Disclaimer: I don't own the Selection series, all rights go to Kiera Cass.

CHAPTER III: TWO PRINCESSES

Prince Royce

He was standing outside the palace in a line with his parents and his younger brother, something which was only done when foreign politicians or royalties came. A sleek black car parked in front of the gate and the chauffeur quickly got out of the front seat to open the door to the princesses.

He looked at Justin who was fidgeting and he was playing with his own hands, never stopping moving for a second. He was obviously nervous and Royce understood the poor guy – he would probably feel the same way when in a few weeks he was to meet the Selected for the first time. Knowing that one of the girls (or in Justin's case the older princess) was to be his bride was unnerving.

He caught his father's cold, light eyes which were so similar to Justin's, but at the same time they lacked warmth, youth and mischief making them as different as possible. His father shot him a meaningful look which he interpreted as "stay out of trouble; it's not your time to shine". Right, he was supposed to stay in the background – it was such a foreign thought. As he was the Crown Prince, the heir apparent that was always Justin's job.

The chauffeur opened the door and helped out the two princesses in a row. The moment he set eyes on the girls he knew that his memory didn't do them any justice. If every girl looked like that in Austria-Hungary than all men would love to live there that was for sure. While they did look like sisters, they surely weren't identical twins. He was proud of himself that he easily recognized which one was which – the Crown Princess' striking blue irises caught his eyes from the distance.

Their style was completely different as well, not like he was ever interested in clothes or something. Princess Regina was wearing a long dark gray, low-key and conservative dress which only flashy part was that the upper part and the sleeves were from lace. Her hair was in a complicated bun with a flower patterned headpiece. On the other hand her sister was everything besides discreet in a very spectacular red dress with its upper part completely made from beads. And her hair was considerably less princess-like as well as to Royce she looked like she didn't really comb her hair, though this might be the fashion for all he cared. Her hair was in a low ponytail which was had braids in it as well and it was wavy and had many locks standing in every direction.

Yes, the moment he saw the princesses he knew there would be trouble. He looked at his little brother who was watching the wrong girl with wide eyes. Princess Kinga was smiling brightly as she literally skipped all the way until his family, while Princess Regina followed her with an expressionless face. She was graceful and beautiful, but Royce was reminded of his mother and a word popped into his mind when he looked into the princesses blue eyes: cold.

"Your Highnesses." His father stepped forward once Princess Kinga and behind her sister stopped. The Crown Princess stepped forward and as a practiced dance her sister changed place with her. Just as it was Justin's task to stay in the background in his family, it was the younger princess' in hers.

"Your Majesty," she breathed while curtsying, her sister following her lead. And then they turned towards his mother and repeated the action. He turned towards the older first and kissed her hand while greeting her while Justin greeted the younger and then they changed partners.

"It's a pleasure to see you again," he said with a polite smile taking time to look at both girls. He caught the eyes of Princess Kinga and while they were certainly less catching than her sister's striking blue ones, her light green irises were not less nice with her brown hair and pale skin.

"The pleasure is all ours, Your Highness," the elder answered with all the formality of a girl raised as a princess. Her voice was melodic, but firm and determined. She had a soft accent, one he wouldn't have described as Hungarian, but as English. He supposed with Austria-Hungary being in Europe the princesses were thought the so called original English, not the one they spoke in Illéa.

"It's just Royce, I think we could leave the HRHs, it's quite repetitive," he suggested as they shared the same style, His or Her Royal Highness. He looked at his parents fearing that he has overstepped his boundaries, but they didn't show displeasure so he smiled at the girls, who nodded, though Princess Kinga – simply Kinga, he reminded himself – seemed to do even that more enthusiastically. That girl reminded him too much of his brother already, which he didn't like at all.

"Royce, I'm Regina then," the blue-eyed girl gave him a small smile which for the first time didn't look part of the greeting procedure, rather it seemed genuine and it lit up her face. She was the classic porcelain doll-faced beauty while her sister had some wilderness about her.

"Beautiful name for a beautiful lady," his brother provided and Regina nodded softly while Kinga raised her eyebrows.

"What about me – isn't my name as pretty as I am?" she asked challengingly and Royce could see that their father didn't approve of her question. On the other hand Justin obviously liked the challenge. He turned towards the younger twin and pretended to analyze her from head to toe.

"I'm sorry, my princess, your name just isn't as beautiful as you are," he complimented with an easy smile and the girl blushed at the attention, but she grinned even so. Royce looked at the elder who didn't seem fazed by the fact that Justin was just complimenting her sister instead of her even though he was her future husband.

"Shall we go in?" his mother suggested nervously looking around. Six royals in the open from which two were foreign dignitaries might have seemed too tempting for the rebels, so Royce quite agreed with her idea. Before he could offer his hand to Kinga Justin had the same idea, so he turned towards Regina. She accepted politely his offer and he led her in the palace noting his father's grim expression when he looked at the pair of younger siblings.

When he led Regina in, she didn't seem amazed by what she has seen. He imagined that it would be entirely different with the Selected though. She was used to living in style, in a probably similar castle to this. Not that he knew much about how the princesses of Austria-Hungary lived – he has never been to the country, though he did learn about it and he knew that it had a complicated structure while in a way it was two different countries and it had even two capitols, Budapest and Vienna.

"I'm afraid that with the Selection coming, the entire country is in uproar and we won't be able to celebrate your arrival in a way it would fit princesses," his father apologized for the lack of welcoming party. Neither girl seemed disappointed, though he noticed that they looked at each other in a meaningful way. Royce has heard that twins possess some special link, though he never believed it, and he wasn't even sure if non-identical twins were supposed to have it. So, they probably just knew each other well, they have grown up together after all.

"I thought that our father had made it clear that we are to stay in the background," she stated firmly locking eyes with the king. This surprised Royce as all he knew about the princesses was from Justin. He looked at his younger brother who seemed just as clueless as he was. So, he wasn't informed about that part either. His father didn't seem happy though.

"What your father has suggested – that can't happen," he said in a determined voice and Royce knew that he had to control himself not to shout with the girls and snarl at them. Royce looked around, afraid that a servant was around, but he couldn't see any – not that meant anything. They were trained to be seen.

"I think we should continue this in a more discrete place," his mother voiced his thoughts. He nodded in appreciation. All he needed was an international scandal because a loose-tongued servant before thirty-five girls, ladies took over his personal space. His father with barely contained anger led them towards his office. Justin was still escorting Kinga while Regina was on his arms. The moment they entered the office, his father gestured the princesses and his wife to sit, while the three men stayed on their feet. There would have been many bigger offices with more places to sit, but this was the safest place in the entire palace in more than one ways.

"What is wrong with the Emperor's idea?" Though she was seated the moment everyone found their place Regina stood up and questioned his father. "My sister and I aren't identical twins and fabricating a back story wouldn't be hard. We could be both Threes, well-educated, aspiring lawyers maybe. No one would question why they haven't heard about us," she stated and Royce for the first time since she spoke up when they've entered the building had an idea what was going on.

"The Selection is a way for the Crown Prince to find a suitable wife from the Daughters of Illéa," he answered while holding onto the edge of the desk. Kinga let out a chuckle.

"It's not like either of us wants to marry Royce," she stated simply with a wide smile on her face. "No offense of course, Royce," she turned towards him and winked at him. He shook his head indicating that he wasn't offended. He knew even when Justin first mentioned the arrival of the princesses that something was off with the story. Logically his brother should have gone to Austria-Hungary to meet his future bride and get to know the land one day he would rule over. Yet, here were the two girls – wanting to participate in his Selection. Something was up; he just couldn't point out what it was.

"I need to speak with Their Highnesses alone," his father emphasized the last word and he looked at his mother first and then at Justin and him. The princesses weren't fazed by his tone or the idea of having a private conversation though. On the other hand they didn't know his father of his temper. However, as the king he had the power to send them out – and he did. He left the room with his mother and his brother who looked longingly at the door.

"Did you know about this?" he hissed to Justin once they were on the corridor. He looked at him like he was crazy.

"That my fiancée wants to pretend to be your girlfriend? What do you think?" he asked angrily which was in a way rare for Justin. He nearly never cared enough to be angry.

"Boys!" Their mother looked at them with clear displeasure. "Enough!" If Royce didn't know that his mother wasn't born royalty he would have never guessed. She had the same air as Regina did and the haughty expression on her perfect face, no matter her age.

"Di you know about this?" Justin turned towards her and he questioned her with venom in his voice. While Royce simply never cared much about his parents, Justin was hurt by their lack of love. Justin was nearly only ever angry with their parents – because he cared enough.

"The King has informed me," she answered as formally as possible. The King, not your father, my husband or Damon. No, the King. Like she was just one of his servants, Royce had to admit that he didn't like that. He decided while he wasn't going to look for love during the Selection, he would find someone he could see as his equal. He remembered that the day before the Selection was announced when he was told that the time has come; his parents were fighting over something. He was curious on which side his mother was.

"What's going on and I want the truth," he stated quite loudly not caring at all about being overheard which wasn't like him at all. This time Justin silenced him while his mother simply looked with disapproval at both of them.

"I don't know and I'm not sure the King does either. There is something off with these princesses and while the King is trying not to look like he would do anything to please the Emperor, the truth is, he wants the alliance too much," she stated quietly looking all around and with that she turned around and walked away without even glancing at his own sons. So, according to his mother, his father was just pretending and the princesses would get what they want – places in his Selection.

Justin looked troubled which was something Royce has hardly ever seen. His younger brother had enough on his plate already with the arranged marriage, but the princesses' strange behaviour and request seemed just too much for him.

"This wasn't supposed to happen like this!" he stated angrily and he pretty much ran away. For a moment Royce wanted to run after him, but he composed himself. He was ready to go to his own office to read an economic analysis cereal production when the door opened and the princesses left his father's office not even noticing him. They were talking in a strange language in a hushed tone. As German wasn't one of the languages ever spoken on the American continent he wasn't proficient in it, but he knew enough to recognize it, so he was pretty sure that they were talking in their other mother tongue – Hungarian. Not that he knew even a word in that language, so that knowledge didn't help him.

"Ladies," he greeted them and they looked at him at the same time with the same worried expression until they realized that he most probably couldn't understand a word from their conversation.

"My prince," Regina said with a small practiced smile.

"Royce," Kinga said simply with a grin.

"Have you come to an... understanding with the King?" he asked in a pleasant tone much like the way Regina spoke. They once again shared a look, blue met green, but as it seemed like a common thing for them Regina spoke up.

"Yes, His Majesty was kind and he agreed to our terms. He understood that it was needed," she stated and Royce wanted to know exactly why it was needed but the way Regina looked at him he knew that he wouldn't get more information out of her. His attention turned towards the younger girl and while he suspected she was the easier to broke, under the façade of the carefree princess he thought that she was just as stubborn and determined as her sister. They had a plan, one which he suspected not only affected his Selection, but his entire country and he knew that they wouldn't just spill it.

"May I enquire why the need for secrecy?" he questioned them as politely as possible and he even added an award-winning smile to the end. He was positive he wouldn't get an answer, well, not an entirely true one, but they had to have some excuse and he wanted to know what.

"The people of Illéa like this whole Selection business, don't they?" Regina spoke as always when it came to him. He nodded not knowing where she was going. "Well, I imagine they wouldn't like the idea of just selling the youngest prince off to Europe just for an alliance. It would be a lot more romantic this way," she said with an easy shrug. Royce just shook his head in amusement.

"They would sooner or later realize that you are a princess, not the Daughter of Illéa. And this is my Selection, not my brother's. He isn't supposed to get any feelings for the Selected," he pointed out the problems with the explanation. He thought that they would be harder to break, but was surprised when they both looked crestfallen and Kinga even sighed.

"You have caught us," the younger stated and the older nodded and took the word from her sister.

"Yes, the truth is, while my father, the Emperor wants to seal this alliance between our kingdoms with the marriage between your brother and me, he is afraid of our safety. He knows about what's going on here with the Rebels and how you are constantly in danger and he fears that if it was known who we are we would be targets. But if there are thirty-three other girls in similar situation, and we are no more special than they are..." she didn't finish, but she didn't have to. What they were saying actually made sense, but he still didn't understand why they were even here?

He suspected the Crown Princess had her own work to do just as he did. Justin had a lot less responsibility than he or Regina did, so he would have been missed less as well. So, while there was some truth in their words there really was something off with these girls just as his mother said. He studied them for a moment and both seemed completely ordinary innocent young women, though of course they upbringing was obvious even just from their appearance and how they held themselves.

"Why would you come all the way to Illéa?" he asked curiously in hoping of getting at least some information.

"Is our presence so unwelcomed?" Kinga asked with wide eyes and obvious surprise. She was very convincing, but he suspected that she was a talented actress. They must have realized themselves that the whole situation was strange. "Well, let's just say that we wanted an adventure. Being a princess isn't exactly a very thrilling and adventurous job to do." Right. They wanted adventure. While the younger princess did look like someone who would want adventures and entertainment, he suspected that the answer didn't contain enough politics.

Author's note:

Once again I was a bit hyped xD Really, I'm a bit enthusiastic about this story at the moment and it writes itself - for example this isn't how I thought this chapter will turn out, but hey, these princesses have their own minds! I hope you like it and my little twist. Yes, I know how unfair, you can't have royals as Selected, but I can - sorry, life is unfair! But don't worry, they really are not there for Royce, while yours will be :3 (Or for hundreds of different reasons you have with your creative minds made up! xD) Oh, why did I have to post it today? Because it's a national holiday in Hungary which is related to the Astrians as well - so I found it fitting. As always I'm quite interested in your opinions! So, please share it with me!

Question of the chapter: What do you think, is Royce right? Is there more to the presence of the princesses and their idea of being in the Selection?

Olivia :)