Kill a demon today, face the devil tomorrow. Yet even as you dance on that demon's grave, you can't help but wonder, was that demon alone? Or do you have other, deadlier ones to fight? And though you celebrate having won the battle, have you really prepared for the war? So as we dress ourselves in the armor needed for this new fight, we must first tend to our wounds, starting with the deepest.

...

Prince Tiernan

I tried to shut my eyes, block out the images of the past. Block out the times when dozens of voices swirled around in my brain all at once, driving me to the brink of insanity. But the memories keep flooding back. I cling to the coin around my neck, squeezing it as though it would help release some of my mother's magic.

Sweat ran down the nape of my neck and I sat up, gasping, failing to forget the first time I ever discovered my ability.

"Tier!" six-year-old Aedan called out. I blinked, looking for my little brother, but only managing to see more of the Eights hidden in the alley ways.

Then a sudden scream pierced my ears and an image of a boy clutching his empty stomach played in my head, but voices continue on behind the boy – Conspiracies of why a little prince was in their neighborhood, brief flashes of the reasons why they were out on the street.

Screaming.

Blood.

Crying.

Hunger.

Anger.

My nails dug into my palms and I yelled for my mother, unable to stop the tears from streaming down my face. Cressida rushed to my side, engulfing me into a hug, and brushing my hair with her hand, "Sh..." She hushed, "Tiernan, it's okay, just breathe."

Just breathe.

Tossing my comforter away from my body, I grabbed at the hem of my t-shirt, pulling the sweat-soaked fabric over my head and letting it fall to the ground. I squeezed my eyes shut, my face contorting, and I slammed my fist against my bed, I'm the strong one. I'm supposed to be the strong one. A harsh chuckle reverberated in my throat, and I wondered what my people would think if they saw me now. Tiernan Sterling Morgenstern, crown prince – future king, loyal to a fault but a force never to be reckoned with: plagued by his own nightmares drawn from the very thing that was supposed to make him strong – the very thing that was supposed to make the whole Morgenstern family strong.

I hauled myself to my feet, brushing imaginary dirt off my sweatpants as though it would brush away all my problems, too, and dug around in my drawer for a new shirt. Rubbing my temples with my palms, I stumbled out of my room and down the hall, only stopping when the faintest light caught my eye from underneath Gemma's door.

"Gem?" I mumbled, my cheek pressed up against the wood. Usually, I had a tendency to just pass by her on nights like these, but something held me back – perhaps the fact that I had always been a pawn in my father's game, but now it was his turn to make a move, and he'd chosen me.

Her hinges squeaked ever so slightly, metal on metal, but she paid no attention. My brows furrowed at the sight of her paint stained pajamas and I peered in to see what she'd been up to.

"Did you paint your wall again?" I asked and she nodded. I couldn't help but stare, she'd painted a city skyline and while the wall itself was dull, she added in splashes of color, "It looks incredible," I gawked. Gemma's face flushed, and she worked on storing away her supplies.

"What's got you awake at…" Her eyes flickered to the clock on her bedside table, "Three in the morning?"

With a shrug, my fingers twitched as they always did when I was nervous and needed to play piano to calm down, instead I busied myself with helping my little sister clean up, "Couldn't really sleep much," I stated, and Gemma frowned.

"Any particular reason why?"

"No," I replied, a little too quick and harsh, "I mean, why should there be?"

She rolled her eyes, "Because, Tier, you now have an opportunity to marry for love instead of a girl who would probably plot your death as Queen," Eyes narrowing, I glared at her and she laughed, "Kidding! Elektra would only dream of it."

"That's very comforting, little sister," I grimaced.

Gemma's eyes drooped, and she yawned, "Sorry, it's been a long day," she explained.

"That it has," I turned away, reaching out for the door handle, "I'll let you get some sleep."

"Wait," Gem blurted, "Do you want to stay? I can tell that there's something bothering you that you don't want to talk to me about, but if I can help, I'll try."

I raised an eyebrow, "By letting me sleep in your bed? Gemma we aren't kids anymore – it's a little weird now."

The princess let out an exasperated sighed, "Tiernan, no offense, but you're my brother and I'm lesbian, so that probably makes you the least appealing person to me. It's not weird at all."

Chuckling, I raised my hands in surrender and fell back onto her bed. She switched off the lights and rolled under her covers, her breathing evened not to long after, leaving me staring at the ceiling to fight any urge to sleep, alone.

By seven, I'd snuck out of Gemma's room, managing to squeeze in four hours of extra sleep before deciding to return to the land of the living. With a meeting with Vera Bannister – our Palace Coordinator – to go over the logistics of the Selection, to yet another meeting with General Arsen Garrick about the extra guards needed for the girls, all before lunch, time to prepare wasn't exactly optional.

I held my breath, the clanging of silverware on ceramic dishes keeping the room from dead silence. Aedan seemed to attempt to pass time by continuously changing his water to ice and back again as Davina stared off into space, daydreaming most likely. Gemma and Astra had yet to show, Gem was probably still asleep and Astra was off at horseback riding lessons before it got too hot for the lot of them.

Finally, I spoke, breaking the eerie quiet, "So…have any Selection forms filed in?"

King Alasdair used his knife to cut his sausage and my mother refused to voice her thoughts. Taking a bite of his food, my father set down his utensils, his eyes boring into mine, "Not as many as we'd hoped," he admitted and my heart sank, just as I imagined, "But it's only been one day, no need to lose faith just yet." Davina squeezed my hand from under the table, and if I had looked in her direction, there'd probably be a reassuring smile playing on her lips. But I didn't look that way, and I didn't feel reassured.

My gut twisting, I pushed my plate aside and stood, grumbling, "I have to go to my meeting," My parents waved me off, but my two siblings present had worried expressions etched into their faces.

"You're early," Vera remarked, organizing her papers. The twenty-year-old refused to make eye contact with me, locking her gaze on everything but my face.

"I thought the sooner I arrived, the sooner I could leave," The only non-evolved human close to my family didn't so much as blink, she'd been employed by us for two years already, completely unfazed by my remarks.

Vera pushed her file folder in front of me, "In there is a map for all the rooms the Selected will occupy, how much it will cost to hire more maids for them – including what else we could cut down on-"

Head tilted to the side, I watched her, "Was this meeting only to hand me a folder?"

The blonde shook her head, "No, your highness, your parents had me schedule the meeting so you had designated time to work on getting through those folders, they are incredibly important."

I rolled my eyes, "I know, that's basically all they've told me."

She shrugged, a piteous glint in her eyes, "Well, I wish you luck, that," she said, pointing at the file, "does not look like fun."

"It never is," I agreed.

Hey everyone! Thank you so much for all the reviews and all the characters I've already gotten or spots that have already been reserved. I do ask that those of you with reserved spots try to get them to me as soon as you possibly can so I can get the story plotted out and

going, but I'm in no huge rush, I get being busy. I'm busy, too.

Don't forget, there's a cover contest going on and the winner gets to plan one of Tiernan's dates! It'll go on until the next chapter is updated, but thanks to alexiaroosenhaann, Renefurterar0, Of Darkness and of light, and thesparklingjewel for creating ones so far! They're awesome

So I also planned on doing a Royal Fam trailer…but then I had too many videos of Tiernan, so it just turned into a Tiernan Morgenstern trailer, to see it – you can go to my pinterest board for him (my account is mtjastory) or if it wants to work, if you go to Tiernan's personality stuff on my bio, his full name should be hyperlinked to it.

Okay this chapter is shorter than usual and not TOOO TOOO intriguing, but I felt like I was just dragging on and I'm tired and a huge mess and missed last week's update so I decided I needed something for y'all today.

I promise, next chapter will be longer!

Also, Humongous thanks to sinder-and-ash for sending me the most detailed character I've ever seen! It was awesome!

Thanks to alexiaroosenhaann, ReneFurterar0, ChillyIce, XOStarbrightXO, Silvertrue, EverythingisBlack, Demigod18, and Of Darkness and Of Light for reviewing!

Bye Lovelies!

~Hailey