Disclaimer: All original characters belong to Kiera Cass. New characters and story line is ours.

Chapter 5

Waking up the next morning, the moments before my memories return are peaceful and beautiful. Once I fight through my happy daze, they come crashing in like someone kicking the door of my brain down. Ryder, Kaiden, Gerad, Grayson. So many guys.

So. Many. Guys.

And oh my God I have to choose some to get rid of. All based on a few seconds of conversation and a dance. You would never think first impressions could be so powerful.

I sit up in bed and stretch my arms out, and when I rotate to crack my back, a painful sounding pop results. After a moment of hesitation, I climb out of bed and walk over to my closet. I take a high-low dress off of a velvet hanger and change into it quickly. Mary comes in and startles to see me already out of bed. She drops the towels on the counter in the bathroom and leans against the doorframe, watching me tug my heels on and put my earrings in. I slip my matching ring on and face her, hoping she can help me with the disaster that my hair is. She waves me over to my dressing table and pulls me down into the chair. She weaves my hair into an intricate four strand braid that starts at the top of my head and wraps around, falling over one shoulder.

I run down the hallway and stop in front of the doors of the dining hall. I take a breath and pull one of the huge double doors open, only to face the 35 probing eyes. I smile softly and shuffle to the seat between my mother and my twin brother.

When the food arrives, I keep my eyes fixed on my plate and try my best to block out the polite conversation of my mother and brother. My stomach is churning so I just push most of the food around on my plate until it's finally time for the toast.

I wipe my mouth with the cloth napkin and when I back up in my chair it lets out a horrendous squeal. I cough and stand, picking up the champagne flute with a small amount of juice in it. I grab the fork on my plate and lightly tap the glass.

It doesn't make a sound so I tap it harder, and to my surprise it explodes into a million tiny shards that lie scattered on the tablecloth. I cough again and drop the rest of the glass on my plate.

"Okay."

The guys all look around at each other, covering their mouths.

My mom bites her lip, trying to hide her laughter.

"Well this is what you will be getting into, so if you have a thing for any fragile objects, the door is that way."

Everyone erupts into laughter and I blush. A butler comes up with another empty glass and hands it to me.

"Thank you."

I hold it with a tight grip and continue on.

"Now that you've all finally arrived at the castle, I would really like the opportunity to get to know you a little bit, so I'm going to talk to each of you individually. However, I'm sorry to say that we don't have a lot of time tonight so I've prepared a question that everyone will be giving me their most honest answer to. What do you think is Illea's most pressing issue at the moment? I'll give you all a few minutes to think it over and then when you're ready if I could have Liam Wallace start."

I sit down with shaking legs and take a deep breath. At least I won't have any more public speaking to do the rest of the night.

The sounds of eating fill the silence in the dining hall for a few more minutes until the first guy at the tables arranged stand and escorts me out into the hall.

"Liam Wallace."

I smile and shake his hand as we both sit on a couch that lines the wall of the hallway.

He continues to explain how equality is the most pressing issue to Illea. He talks for about five minutes and when he has his argument all wrapped up I politely dismiss him. I smile to myself as he walks out, pleased that the first conversation went so easily.

And while he was one of the highlights of my many interviews, some, such as Adam Wing, highlighting the need stricter laws to keep the poor in check. In that moment I had never wanted to hit someone as much as I wanted to hit him. I wonder if he knew that my mom had lived in one of the 'slums' as he called them before coming here and becoming the best queen Illea has ever seen.

After all of the interviews are over I'm finally alone to make my final decision. To my surprise I find that it's not hard at all to decide who I want to go home. I quickly look through all of the pictures of the guys to make sure I get the names right when I call them back in.

With a wavering voice I call back into the dining hall, "Jack Edwards, Adam Wing, Jessie Iver, and Brigan Slade, can I talk to you guys for a minute?"

It takes all of my self control to sit still when they walk in.

"Thank you for coming in." They all stand expectantly and I stand up, clasping my hands together.

"Life is short," I begin. "We have one chance to try to get everything right. And as a person put in this situation, I am trying my hardest to make my own decisions based on what Illea needs and also what I need. I have a hard time doing this, but I feel like I must send you home, not only to save my time, but also yours."

I brace myself and everyone's eyes, trying my best to seem sincere. After several long seconds of awkward silence Jack suddenly stands up.

"Are you kidding me? You're getting rid of me first? Have you seen my abs?"

Before I can even think about stopping him he rips off his shirt. My face grows bright red as I take him in. I meet eyes with Adam whose hands are slowly moving towards his shirt collar. He lifts one eyebrow up, silently asking me if he, too, should take off his shirt. I furiously shake my head.

"Jack I'm sorry but if you could please leave and put your shirt back on, " I say as I stand to get the door. "Not in that order though."

I silently motion for the guards down the hall to come help me and they nod, jogging over to the door. I leave the room in a rush before I feel a hand stop me. I whip around hoping to God the shirts have been kept on. It's one of the boys, Brigan I believe and he gives me a bitch face and I raise an eyebrow.

"I'm not mad at you I just don't understand how I was grouped with them?"

I giggle a little and regret my decision to let him go. But I know he isn't the one from his fantastic plan was to have the most unnecessary draft, not understanding that not only him, but his friends could easily be sent to serve for our already sufficient army. Just like Aspen tells me, the draft is not useful because many times, you are just taking the only means of income from a home.

I take a deep breath and set my shoulders before I continue down the hall. With each step I gain a little bit more confidence to face the rest of the selected. Most of my confidence crumbles, however, when I run straight into Ryder.

N/A: Yay! Update! Sorry we haven't for a while! We appreciate the support because it's hard to update the two fics we are writing together. We will keep trying to update and hopefully we should have one out this month. Hope you guys had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.