When the letter came, mother was ecstatic.

It was the moment in my life she'd been praying for since my birth, a day she hadn't the chance to experience when she was seventeen. I had no interest in letting her live her dream through me, something I expressed loud and clear. The letter was brought by a royal messenger, his monotone 'congratulations' still lingering in my memory.

I'm sure mother couldn't wait to send me off. To her, this letter meant we were saved. Finally, there was a chance to escape the poverty that claimed so many these days. Even to my father, the letter meant money, recognition and one less mouth to feed. As heartless as that sounds, my father bared one thing my mother lacked; compassion.

My father somewhat considered my happiness. When my mother screeched in excitement and tore apart the envelope at dinner time, my father had stayed silent. His caution and worry silencing the relief we all felt.

Despite my father's attempt at care, despite my father's attempt to give me a choice, mother had already done everything but pack my bags.

There was no choice. There never was.

Dear Ms. Evergreen

Congratulations.

You have been chosen.

Welcome to the 'Selection' Lady Elodie

"So, you're really going?" His voice was pained, straining to finish his sentence. Soft and airy, his gaze bit into mine with such pain, I was forced to look away.

It broke my heart.

"I have no choice. I wish I did" I whispered, looking down at my pale hands. This goodbye was ripping me apart; I couldn't even look at him.

"When… when are they taking you?" Harry, my best friend, the only person I've ever truly loved, asked. My gaze fluttered to his hands, which were clenched into fists and lying on his lap. I closed my eyes, pushing back the tears and placing my hand over his.

"Two days…"

"No"

How was I supposed to do this? How the hell was I supposed to explain to the man I loved that I was being shipped away to a dangerous competition vying for the heart of a Prince?

This was 'The Selection', a sort of game the kingdom just adores to play, torturing us with for dozens of years. The Prince of every era is to choose twenty girls, select them from solely pictures and descriptions, and then force them to live in a war torn palace where he quickly narrows the herd down to one.

That one will be married to him. The rest of the unlucky girls are shipped to 'North Guard', a mysterious paradise outside kingdom limits. No one returns from North Guard.

I'd rather disappear forever, than marry somebody who isn't Harry.

"Please. Please don't hate me" I begged. I lifted my eyes to his head full of curls, my whole body tense and numb.

He looked up, meeting my gaze. He hesitated.

"Never"

"Harry…"

He grabbed my wrists with such aggression, I jolted slightly.

"This isn't over. You can't tell me this is over because of a god damn letter Elodie." He was so solemn, so panicked. I swallowed, gazing into those green, green eyes. I had no answer. Words were trapped in my brain, spinning out of control.

Without thinking, my actions played themselves out before me. I slowly and carefully pulled my hands away from his grasp and moved them across his thigh, to the rim of his jeans. He watched me, frozen still in confusion, but I continued.

I pulled myself out onto his lap, my fingers still lingering just above his boxers' strap. He greeted me without complaint and watching in lust and fascination. I pushed him back carefully onto the grass and laid him back in front of me, straddling his hips.

"I want you" I said simply.

He blinked, staring up at me.

"But Dee…"

"Stop it Harry. I can't stand thinking about this anymore. My mother is thrilled, my father has no complaint, and my sisters are envious. I can't refuse a royal order, the selected will be all over the reports tonight and I'll be along with them, Harry. I'm leaving in two fucking days. But right now, I'm here. And I'm with you." I took a breath "I love you, Harry. No stupid letters can change that"

There was a moment of silence. A moment of uncertainty where Harry just gazed up at me in awe and confusion, I couldn't bare it.

"I'm going to lose you Elodie… I'm going to fucking lose you! Why are you tempting me? I don't know if you want sex, or love, or my forgiveness. But this isn't just going to go away, sometimes you can't just pretend everything's ok"

I blinked. How could I possibly be so in love with him? It was dangerous. I knew perfectly well that I was about to lose him, I was only temping myself.

I crawled off of him, wanting so badly to jump his bones and pretend I hadn't a care in the world. He watched me as I kneeled on the grass, and then slowly stood. The field was calm, and silent. This was our little field, with the short grass and the big oak tree; this was the place I was going to break both our hearts.

I stepped a couple feet away and looked down at him. He pushed himself up on his elbows, his curly locks falling over his shadowed face. I took a breath.

"Do you love me?"

"Yes"

"I'm sorry about that"

I wish I could have said more to the man I loved. Apologizing for his wasted love and then leaving him for what will probably be the rest of our life was not my idea of a happy ending.

The paper was sent out that morning; the pictures, names and descriptions of twenty girls listed on every page. I don't know why they bothered making a show out of this; they were never going to see nineteen of those girls again. This was no celebration.

No matter how wrong it may be, girls who weren't chosen or younger girls, who aren't yet old enough to be contested, were terribly envious. It was a shame not to be chosen. If you weren't good enough for the prince, you had might as well marry a stable hand and call it quits. It was pitiful, so many girls fell for that, thinking they are too ugly, or too boring... thinking those awful things for the rest of their life just because some dumb ass prince doesn't like them.

Mother flipped through the pages of the paper vigorously, through out breakfast, her excitement hadn't worn.

Among the chosen, were girls I knew, some my school friends, or acquaintances. There were girls I didn't know, from other villages surrounding the kingdom. Then there were girls I didn't necessarily like, the ones I was not too excited to spend the next couple weeks with.

My picture was next to last, as they placed them in anti-alphabetical order. Z-A.

There was a picture of me. An altered picture making my skin look flawless and my hair silky smooth. It was stunning really, too bad it was fake. I was wearing a pretty red blouse which I was certain I did not own, and a cute grin I was positive I couldn't preform.

Then there was this:

Elodie Evergreen

Contestant eighteen

Born as the oldest in a family of four children, Elodie has spent many of her years caring for and nurturing her smaller siblings. She is a gem with children and has dreams of one day starting a family of her own.

Lie. I hate kids.

Elodie is five feet, eight inches and adores the color blue.

Lie. My favorite color is red.

She was a straight A student in grade school, studying beyond her tenth year when she had backed out to start working as seamstress; a skill she is beyond talented in.

Lie. I dropped out because my brother died, I worked as an illegal computer hacker and I can't thread a needle to save my life.

Elodie wishes to learn the art of ballroom dancing and admits her biggest fantasy is to be kissed in the rain. Love has always been out of Elodie's reach as she admits she still waits to find 'the one'. Of course that won't be difficult for a girl as lovely as Elodie Evergreen. Good luck Elodie! We're sure love will follow soon!

Lie. Lie. Lie. Lie. LIES!

Just one big sea of lies. Made up without an ounce of truth or fact for the readers enjoyment.

They try to make us sound perfect, but all they manage to do is make us seem like dull, boring old girls who dream of love, housework, and ballroom fucking dancing. I can tolerate quite a lot, I've been through a hell lot more than people understand, but I cannot stand… CANNOT STAND LIARS.

By the time I was done reading the paper, my jaw was clenched so hard I was afraid my teeth were going to shatter.

My mother was singing as she cooked, not giving me any attention as she swayed around the kitchen, passing me at the island. She was so overcome and hazed with joy that she didn't bother reading about any of the other girls.

For once, I was the only girl she saw. The girl who made her so, so proud. I always dreamed of this day, it's a shame my naïve old mother doesn't understand that she will never see her darling daughter again. Not that she'll care.

I took me awhile to realize I had nothing to risk. That being taken to the palace wasn't going to be any different than sitting here uselessly. So what would happen…? What would they do if…?

A chosen one ran away?