Did I catch your attention? You look like you lost your breath, huh

When I circle the room, you an owl, you gon' twist your head

Don't you come at me green with an attitude when my lips and my soles are red

If I leave you behind, you can look for the broken necks

-Looking At Me by Sabrina Carpenter

It was Princess Theadosa 'Thea' Tamara Schreave's twentieth birthday today. And, of course, there was a banquet in her honor.

Any person that mattered was there. Thea felt a rush of pride looking at the assembled people. She was sitting at the right hand of her father, the king. Even his wife, the queen, who was also Thea's stepmom, did not get to sit here. She felt smug and couldn't resist shooting Queen Mabel a smug look.

Thea continued to survey the assembled people. She spotted her real mom, sitting a few tables down and laughing at had it she was trying to muster up a rebellion against the crown to overthrow the crown. Thea frowned a little, thinking how her mother might want to overthrow her daughter. She didn't particularly like that idea and quickly diverted her mind to something else.

Thea smiled as she looked around, hearing the people chatter. She hadn't had a birthday as big as this, well, ever. Don't get her wrong, as the heir to the throne, she got a lot of big parties. But this? This was huge. It almost made her wonder if her father had something planned…

Thea pushed that thought out of her head. Normally she was negative, but not today. Today was her day. Today she was going to enjoy being happy.

The only thing Thea didn't like about her seat, she decided, was that her step sister Evangelina was seated on the left of her mother, so Thea and Evangelina couldn't easily speak to each other.

Her father stood up. The room immediately silenced, and Thea couldn't help but think someday that will be me.

"I have an announcement," he cleared his throat and glanced down Thea. She couldn't help but be puzzled and immediately noticed how all the news cameras focused on him. Dread filled her stomach. "As it is Princess Theadosa is now twenty years old, her mother and I have decided," He said, smiling down at Queen Mabel, "that it is time for Theadosa to have a Selection!" The room erupted in applause. King Johnson held his hand up and the applause ceased. "The forms will be sent out as well as the details starting tomorrow!" He took a seat and Thea was frozen in shock. She noticed the cameras watching her as well as all the people and forced a smile. She laughed, pretending to be overjoyed. Everyone seemed to believe it, except for the Royal Family themselves and Thea's mother, who watched her daughter with a frown.

The rest of the night for Thea blurred together. She was so angry with her dad. She hated him. She hated him so much.

Once the banquet ended and the Royal Family retreated to their rooms, Thea stormed into her father's room, slamming the door open. Mabel sat on the bead uneasily, and her dad was standing next to her.

Evangelina followed her into the room, standing at her right side. Thea was grateful for Eva's presence. Eva was a grounding factor for Thea.

"What was that?" Thea asked, her voice deadly low. Her father opened his mouth to answer but she cut him off beforehand. "You didn't even ask! You didn't even talk to me to ask if I'd be okay with this! And for the record, I'm not! Even worse! You didn't even warn me! You just left me there in front of all the cameras! And even worse, on my birthday?! What is wrong with you? And don't ever call her my mother, because she's not and you know that!" Thea ranted, her voice slowly rising until she was screaming. Mabel flinched at the last sentence, and Thea just glared at her. Thea had tried being nice to Mabel but she had made it clear she didn't want anything to do with Thea. Mabel was just doing this for Thea's dad's benefit. Turning Thea into the evil monster, as always.

"Don't talk to her like that." Johnson ordered his daughter, who just crossed her arms and glared. "And it needed to be done. With your mother on the loose, there's talk of a rebellion! We need the country to be united now more than ever." That made sense to Thea at least. At least this was helping her country.

"I would have agreed to it if you said it like that." Thea said quietly, but she wasn't done being angry. "But you should have told me before you sprung it on me like that. At least tell me before you use me as your guinea pig." And with that, Thea stormed out of the room.

"Eva, will you-" Mabel tried telling her birth daughter. Eva just turned and slammed the door behind her.

Okay, first chapter done. I know it wasn't really like a typical first chapter but I figured it was a good starter. Also, if you're confused about any of the characters' relationships and who they are I'll have them on my profile, same as the form. This is a male syoc btw
Thanks for reading!