Hey, everybody! I'm so glad to see that people have already submitted characters, and I've loved looking through them. Please continue to submit-there are lots of places left. I'm hoping to have all the characters in by next week-that would be ideal. Chapter 3 is currently in the works. Hopefully it'll be out soon. Read and review, and remember, if you like the story, the best gift you can give me is a well-thought-out character!
xoxo
how you make the color blue
Julian definitely took back the part about being excited for his Selection. It had been less than twenty-four hours since he had agreed to it, and everybody was acting like the girls were coming tomorrow.
"Sir, what color do you think the girls would like their room painted?" one of the palace maids, Ariel, questioned. Julian sighed. He had no idea.
"I'm not sure, but I know Valentina would love to help with this," he said. His artsy younger sister would no doubt do an amazing job of decorating the Selected's rooms, and he was sure they would all love them. Ariel curtsied and walked away. Julian sighed and turned to leave-until one of his favorite butlers, Sheldon, stopped him.
"Pardon me, Your Highness, but we need to talk about what we should put in a recreational room for the women." Julian internally groaned.
"Of course, Sheldon. Please, show me the room, and I'd be happy to share my thoughts with you. And, for the last time, you can call me Julian." He followed Sheldon to the large, albeit bare, room.
"Maybe some board games?" he suggested. "They might like those. And we should probably get couches and comfortable chairs as well. They'll be free to use our athletic facilities and the library, but maybe we could stock a cabinet with drinks and snacks?" Sheldon was scribbling down his suggestions on a notepad.
"Your Highness-"
"Julian, Sheldon. Julian."
"Julian- do you think having art supplies would be a good idea?" Julian smacked his forehead.
"That's a great idea, Sheldon. I should have thought of that." Sheldon nodded and made another note.
"Well, Julian, I think that's all we need. Thank you for your input." Julian nodded and Sheldon bowed before walking in the other direction. After a quick lunch, he had to get straight back to lessons, except this time they were intense, designed to teach him all he needed to know to become king. Today they were focusing on etiquette.
"Remember, Julian, keep your hands by your sides. Don't put them in your pockets, it makes you appear rude," his tutor, Annalena, said. Julian nodded absentmindedly. "And under no circumstances should your fingers ever be in your mouth!" The last part was shouted to get his attention, and he quickly pulled the finger he had been chewing on out from between his teeth. He liked Annalena, he really did-it was just that this was so BORING, and they had been reviewing it for over two hours. He was saved when Sheldon entered.
"Your Hig- Julian, you have a visitor here to see you." Daniel. Julian was out of his seat and running down the hallway in a flash. He didn't stop until he got to the palace entrance, and there he was. In the flesh. He was taller than Julian remembered, and his hair, usually sandy, had lightened to blond, while his blue eyes sparkled. He was a year younger than Julian, but that hadn't stopped them from becoming best friends. Their mothers had become friends during their Selection, and they had continued to keep in touch even after it was over, and that's how Julian had met Daniel, while they were still in diapers. Daniel grinned widely.
"There's my best friend!" They reached each other and hugged, and Daniel dropped his voice. "How are you holding up? Is there anything I can do?" His eyes were full of concern, and Julian felt a rush of love towards him. It was true they were brothers in everything but blood, and he didn't doubt that Daniel would do anything for him. For the first time, he felt himself relax a little.
"I'm fine," he muttered. "Just a little stressed." Daniel nodded and stepped back, and Julian's other siblings burst in to say hello. He fist-bumped Matthew, gave Valentina a hug, picked up Giselle and spun her around, and hugged Harper and kissed her cheek. Julian had always loved how well Daniel meshed with their family. It was like he was born to be there.
"Come on, Daniel," Julian said, heading his room. "You can borrow one of my swimsuits, and then we can hit the pool."
"Sounds good to me. Can I borrow your Speedo?" he asked, eyes gleaming. Julian swatted him in the head.
"You said you weren't going to mention that to anybody, you ass!"
"Sorry," chuckled Daniel. "I couldn't help it."
"Can I join you?" The question had come from Harper, which Julian thought was a little weird, seeing as she didn't even really like the pool.
"Of course you can!" Daniel said, winking at her. Harper smiled and turned the corner to her room. It gave Julian a weird feeling, but he decided to shake it off. The important thing was that Daniel was finally here.
"Marco!" Daniel called.
"Polo!" replied Julian and Harper, from opposite ends of the pool. Daniel considered for a second, and then turned and began swimming towards Julian, who tried to get away as silently as possible, but not quickly enough, as Daniel reached out and tagged him.
"You're it!" he called triumphantly. Julian sighed playfully, punching him in the arm and swimming to home base. Before he could start counting, though, Queen Charlotte waved him over.
"I'd better go see what Mom wants." He climbed out of the pool, grabbed his towel, and started walking towards her. Behind him, Harper and Daniel started messing around on one of the inflatable rafts they had put in the pool.
"Yes, Mom?" he asked, once he had gotten within speaking range.
"Your father wants to see you. You're going on live television tonight to speak about your Selection, and you need to practice what you're going to say." Julian groaned. He hated speaking, knowing everyone else was watching.
"Do I have to? Can't Dad just talk about it instead?"
"Julian, the whole country wants your input. Plus, the girls aren't going to come if you don't seem interested. This is a good start to showing everybody that you're ready for the responsibility of being king."
"Fine. Now?" His mom nodded.
"Shower and put some regular clothes on, and then yes, go see him."
"Even though Daniel just got here and I haven't seen him in ages?"
"Julian Maxon Kile Luke Schreave-" Uh-oh. He knew he was in trouble when his mom used his full name. "Being king means that you can't always do whatever you want." He heaved a sigh.
"Fine. I'm going."
"Thank you, Julian." Queen Charlotte walked away, satisfied. He turned back to the pool just in time to see Daniel flip the raft with Harper on it over. She spluttered indignantly and spit strands of hair out of her mouth as she swam to the surface.
"Hey, Daniel-you want to go on television with the royal family tonight?" Daniel shrugged.
"Sure. It's been a long time since I've done that."
"Well, there's a reason for that," Harper informed them. "Last time you and Julian only made animal sounds whenever you were asked a question." Julian laughed.
"Oh, yeah. I remember that." He vaguely remembered the TV host, Michael, asking what he had been doing this week, only to be answered with a moo from Daniel and a neigh from Julian. Daniel seemed to be recalling the same thing.
"Well, don't worry, Harper. This time, our lovely prince here-" he reached out and ruffled Julian's hair- "has to impress all the lovely ladies with his speech, since his looks won't do that for him." Julian groaned and pushed him back in the pool, turning to leave.
"See you guys later. Dinner at six, and then airtime at seven. That means latest, you should be out of the pool at 5:00, which is in thirty minutes." Harper and Daniel nodded, and Julian walked back to his room. When he got there, his butler, Noah, was waiting for him.
"Why don't you get in the shower, Julian?" he said. "I've set out an outfit for you."
"Why do I have to wear this?" Julian asked. He hated starched shirts and ties.
"Are you trying to impress the ladies or not?" Noah asked, but there was a smile on his face. Apart from Daniel and his siblings, Noah was the closest thing he had to a friend- and an older brother now. Julian clutched his chest in mock pain.
"Your words wound me, Noah."
"Not as much as the empty baskets for Selection forms will." Julian flipped him off before stepping into his bathroom and taking a quick shower. "Head straight to your father's study," Noah said. "You'll have a quick meeting with him, and then eat dinner." Julian sighed, but set off at a brisk walk anyway.
"You wanted to see me, Dad?" Julian was sitting opposite his father, who was going through some papers.
"I did, actually. You're going to be asked some questions about the Selection, and I just wanted to make sure you were prepared."
"Don't worry. I can't imagine Michael will throw anything too difficult at me."
"Well, if you're sure, then you can go, I guess."
"Thanks, Dad. By the way, is it okay if Daniel is on air too? He makes me feel less nervous." His dad smiled.
"Of course that's okay. You don't even have to ask."
"Thanks. I'll be there at 6:30 to get set up."
"Bye, Julian. Hey, make sure you eat something, alright?"
"Of course. See you soon." Julian practically ran to the dining room. He could hear his stomach calling for a nice juicy steak, which it soon got. After swallowing his last bite, he headed to the media room, where chairs were already set up on stage, and he could see his mom getting her makeup retouched.
"Hey! Julian!" He looked over at the sound of Daniel's voice. "Are you ready?"
"No," he groaned, trying to block the thoughts of everyone watching him out.
"Come on, what could go wrong?" Daniel gave him a winning smile. "All you have to do is talk about girls. It can't be that hard." Julian ignored him. "Hey, it's okay," Daniel said, his voice quieter. "I'll be there the whole time."
"I just hate talking in front of people. And what if I say something stupid about the Selection-then that's how all the girls are going to view me coming in."
"Relax. Even if you mess up now, and some of the girls come in hating you, you'll just prove to them that you're different. But that's not going to happen- because they're all going to love you."
"Thanks, Daniel."
"Anytime. Remember- we're brothers. We have each other's backs." They sat in silence, waiting for it to start. Finally, Michael showed up, and the cameras started rolling.
"Aaaand...welcome back to your daily dosage of Royally Done!" Julian couldn't help rolling his eyes slightly. He hated the show's name. Honestly. Royally Done? It was so dumb. He was changing it as soon as he became king. "This time, we're excited to announce something very special!" Michael briefly spoke about how tragic the death of Liam was, before moving on to the big news. The Selection. "So, ladies, listen up, because something very special is about to happen. Prince Julian is having a Selection!" The cameras panned to Julian, who managed to smile, although he figured it probably looked really strained. "And, as per demand by the prince himself-all the castes are going to be included! Application forms will be coming around to every household. Please submit them by August 15th, and the names will be drawn on September 1st. Good luck!" And now it was time for Julian's least favorite part-the part where he had to talk. "So, tell me, Julian, how are you feeling about this Selection?"
"I'm excited. I think including all the castes for the first time should yield some interesting results, and I'm really looking forward to getting to know the girls."
"That's wonderful! I'm sure the girls are excited to meet you too! Now, have you already started preparations for them?" Good. An easy question, with no tricks.
"We have. My younger sister, Valentina, is in charge of the Selected's rooms, and I know she'll do a wonderful job. I've also been trying to set up a recreational room-with help from Harper." He gave her a pointed glance, and she nodded.
"My brother has shown, through the attempt to design this room, that he knows nothing about what girls like. I can only hope the Selected will be patient with him." Michael laughed.
"Hopefully so. And this is Daniel, correct? Are you here for the entire Selection process?"
"I don't know yet. Probably not- I wouldn't want all the girls to swarm me instead of Julian." Julian punched him in the arm, laughing. Daniel did ease the tension well.
"And Julian-one last question before we go. What are you looking for in a future wife?" Julian froze. He was not prepared for that question. But everybody was looking at him now, and he realized he had to give an answer.
"Um, I don't know. Uh, funny, I guess, and willing to challenge me? Somebody who loves me for me, I guess?" It sounded stupid coming out of his mouth, and he wished he hadn't added in the last part.
"Well, ladies, did you hear that? Prince Julian wants somebody with a sense of humor. Who thinks they can give that to him?" Julian wanted nothing more than to crawl out of sight, but he stayed in his seat until he heard Michael say, "See you tomorrow, with a report from the King," and the red light on the cameras that meant 'recording' blinked off. Julian exhaled and walked off. Daniel took the guest room that he always stayed in, and Julian went to his own room, but had trouble falling asleep. Every time he closed his eyes, all he could see was Liam, and he wondered if it would ever stop.