IMN: Hello fellow Selection fans and welcome to my story!
America: I'm sorry but who are you?
IMN: *Strikes a pose* THE AUTHOR OF THIS STORY!
Maxon: I see, what is this story about?
IMN: *Glomps Maxon* OH MY GOD MAXON, I LOVE YOU! PLEASE MARRY ME! XD
America: *Glaring at IMN and gives a coughs* You should start the story and let go of my husband.
IMN: Sorry, fan-girl moment. *Lets go of Maxon and turns to audience* Sorry about that it's just that Maxon is so-!
America: *Glaring at IMN*
IMN: *Freezes and laughs nervously* Never mind! Maxon would you like to say the disclaimer?
Maxon: Okay. *Turns to audience and smiles* Infusion Masters Nightmare does not own The Selection, it belongs to Kiera Cass. She just owns some of the characters she made up for this story. Enjoy.
IMN: *Fan-girling again* THAT FACE! X3
America: On with the story!
Chapter 1: The Plan
Iris's Pov
"Wake up Iris! We have a meeting today! IRIS! IRIS! IRIS! IRIIIIIS!" shouted an annoying voice that belonged to a boy around thirteen years old. The same voice that always pulls me out of the land of dreams and back into the world of reality.
"Five more minutes Dan. I want to sleep," I whined while turning my back away from my human alarm-clock so I could go back asleep. Before I knew it, I was on the cold floor with my blanket tangled around my legs. I turned my head towards the little pest that ruined my 'beauty sleep' but the light from the door hit my eyes and blinded me for a second.
"Come on Iris, the meeting will start in thirty minutes and you take FOREVER to get changed. Hurry up!" ranted the thirteen year old boy. He was five foot two, has pale white skin, blue eyes with specs of brown and had a frown on his face. He wore a blue denim jacket, black baggy jeans with rips and mud on them, brown sneakers and a white t-shirt. He also wore his famous black and white striped woolly hat on his head to hide most of his messy black hair. This is the familiar look of my baby brother, Dan, in the morning.
"Dan, I'm still tired! Can I take a day off or at least have five more minutes of sleep?" I whined while trying to pull the covers over my head but failed thanks to my annoying little brother yanking it off me.
"Try telling that to Seth. I'm just doing my job to wake you up. Get changed!" lectured Dan as he walked out of my small room and closed my damaged door but not without taking my blanket with him. I groaned before going to the closet that was covered in scratches and missing a leg so it was leaning to the left. I took out some clothes and got changed.
When I was finished getting ready I looked in the mirror in the corner of my room to see how I looked today. All I saw was a skinny plain seventeen year old girl with pale skin looking at me. The girl in the mirror wore a white long sleeve top, dark blue jeans, white nearly brown sneakers and a silver jacket. The reflection had long, wavy black hair that was in a plait with a few silver streaks, silvery blue eyes and a star shaped necklace. I let out a sigh upon realising the reality that the plain pale face in the mirror was me.
I looked at the clock beside my bed and I felt my anger rising when I saw at the time. I stomped to my door, slammed it open to see Dan standing beside it with a bored expression on his face.
"It's 5:50 in the morning Dan! Why the hell would wake me up this early?!" I shouted at my little brother. I knew he liked to mess with me but NO-ONE messes with me and my sleep! ... or food!
"It's not my idea, it's Seth's. Now come on, we'll be late for the meeting. Seth wants everyone there by 6 o'clock or he'll get mad," said Dan before dragging me to the meeting place. We went through many corridors until we got to the meeting hall. It was a giant ball room that was covered in cobwebs and damaged furniture. Knowing Seth he probably wants us to move location again and we just stayed here for a week! Doesn't he know that it would be super hard to find another abandoned mansion near the palace that would fit over three hundred people just like this one?!
Let me tell you something interesting about me- I'm a Southern rebel. When people hear that they probably think of me as a violent killing machine who just wants to take the crown by force but they're wrong. That was the old Southern rebels; I'm one of the new Southern rebels. Twenty years ago the old Southern rebels attacked the palace and failed. After that incident the remaining rebels were arrested as well as the old leader. The new rebels don't want power or violence or anything like that. We just want equality and justice from what the royal family caused or refused to resolve. Like for example, they may have disbanded the caste system years ago but people still use it to label everyone! I don't care what their excuse is, they should help their people more instead of sitting on their butts while brainwashing everyone!
Dan quietly brought us to the front of an old band stand used for musicians back when this mansion was used to host grand parties. The room slowly filled in with the rest of the people who lives in this place along with Dan and I. Everyone went in quietly when they saw a person on stage. The person was a man around twenty years old and standing at five foot eleven. He wore black jeans, black boots, black leather jacket, black everything. The only colour he has on his clothes is the crest of the Royal family of Illéa but with a huge red cross over it. He looked like an older version of Dan but he has dyed red hair and a diagonal scar from under his left eye to the corner of his nose.
"My fellow Southerners, for years the Royal family of Illéa have said that they want to 'help' us, 'care' for us and 'want to have peace between the people'. The King and Queen said that they would get rid of the caste but did that happen? NO! People like us are still pushed aside because of the caste we were! People are still treating us like trash! People still believe that we are worthless! They believe that they could do horrible things to us just because our families were in a lower caste than them. My Father and Grandfather wanted to have peace and be equals but what do they get in return? Horrible treatment that disgraced and humiliated them in public for a good laugh by the higher castes. My Father died just because of an empty promise from the King and Queen. I will grant my Father's wish for peace, justice and equality even if it means I become the devil himself!" preached the man on the stage. The crowd cheered from his words along with Dan and I. He raised his hands to silence the crowd before speaking again.
"For years we have been treated the way we have but today we will make history! Today is the day that we have all been waiting for! Watch and see what I'm talking about on the screen," said the man as he points to a white curtain above him. I saw from the corner of my eye that there were a couple of guys plugging in wires from a working portable television that we got from the junk yard to a projector in front of the white curtain/screen. When they finished setting up they used a remote to turn on the T.V and at the same time it turned on the projector.
On the white screen was the famous title screen for 'The Illéa Capital Report', a famous news channel for the Royal family to say the news every week. When the title and national song of Illéa stopped playing, there stood the famous Gavril Fadaye looking as like he's in his forties even though he is in his late sixties. That man needs to retire soon in my opinion...
"Welcome to this week's Report ladies and gentleman! I'm your host Gavril Fadaye and here is the news for this week's Report," said Gavril before he made the announcements for the current week. One hour later when I thought that he finished the announcements he started to talk again, much to my disappointment.
"Before we finish we have a special announcement for all the girls in Illéa. It will be announced by non-other than our beloved King Maxon and Queen America!" said Gavril before the camera turned towards the seats that the royal family usually frequent during the show. There were eight people in total a man, a woman, three little girls around six years old and three boys, one looked around thirteen, the next was fifteen years old and the last boy was around nineteen.
The man who was King Maxon wore a white suit and a crown on his head. He looked very handsome with his square jaw, golden locks of hair and adoring smile. If I was a normal girl I would say that the king looks like an older version of prince charming, not bad for a guy in his early forties. The woman next to him was Queen America wearing one of her famous blue gowns and a tiara on her head. She looked really beautiful with her fiery red hair flowing down her back, her porcelain skin and she had the same smile as her husband. Who would have thought that she was a plain old girl who was a Five twenty years ago?
The three little girls looked similar with their skin tone and proportioned size. The three of them wore little blue puffy dresses. One girl had red hair in pig tails with green eyes, the other had blonde pixie haircut with brown eyes and the last one had her long curly blonde hair with brown eyes. The thirteen year old boy had blonde hair combed back and green eyes wearing a black suit with a blue tie around his neck. He was looking down on his lap but the tables in front of the family covered what he was looking at. When he saw that the camera was pointed at him; he looked up, smiled and acted like he wasn't looking at his lap the entire time. The fifteen year old had the same hair style as the King but it was red instead of blonde and brown eyes. He wore a white suit with a blue tie. He was smiling at the camera while waving his hand but he had a hint of mischief in his eyes.
The oldest child of the family was the one that really got my attention. He looked like a younger version of King Maxon except he had messy fiery red hair instead of golden locks. He wore a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbow and black slacks from what I could tell since he was behind that table. He looked casual but formal at the same time.
"Ladies and gentleman, we are proud to announce the beginning of The Selection for our eldest son, William, to find his princess. It will start in two days at noon. Each girl from ages sixteen to twenty-two would have an opportunity to honour our great nation of Illéa. We hope that our son, William, will find happiness with marrying a true Daughter of Illéa. For those who wish to be Prince William's bride and to be the adored princess of Illéa please bring your signed forms to your local Province Service Office. We would choose one girl from each province at random to participate in this rare occasion to meet the prince," announced King Maxon. From the corner of the screen I saw Prince William sighing and looked at his father with an emotionless face but I noticed that his eyes had a tiny hint of sadness and regret.
"Participants will be housed at the Illéa Palace in Angeles during the Selection. The families of each participants will be generously compensated for their service to the royal family. Thank you for listening and have a good evening," announced King Maxon before Seth turned off the projector with a remote in his hand.
"You all maybe were wondering 'what is the meaning of this? Is this a joke? Why would we bother with anything related to the royal family?' You may call this pointless but I call it an opportunity. A chance to change our lives for the better. We all can't enter the palace at once without getting caught but one of us can. What if one of our own enters the Selection?" said Seth. I sat still trying to comprehend what Seth said while everyone in the room exclaimed and talked about how crazy it sounds. A rebel entering the Selection?! Is he insane?!
"Calm down people, this is the perfect opportunity for us. By having one of our own in the palace undercover we would know what they would do, where they would hide, what are their weakest points are and what are their secrets. No-one would suspect a girl from the Southern rebels to enter the Selection. We would have the element of surprise and have the equality we all deserve," shouted Seth while the others listened to him in awe like he was God or some famous person. What I want to know is what poor soul would have to enter the Selection?
"I had thought about this long and hard about who would enter the palace. I had to be quite about my decision till now because some may panic and also I need to handle some things before the day of the sign-ups, which is today. Who I chose out of all the illegible girls in our group is our very own... Iris Lockheart!" announced Seth.
I sat frozen in my seat while others congratulate me on doing this 'great chance for equality' or just patting me on the back. I couldn't move, I couldn't breathe, and I was in shock. How could that moron do something like this to me?!
Later on at around 7:10 am the meeting was over. I was waiting at the exit from the ballroom while everyone else went back to their rooms or did their jobs around the mansion. I waited near the door until our 'beloved' leader of the Southern rebels was last out of the room.
"Ah Iris, I was about to send a messenger to get you," said Seth as we walked back to his room.
"What the hell were you thinking?!" I shouted as we walked down the corridor.
"I was thinking about getting a snack before I send someone to get you, that is until saw you outside the ballroom," said Seth as we entered his bedroom. It was the master bedroom but it was only had a bed, writing desk and a closet in the huge room. Plain and simple with necessary things only, just the way Seth liked it.
"No, I mean what were you think about putting me in the Selection?! I can't believe you! I don't want any part in that stupid beauty pageant for the brainless and heartless people! Why did you choose me out of every other girl here?!" I shouted with rage. Seth just turned towards me and looked at me with emotionless eyes.
"Iris, you are not only the strongest female here but you are very smart for your age. You have the skills we need for this operation to work. Also you're the only girl I trust the most compared to all the other girls here," said Seth.
"That's because I'm your little sister," I huffed. It was true that I'm the little sister of the famous leader of the Southern rebels but I would never say it to anyone so Dan and I could be safe. Seth wanted Dan and I to have a different last name to him and not treat him as a brother until we're in a safe, private place. That way Dan and I wouldn't be targeted by Seth's enemies and the other rebels wouldn't think that we are favourited by our big brother. So Seth kept his surname, Terrell, while Dan and I used our mother's maiden name, Lockheart.
"Iris this is something that I can only trust you with. Don't you want our family's dreams about freedom and equality to come true? Think about what the Royal family had done to us. Think about what would mum do if she was in your position," said Seth as he placed a hand on my shoulder. I looked away from Seth for a second thinking about what he said. We do want freedom and equality in our country. The Royal family had inflected so many scars to my family for a long time. Also mum would do anything to protect our family, even if it means going into the lion's den itself.
"You really think I can do this Seth? I mean it's the palace. They're not going to let some rebel enter the palace even if she was chosen for the Selection. They're not born yesterday you know," I said while staring at my big brother. Seth just let out a chuckle and pulled a piece of paper out of his jacket.
"That's why I made a few 'adjustments' to your Selection form. You live in a small house in the Angeles province with your beloved brothers, Dan and I. Of course I changed my name to John Lockheart so they wouldn't figure it out who I am," said Seth giving me my form. He put down everything about me that was true but he changed his name to Lockheart just like he said and put Angeles in the province section. We move around a lot so my family don't actually live in a province or a house for long. I checked and double checked to see if there was anything that says that I'm one of the new Southern rebels but there wasn't. Seth made a good background so that it looks like we're normal citizens.
"The sign-ups are at noon and you have to get your picture taken at the Province Service Office so you better look pretty enough for that annoying prince. I'll get someone to give you a natural look and give you nice enough clothes for the picture. Remember to smile and I'm counting on you," said Seth as he pressed a button on a small device signalling someone to come to him now.
"Seth...what if they don't choose me? There's like a billion girls lining up to take the crown. For all we know even if I was chosen by some miracle and got to the palace, the prince might like some stupid gorgeous girl instead of plain old me," I said while fidgeting with my star shaped necklace. Seth put his hand on my shoulder and smiled at me. This was his way of comforting me ever since we were kids.
"I have faith in you, okay? Stay in the palace as long as you can. The longer you're in the palace, the more information we can get. It'll be alright," whispered Seth in a calm tone. I let out a smile because hearing that from Seth or Dan always gives me confidence to do anything. The person Seth called came to escort me to get my make-up done. I have to be quick since as it takes a while to get make-up and clothes sorted and the walk to the service office takes thirty minutes from our hideout.
I waved to Seth and walked with the person. I didn't know why but I actually felt excited to enter the Selection.