Chapter Text
Eponine
My parents had been grooming me for the selection since I was born. It was the ultimate con that would secure my family as Ones so they could live the life they always wanted to. My parents were both born as Fours and ran a profitable inn until their scam was uncovered by several Twos. They escaped and lived as Eights for a few years, saving money by selling their children into servitude for several wealthy families until I was born, 6 months after the birth of the crown prince of Illea. The money they made by selling my siblings and scamming was used to buy new identities as Sixes. Their new Identities were as The Jondrettes, humble store clerks, who still scammed on the side.
In order to prepare me for The Selection, my mother made it her priority to ensure that I learned several languages. As a young child, she would drop me off with a family of Fours from New Asia so that I could help around the house. However, my main goal was to become fluent in Chinese, which I did by the age of ten. When my services were no longer required, my mother found me a job with a family that had recently immigrated from France. The Brouder family became my real family. They were Threes and taught Political Science and French at the University of our province, Allin. I would often finish my work early and read through Monsuier Brouder’s books on politics while their newborn son would take his nap. Madame Brouder would always prepare enough breakfast for me but would claim it was an accident because she was used to preparing larger portions from when she was pregnant.
They repeatedly offered my parents a large sum of money to adopt me as their charge. They offered to give me a formal education so that I could marry into a wealthy family and have all my needs met. My mother claimed to be offended, saying that she had been doing her best to teach my sister and I since we would talk. The ability to read and write above the level of basic sentences was not common for Sixes. Yet, not all Sixes had their daughter for the purpose of The Selection. Not all Sixes watched every Report for the sole purpose of watching the crown prince so they could learn his mannerisms. Not all Sixes would be sold into prostitution if they failed to be selected. Not all Sixes were whipped for failing to accurately recite information from the gossip rags about the prince.
But then again, I certainly was never like every other Six.