Alexander Fritz, Advisor.

I came to the city as an advisor young for my field but no less skilled than men twice my age. Born into a family of One's, the move was not that big for me. The hardest part was becoming acquainted with the Royal court, the luxury did little to phase or blind me. It was my job to stop it from sending my client down the wrong path. I went to the capital in the hopes of earning myself a bountiful, high-status life. Instead, I found myself devoid of everything I owned and questioning everything I knew about myself. And instead of the family and friends I had wished for, I felt alone in the world, I found myself with one loved one in the world. Crown Prince Everette.

Yet looking back it is clear to me that where I am now is because of an event months before the Selection. A maze of tragedy, loss, and love can be traced back to a single moment. A moment in the dawn of spring when Everette held a candle.

The room was dark aside from that small candle Everette held within his grasp. A long, slender white stick held tightly within a golden, diamond-encrusted tray. We sat there, Everette and I on the side of his tall, memory-foam bed. Our faces were so close to the flame, that we could feel the heat prickling against our numb skin. It was a welcome relief from the bitter cold air that came through the open balcony doors.

"Do you hear it?" Everette said softly, his breath causing the flame to dance. He had a voice like soothing thunder and breath as warm as a summer's breeze. However, at that moment, I couldn't say I heard anything from the candle, at least not against the sound of the rain outside. The sparkle within the man's eyes caused me to withhold my words; looking deeply into his opal green iris'.

These alone garnered Everette many compliments and romantic offers; his face only helped matters. His height showed no history with hunger, his smooth, dark face void of any scars, blemishes or sunburn and his startling green eyes seemed to illuminate against the mass of dark curls upon his head. Everette always laughed the compliments off, privately giving the credit to his mother, Queen Anita who won his father, King Maximus' Selection twenty-one years earlier. For me it was his stories and the way he told them with his melodic voice and smooth tone. His tongue hanging on to the ends of sentences and pronunciation of each word. Elegant, educated and verging on beautiful. He had a way of singing by doing nothing but speaking. Captivating me with every word.

He retold of spicy dishes, fierce beasts, and the rivers his mother once played along; memories almost lost to time. All hard to back up as I had never experienced them first hand. Yet, the beauty he told them had me almost entranced. Each word taking me to a place I knew I'd never see. Adventures beyond my wildest dreams. My favorite story by far was that of the bluebird.

I had never paid attention to the birds before I met the Prince. They are the Queen's favorite birds and she raised Everette on her stories of them back when she was a Four, hearing their song as her day began and once more as dusk slowly closed in. He even carried his grandfather's locket passed down from his mother that showed one of the birds etched into the gold. He, at one point, had the rough outline of one tattooed deep into the skin across his heart. The sunbird was a badge of pride for Everette. Pride in his mother's background and his understanding of the world beyond the safety of his Royal bubble. It was also a badge of pride against the racism his mother had faced and to a lesser extent, himself. A girl from less money than the crown wanted and the first girl of her appearance to marry into the family which only increased when Everette was born, taking after her on more than one account that his father. Everette grew up with a hard skin to the words who called for his younger sister, who took after his father, to take the crown. I could only admire this from afar as I had no spine when it came to standing out. On the surface, I was what was expected of someone of my position and I was too frightened to prove them wrong.

Everette noticed my silence in regards to his earlier question and smiled, the type of grin that wrinkles the face yet in a youthful and childlike manner. "I don't...I'm not sure I ever did." he sighed, lowering the candle and resting it on his knee; index finger still gripping onto the handle tightly. "When I had nightmares as a child, my sister, Minnie used to tell me that those that had gone could be spoken to through the flickering flame of a candle." he gazed at the flame, almost as if in a trance. "Sometimes I still try and listen, hoping to hear anything." Everette glanced up at me and I looked back with sympathy. We looked at each other for at least a minute before, with a laugh, Everette mumbled about the stupidity of his words. "It's stupid, I know-"

"Maybe you don't need to hear their words just yet," I offered, watching how the flame danced within the breeze. "My nanny used to believe in something similar but she said it was within the wind. Spirits lighting the way for you with advice but only when you need it. It comes in your darkest moment." Everette glanced up at me before looking down at the candle once more.

"It feels like a very important moment," he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. I was inclined to agree. Tomorrow would be the day he would announce his Selection to the world. Of course, all the officials had known for months. Everette did not fear it like most Princes, he came from unease. The anxiety that he would never find the perfect woman to marry and be stuck in a loveless political marriage. My hatred for the event came from a place of jealousy. Everette could have his pick of the litter when it came to Women. Or men for that matter.

Myself? I wasn't sure there was a girl out there for me anymore even if every girl in the nation wanted to date me. I found beauty in them and my sexuality didn't exclude them. But since meeting Everette, I realized they just didn't warm my heart as much as men. It was wrong yet it only ever felt right when I thought romantically or admired Everette. When my heart skipped a beat when he spoke in his deep voice, everything felt right. It was only when I truly thought my actions over a few minutes every morning did I convince myself it was wrong. Yet viewing Everette as sinful seemed more abnormal than any romantic emotion I felt for him.

I tried to remove this emotion, going on dates with women. I enjoyed it but nothing seemed to compare to Everette. I even thought about approaching Everette on the issue in the hopes his acceptance of being different could be taught to me. However, Everette was too valuable of a friend to risk losing over something I did not even truly understand.

"It will be interesting to see how many women across the country who never supported your claim now clamber over themselves to be by your side," my voice seething with envy at the thought. Everette smiled weakly.

"See, I do not want that. I want a group of girls that love me...not my crown."

I shrugged. "It's a game for a lot of them. Every single Selection has its players who use the event as an opportunity to become a Princess-"

"And how often does it happen?" the Prince asked.

"Your...your mother and father's love is an exception," I watched him deflate. "But it happens more than you think. It's far from rare. The ones not for love are always for a political match rather than a status climber." This didn't seem to calm his nerves.

"If only I could find a woman who was smart, loyal, adventurous...loving?" He said, his eyes glazed over. I'm all of those things. I thought to myself. "Like you...but not you, if that makes sense?" I blushed slightly. "A sort of...female version of you...a friend."

The words female version and friend bounced around in my head as Everette placed the candle on his bedside table and threw himself back onto the bed. Being a female would have made things easier when it came to my emotions but overall it was impractical. I enjoyed being a man and if I was a female, I would have never been given the position of Everette's advisor. My romantic emotions aside, he had saved me from the dark with his friendship many times. As did I. Without each other, Everette would have given up the throne to his sister long ago and I would have thrown myself from the highest window of my family's manor house. Before my crush, he was my friend and when I had worked through my emotions he would be my brother. He may have no interest in men but I did not feel bitter about this fact. And although the Selection made me green with envy for the girl who would one day marry him, I was determined to find him the love of his life. A true Queen he could rule beside. My emotions were secondary to the desire for Everette to have a happy life.

"I hope tomorrow never comes," he grumbled, looking up at the crystal chandelier that dangled from his ceiling. I stood up from the bed, tucking in my shirt that had become stained and creased during our bar crawl.

"It won't be that bad...you still have a fair bit until you have to meet the girls-"

"Then I can't worry, eh?" he laughed. He pushed himself up and looked at me, his eyes heavy. "What would I do without you?" I quickly turned away, allowing the darkness to hide my blush. But then I smiled like I always did around him.

"Crash and burn, my Prince," I laughed, turning back to him. "Crash and burn."