Prince Wesley Shreave slid out of the back of the SUV, and whipped of his sunglasses to take in the familiar sight before him. It had been awhile since he had been here, he realized, as the sun beat down on him and the smell of the ocean filled his senses.

He took in the grandeur of the seaside vacation home of the royal family, Trentworth. It was huge, designed of course, to accommodate a Selection. The rich gold stucco and cobbled driveway matched the beach he knew was behind the estate, the large windows and massive wrap-around terrace balcony accommodating the beautiful views.

The salty breeze messed up his already messy hair, and Wesley doffed his suit jacket as the heat got to him. He ignored his guards as they checked in with security and went in the front doors, while he stepped onto the terrace and walked around to the back.

Trentworth has always been full of memories for him, some much better than others. It had always been his favorite place to visit, even though they didn't go there too much when he was a kid. His mom didn't really do sun. Or sand, or much of anything come to mention it.

His favorite memories there were of the time they had gone there during his older brother Ethan's Selection for safety, after the rebels had stormed the palace during the masquerade ball held in the honor of Wesley's sixteenth birthday. Well, they were at least his favorite until the rebels found out they were there and attacked them during a game of sardines, that wasn't so fun, even though none of them had been killed. When Mitch Levi, the son of the rebel leader, had captured the royal family and the few remaining Selected and held them hostage up in Yukon during the beginning of the civil war in Illea, after they had been rescued by the remnants of the Illean army and a band of counter-revolutionaries, they had come here to rebuild the government.

In the back of the estate, he leaned against the terrace railing opposite the glass paneled doors that led out from inside, above the short stairs that went down to the garden path leading to the beach, taking in the stretch of ocean just beyond the fountains and grass. There were so many good memories here, so much better than the recent ones that filled his head.

The last six years of his life hadn't been very pleasant, beginning with the attempted revolution planned during Ethan's Selection, the one that had resulted in the death of four of the girls and his father, the former King Jackson. Of course, being taken and held hostage in Yukon had been pretty bad, but he had thought everything would be okay after they were rescued and Mitch and his leaders had been killed.

It hadn't, of course. Some wounds were just too big to heal overnight, and Mitch's attempted take-over wasn't going to die out either.

Wesley's oldest brother, Andrew, and his wife Christine had been crowned the new king and queen, and Ethan had finished his Selection, but the rebels weren't finished yet. Whites and Yukon had been the first to secede, followed by Atlin, St. George, and Bankston, demanding to create a new country, independent from Illea. Thus, another civil war had begun in the wake of Mitch Levi's. Perhaps it had never ended at all, until two months ago, when the north had formally surrendered.

This was the closest he had been to home since then-

"Uncle Wesley!" The shout jerked him from his thoughts as his leg was suddenly attacked. "Mom, Uncle Wesley's here! He's here!" The little voice shouted—probably a little louder than necessary.

"Hey, Aidan, long time, no see, huh little man?" Wesley said, gently trying to peel his nephew off him.

The four-year-old first male in line for the throne, the son of his oldest brother Andrew and his wife Christine, protested.

"I'm not little!" He proclaimed. "And I saw you at Christmas!"

"That's right, I guess you're all grown up now. Ready to be king?"

Aidan finally released his grip on Wesley's leg, allowing the blood to flow again. "Will you take me down to the beach, Uncle Wesley, please?" he begged, not answering the question.

"I don't know, where's your mom? What did she say?"

"She said not until later, when everyone else got here. But you don't have to tell her that, do you?"

Before having to decide the moral dilemma of having to obey the queen of Illea who was also his sister-in-law, and be boring or to indulge what four-year-old him would have done, he was saved.

"I'm pretty sure your uncle had a long trip, Aidan, why don't you go find your dad?"

Nicole, his other sister-in-law, Ethan's wife, always knew exactly what to say, Wesley marveled, as Aidan ran off, no doubt to bother Andrew in the same manner.

"Hey, thanks. That was a tough one," Wesley said, stepping over to give her a hug, "It's good to see you, Nic."

"Well, I'm pretty sure Ethan's told me the story where you pulled the same thing with him when you were a kid," Nicole grinned, and shifted her son to the other hip to hug Wesley. She looked great, as usual, the same thin dancer's body that she had always had, though she was sporting some new blonde highlights in her hair.

"Oh, crap I was hoping you hadn't heard that one," he said, before shifting his attention to the kid. "Hey, Jamie, how's it going, buddy?"

The little boy giggled, and then hid his face in his mother's neck.

"He's two now, isn't he?"

"Yep, last month," Nicole said, pulled a strand of her dark hair out of Jamie's grasp.

"I'm sorry I missed the party," Wesley said lamely, reminded of yet another thing he had missed.

"It's okay, we knew you were busy," Nicole reassured him, "But it is good to have you here. Come on inside, we're all waiting for you."

Wesley followed her off the terrace and inside, the cold from the air conditioning fogging up the lens of the sunglasses in his hand. "Is everyone already here but me?"

"Yep, you're the last one. I can't remember the last time the whole family was together like this, except for maybe Michelle's wedding after Ethan's and mine."

Wesley closed the doors behind him, and then suddenly became aware of an onslaught of noise. He walked after Nicole and Jamie across the marble floor, into the large living room, resisting the urge to cover his ears. Usually he liked Trentworth more than the palace—it felt more like a home than a museum with its smaller size, smaller staff, and more proximity to the family. Now, suddenly he wasn't so sure.

His family was gathered in the living space open off the main entryway that dominated the downstairs. The high, two-story ceiling allowed a glimpse of the staircase that led into the second floor full of bedrooms, and overhanging the railing he could see two little girls, his nieces, no doubt. That would Sophie and Evangeline, the six-year-old princesses, the firstborn kids of Andrew and Christine.

The noise came from the screaming baby in the arms of his older sister Michelle, the new niece he had yet to meet. It upset Jamie as he entered in Nicole's arms, and he started to cry too.

Aidan ran back up to him, this time with his cousin, Michelle's older son, five-year-old Danny, in tow.

"Hi, Uncle Wesley! Did you bring us any presents?" Danny crowed, always expectant since he always saw Wesley at Christmas.

Never heeding his older cousin, Aidan all but leaped into his personal space, and proceeded to tug on Wesley's arm. "Mom says you can take us to the beach now, Uncle Wesley!"

"No, she didn't Aidan!" This came from Sophie, one of the twins. At least he thought it was Sophie, he still mixed them up, even though one of them had dark reddish-brown hair like Andrew and the other, presumably Evangeline, was blonde like Christine.

"Yeah, she said that you must wait until tomorrow," chorused the other twin.

All four of the kids turned to him, eyes wide and looking for the parental guidance that Wesley, the youngest and only still single member of his family, most certainly lacked.

He panicked. He loved the kids, he really did. But sometimes they made him want to run out the door as fast as possible and never, ever settle down.

Once again, he was saved, and this time it was from his oldest brother, Andrew, who also happened to be the king, so the kids couldn't dispute it.

"I know you guys haven't seen your uncle since Christmas, but he's probably exhausted. So, if you're good, we can go down to the beach later, but in the meantime, there are really really important king things to discuss with him first, so you guys all go play together, okay?"

"We should play sardines!" Aidan yelled—once again much more loudly that necessary, and the rest of the royal children agreed and ran out, minus Jamie and the new baby, Charlotte, now calmed down.

Wesley turned to Andrew, noting with admiration his brother's new beard. "Why is your son exactly like me?" he asked, trying not to act pleased.

Andrew punched him lightly on the arm, "I don't know, seeing as you haven't been around much in the last four years. It's good to see you, little bro," he turned the punch into the manliest hug possible.

"I like the beard. Wish I could grow one like that," Wesley said.

"Well I don't," this came from Andrew's wife, Christine. "It's pretty scratchy."

"WOAH PDA!" Wesley feigned mock horror, before giving her a hug.

The petite blonde queen smiled warmly, lighting up her delicate features. Like Nicole, ironically, she was a ballerina too, and even after three kids, albeit a set of twins, she still looked as elegant and graceful as when they had first married.

"Sorry about the kids. They slept the whole way here on the plane, and then Ethan let them have cookies."

"That's because I'm their favorite uncle," chimed in Ethan, Wesley's slightly older brother, Nicole's husband. He got up from where he was sitting by her, careful not to disturb the now-sleeping Jamie.

"Yo, I'm pretty sure I'm their favorite uncle. I'm much more interesting," Wesley proclaimed. "Off flying planes instead of being on the Council being a boring grown-up."

Ethan grinned, and then hugged him. "Good to have you back, Wes. I missed that sarcasm."

It was easy to fall back into his old ways, he realized as Ethan started talking about official things with Andrew in rather hushed tones. He hadn't even had to try. It was good to finally be home.

He bounced over to the three remaining adult relatives he hadn't greeted, plus the baby. His mom, the queen mother Francesca Shreave was sitting with his sister Michelle and her husband, David in a corner of the room. Even though she was holding baby Charlotte, and maybe because of that, he could that his mother wasn't quite so young anymore. The last four years must have been tough on her too. Her auburn hair wasn't the same shade he remembered as a kid, it was lighter, and even though she covered up the gray well, he could tell she dyed it. Same as always, she wore lots of makeup and even in the casualness of Trentworth, she was wearing an evening gown and heels.

"Hey, Mom," he said, leaning over to give her a kiss on the cheek so as not to disturb the baby. "You look great."

"So, do you. You look like your father with your hair that short," she said, squeezing his hand.

"I can't believe you're at the legal drinking age," Michelle said as a hello, hugging him tightly. He always blamed his sense of humor on his only blood related sister, but most people disagreed. "That's a little scary."

"And good to see you too, Michelle," Wesley teased back. Michelle had put on some weight, as was expected after having another baby, but it looked good on her, he always remembered her as too skinny. At 26, she was about a year and a half older than Ethan, and two years younger than Andrew. Wesley, recently 21, was always the baby of the family, even at family reunions with newborns.

He shook hands with David, the sandy-haired former guard that Michelle had married just after Nicole and Ethan's wedding. The pair along with Danny and now Charlotte weren't regular fixtures at the palace, only on holidays. They spent the rest of their time at their home in Clermont.

Originally, she had been betrothed for life to a prince in Italy, but with after the attempted coup and ensuing civil war, they had broken negotiations, and Andrew had allowed her to marry her lifelong love, David.

At least something good had come from that.

"Beards must be in style," he said, greeting his only brother-in-law.

"He says he doesn't have time to shave with two kids now," Michelle explained. "Even though Colin has three and shaves religiously."

"That's because Adele would probably kill him if he even thought about a beard," David joked, casually mentioning the first prime minister of Illea and his wife, a former lady of Ethan's Selection, plus the leader of the counter-revolution that David and Michelle had fought on to rescue them during their captivity in Yukon.

"Did you meet Charlotte yet, Wesley?" his mom asked him, "she's sleeping, so you can hold her."

He didn't protest as his mother carefully shifted the pink-wrapped bundle into his arms. After six other nieces and nephews, he'd found he liked babies, as long as they weren't crying.

"Hey, Charlotte," he murmured, unable not to smile. Like her mother, she had dark hair, though hers was sprouting in tufts on her head. "I guess you're the first girl since the twins."

A wave of exhaustion spread over him, and he leaned back into the couch, and took a deep breath. For once, relaxation came over him easily. Maybe he should have come home more often to hold the babies more often.

After they had restated the monarchy and deposed Mitch's rebellion, he had spent about a year at the palace, in constant meetings with Andrew, Ethan and the others—the most senior member of the Illean Military, General Connelly, the newly elected to the newly made office of prime minister Colin Evans, along with the new senators from the provinces. They had tried to fix things, but after the secession and re-beginning of fighting in the north, he had become restless. The palace held too many memories, and he had had to get away.

With his title, he had initially only volunteered on Connelly's staff, staying in the relative safety of Columbia. That year, he had learned everything he could about military strategy, as well as completing his pilot's training, something he had always wanted to do.

Somehow, he had gotten promoted to first lieutenant, and had spent the next three, hellish years leading raids into enemy territory.

Two months ago, the provinces that had seceded had surrendered, and they were being incorporated back into the rest of Illea.

It's over now. It's okay. You're at home, you're on vacation with all the family, holding your niece. It's over. It's okay.

He sat in silence, listening half-heartedly to the conversation swirling around him

Maybe he should take a nap or something. He dosed off for a while, in good company with Charlotte.

When he woke up, someone had kindly put a pillow under his face, smashed against the arm of the couch, and removed the baby from his arms. Jamie was now curled up next to him, drooling all over the other end of the couch.

He sat up, blissfully ignored by everyone sitting around him, now consisting of his mom, Michelle, Christine, and Nicole—talking babies as usual.

"We've hired a governess for Evie and Sophie," Christine was saying. "She'll be tutoring them too, now that they're older and I have my hands full with Aidan."

Nicole smiled, "I can't believe they're already six. You were pregnant at my wedding still, weren't you?"

Yawning, Wesley got up, in pursuit of some snacks, wondering if the governess would be hot, or if she was going to be some mean old lady who would yell at him.

He found Andrew and Ethan out on the terrace, eating chips and watching the older kids run around the garden. Of course, this required lots of unnecessary running up onto the terrace and the connecting balcony, and plenty of screaming. Wesley almost turned back for a solo snack mission until he saw they had salsa too.

"Hey bros, what's crack-a-lacking?" He asked, joining them on the patio furniture and stealing the bowl of chips from Ethan.

Ethan made a move to retrieve them, then thought otherwise and gave him the salsa too. "We've been discussing Andrew's Council."

"I thought us and Colin as prime minister were enough," Wesley said around a mouth of chips, motioning to Ethan.

"Yeah, but no offense, neither of you know anything about military strategy," Andrew said. "Connelly's stepping down from active duty now that the north has surrendered, so I'm going to ask him to oversee national security."

"You should ask Ben too, Nat's husband. He's really turned things around in Kent," Ethan added, mentioning Nicole's twin sister Nat Harris and her new husband Ben Harris, the first senator of Kent and former rebel-turned-revolutionary.

"I was thinking about that, since he helped us out before he got elected, when this all started."

Wesley stuffed in another salsa laden chip, "You should ask Elvira, too. I like her."

"You think she'll leave the military? She's a captain now," Andrew said.

"Of course, she will, I think she secretly enjoyed her time in Ethan's Selection. And besides, she wouldn't pass up an opportunity to see me again." Wesley joked.

Ethan shoved him jokingly, "You're so weird, Wes."

Wesley grinned smugly, "I know, it's one of my talents."

They both simultaneously turned to Andrew, always looking for the older brother to take a side. They found him staring over the garden solemnly.

"What's wrong?" Wesley asked.

Andrew started and looked at him, and probably hadn't heard any of their conversation.

"Oh, sorry. I'll ask Captain Entrinken too, to oversee military."

"No, why are you frowning like we forgot your birthday?"

Andrew leaned back in the chair, and sighed. Wesley noticed his older brother was starting to look different, a few more wrinkles and hardness to his face. He decided not to bring up the time that did happen.

"I just keep thinking-I don't know if making a new Council will be enough. I mean, we just had a civil war. We kinda had two, I guess. And I don't think things are just going to go back to exactly the way before and everything is going to fix itself. But I'm not Dad, I don't know what to do."

Ethan leaned back too. "You mean bringing the country back together."

Andrew nodded, and the three brothers sat in silence.

Wesley snorted. "Wow guys, I just had a great idea," he dead-panned. "We should have another Selection. I should have a Selection." He chuckled at his joke, and reached for more chips, munching until he noticed both of his older brothers were staring at him.

"What?" he wiped his face, in case he got salsa on him or something. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"That's actually a great idea," Andrew said.

"Yeah, people will see that we're all the same again, especially with a girl from the secessionist provinces," Ethan pointed out.

Wesley jumped up, upsetting the chips onto the floor. "No no no no no I was kidding guys, I was kidding, now everyone is supposed to laugh, ha ha, what a stupid idea, Wes."

Neither of them did, and Wesley panicked. "I'm not joking now, I am not having a Selection."

"Oh, come on, Wesley," Andrew said, "What's the worst that could happen? I thought you loved the women."

"Oh, I don't know, maybe some crazy guy could start another revolution and one of the girls could turn out to be his spy and people will die and I'll die and that's serious, that's life-long commitment, I can't do that guys."

"Hey, it worked for us, didn't it?" Ethan reminded him. "It's not actually that bad."

"I don't want to get married!"

"Neither did we, but when we had ours, it was just for us. You'd be doing the whole a country an amazing thing," Andrew said. "Look, we're on vacation, you don't have to say yes now. Think about it, and when we go home, we'll talk again." "Yeah, but…" Wesley trailed off. He could see that his pitiful arguments weren't going to get him anywhere. He had never pictured himself having a Selection, especially because Andrew was the king, and his brother would never force him. Sure, he loved girls, but he didn't like it when relationships became serious.

That was…serious.

Besides, there was part of him that had always dreaded having a Selection because he already knew that he could never find a girl he could love.

…

HELLO EVERYONE! Either welcome, or welcome back, if you're here from Selected Twins! Prepare yourself for a nice long author's note!
So, as promised, this is the sequel for Selected Twins, my first (really long) story, which I hope you have read, or at least will. I know most stories that have sequels do them as independently as possible, and I will try to do so as well, but I think it will definitely help. This story isn't going to be especially long, only somewhere between 20-30 chapters.

So, Wesley's having a Selection (why else would we be here), and I decided to go ahead and make a small SYOC component because it's fun, and this is a sequel to another SYOC.

So, here are some rules and the form, and there's more information on my profile if you need some references.

So first off, in the chapter we found out that the attempted revolution back in ST spiraled into a civil war, and lead to some secession by some provinces. The war is over, and they're going to be working towards unity (think the American Civil War, basically), and Wesley's Selection will help that out. If you want to make a character from the north (which I would love) she'll definitely get more "screen time", but make sure you include how the war has affected her.

These are the provinces that seceded (I'm going off the map):

Whites

Yukon

Atlin

St. George

Bankston

In addition to this, much of the fighting also took place and affected these provinces, so make sure you indicate how it affected your character if they are from there.

Columbia

Ottaro

the northern region of Husdon

Other than that, just don't copy any of the characters from the series, or any character from another thing or a celebrity (I'm fine with inspiration, I just don't want blatant copies), and PLEASE do not use the exact same character you have submitted elsewhere.

Also, the Selected aren't going to have a massive role (like in ST) and I won't be writing in their POV, so you don't have to spend tons of time on them. The form is pretty short, but please still include detail in the sections I require. I'm doing this so you don't spend a ton of time on stuff I'll never use!

Also, like ST, I go off the "dystopia" from the series, so there's no internet or social media etc., it's not a contemporary world, so please take that into account

Make sure you at least get the basics in by the deadline by July 15th so I can get started on the story!

If you have any questions, comments, concerns, want to bounce off character ideas with me, or whatever, don't be shy to send me a PM!

Please include your characters first and last name somewhere in your PM title!

Happy creating!

-Form—

Basics

Name:

Age: (18-22)

Province: (Pick two-if you pick one of the above ((please do!)) make sure you take that into account)

Caste:

Occupation: (please include some detail, not just the title)

Appearance: (Hair, eyes, skin, build—Face claims are not required)

History/Backstory: (You only have to include what is important, unless you really want to write tons, go ahead! Basically, what has affected their personality and how they act, as well as a little background)

How Has the civil war/attempted revolution affected them: (Very important if you pick one of the above provinces)

Romantic History:

Personality: (This is the most important part! Please write as much as you can, at least a paragraph!)

How they act around people: (Including friends and family, royal family)

(These don't have to be long, and really anything goes)

Likes:

Dislikes:

Fears:

Talents or Hobbies:

Flaws:

Why did they sign up/why did they participate after they were Selected:

Thoughts on Prince Wesley:

OPTIONAL—you don't have to do all of these or any, only if you want, but I will definitely take them into account

Style:

Scene or quote Ideas:

Favorite Food:

Favorite Book/movie/songs:

Face Claim:

That's about it! PM for any questions, and I'll be getting Pinterest up and running shortly! You can search for me under Shades or Shades111, or the title of the board as soon as I make it!