This is the sequel to An Elite Fighter, please check out that story first if you haven't already because otherwise this story probably won't make much sense.

SUMMARY:

Prince Damon was the first child of the Queen and King of Illea. He's finally eighteen and now it's his turn for the Selection. The problem? He's already in love. He arranges for his love to be entered in the Selection but he could never anticipate how the Selection could change him or his opinions. He felt so certain before the game started but when the competition finally begins, Damon will have to make a choice, and it just may not be the one he expected to make...

The quiet clicking of shoes against marble filled the empty hallway. It was the same thing that would echo through the palace halls daily–maids scurrying to clean and guards patrolling in search of rebels. These were the sounds that I grew up with, sounds that had comforted me since childhood. Today, however, these soothing sounds could not calm me. I was nervous as hell for this.

My father had called for me to come to his office–something that only happened when he was upset with me.

Now, don't get me wrong, I was decent for a teenaged boy but sometimes something would slip and it would let others know about something that they shouldn't. It rarely happened now that I was older, but I was called to his office frequently as I child because I couldn't keep my mouth shut.

What if he found out about Grace? I stopped the thought before it could form. There was no way my father knew about her, no possible way. I always made sure that we were careful not to get caught. I'd even gone so far as to meet her outside of the palace walls once because I thought that the maids would see too much in a hallway.

Slowly, I took in a breath and adjusted my suit to erase any wrinkles that may have formed. I seriously hoped that this conversation wouldn't be too bad.

I knocked on the wooden door in front of me before I dared to enter–I did not need to see my parents in a lip-lock again like I had the one time that I didn't knock.

I waited a few seconds and then let myself in. I shut the door quickly and sat in one of the chairs in front of the desk before I risked glancing up, letting out a small sigh of relief when I realized that my dad was the only one in the room.

"You wanted to see me?" I asked.

My dad smiled and looked up from the paperwork that he had piled in front of him. "Yes, we have a few important things to discuss."

I waited patiently for him to begin but was startled when the door behind me opened. I turned slightly in my chair and smiled as my mom sat down beside me. I leaned over and kissed her cheek quickly and she rolled her eyes but I caught the slight curve in her lips that told me she liked it.

"So, what's so important that both of you had to be here to talk to me?" I asked curiously. It was rare for my parents to do this sort of thing in privacy because we would usually just discuss things over dinner so that the whole family would know.

They both grinned at me. "Damon," my mother began, "your birthday was yesterday. You are officially eighteen years old."

I shrugged. "Yeah, what about it?"

Dad chuckled and shook his head at me. "It means, son, that it's your turn for the Selection."

I froze in my seat. Oh shit.

Mom must have noticed me tense up because she cocked and eyebrow at me, demanding an explanation with her firm and unwavering gaze. She knew something was wrong.

I shifted uncomfortably in my chair. I didn't exactly know how to discuss this sort of thing with my parents. They'd probably be upset because I'd kept it from them for so long.

"Who's the girl?" Mom asked calmly.

I sighed. That damn woman was infuriating. She could always tell exactly what the problem was–even if I hadn't said or done anything.

"Grace." I whispered just loud enough for them to hear.

Grace was my girlfriend and the love of my life. I remembered the day that we met with perfect clarity.

I had been working in the infirmary because my mom had insisted that I get some first-aid training in case of an emergency. I had been restocking cabinets with supplies when Grace and her father had been carried in. They had been working with some new horses, training them so that they could replace all of the horses that had grown too old to ride. While rising one of the horses, Grace's father had been bucked off and landed head-first onto the ground.

He had died due to his injuries as soon as he'd been carried through the infirmary doors.

However, Grave had live.

She had been trying to drag her father's body away when the horse had bucked again, kicking her in the chest and breaking several of her ribs. It was a miracle that one of them hadn't punctured her lungs.

Thankfully, a maid nearby had seen Grace and her father and had managed to get help.

When Grace was carried in, the doctors needed an extra hand and I was the only one there. I'd helped them wrap up her torso after they'd reset the bones and I'd even given her the shot of pain medication afterward.

I stayed with her that night, making sure that he vitals remained steady and strong.

She woke up in the middle of the night and looked panicked, trying to pull the IV out of her arm and struggling in her bed sheets.

I'd stopped her, of course. We talked for a while as I explained what happened and forced her to relax and lie down in bed so that she didn't strain herself. When the time came and she asked about her father, I'd told her the news. She'd cried for well over three hours and I held her in my arms and let her wet my shirt.

After that night, we started to see more and more of each other.

Soon enough, we'd both confessed our feelings and the rest was history. We'd been dating for about a year now.

I explained our story to my parents and Dad sighed when I finished. He rubbed the back of his neck and then looked directly into my eyes.

"Are you one hundred percent certain about this girl?"

I nodded firmly without hesitation. "Yes…I love her."

My mom looked toward my dad and they silently stared at each other for a while. They did that a lot and it seemed as if they could communicate with each other silently. It was both amazing and creepy.

Finally, my dad turned back to me and nodded. "Okay. I'll see to it that Grace is put into the Selection."

I grinned at them.

"However," my mom continued, "you will at least attempt to date the other girls in the Selection. I don't want you to send every girl hoe on the first day."

"But–"

"No, Damon. I know that you love Grace but she might not be the one for you. At least give the other girls a chance before you disregard them all. You might just find yourself falling for someone else."

My gut tightened at the thought of giving up Grace. I loved her, she was my girlfriend. I wanted to marry her and have kids, I wanted to get old with her and ramble on to our grandchildren about some of the crazy things that we had done. I wanted her to be my wife.

I didn't want to betray Grace and if I dated the other women in the Selection then I would be betraying her in the worst way. The mere thought of dating other woman made me feel sick to my stomach. I loved Grace, I didn't want anyone else.

"If you don't try to date the other girls, I will not put Grace into the Selection, Damon. It's your choice." Dad said with narrowed eyes.

I sighed, realizing that I wouldn't be able to change my parent's decision any time soon. "Okay, fine. How long do you want the Selection to last if my feelings don't change?"

Which they won't, I told myself firmly.

Dad thought for a moment. "Two months should be a decent amount of time. After that, I'll allow you to make your decision."

Okay, two months wasn't that bad. I could do this…two months and then I'd have forever with Grace.

"Thank you. Is there anything else we need to talk about?" I asked, ready to go so that I could explain things to my girlfriend.

Dad shook his head.

I stood to leave but my mom stopped me briefly. "Damon, when the time comes please make sure that you choose your wife out of love. The advisors will probably try to sway your opinion but you'll have to ignore them and listen to your heart. You don't want a wife that you'll hate but that everyone else loves."

I smiled and kissed her cheek again. "Yes ma'am."

Once again, she rolled her eyes at me.

I smirked at her because it was just something that she did all the time. She might not act like she liked it but I knew that she really did like it when I was affectionate with her.

"The drawing will be in two weeks. Make sure you're presentable by then."

I grinned at my dad, saluted mockingly, and strode out of the room with my head held high.

Now, I just had to explain everything to Grace and my siblings.

Great. I'd be lucky if my siblings didn't kill me with their excitement–they'd all been looking forward to my Selection for years after all. Grace though…hopefully she'd allow me to keep my arm attached to my body.

Hey there again guys! It's great to be back. This note holds important information about the story so PLEASE read this...

Ok, I'll we be posting this story MUCH slower than I did the last one. I'll be lucky if I can do a chapter a month, real life has just been kicking me in the butt lately so please be patient.

Also, this story will start out much slower than An Elite Fighter did but I promise that the wait will be worth it. I plan on delving much deeper into the stories behind some of the characters and give better background information.

This story is not beta'ed so all mistakes are mine. I type this story on my phone so I apologize for any grammatical errors which will probably happen rather frequently.

Thank you to everyone who created a character for this story! I have not ignored you, I promise! I'm just rarely online so I usually don't have time to respond to anyone's messages or reviews! I REALLY appreciate you guys taking the time to contribute to this story! It really means a lot to me, so thank you. I will acknowledge every user who submitted a character and will add the character's name next to the acknowledgment in the author's note. Thank you again!

I look forward to writing about this crazy adventure, so I hope you enjoy reading it.

Thank you to anyone who reviews, follows, or favorites my stories. You guys are my motivation to write, I cannot even express my gratitude for all of your kind words.

I look forward to seeing what you guys think so please review. I appreciate constructive critism so please feel free to review or message me about anything that you think that could be improved (aside from any grammatical errors, I try to fix them but it simply isn't possible for me to catch every grammatical/spelling mistake that I make.

Anyway, thank you again and happy reading everyone!