Chapter 1:

Shalom's pov

7 days.

7 days until my life changes.

7 days until it won't just be my family and I; there will have to be a woman, or 35.

7 days until I have to pick a wife.

My wife...

Oh no! What if my wife is mean? What if she is only into the crown? What if she is a terrorist and entered the competition just to murder my family and me and to take over Illea?!

While I'm laying lopsided on my king-sized bed, my sister walks in."What are you doing?"she asks.

"Drowning in my depression and doubt..."

"Oh, come on! This won't be so bad!" Amberly exclaims excitedly. "You will be surrounded by 35 beautiful girls! You will find an amazing girl that you will love. And I know that you will love at least one of them. Because they are all specifically picked for you! Ooo... Don't tell Mom or Dad I know that... But, this will be a good thing. You know that you will find your true love, and I will finally have a sister!" Ah, there it is. Amberly's main goal in life. To have a sister instead of two boyish brothers. And because of her obsession to have a sister, she once asked me to be gay.

Even when she was 2 years old, she begged our mother to have a daughter. She begged and begged but only got our brother; Jace. Then, on her 5th birthday, she asked again. Mother complied, but six months later mother had a miscarriage.

Amberly quit asking.

"And, uh... You should be happy because you could...um," She pauses. "meet your true love and all that... in the Selection!" Nice save, Amberly. I roll my eyes.

"Go away," I say sadly, "My life is already ruined without your input of 'true love'." I lift my hands up high to show quotation marks.

"Shut up, Shalom. You know your life isn't ruined. Now stop wallowing in self pity," Yay, Jace is here. "Get off your butt and go make yourself useful! Get dressed and brush your teeth. I wouldn't even marry you if you looked like that!"

"Oh! So you want to marry me, lil' bro?" I taunt while getting off the bed."Come here, WIFEY!" I yell; running after him. And we start wrestling to the ground.

"You guys! Jace! Shalom! This is why I want a siSTER!" Amberly yells from somewhere.

"What is going on here?" a strong voice exclaims.

And with that we stop. Especially Amberly; I can feel her blanche from across the room.

"Hey, Mom," Amberly stumbles the words out.

"Mom, wanna sit?" I ask, patting the bed next to me.

"Hey, cat. I know that you must be nervous about the whole Selection thing, but it isn't all bad," she gives me a warm smile. "This should be exciting and fun and at least pleasant."

"I know Mom, but this is my life with some random girl that could be an evil mastermind," voicing my worries outloud.

"Baby, the staff does enough research to know whether or not the girl you'll love is an evil mastermind. Besides, this is how your dad and I met. The Selection can't be so bad, right?" she asks. I love my mother, but sometimes she doesn't give me much of a choice.

"OK, Mom. I guess it can't be that bad. Even though, my wife will not be as good as you were to Dad," this is completly true because my mother is the most perfect woman in the world.

"Thank you. Now, I am not going to order you, but you should go ask your father for advice," she gives me the smiling I-know-something-you-don't look. And I agree to her suggestion.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

3 days left.

3 days...

3 days.

3 days!

I'm freaking out! My future is being planned without my consent... However, it's for the good of Illea. For the good of Illea...

I need to ask my father something.

Outside his door; I was scared. I shouldn't be, but everything about my future scared me. Even asking for advice from my old man was scary.

Suddenly, my mother was standing in the doorway. "Oh, Shalom. What are you..." She smiles with the knowledge of me being here. "Nevermind. Go on in. I just told him you would be coming soon."

"Thanks, Mom." I smile back to her. And with that, I walk through the door.

"Shalom, I heard you talking to America, and that you want some advice," King Maxon says with a strong, commanding voice. "What can I do for you, Son?"

I go to sit by his desk. "I was wondering how...um...you knew it was Mom?" I ask hesitantly. I've never thought about how they actually met, only that it was in the Selection.

He gives me a peculiar look, like he was waiting for another question. But, thankfully he continues. "Well, I met her in ,uh, different circumstances." He stops, so I give him an encouraging nod. "I was walking the grounds for no particular reason, when I heard shouting. And I ran over to see what the commotion was about. And there was this girl... This beautiful fiery-haired girl. I told them to let her out.

"Then, I followed after her. I don't remember much of the conversation, only that she was pretty mean and sassy. And the way her hair danced in the moonlight. That happened, and after a lot of drama, I married her." he says kinda sheepishly.

"Thank you, Dad," I reply.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Tomorrow...

Tomorrow is the day that I will see the face of my future wife.

I try to distract myself with an old book from the early 2000s. It's about a girl that who enters a contest of 24 kids. Instead of them singing and playing an instrument, their supposed to kill eachother until there is only one left standing. I would love this book, but I have too many things on my mind.

This is useless. I'm only going to worry myself more and more. So, I get up off the bench in the garden and return the book to the library. But, that's when I hear my brother flirting with a maid.

"Hehe, how do you get to be so athletic, Prince Jace?" A blonde-haired girl giggles. God, she feaking giggled and raised her voice a few octaves higher. God, this is getting beyond stupid, I think from behind my pillar. Sometimes I think Jace is a devil in anAngel's mask.

I cough so that he doesn't have to answer his below average answer. "Hello, Brother. Hello, Hannah."

"Oh, hey Shay! Hannah was just complimenting me. Please go on, Hannah," he purrs.

At first I think she demented enough to listen to him, but then she comes to her senses. She throws a disgusted look both our ways and storms off to do laundry, or something.

"You know, you really should stop flirting with the staff. And stop sleeping around," I say dissapointedly at him.

"I'm sixteen. I can do what I want! Until I have my Selection," he smiles mischeviously.

"I thought that only the firstborn son has the Selection," I say questioningly. "And I thought that you were already shipped off to that one princess."

"She's Mom's age. I will NOT marry her," he says in a puff. It has been a long time since I've seen him this mad. "I've gotta go. See ya."

"Bye," Jace was leaving angrily. Which ment he was going on a "Broody Ride" on his motorbike.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Today is the day.

Today is the day that I see the face of my future wife, Queen of Illea, and mther to my children. Yay.

I'm jumping on the balls of my feet. Thsi is probably the most nervous I've been in my entire life. Other than the time I broke my leg.

Whenever I get to my seat between my sister and mother everyone's staring at me. "Hello... When will we start?" I ask Gavril.

"In just a few minutes, Prince Shalom," the older man says.

My family gives me encouraging smiles, except Jace, who is still in his brooding mood.

"Alright," says the Director."We'll be starting in 5...4...3...2..." And the lights are on.

"Hello people of Illea. I'm you host, Gavril," He smiles hsi wide smile. "I know some of you are excited about the selection, but I have some annoncements..." And he goes on with boring information.

"Now, I want to ask Prince Shalom about how he feels about this event," Gavril says smiling at me.

"Sorry, sir. Lost in thought," I say clumsily.

"I'm guesing you're nervous," I nod. "Well, you should be, because some of these girls are super feisty and completely beautiful such as..." And he lists names and names of all these women. God, how many are there? Oh, right, 35!

All of them are beautiful, but nondescript. Except, TWINS! Twins in the Selection. That has never happened before. Weird...

Dad said he met Mom under different circumstances. Maybe someone will pop out like America did for Maxon..

Oops! I should be paying attention. I look up into the face of a brown-haired, brown-eyed girl. She's pretty. With a pretty name. Eve Addams. A 4. Wow, I forgot we still have 4s. My father eliminated the Castes 8-5.

I think about the old caste system for a while. And by the time I come to a conclusion, Gavril has asked me for my thoughts on the girls.

"They all looked beautiful. And seemed nice," I stumble out.

"Any stand out?" he asks.

"Um..." What was that one girl's name? "Eve Addams."

"You saw the new Selection girls, folks! Check in next week to meet them each."