Jeffrey sat on the floor of his bedroom, a board game in between him and his boyfriend, Ethan. Ethan had short black hair with smooth white skin. His eyes were brown, and like Jeffrey he had a slender build.

"So, your mom's hosting a Selection." Ethan said as he rolled the dice he smiled when he got a six and moved his piece.

Jeffrey nodded with a sigh, "Yeah, she is. I think it's a stupid idea."

Ethan chuckled, "Come on, it won't be that bad."

"Yeah, it will be," Jeffrey said as he rolled the dice then moved his piece across the board.

"Hey, you know why they call it board games?" Ethan asked with a grin.

"Cause they're boring?" Jeffrey said with a smirk.

Ethan chuckled and leaned in closer to Jeffrey, "Exactly."

Jeffrey felt himself blushing as he leaned in and kissed Ethan softly on the lips, "I don't mind them."

Ethan laughed, "I know you love them."

"You're just mad because I'm kicking your ass," Jeffrey said triumphantly.

"Yeah, that's it," Ethan said sarcastically. "So, you come out yet?"

Jeffrey shook his head, "I can't. I know your dad was accepting and that's cool and all, but there's no way my uncle would approve. Not to mention the rest of the country."

"What about your mom?" Ethan asked. "I'm sure she'd be cool with it."

"I just…I'm not ready." Jeffrey said with a sigh. "I'm sorry, I know how annoying all of this sneaking around is."

"Hey, it's fine," Ethan said as he reached out and placed his hand of Jeffrey's. "I don't mind, but I know how shitty it is to be in the closet, I just want you to be able to be yourself."

"Thanks." Jeffrey said with a small smile. He leaned in and kissed Ethan on the cheek.

"What are boyfriends for?" Ethan asked as he kissed Jeffrey on the lips this time. Jeffrey grabbed Ethan by the shoulders and pulled him closer as he deepened the kiss.

Annalise and Callum were walking through the gardens. She often felt bad for Callum since he was the spare and often overlooked so she liked to spend a lot of time with him to make up for it. Darren never bothered to spend much time with his second born son, preferring to spend the majority of his time with Jeffrey. Annalise had wanted more children, but Darren insisted on only having two, an heir and a spare.

"Are you excited for your Selection, mom?" Callum asked.

Annalise nodded, "Of course I am, I'm excited to put myself back out there." And to give you and your brother a better father figure she added mentally.

"I'm excited to meet them too!" Callum exclaimed. "Do you think they're going to have kids too?"

"I think some of them might, we've prepared for that though," Annalise replied.

"Are they going to stay at the palace?" Callum asked excitedly.

"If their mother is out of the picture and they're young enough, then yes," Annalise answered. "We'll have to get that information when they apply."

"I just wish Jeffrey wasn't so negative about this," Callum said.

Annalise sighed, "Your father and Jeffrey were awfully close, and you know he was in the room when it happened. I'm sure that this is all just a lot for him to process."

"Dad liked Jeffrey more than me," Callum said sullenly.

"I don't think so, I think he loved you both in different ways." Annalise said as she wrapped an arm around her son.

"Uncle Rupert likes him better too!" Callum complained.

Annalise frowned, "No, he doesn't like him better. He just wants to control him; your brother is going to be the next King of Illéa and that means he's a threat to your uncle."

"Why does he want to control him?" Callum asked.

Annalise sighed, "Because your uncle likes having control, he wants things to stay the way they are, he doesn't want your brother to make any changes when he comes of age."

"But things aren't perfect, doesn't Uncle Rupert want to make things better?" Callum asked.

"I'm not sure what your uncle wants," Annalise answered honestly. "I just know that I don't trust him, and neither should you."

Callum nodded, "I won't."

"Good," Annalise said, then placed a kiss on Callum's head. She hated that she had to warn her own child to be wary of their uncle, but there she didn't trust Rupert and didn't want him getting through to her kids. Jeffrey had to spend time with him, he was the heir, and he was the regent, it was expected, but that didn't mean that Callum had to get wrapped up in this mess.

Rupert sat at his desk and Blair sat across from him. He tapped his thumb against the desk, he couldn't believe that Annalise had denied his request to further train Jeffrey in matters of state. He was the next leader of Illéa for crying out loud! He only had four years until his time to reign came, and with the way Jeffrey thought he would run the nation to the ground. He knew his nephew wanted the castes gone, if that's where it started who knew where it would end. He shuddered at the thought.

"We need to get Jeffrey under control." Rupert said as he stood.

"How?" Blair asked. "You may be the Regent, but his mother is still his mother, if she won't let you spend more time with him then what can we do?"

"She's poisoning him with her liberal thoughts, Darren only married her because she was pretty and popular with the people, she never understood politics all that well." Rupert said as he started to pace the room. "Had my brother lived he would never have tolerated the anti-caste sentiments my nephew spews."

"So, what do you suggest we do?" Blair asked.

Rupert sighed as he sat on his desk, "I honestly don't know, but we need to do something or else he'll run the country amuck. If only there was a way to separate him from his mother, then we could talk some sense into him."

"What does he think about the diary?" Blair question.

"He thinks Gregory was power hungry and exploited his people, this was supposed to sway him to our side not turn him against us!" Rupert answered angrily.

Blair sighed, "We need to somehow convince him that the castes are for the better."

"What we need to do is get him out of mother's grasp. She's just going to use him to push forward her own political agenda." Rupert said as he crossed his arms. "Let me think about this, I'm sure I can come up with something."

"Of course, sir, is there anything else you need from me?" Blair asked.

Rupert shook his head, "You can go, send Jeffrey my way if you see him."

"But I thought Annalise said-"

"I don't care what she said!" Rupert cut her off as he slammed his hand on the table. "Send me the boy, I'm going to tutor him whether she likes it or not."

"Of course, sir." Blair said with a nod. She stood up and left the room. Rupert sighed as he watched her leave, how to get Jeffrey away from his mother…that was the question on his mind. Things would be so much easier if Annalise were to just disappear, but that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. She was in perfect health and the rebels were nowhere near the palace. But he doubted they would go after the Dowager Queen, she was loved by the people. Damnit, Rupert thought as he kept brainstorming.