are the Monarch's messengers and representatives. They must be Chosen by a Companion. We don't know how the Companions evaluate candidates, but a Herald must be selfless and incorruptible."

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

She stared. "And there's more than one of them?"