I DO NOT OWN THE SELECTION SERIES. NOW THAT WE ARE DOWN TO THE TOP 10 OR ELITES, THE STAKES ARE HIGHER, THE DATES ARE MORE INTIMATE, AND THE FEELINGS ARE STRONGER. I AM VERY EXCITED FOR THIS!

Schreave Palace. Province of Angeles. Day after the gold tournament.

The next morning, all of the 10 remaining selected were woken up and ordered to report to the foyer for a special announcement. As everyone piled into the foyer, Benvolio Jackson stood in front of them and demanded their attention.

"Attention everyone, we are down to the final 10 tributes in this selection!" Benvolio announced as everyone looked excited and at the same time nervous. "You will know be known as...the elites! That means that the next prince or princess of Illèa is in this room and as such, you will be required to begin learning about the functions of Illéan government, so that you can run the country properly. You will also be required to choose a charity that you will become the patron of, if and when you become a royal. There are other things that you will need to learn, but there will be time for that later." The elites seemed thrilled at the prospect that they had made it this far. There were looks of surprise and joy and longing, but from the face of Romeo Monroe, there was a mixed look of calmness and awkwardness.

To those who were in the know: King Maxon II, Queen Jessamine, Benvolio Jackson, and of course the suave Romeo Monroe himself, it was no secret that Romeo found himself among the elites. However, Romeo was still uneasy about the whole thing. He didn't like all of thing immoral and if he was being honest, illegal things that he'd had to do in order to get a spot in the elites. Try as hard as they might, the powers that be in Illèa had not yet managed to completely stamp out his conscience. If Romeo was being completely honest, he thought that crown Princess Melody Schreave was one of the most beautiful women that he had ever seen and she was a very kind and gentle soul. He did have a sincere desire to marry her and to become the next king of Illèa. However, he that there were other elites like Anna Bristol and Noah Addington and Rosa Quinton that did have a very good chance of stealing the heart of the heir to the Illéan throne and that in order to decimate the competition, he was going to have to not only continue to cheat, but up the ante.

Later that afternoon, King Maxon II was in his officer smoking his favorite brand of cigar in order to calm his nerves. Several sporadic riots had occurred around the country as a result of the crackdown of the palace protests. The southern most provinces were the most problematic. The local law enforcement chapters were proving to be ineffective, so Maxon had ordered a couple of army regiments to go in to help keep the peace. Several rioters had been gunned down, but there was still unrest. As he was deep in thought, he heard a knock at the door.

"Come." Maxon commanded as Benvolio stepped inside.

"The announcement of the elites went well my king." the secretary replied.

"And what of our chosen champion?" the King inquired.

"He is set to his purpose, he has been set up for the first of the one on one dates with the crown Princess." his servant insisted.

"That is good, everything is going according to plan." Maxon said as he leaned back in his chair as he took a huge puff off of the cancer causer. "We have Romeo in my daughter's path, all we need to do is remove all other obstacles from their path to each other."

"What did you have in mind my King?" Benvolio asked.

"Call Director Laertes at the headquarters of the Royal bureau of investigation in Waverly." the King ordered.

"The RBI, why my King?" Benvolio asked in surprise.

"I want agents dispatched to every elite home." Maxon ordered. "We need to dig up all the dirt that we can against these peasants, every single skeleton in their closet. If Melody will not send them home, we must get them to beg her to send them home."

"All right, i'll call director Laertes and get him to put a team together." Benvolio replied as Maxon nodded.

"Tell him that this is a mission that is vital to the security of the crown, the clearance level must be at least 5 levels above top secret and no one except you, him, and myself are to know the true purpose of this investigation."

"What if the agents start to ask questions?" Jackson inquired.

"Tell him to make something up!" the Schreave patriarch demanded.

"Very well my King. Your will, my hands." Benvolio replied as he bowed his head and exited the room in order to do as the King bid him. Maxon II kept inhaling on his cigar as he looked out the window. He would do whatever it took to protect the patriarchy and the status quo.

PLANS ARE SET IN MOTION TO PUT ROMEO MONROE ON THE THRONE. WILL THE ELITES BE ABLE TO WITHSTAND THE CORRUPTION OR BE UNDONE BY IT? REVIEWS NEEDED AND APPRECIATED.