Chapter two

"James!" James turned around to see Liam, beckoning him over to a corner. "I need you to sit here and keep an eye on Lot, okay?" He asked him, looking at their sleeping sister.

"What? Why?" James asked, not understanding why his older brother couldn't do it. James was fifteen, but Liam was seventeen — he's the one that should look after Lot if it would be necessary. Not that it often is, because Lot was already eleven.

Liam's eyes shone with excitement. "Because I'm going upstairs."

James frowned. "I thought we weren't allowed to go upstairs?"

"You're not, no. But I'm older. I just need to take care of something, okay?" Liam cocked his head to the side, looking at his younger brother. "Or do you think you're not big enough to watch over Lot?"

James bristled. Liam was two years older, but they were the same height. In fact, James was quite sure he'd be taller in just a few months.

"Alright," James finally said. He had a feeling it was going to be a bad idea, though, which was why he added: "But promise you'll be back soon!"

"Of course. I'll always come back." Liam smiled at James one last time, then turned around to crawl through a hole in the wall. It was hidden under one of the stretchers in the room. James spent the hours they were in there guarding the hole and Lot, while also pretending the Liam was lying in one of the other stretchers. He waited and waited, but Liam never came back.

James woke up in a cold sweat. The memory was already slipping away from him, but he still felt the despair that had settled over him. Suddenly, the gaping hole in his heart had gotten twice as big. Liam, his older brother, had disappeared exactly ten years ago that day. By now, most assumed he was dead, but his body still hadn't been found. James hadn't been sure that was good news for the past five years.

He got up to splash some water in his face in his bathroom. When he looked in the mirror above the sink, he almost didn't recognize himself. What he saw, was a younger version of his father, looking tired and worn out. And his Selection hadn't even begun.

With a sigh, he dragged himself back to his bed, collapsing on top of it. He was barely awake enough to put the covers over himself and fell asleep again instantly.

Unfortunately for him, that sleep lasted just ten minutes before a small hand started knocking at his door. Like all five-year-olds, Jeralee had the habit of waking up annoyingly early. James groaned softly into his pillow, then said: "Who's there?"

A giggle sounded from behind the door. Jeralee answered, trying to have a low voice: "Your valet Mason. I must enter for important business."

"Is that so? Then you better come in quick," James answered, a smile tugging at his lips. No matter how tired he was, he could never say no to Jeralee.

The door edged open, and Jeralee peered around the corner. James was sitting up in bed, looking at his phone, which was turned off. Slowly, the little girl crawled to the edge of the bed, where she jumped on him with a yell.

"Got ya!" She was sprawled all over James, trying to keep him at the bed. He was lying on it, with Jeralee on top of him. She was keeping a hold on his arms and legs, which James could easily break, but pretended he couldn't.

"Jeralee!" He gasped. "I didn't know my little girl was so strong!"

She giggled again. Before she could say something, though, there was another knock on the door. This time, James knew, it really was Mason.

"Who is it?" He called anyway.

"Mason, Your Highness. Miss Nina Lorett would like to enter."

James nodded to himself, and looked at Jeralee, who rolled off him with a squeal. She stayed on the bed while James quickly put on a shirt and a pair of shorts. He'd just been wearing his boxers, and while he knew that Nina was happily married to her wife and not at all interested, he also knew that everyone would be much more comfortable if he wasn't practically naked, including himself. He quite preferred to be clothed when among others.

"Come in," he said once he was — sort of — dressed. Mason was the first through the door, and immediately sat down on the couch. Etiquette wasn't his strong suit, but James didn't mind. Mason had grown to be one of his closest friends during his first Selection, and there was no one else who knew what and when he needed that he could never have replaced Mason if he wanted to.

Nina came next, her tall, blonde frame in sharp contrast with Mason's dark and sharp features. The woman had an exasperated look on her face that made her look much older than thirty-four. "I am so sorry, Your Highness," she said. "The little fairy just flew right past me."

Jeralee gasped, her eyes wide. "You think I'm a fairy?" Her voice was filled with wonder, and Nina's face softened. James was quite sure that besides he, his family, and April, there was no one else who loved Jeralee as much as Nina did. Which was why, while April was the Princesses' godmother, Nina had been appointed to always be her nanny, no matter with who she lived.

"Aren't you, then?" Nina said to Jeralee, who nodded heavily.

"No, I am, I am! Right, daddy? Can you tell Nina I'm a fairy? Can you?" Jeralee was jumping up and down the bed, her excitement almost touchable. The happiness she spread everywhere was enough to finally cheer James up, despite the awful day that he knew awaited him.

"I'd say it's quite obvious that she's a fairy, Nina," James said, picking Jeralee up from the bed. She hung on to him like a monkey, clasping to her father's side. Despite her having never met Liam, James knew that she understood the importance of the day, and how much her father was affected by it. It pained him to have to give her to Nina for the day. She was still too young to come along on the trip they'd be taking that day. Even though it was just Los Angeles.

"And here I was, thinking that being a princess would be good enough for a girl. No, she has to be a fairy, too," Mason sighed. Like always when he commented on Jeralee, James wasn't entirely sure he was joking. Still, he winked at Mason.

"You ought to know by now that nothing is ever good enough for a girl, Mason," James said, dropping a kiss on Jeralee's head. "Can I get a promise you'll be kind to Nina, Jeralee?"

She nodded, her thumb in her mouth. James gently nudged it out, and looked at her, waiting. A few moments went by, then she said: "I promise I will be kind to Nina, daddy."

James smiled, kissed her again, and then gave her to Nina. "Then I will see you tonight," he said.

"She'll be waiting for you to read to her," Nina said, knowing Jeralee well enough to say with perfect confidence that the little girl would only be sleeping when James would be too late, and she'd fallen asleep from pure exhaustion. Luckily, that didn't happen often. James always made sure to be home on time if he left the Palace to be able to read to her. He needed the moment just as much as Jeralee did.

When they'd finally left the room, after another few rounds of kisses and/or hugs, Mason got up from his position on the couch, tucking his phone back into his pocket as he went. "Before you go down to breakfast, your father asked to see you in his office."

James halted on his way to take a shower. Without turning around, he said: "Why?"

Mason shrugged. "I don't know. I received a note from General Austin himself this morning. All it said was that you were to meet your father in his office at eight thirty am."

James quickly jogged back to his bed, grabbing his phone to look at the time. Seven forty-five am. He cursed, then took what was quite probably the quickest shower of his life.

Mason had laid out a suit for him when James submerged from the bathroom. It was only when he'd gotten dressed and was tying his shoelaces that he realised he had left the room. He briefly wondered where he'd gone but had forgotten about it by the time he was on his way.

He arrived at his father's office at exactly eight thirty. Jack Austin, General of the Royal Guard was already waiting for him in front of it, checking his watch every other second. When he noticed James, he said: "Oh, finally. Come in, come in!"

The General, who was in his sixties and had been the General since way before James was born, entered the King's office after James. King Alexander himself was already waiting, seated behind his imposing mahogany desk. The large windows behind him showed the ocean, its turmoil and waves the painting King Alexanders loved most. The walls were lined with large cabinets, which were filled with books, globes, maps, binders, and much more. All of it contained information that either had played or was playing an important role in Illéa's fate.

"James," his father began. The way his name had been said, James knew that he would not be talking to the King today. This was a conversation between father and son. "As I said yesterday, I wish to step down from my post sometime in the coming years. As such, I think it would be good for you to take on some of my duties. I understand if you can't do that right away, as your Selection is coming up—" James winced. "—but you should at least consider it."

"What kind of duties?"

"The ministers are all looking out for the fate of their own provinces, assisted by the city councils actually located in the provinces, but there are always projects that go above province borders. Those are the projects where all the ministers work together, and those are also the projects I still have a say over. I want you to start taking my place as King in some of them, starting with the foodbank-project."

The foodbank-project was a project Lot had started. If everything worked out, it would provide people who did not have a lot of money with food and water. It wasn't an answer to the poverty many in Illéa were plagued by, but it would at least be a first step in making their life easier. Lot was very passionate about it, and James knew how much it meant to her to make this work.

"I would be honoured to be a part of the foodbank-project, father."

His father nodded, shuffled some papers around on his desk, then retrieved a fat folder that he gave to James. "This contains all the information that is now available on the logistics of the project. As you know, Lot was the one to come up with it, and she is still very much involved. You will be working together."

"Thank you. I just have one question: why was it necessary for General Austin to be here for this?" Jack Austin had been quietly standing near the door for the duration of James's conversation with his father. James didn't mind, but he did wonder why. It wasn't common procedure for the General of the Guard to be privy to the King's personal conversations with his son.

"He is here for the next matter I want to discuss with you this morning: the security of the Palace and the Selected, of course, but most of all your own. You have been the crown-prince for ten years now, and—" His voice broke. He stopped talking for a moment, gathered his thoughts and took a few deep breaths, then resumed. "Now that you will be hosting a second Selection and getting ready to take over my place, you are more in the spotlight. I want to keep you safe. Which is why I have taken the liberty of asking Jack to look amongst his Guards for a suitable bodyguard. Jack?"

"Yes, Your Highness, thank you. It was in the applications for the Royal Guard that I found the application of Major Eddie Wilson. He started out as a fighter in the Royal Air Force, where he became Major last year when he was twenty-five. He is dedicated, ambitious, and loyal. I have reached out to his superiors, who have all ensured me that he is an incredible soldier if a bit impulsive. I am confident he is best suited to the job."

The King nodded. "Good. Good, thank you. I will look over the file, and James will too. We will decide whether to hire him Monday morning." He sighed, then. The role of King left his shoulders, but his burden did not become lighter. If anything, it became heavier.

"Now, we must have breakfast and prepare for the day ahead," he said to James, who looked at his father with concern. He hadn't realized the toll that Liam being gone had truly taken on his father. Looking at him now, James noticed that it seemed King Alexander had aged much more than the ten years that had passed. And even now, he still missed him as much as that very first day.

Breakfast was a quiet affair. No-one knew what to say, so instead, they said nothing at all. Jeralee wasn't there to diffuse the mood, either. James was glad to escape the heavy air in the room as soon as possible, and almost sprinted the way to his room.

Mason wasn't there when he walked in, which calmed him in a way the unexpected absence of a friend shouldn't have. He didn't dwell on the feeling, though, but strode to his closet. In the far end of it, behind a rack of coats, a secret door was hidden. It led to a series of secret passages that travelled all through the Palace, connecting the floors and rooms in a way not even the servant's passages did.

James had found out about them when he was still a kid and kept them a secret. He hadn't ever told a soul, not even Liam or Lily. As a result, he was quite sure no-one else knew of them. His parents certainly didn't. Sometimes he thought Lot did — the way she moved through the Palace, quick and undetected, made him think she was more than just fast. He had never seen her, though, and was definitely not going to ask her point blank, in case she didn't know of them after all.

The passage he took led straight to the highest point of the Palace, right under the roof, above the regular attic that was already deserted. The little room was hardly bigger than 10 by 10 feet and completely covered in dust. It was a bit thinner in the middle of the room, and the box that stood there clearly showed signs of having been picked up in the past. It was James's biggest secret: the box that contained all of his favourite memories.

Inside, were poems Lily had shared, flowers he'd dried, pictures of Jeralee right after she'd been born, photographs of Lily's funeral and Jeralee's tears. But that wasn't what James took out of it that day. Instead, he grabbed a book. It had clearly been in the box the longest. Photos fell onto to the floor as James opened it. Photos of himself, of Lot, of their parents, of the Palace. The one person that was noticeably absent from all of them was Liam.

James had taken the book out of Liam's room a day before he went missing. Liam had been mad about it that morning, but then he'd disappeared, and James couldn't bear to set foot in Liam's room, not even to return what was rightfully his. Liam had always dragged a camera around, taking pictures of everyone and everything he saw. The ones he thought were best, he'd put in the very book that was now getting wet from James's tears.

It was past noon when James got back in his room. He had just an hour left before they'd be leaving for the memorial in Los Angeles. He sighed, wiped away the last of his tears, straightened his tie, and stepped out of his room to help prepare.

Hi everyone!

So, I just want to start this note off with saying how grateful I am for the many reviews I've gotten on the first chapter. Thank you so much! It's great seeing so many of you excited about this story. Also, thank you to everyone was has already submitted a character and/or reserved a spot. You will all have until January thirteenth to submit.

Next, I'd like to explain why this is so late. Obviously, today is New Year's Day and Christmas was last week, but normally, that wouldn't have stopped me. I was on holiday last week (which was great!) and had much less time to write than I'd anticipated even though I'd brought my laptop with me. That's also why I haven't really been responding to the PM's with submissions you've sent me, but trust me when I tell you I saw them all!

Third, I'm gonna apologize ahead of time for the time in between updates. I suck at keeping to schedules and school is gonna be really busy after the break, so I'll have even less time to write. Put my often lack of inspiration on top of that, and you might understand that finishing this is going to be a challenge. I don't really have a track record for finishing stories either, as I usually quit after a couple of chapters. I promise I'm going to try as hard as I can not to let that happen to this story, though!

I hope you've all had a wonderful Christmas, or Hannukah, or anything else you might celebrate, or just days if you don't celebrate anything at all, and that 2019 will be an amazing year!

Love,

Sabine