Hey! thanks for reading! Hope you enjoy! :) (ps, the Queen and the Prince are little cheaters in this mini-challenge) The italics are the formal, printed clues. The italics that are bolded are the handwritten notes.

Melody, winterprincess and Karategirl537: Thank you for the reviews so far! I'm glad you like it!

Chapter Two

'Ask and it will be given to you. Demand and it will be taken away.' The Queen's words echoed in my mind, along with Maxon's. I'm excited this morning. I hope I'm the only one who has the advantage of knowing something is going to happen. Lucy and Mary wake me up while Anne runs a bath. It's getting colder every day so today I wear a comfy cream colored sweater dress. I was about to go out the door for breakfast when Anne stopped me.

"Wait! I'm suppose to give you this." She took an envelope out of her pocket. "Oh and I'd bring your camera if I were you." I looked at them weird and opened it.

CLUE ONE

The Selection is coming to an end,

Therefore you must prepare your mind to become royalty.

This might make your mind bend a little.

But in situations where you need to think fast,

The entire country could be in your hands.

Think before you act.

Go to the place where words are abundant,

where wisdom and knowledge are collected and stored.

Find the next hint there

Tick tock

The clock is ticking.

Sometimes clocks can give you hints

Be the first done

The winner of this mini-Challenge will be exempt from elimination from the Video Challenge. Think fast and think good.

Then I see a handwritten note on the bottom on the page. I recognise it as the Queen's

Dear America, you like reading, don't you? Oh and use your resources. Some maids might not know where everything is in the Palace. What utility would they use? (it's kinda like a world one)

I immediately knew what I had to do.

"Do you guys have a map of the Palace?" I asked. They all grinned and Anne took out a folded up piece of paper.

"Oh and you might need this:" She handed me a stylish messenger bag. I fast-walked to the door.

"Don't forget your camera!" Mary exclaimed, handing it to me. I jogged out the door. I heard Celeste yell at one of her maids. Kriss walked out her door at the same time.

"Hey!" I said with a smile.

"Hey. Are we headed to the same place?" She asked.

"Yeah, I think. Are you going to the library?" I asked.

"Yep!" I slung the bag across my shoulder and put the clue and camera in it. I unfolded the map. "Where did you get that?" She asked. That was when I knew Queen Amberly didn't put those handwritten notes on everyone's clues. I had to lie.

"Oh I thought it might be a good idea. I just asked my maids."

"That's a good idea! Why didn't I think of that! They just told me where the library was."

"You can share with me for now. I can't promise that the entire Challenge but it might be a good idea. We can work together." Kriss smiled at me.

"I'd like that." She said. She put her hand out. "Friends?" I smiled and shook her hand.

"Friends."

We arrived at the library at the direction of Kriss. I immediately started looking for a clock.

"Any idea what we're looking for?" She asked.

"Yeah," I said, taking out the clue. I carefully folded it in half so the clue showed, but not the Queen's note. "It says 'Sometimes clocks can give you hints'. So my theory anyway is that the hint could be a clock, or maybe inside a clock. We both started walking through the isles.

In a tiny nook in the back of the library, there sat a table with four clocks on it. Each had one letter as the background. C, K, A, and E. They were our initials.

"Here!" I called to her. I could hear her running.

"Where are you?" She asked.

"In the corner! Over here!" I saw her appear. She went to my side. "I think they're our initials. So the A must be mine and the K must be your's." Without another we both grabbed for our designated clocks. I toyed with mine, looking at it from different angles. Until I noticed there the seam was suppose to have screws in it to keep it together, all the screws were missing except for one. I needed a screwdriver. "We need a screwdriver." I told her. "To unscrew the last screw." She just nodded in agreement. I looked closely at the table to it but there was nothing there but the clocks. The table had a drawer in it, though. I opened it on a hunch and there sat four small screwdrivers. I grabbed one and started working on it. Kriss did the same. The clock fell apart and a paper floated to the ground. I grabbed it before it hit the ground. I unfolded it.

CLUE TWO

A game is what this is.

Every game has a prize.

The Prize of this game is the Prince.

Go to the place you first set eyes on the prize.

There was another note at the end. But it wasn't the Queen's. It was Maxon's

Hey, love, looks like you made it to Clue Two. I'll have to thank my mother again later for helping you. Remember you'll be going to a different place than everyone else. for this one, remember? Hope you win.

~Your Prize ;)

(ps, roses can be very romantic, can't they?)

I folded it in half so only the Clue shows and not the note at the end again. Kriss looked at my paper then back at hers.

"Looks like we're going to the same place again." I better not lie this time.

"Actually no. Remember I met the Prince the night before we officially met him. In the gardens." I put the clock and the screwdriver, along with the clue in my bag.

"Oh that's right. Good luck." We both walked out of the library and went our separate ways. I stopped by my room first, grabbing a cream colored winter cloak that matched my dress. It was very cold out and I didn't want to go outside without protection from the snowy weather. I lightly jogged out of my room, down the stairs, and into the garden, which was now a palace of ice. Roses, roses. Where was I suppose to find a rose under all this snow? Then I saw a podium. On the podium was a rose under a glass case to protect it from the snow. under the rose, I saw a piece of paper. I approached the case. I lifted the glass and smelled the flower. It smelled like it was just picked. I picked up the piece of paper.

Clue Three

La La La La La

This is where the competition gets personal.

America,

You were a Five with a talent for music

But your room isn't the only room with music in it.

Find the music.

As have found out, music is used along side something you can be fairly bad it.

That was it? Music is used for something I'm bad at? I guess that means I'm on my own. I walked back inside, staring at the note. Was there a room designated to music? I took out the map. But there wasn't a music room… What am I bad at? Umm… keeping my temper, making good decisions. What have I found out I'm bad at? Getting my emotions in check. Dancing, I guess. DANCING! The ballroom! I ran through to hall before I saw Silvia walking with some papers in her hand.

"Ladies do not run, Lady America."

"Right, Sorry." I slowed to a walk.

"Is the scavenger hunt going well?"

"Very, I think."

"What clue are you on?"

"Three."

"Good luck."

"Thank you." I went to the entrance hall of the palace. To the right of that is the ball room. One couple danced around the ballroom. It was almost eerie how they didn't even acknowledge me.

"Lady America Singer." A man announced my name from somewhere on the balcony like it would be if it were a real ball. The couple danced towards me, handed me a piece of paper, and danced away before I could say thank you.

CLUE FOUR

America, you made it this far.

Now you said you love the food to Gavril.

But how much do you really like it?

Romance can have sweet and it can have sour.

Both can help it grow

Sweet is always better, don't you agree.

Sometimes, it's so sweet, it just makes you want to cry, now doesn't it.

There wasn't even a note at the end this time. But I knew what it was asking. I was suppose to find a tart. Then I would find the next clue. I went to the dining room.

On the dining room table was an entire tart. There was a piece of paper by it and two large napkins by it. The paper said:

DIG IN

As nasty as it was, I knew I had to dig my hand into the tart. I scrunched up my face as I felt around. There was a piece of paper at the bottom. I took it out and wiped it off with one of the napkins. It was an envelope this time, probably to protect it from the tart. I opened it but before I took the paper out, I wiped my hands clean with the other napkin.

CLUE FIVE

Congratulations

You made it this far.

You faced books and cold and a tart.

You deserve some lunch.

I looked at the clock on the wall. I hadn't realized so much time had passed. It was now time for lunch.

The Garden isn't the only place in the Palace that flowers can grow

Meet your Prince for some lunch

Where flowers can grow in the winter

I looked for a greenhouse on the map. It was right next to the outdoor pool I didn't know the Palace had. I had to go outside for it, though. I put the hint in my bag, put the cloak back on that I took off when I came inside. I headed outside, following the map. I walked inside the greenhouse.

Maxon was sitting at a table just enough for two. He had a cute little picnic set out on the table. I smiled at him. He stood up and helped me into my chair.

"Hey." I said. I can never help but smile when I'm with him.

"Hey. How's it goin' so far?"

"Good. Thanks for the little notes. I'll have to tell your mother thank you, too. They really helped. I would be lost without them."

"I can tell they helped. As far as I know, you're the first person to make it to lunch."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. You're in first place. Kriss is in second. Elise at third and Celeste is in last place."

"Cool." There was a small silence as we started eating.

"So it took a little bit of convincing my parents to let me have this lunch with you. But I really wanted to ask you this." That got my attention. "If I asked you to marry me, would you say yes?"

"Yes! Maxon I would love to!" I hugged him. "But what about your dad? I thought he didn't like me. I thought he didn't want you to marry me."

"Yeah… he still doesn't like the idea. But my mom's been working on that. Me too. I'm actually kinda glad you brought that up. He has some conditions that you have to meet for me to even ask if you'd be willing to marry me. First you have to make a public apology for the last Report."

"Done. I put it in my video diary." He smiled.

"Good. You have to be on perfect behavior. You have to get at least second place on both this mini-challenge and the public vote after the broadcast of the video diaries. And you need to get extra lessons from Silvia."

"Agreed." I said easily.

"Good." He smiled. "With that out of the way, let's enjoy lunch. Oh and by the way, the second half of today is going to be even harder than the first. And there are going to be less hints from my mother and I because the last half was put together kinda quickly."

"Okay."

And we ate our picnic and talked and shared kisses.

Hey! So that's the end of the second chapter- the first half of the mini-challenge. Thanks for reading!