The sun lit up the whole sky as it started to ascend from the horizon. A beam of light shone through one of the windows of the palace, and was Alec's alarm for waking up. Alec sat up, wanting to rest for a little while longer. But he knew that today isn't an ordinary day.

Today is the day where 20 ladies, daughters of kings, emperors, lords, and earls travel to the palace and stay for 5 months, hoping that they are the one chosen to be the next queen of Idris. Alec knew that he would have to marry one of these ladies, and he knew the honor of his family name would be kept if he formed an alliance with another kingdom by marrying their lady. He also knew that he will never love them, just like he will never love a lady as he does for a gentleman.

Alec stepped into the hot shower right after Cyprus, the servant, left. The sprinkling water soothed him as soon as the drops landed on his pale, delicate skin. The only problem was that he can't get his mind off the fact that the 20 ladies that his father chose for him are also getting ready for breakfast. In 5 months, one of those ladies will be standing next to me as I'm crowned king, Alec thought.

He saw Cyprus standing at the doorway, a velvet suit in his arms. "The ladies are waiting for you in the dining room, Highness," Cyprus announced.

"Thank you," Alec replied as he grabbed the suit from Cyprus's arms. As soon as Cyprus left, Alec locked the door and sighed. It's for the good of the kingdom.

As soon as Alec entered the dining room, everyone stood up, including his parents, Max, and Izzy. Already treated like royalty, and I just took a step in the room. "Um, you can sit," Alec said, his voice as commanding as possible. Chairs were being shuffled as everyone sat down and continued eating their breakfast.

Alec sat next to Izzy, who was applying makeup. "You do know you can treat me like a regular older brother. I'm not king yet," Alec whispered.

"Oh, come on," Izzy began, placing the lipstick back into her bag. "We started treating you like this, so you can get used to the feeling. By the way, you're expected to talk to them today" She glared at them. "I wouldn't be surprised if you sent half of them back home. Too bad you'll never be happy with any of these crown-stealing bitches." Izzy mumbled the last sentence, so that only Alec would hear.

"It's for the honor of our family name." Alec wanted Izzy to know this, but it seemed as if he was reminding himself. He sighed. "As soon as I'm done talking to each of them, I'll go for a ride. Make sure you inform Mother, if she asks."

They all finished their breakfast in silence and one hour later, Alec was ready to speak to the first one, Olivia Bellevue.

"It's so nice to meet you," Olivia began, smiling. She seemed pretty nice, and she had blue eyes, almost the same cobalt shade as Alec's.

"So where do you expect yourself to be in the next month?" Alec knew by just getting one answer, he could tell if she's fit for queen.

"Well, I can see myself with some of these other girls," Olivia said, giving one of her blinding smiles. But then, in a whispered voice, she continued, "But we both know there isn't much competition here for me, so you might as well propose now." She smiled even more, but Alec could see through the smile and the nice looks. All she cared about was being beautiful. He decided to take her out as soon as possible.

"Thank you, that's all for now." Alec sighed. One down, 19 more to go.

He had talked to all but one of them.

The last one was a girl named Lydia Branwell. Her hair was golden, and always seemed to shine under light. He talked to her, and it was easy to speak to her, like talking to Izzy. He decided he wanted her to stay.

"Ok, you can stay in here, with the other girls." There were only 10 ladies in here, the ones he wanted to stay. He knew he would eliminate them all slowly.

He left the 10 in the drawing room and entered the hall. The other ten all smiled at Alec as soon as he stood in front of the young ladies.

"I'm sorry, ladies, but you will be leaving for the airport in 2 hours. Please pack your bags and go home."

He didn't know they would go crazy after that.

Most of them cried, muttering, some were even complaining, stating they were good enough for him, good enough for the kingdom. As if. Alec felt a light tap on the shoulder, and spun around.

It was Olivia, the first girl he spoke with. Her once delicate face has become red with rage. Her eyes had darkened, and Alec wouldn't be surprised if daggers shot out of it.

"You think I can't run a kingdom? You think I'm no good? Well," She began, her voice lowering. "I know you don't plan to marry these people to be happy. One day, everyone will know about you and your... sexuality." She grimaced at those words.

My sexuality. How does she know? Alec then remembered Olivia near them, during breakfast, when Izzy had been lecturing him about true happiness.

"You heard," Alec said. He then glared at every girl in the room. "Guards," he began, "take these girls to their room so they can pack up and leave. And," Alec continued as the guards rounded up the wailing ladies, "make sure they don't complain any longer. I'm sick of this." Alec, who had an annoyed attitude, walked out of the room and made his way to the stables.

"Good afternoon, Highness."

"Good afternoon, Hodge." Alec had made his way to the stables, and saw that Hodge Starkweather, his tutor, was studying the stallions. Alec had chosen his personal horse, River, because of the fact that he's the most gentle horse in the stables. River's silky hair is black, but would look velvet blue when under the sunlight. River was Alec's favorite horse, and he and Jace would always ride with him. Speaking of Jace…

"Hey, Hodge, have you seen Jace?"

Hodge looked up from his notebook. Hodge always has his nose under a book, and usually preferred to stay indoors rather than outdoors. "Ah, yes, Jace, he went to the town, to gather supplies for who knows what."

"Oh. Ok. Well, I'm going to be going out for a while, so if anyone asks…"

"Of course, Highness."

Alec mounted River and started riding out into the peaceful place he knows: the forest.

Going deeper into the forest, Alec realized not much sunlight was going through the thick branches of the closely placed trees. Apparently he doesn't go here often, and finally confirmed he was lost when he went in circles about 5 times. Alec decided to just go straight ahead, wondering what he'll find.

But all there was was a dead end.

A huge shrub was blocking the whole way. Alec dismounted his horse and went to check. He came closer, observing it, looking for a way through. He was about a foot away, when he tripped on a root and fell through the shrub, or at least, a hologram resembling a shrub. All Alec remembered was rolling down a steep, grassy hill before plunging into darkness.

His eyes were halfway open, in the state of subconsciousness. He felt the soft sheets under him. I must have slept for a while, Alec thought, as he shifted his body to the right, staring at the plant standing tall on his bedside drawer.

But I don't have any plants in my room.

Alec then jumped off of the bed, panicking. He didn't know where he was, or why he was here in the first place. He then fell to the ground, gasping. The pain, pain that he never felt in his life, was crumbling him. Alec saw the gash just under the ribs, stretching from the edge of his back to halfway through the front. The cut was deep, and blood started to seep out of it. Blood spilled on the floor, and Alec called for help. He started believing the person who lived here was gone, but then he heard a clatter at the front entrance and saw a man, about his height, keeling down, doing something with his hands-

Blue fire was spewing out of the guy's fingers, and Alec panicked for a second, until he felt...lighter. The weight that was on Alec's chest had lifted, and was delighted, as he drifted off into his own world for the second time.