Chapter 2 – Newton's Third Law

*.*

"Sir, we've just got a report that there was yet another attack on a supply convoy coming from Zuni," one of the advisors said, coming into the council room. Attacks had been blooming all over the country like unwanted weeds in a vegetable garden.

King Richard grunted. "That's the third attack this week. General," he said, turning to his left to the white-haired and medal-wearer General of the Illéan Armies. "What is the army doing to stop this?"

"We're doing everything we can, Your Majesty," the General said, bowing his head to the King. "But these little bastards are smarter than we give them credit for."

The King snorted. "Or you're just too lazy to do anything about it." He leaned over the big map rolled out on the table, leaning on his hands. Just that week, there had been first, Hansport, then Clermont, and now Zuni. It was getting too much, too quickly.

Prince Daniel was always there, standing somewhere in the council room, supposedly following what his father was doing, but that day, he was not very focused. Spring was in full bloom everywhere, the air was warm, and all he wanted to do was to go take a swim in the river.

"We need something to pacify the people," an advisor was saying. Daniel was only half-listening to the conversation taking place behind him.

"Such as?" the King asked. "We've tried everything. We gave them better roads, better transportations, better–"

"With all due respect, sir," another piped in, "they're not happy about the laws–"

"We're not changing those," King Richard said through clenched teeth. "They're going against what God has planned for us. They want to live in Illéa? They abide by my rules and God's. If not, they can always leave. I don't care."

Daniel rolled his eyes. Couldn't his father understand that those people were just people? That they had lives? Families to provide for? Children to take care of? He knew that the rebels had a point and that the laws his father had passed with the Cabinet's help were not helping his case. And he also knew that he couldn't do anything about it now, but that once he became King himself, he'd change all that.

"I may have a suggestion," one of the men present in the room said.

"It better be good," Richard grumbled.

The man waited for everyone's eyes to be on him, building up the suspense. Even Daniel turned around to see what the man was going to say. "Ever heard of Newton's Third Law?" he asked. When everyone looked at him blankly, he continued. "Whenever two objects interact, they exert equal and opposite forces on each other. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, and–"

"Just get to the point, Sullivan," King Richard said.

The man nodded. "The Rebels have been attacking us left and right, guiding our eyes where they want us to see. I think it's time to give them something to see that would distract them while the Army doubles their work in fishing out the Rebel leaders…" He looked at everyone and stopping on Daniel for a few seconds before going back on the King.

"What kind of distraction?" Daniel's father said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I think it's time for Prince Daniel to hold a Selection– Now, here me out," he quickly added, raising his hands in defense. "The prince is almost twenty-one years old and having thirty-five ladies coming here to compete for his heart could just be what the people need to have a change of scenery, something to root for, something to distract them from attacking civilians, and something to distract the good people." He paused. "Prince Daniel's ratings are up, at the moment, and it could give us a break from the attacks to find them."

Daniel balled his fists in his pockets. Why did these men always talk about him as if he weren't even there? But he kept his mouth shut. He had already tried saying something once or twice and it had always ended up pretty badly for him. The best he could do was shut up, nod, and bid his time.

"A Selection…" King Richard said, tasting the concept. Sure, he had been through a Selection too, almost twenty-five years ago. He looked at Daniel. "I think that's a good idea," he said. "What do you think, son?"

Daniel knew there was only one answer possible to this question and it went something along the lines of "Yes, a Selection sounds like a fine idea to distract the people, Father." And that's what he said. Which earned him a big pat on the shoulder, almost taking away his breath in the process.

"Excellent, let's do this. But I want the girls background-checked and handpicked," the king added. "None of his random selecting nonsense. Make sure to pick girls from every caste, but focus on good families from the upper castes." He looked at the Prince and Daniel braced himself for what was coming next. "The lower-castes will be throwaways and you'll do what I tell you."

Daniel nodded– did he even have a choice in the matter? Not so much. Unless he wanted a thrashing from his father, but since he didn't, he agreed with him.

King Richard nodded. "Very well, get to work on this," he ordered his men. "Daniel's birthday is coming up in June, let's have the Selection during that time so we can throw a lavish party for him." He ruffled his son's hair "Right, son?"

Daniel escaped his father's ruffling and stood a little farther away. The tie around his neck was becoming tighter and tighter; he needed some air. Real air. Thank goodness it was the end of the day and the king dismissed everyone. Daniel hurried out of the room before his father could keep him behind and went to his room to change in some less fancy clothes to go outside. Daniel told his bodyguard – there was a rotation of guards for him and he didn't even bother to learn their names – he was going out for a swim.

Keeping to the servant's corridors and stairs so he wouldn't meet his father somewhere, Prince Daniel made his way outside, to the small beach at the foot of the Castle, upstream of the river, on the Western side of the Palace. From there, the sunset was beautiful, behind the trees and Daniel knew he had only a few more minutes – maybe half an hour? – of sunlight to swim. Arriving on the beach, he kicked off his shoes and stripped down to his swim trunks before stepping into the running waters of the Illéa River.

"Cold-cold-cold-cold," Daniel said between his teeth as he toddled in. The slope was steep quickly, but the current wasn't strong and Daniel dived in head-first, swimming to the other side, leaving his guard on the beach. When he reached the other side, he had deviated a little from his actual position, but he didn't mind. He would just walk a few hundred yards upstream before swimming back. He sat on the opposite beach and saw his mother standing next to his pile of clothes. She waved at him, and Daniel waved back, smiling at the queen despite his sour mood. A few minutes later he decided to swim back.

"How cold is it?" his mother asked.

"Cold enough," Daniel replied. His teeth clattered a bit and he let his mother wrap the towel around his shoulders.

"That bad?" she asked. But Daniel knew she wasn't talking about the cold water of the river. She knew that when he took a swim, it was to cool down after something that happened, and it usually involved his father, the King.

Daniel shrugged and held the towel closer. "He wants me to host a Selection to, and I quote, 'distract the people of Illéa so the army has time to search for the Rebel Leaders.'"

"I see," Queen Penelope said, rubbing her son's arms – he was taller than her already, so it was no easy feat – to warm him up a little. "Well, it could be nice," she amended. "You're almost twenty-one, anyway."

"Oh, and speaking of which, he wants to make my birthday a huge event in the Selection." He rubbed the towel on his legs and arms and put his pants back on. It may have been Spring and the weather may have been hot during the day, but now that the sun was behind the tree line, the air was cooling down by the minute, making his cool skin ripple with goosebumps. He pulled on his t-shirt over his head and looked at his mother. "And he said he'd have the final word in my choice."

Queen Penelope sighed. "Why doesn't this surprise me…" She pushed a wet strand of hair away from her son's face. "I'll try to talk to him about this, but I can't promise you anything. Your Father…" she trailed off, looking for the right words. "Your Father always has a good reason to do what he does."

Daniel shook his head and slipped his shoes on. "I don't understand how you still see good in him. He's ruining our country, and people are going to hate us. As always."

Queen Penelope followed her son back inside. "I see good in him because it's there, somewhere, deep down. He wasn't corrupted like this when I married him, and I know he'll come back to his senses…" she paused, but Daniel didn't say anything. "The Civil War has been going on for five or six years, and it's taking a toll on him."

"Don't try to find excuses for him, Mother," Daniel retorted. "We're in the middle of a Civil War with the Rebels because of him. It's his mess, and he thinks he needs me to fix it." Yes, okay, maybe Daniel was a little bitter about his father's ruling. There were so many things he would have done differently, and so many things he would have to fix the moment he stepped on the throne. He just hoped it wouldn't be too late…

*.*

Lunch had come and gone, and now King Daniel was ready to tackle the afternoon. Papers were littered on his desk and he moved them around, looking for that specific one.

"A-ha!" The moment he had his eyes on it, though, Toothless jumped on the desk and laid down on the papers, demanding attention and petsies. "Aw, Toothy, not now," he said; but the black and shining fur of his clumsy cat was too soft to ignore and he rested his head on his right fist while he petted the cat with his left. "I can never say no to you, now, can I?" he asked softly. He tried not to spoil them too much, but when you were the richest and most powerful man in the country, it was hard not to.

After a few minutes of petting and purring, Daniel transferred Toothless to his lap so he could continue working. He kept one hand on his cat, liking the purring vibrations under his touch, and he grabbed the paper with the other. It was a report he had to read until his next meeting with the advisors, but at least it was a positive one with the newest numbers of births in the past six months. The Plague had taken a good number of children from them, but people were starting again to have babies. He smiled, wondering if he'd ever have children of his own one day–

Which brought the thought of his third Selection crashing back down on him like icy water. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying not to get overwhelmed by unwanted thoughts of the previous two Selections.

A soft knock sounded on his door and he looked up, happy for the distraction. "Come in!"

Marielle Rose walked it with her iPad in her hands. "Hey," she said with a small smile. "Can I bother you for a minute?"

Daniel sat back in his chair and smirked. "Mari, you know you never bother me."

"I know," she said, coming to stand in front of his desk.

"And you're a very welcome distraction."

Mari raised an eyebrow and tucked some red curls behind her ear. "I see. From what?"

"…stuff."

Marielle Rose gave him one of her looks again, but Daniel didn't tell her more. "Fine," she said. "So, I've been going over the applications of the first two Selections and– what?" she asked when Daniel plonked his head on the desk, making Toothless startle on his lap.

"No, go ahead," he said. "We need to talk about this, anyway."

"Right." She paused, looked at him for a few more seconds until he looked back at her and she had his full attention. "As I was saying, I've been going over the past two Selections application forms and I tried to make one for this time around. What do you want to know about the young women beforehand?"

Daniel scratched a spot behind his neck. "I want a copy of their criminal records. Just to make sure they don't have ties with the Rebellion– I'm not taking any risks," he added, explaining.

"You don't have to justify yourself, Daniel," Marielle said softly, writing it down. "You're the King, you can ask anything. What else?"

"Medical History," he said. "I think we need a healthy and mentally stable person to become queen; we're putting all the chances on our side. And I want to know if they ever had kids before. Did they survive the Plague?"

"And if they did," Mari asked. "Should they come, too?"

"Of course," Daniel said. "Why ever not? I mean, only if they want to, I'm not going to force them or anything. Who would want to separate a mother and her child?"

Mari nodded and wrote it down on her iPad. "It's funny because your father wanted the Selected to be virgins, in the first Selection…"

"Really?" Daniel chuckled. "That's sounds so much like him…"

Silence filled the room as his last words hung in the air around them. He hadn't particularly loved his father, but he had still been his father, and Daniel sometimes would have wanted to go to him for advice. Even if it was just to do the complete opposite of what his advice would have been.

"Anything else?" Marielle asked, keeping her eyes off him. And Daniel noticed that she hadn't really looked at him in the past couple of days except to give him her look, earlier.

"Yeah," the king said. "Are we going to address the Elephant in the room or are we just going to ignore it?" On his lap, Toothless looked up, sensing that something had changed in Daniel's petting.

"The Elephant? Are you calling me fat?" Mari said. Now it was Daniel's turn to give her a look. "Kidding." She took a big breath and let it out slowly. "It depends which one you're talking about," she started. "Is it the one where you kissed me on your desk, or the one where I said I didn't want to apply to your third Selection?"

Daniel snorted: he could count on Marielle to be blunt and not beat around the bush. "Oh, so there are two elephants; good to know." He tilted his head to the left. "I was more thinking about the first one but we can talk about both."

Marielle looked at the king straight-on. "Okay. Why did you kiss me?" she asked.

"I- I'm not sure," Daniel admitted. "It was just in the moment…" he trailed off, looking for something in Marielle, an emotion, or anything. But she was good. "And maybe I've wanted to do that for some time?"

"Oh really," she stated, putting her hand on her hip. "And why did it take you so long, then? Five years, Daniel. Five effing years of working right next to you and not once did it cross your mind to kiss me? Especially since we were quite close in the selection?"

"Trust me," Daniel mumbled. "It did cross my mind– But you were always so professional! It never seemed right." He stood from his chair as Toothless ran away to hide under a pillow on the couch. He stuffed his fists into his pockets and walked around the office. "Didn't you like it, at least?" he asked, a little sheepishly. "You did kiss me back…" Daniel looked at his feet and he suddenly felt like a teenager again.

Marielle didn't answer right away, but she didn't move from her spot, not coming any closer to him. "That's not the question, whether I liked it or not," she said softly. "But–"

"Can I kiss you again? Like, right now?"

"No."

Daniel's shoulders slumped a little and he looked away.

"Daniel," Marielle said, taking a step towards the young King. "You're starting a Selection in a few weeks. Why would you want to start something before that? Don't you think it's bad timing?"

Daniel shrugged. "We haven't started the Selection yet. I could stop everything now."

"No. You need to go through this, and go to the end of it."

"How are you always so wise and logical?"

"I'm your second brain, remember?" she asked, smirking. "However," she added, "It made me think a lot about the second elephant…"

"…And?"

"Look– Let's just say that if no one from Angeles applies, or if we can't find anyone suitable from Angeles among the applicants, then I'll put my name in."

Daniel grinned and took her hand in his – still so soft! – and kissed her knuckled, making her cheek fill with pink. "I hope no one applies, then."

Marielle rolled her eyes, but she let him kiss her hand before taking it back. "Anyway," she said, smoothing down her blazer, "I'm going to go work on this, I'll be back in a couple of hours." Without waiting for him to say anything, she walked out of his office, flipping her hair over her shoulder. Daniel looked at her walking away and he stayed there, immobile.

Was it really worth it to do a third Selection when he had a very decent, fine woman in his life? Plus, she was funny, smart, and beautiful. He could honestly stop everything right now and never again hear the word Selection once in his life. Wouldn't that be glorious?

/ / /

Daniel was waiting backstage, anxiously biting on his thumbnail as he waited for the stage assistant to come to get him for his part in the Report. The King wasn't particularly fond of appearing on national TV, but it was one of the only moments his people saw him – apart from some other official appearances here and there – so he had to present a good image.

Daniel had wanted to wear all his kingly regalia because he liked the bling of it all, but his mother figured it would be a little intimidating for the woman who would be invited to the third Selection. He was not a Prince anymore; he was a King. The King. But to be able to reach his people, he had opted for a beige suit with an off-white dress shirt under a matching vest, with a burgundy tie and a small matching burgundy lapel pin.

He took a deep breath and quickly looked at himself in the mirror of one of the studio's dressing rooms just to make sure he looked presentable. The makeup artist had already done her job on his face – powder so he wouldn't be too shiny under the spotlights, styling his hair, covering blemishes – but he tried to tame his caterpillar eyebrows to his liking, but to no avail.

"Sir, it's gonna be okay," Emric Miller, his bodyguard and almost constant shadow, offered. "Tom is not going to bite, he's a good guy."

"I know," Daniel replied. "And I don't mind too much being on the Report– and you know that. But announcing a third Selection? People will think I'm desperate."

Emric chuckled softly. "You're not desperate. If anything, you're following tradition. People are expecting it."

"Are they really?" Daniel asked, a little skeptical. "Even after two failed ones?"

"I think, yeah." Emric nodded and stood next to the king, both looking at themselves in the mirror. Emric was a couple of inches taller than Daniel, but Daniel didn't mind. He knew Emric for almost seven years and he felt completely at ease around him.

"Your Majesty?" the assistant said, popping his head in the door. "You're going Live in five minutes. Can you follow me please?"

Daniel took a deep breath and nodded, walking out the door with Emric at his heels. He followed the stage assistant through corridors, going left and right – thank goodness he knew the place a little or he would have been lost – until he was just outside the Live-filming studio. He could hear Tom Blake making the transition.

"And now, Ladies, Gents, and Everyone in between, it's time for the surprise guest I've been telling you about earlier!" His voice boomed into the studio, where the small live audience – mainly influential Twos, along with people from other Castes who had won a ticket in the weekly Report Lottery – cheered. "People of Illéa, please welcome His Majesty, King Daniel Schreave!"

The assistant gently nudged Daniel onto the stage, through a fake door on the side, as the audience stood and cheered and welcomed him. Daniel did a little wave but he couldn't see the people– the lights were too blinding and he needed some time to adjust.

Tom Blake stood from his chair and bowed reverently to his King. "Your Majesty," he said. "It's an honor to have you on this set. Please, do sit down."

"Thank you, Tom," Daniel said, sitting down. The translucent table between them was perfect to hide Daniel's hands as he tried to make them stop shaking. He didn't come on the Report every single week, more like once a month, but every time, he was a nervous wreck. And this time was sooner than normal.

"Your Majesty, you've been with us only two weeks ago. It was a very pleasant surprise to see you back this soon!" Tom said, grinning. Daniel wondered how he kept his beard so clean and trimmed. It must take him hours of his day! "I hear you have something very special to announce this evening…" he prompted.

Daniel nodded. "I do," he replied. "There's no easy way to say this, so I'm just going to say it." Daniel noticed Tom sitting at the edge of his seat, eager for the news. But of course, he already knew it and he already had given the King his list of questions so he could prepare. "I'm planning on doing another Selection."

To Tom's credit, his jaw dropped almost to the floor. "A third Selection?"

"…Yes."

"Oh, wow! I can't believe it's finally happening!" Tom was utterly excited at the news, grinning from ear to ear and clapping his hands very fast. "When? How? With who?"

Daniel smiled, having to admit that Tom's excitement was somewhat catchy. "We've sent the applications this afternoon, so ladies between the ages of 25 and 30 will be receiving them on Monday morning."

"All the ladies?" Tom asked. "Not just the single ones?"

"All the ladies," Daniel replied. "Anyone who is not currently married will receive an invitation. That means single ladies, widowed ladies, single mothers, divorced ladies, and so on."

"Wow, I see," Tom said. "Very inclusive." He smirked at the king. "When are you planning to announce the names?"

"At the end of the month." Daniel crossed his legs under the table, shifting his position a little. "The applicants will have a week to send in their applications, and the Selection will start at the beginning of October."

"AAaahhh! I'm so excited!" Tom said. "But can I ask you something personal?"

"You may," Daniel replied, knowing what he was going to ask.

"Why now? I mean– don't get me wrong. This is all amazing. But why wait five years after the last one?"

"The country needed time to heal. The people needed time to heal. And I needed to find my place as King of this nation, and trust me– there was a lot of work to do. I don't mean to speak ill of the dead (may the King rest in peace), but there were things that needed changing, and it took time."

"I understand," Tom said. "But tell me, Your Majesty. Would you be willing to welcome Selected from the past two Selections as well?"

Marielle had shown him the list of the ex-Selected who were still alive, after all this time. 10 had survived the attack during the first Selection and 12 had been eliminated before that, so that was 22 from the first Selection; some of those were already married and had kids, some were not, or not anymore, and only half of those had survived the Plague. That left 9 potential Selected from the first Selection. Among the ones who participated in the second one, only 11 were still alive; out of these, only 6 were either single, widowed, or divorced. All in all, only 15 out of the 70 ex-Selected could potentially sign up again.

"Yes, I would," he simply replied, even though he knew it was a long shot that anyone among these fifteen young women would want to tempt fate again.

"Ooh, that's even more interesting!" Tom Blake replied. "Well, all I can do right now, is wish you luck on this next step in your life, and I really hope this time will see a Winner and a Queen!"

"Me too, Tom," the King replied. "Me, too…"

"We do say that Third time's the Charm, am I right?" Tom grinned – did he actually wink at the King? – and then turned to the camera to his left. "Well, you heard it from us, Ladies, Gents, and Everyone in between! The King is going to host his third Selection! Don't forget to check your mailbox on Monday morning! That's all for tonight! Have a great week, and we'll see you next time! Bye!"

All the red lights on the cameras around them turned off, and they were off-line. Daniel breathed a little easier, but then he remembered he was still in the studio and that the audience was still there. Of course, there were royal guards all around the room, but the crowd was still coming towards him.

The King wanted to greet these people, he wanted to be close to his subjects on some level, but he was also very suspicious of everyone. When you get stabbed in the stomach by a woman you're thinking of marrying, it doesn't really help…

"Daniel! Your Majesty!" a woman yelled from the middle of the crowd. "I love you! Can't you let me in your Selection even if I'm thirty-two?"

Daniel chuckled but shook his head. "I'm sorry," he said, trying to see who had spoken. His guards were holding off the crazy mob, but a little girl walked through and tugged on the King's sleeve.

"Mister?"

Daniel looked down to see the most beautiful grey eyes with a darker rim looking up at him. He crouched to be at the girl's eye-level. "Hello," he said. "What's your name?"

"Leandra."

"Nice to meet you, Leandra. What can I do for you?"

"I just wanted to give you this flower," she said, handing him a small sunflower.

"Oh! Thank you!" he said, not knowing what else to say. "That's very nice of you!"

The six- or seven-year-old girl smiled. "It's just to thank you because, without you, my two moms wouldn't have been able to get married and adopt me," she said. "You see, my birth parents died in the Plague."

"I see…" Daniel said. He had reversed his father's laws, but he had never seen firsthand how impactful his changes had been for the people.

Without waiting any longer, the little girl simply hugged the King tightly for a few seconds before dashing away where her two mothers were. She grabbed their hands and Daniel watched as all three smiled and waved at him. Daniel waved back and stood back up, shaken by this sweet encounter. He was still holding on to the sunflower when Emric nudged him to go backstage. It was time to head back to the Palace.

Daniel followed his bodyguard to the limo, outside, and then they were off. He looked at the yellow flower in his hands and decided that this was the most beautiful flower in the universe and that he would never forget Leandra, her moms, or what he was doing as King to make his country a better place for everyone.

Hiii! Here's chapter two before I focus solely on my other story during April Camp Nano Hahaha! I hope you enjoyed it and that you learned a bit more about Daniel^^

I can't thank you enough for your support! All 15 spots were filled in 21 hours! I think that's a personal record! thank you so much!

Anyway, so I'll be looking forward to your characters! You can send them in whenever you want in the coming month! ;) See you in a few weeks!