Prince Killian

Mom and Yasmin had been bugging me about choosing my first date since I had met the Selected at dinner. They had only been in the Palace for two days now, but like mom said, time was ticking. To try and escape their prying questions, I went out for an early morning ride.

I walked into the stables, heading for my Arabian horse, Sultan. He immediately began neighing when he saw me approach. I smiled and stroked his head and black coat, ''You're always happy to see me, huh? Let's go for a ride.''

I was on his back in no time, and we were galloping through the forest, my mind clearing out the farther we got from the Palace. I wished I could just keep riding, away from all this madness, away from my duties and never turn back. But unfortunately, that was a hopeless dream. I had to turn back eventually, and as I returned and led Sultan back to his stable, I felt the memories from that day returning to me. This was where I had found them.

My thoughts got interrupted by a high pitched scream outside. Well, it wasn't exactly a scream. More of a mix between a squeal and a scream. And from that I knew that it was Yasmin.

I approached the palace steps in time to see Yasmin running down and practically tackling a blonde haired girl who had just stepped out of a long limousine. The girl's tiara barely kept its balance on her head as she hugged Yasmin in equal enthusiasm. From the limousine, her tiara and the British accent, I immediately knew who it was. Fuck me. If there ever was a bad time to bring my ex to the Palace, it was now.

I quietly watched them as the Princess of England kissed the Princess of Illeá on the cheek. There she was, Beatrice-Alida Natasha Crowne. Her eyes shone as much as ever, matching her lively personality and bright smile. It had been a year since I last saw her, and I knew that Yasmin missed her every day. The two were best friends but they didn't see each other as often as they'd like too. Yasmin had always been kind of jealous when Bea and I were a 'thing', because she couldn't have Bea all too herself. But who the fuck thought it was a good idea to have her here during my Selection? While she was never officially my girlfriend, she was the longest fling I ever had. We lasted for six months, and our pictures were plastered all over the tabloids. In Illéa and in England. We were known as the wild kids, partying in exclusive clubs around the world all night, drinking until we passed out, and sharing a bed. I was sure that at least some of the Selected knew of our 'relationship'. Having her around them could become a problem.

She finally noticed me standing there, and smiled as she let go of Yasmin. The feeling between us could only be described with one word, and that was 'awkward'.

I walked over to them and bent forward a little, as she only stood at 5'2'', to kiss her on her cheek. ''It's good to see you again, Bea. I didn't know you were planning on coming.''

Bea smiled brightly at Yasmin, before she replied, ''Well, Yasmin wrote me about the Selection and that she would love it if I could be here, and I thought, why not? It will be fun to watch you squirm and try to juggle fifteen girls at once.''

Yasmin giggled, ''Well, we have already cut it down from the usual thirty-five girls. Imagine that!''

A few butlers hurried down the steps to carry Bea's bags inside the Palace, and I awkwardly cleared my throat. ''Well, if you girls don't mind, I have work to do. I will see you at dinner.''

I hurried inside, having never felt as awkward as in that moment. I hadn't seen Bea anymore after we ended things, and it was rather unusual to see one of my former flings and to actually have her stay around. I always had the rule to never fool around with girls who I would see more than once, so I stayed away from the maids and other Royals. But Bea had just drawn me in. And now I was stuck feeling like an oaf around her.

Lady Viollca

I was walking down the hallway alone, not bothering to join the other girls, because to be honest, groups of people exceeding the number five freaked me out. I was on my way to our first lesson taught by Miss Arabella, the royal planner. My head was in a completely other space, as I was already fantasizing about how I could use my experience in the Palace until now in my next story. My readers would absolutely love it. I wasn't paying any attention at all which caused me to bump into something hard. It wasn't until I looked up that I realized I had bumped into a body. And not just any body, the Prince's.

''Your Highness! I'm so sorry!'' I quickly curtsied as I straightened my midnight blue dress.

He waved off my apology, ''Don't worry about it, Lady Viollca.''

I smiled at him, surprised that he actually knew my name. He was still in his riding outfit, which consisted of a white dress shirt and a black and grey vest, along with riding boots. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up, showing off his toned arms. I had to admit, he was pretty handsome.

He had looked rather irritated, but that disappeared when I smiled at him. ''Are you enjoying your stay at the Palace?'' he asked as he smiled back at me, very charmingly I must add.

I nodded, my hands fiddling with my dress as I didn't exactly know how to behave around the Crown Prince. ''It's great. I've never been in a place like this, and it will definitely help me develop my future stories, if they were to take place in a grand castle or palace. One has to experience things to perfectly envision them, right? I can already imagine my next heroine as a badass Princess, fighting crime in her restless country, while still retaining the proper image her people have of her. Doesn't that sound good? Now I just have to think of a title-'' I quickly shut my mouth as I saw the Prince's expression turning from bemused to amused. I was talking too much again.

''I'm so sorry! I tend to not know when to shut my mouth. And the fact that you are the Crown Prince doesn't exactly make the situation better. I bet my new heroine would know what to do in a situation like this. See, here I go again.'' I threw my hands in the air, opening my mouth to apologize again.

''Don't apologize, it's okay. I don't mind you talking. It's rather.. interesting. May I add that a Princess with some kind of superpower would add to the value of the story?'' the Prince grinned.

I started laughing, hardly believing that he was taking my rambling seriously. My laugh turned into a snort, and I quickly covered my mouth as that caused me to laugh even harder. ''Your Highness must think I'm crazy.''

''Please, stop calling me Your Highness. It's Killian,'' he said, a grin still plastered on his face.

''Okay then, Killian. Then I am just Viollca. I would love to work on our superhero Princess story, but your staff didn't allow me to bring any of my writing and drawing tools. So, you'll just have to wait to see this wonderful heroine in action.''

''That can be fixed,'' he simply said, a mischievous glint in his eyes. ''Well, excuse me, Viollca, but I have to work on some rather boring Prince stuff. Enjoy your day.''

And with that, he was gone. It took me a few seconds to process that I just had a conversation with the Prince. And not just any conversation, it was about my comic books. And I snorted, right in front of him! Thank God he didn't send me home right then and there. This would be another useful experience for my work.

I hurried off to the Great Room where we would have our lessons. Everyone was already seated, and I was glad that I didn't have to socialize with them as the lesson was already starting. I took my place in the back corner of the room and Arabella clasped her hands together.

''Alright, ladies. First of all, welcome to your first lesson. I'm sure you're almost settled in, but there is something very important I need to make you aware of. Today, we will be talking about the rebels,'' she said.

Some ladies gasped at the mention of the rebels, and I sat up a bit straighter, my interest perked.

''As you all know, King Edward's grandparents reinstated the caste system after it was almost taken down. Rebels have always been active, but this made them even more furious with the monarchy. They especially have something against Prince Killian as the future King, so the Selection announcement hasn't been sitting well with them. Attacks are reported more frequently, and they have been more deadly. They will try to attack the Palace. But the security system has also been extended and more safe rooms have been built. You will have to know what to do when a rebel attack happens. And that's what I'm here for.''

I swallowed hard. I wasn't heroic or fearless like the characters in my comic books. This scared me, and I saw that most of the other girls were scared as well. Arabella noticed and she smiled reassuringly at us, ''Don't worry. You girls are our priority, after the Royal Family.''

I listened to her explaining the intricate system of the safe rooms, and telling us all about the rules and regulations around a rebel attack. It was quite exhausting, and I couldn't wait to get out of here when she was finally over. While most of the girls exited the room rather slowly, chatting about what we had just heard, I swiftly left the room. I went upstairs, heading for my room, and my maids immediately greeted me when I walked through the door.

Nakato looked up from her cleaning, a broad grin forming on her round face, ''What did you do?''

I closed the doors behind me, not sure what she was talking about, ''What do you mean?''

Monaca pointed to my desk, ''T-this was d-del-delivered to y-your ro-room,'' she stuttered.

I walked over and unwrapped the large, black box as my maids scurried around me. I gasped when I took off the lid. Inside was everything I needed. All the tools like pens, pencils, ink, paper, sketchbooks and a lot more was neatly packed in there. I could see that the quality of the materials was much higher than what I was used to working with, and my hands itched as I couldn't wait to try them out. A crisp, white note was set on top of all the materials. I opened it and quickly read the contents.

''Well, what does it say?'' Nakato asked rather impatiently.

I turned the note around so the writing inside was facing them. 'It's fixed. No excuses.' Below these words, a rather sloppy crown was scribbled, as if I wouldn't know that it was from him without it.

''OH MY GOD. The Prince has given you a present!'' Nakato yelled.

''You're going to deafen us,'' Jera said, rolling her eyes, although she did seem excited for me as well.

I was barely thinking about the Prince, too focused on the materials before me, grinning from ear to ear. I probably looked like an idiot but I didn't care. I could draw again.

Prince Killian

''Ian. You have to pick someone for your first date.''

''Leave me alone, Yas. I'd rather not think about that right now.''

I was laying on my bed, finally done with all the paperwork for today. My head was still reeling from the fact that Bea was here. I shouldn't let it bother me so much, but she reminded me too much of that dark period in my life. Of all the drinking.

I sat up, looking at Yasmin rather furiously, ''Why the hell did you invite Bea?''

''First of all, she's my best friend and I missed her. And second of all, why do you care? You're not fooling around with her anymore.''

''That's not the point,'' I replied as I ran a hand through my hair. ''You know what we used to do together. Having her around won't do me much good. Are mom and dad even okay with it?''

She sat on the edge of my bed. ''Mom was apprehensive at first. When you and Bea were together, mom didn't really like her, because you two were so bad together and she doesn't want you to fall back into that lifestyle. But Bea has really cleaned up her act. She's done with all the partying, and mom and dad treat her as their own daughter now. They've always loved her but then you two became a thing and everything was messed up.''

''Don't blame me.''

''I'm not blaming you. I'm blaming both of you. Why couldn't you two just be like me? I never caused any problems,'' Yasmin said with a teasing grin.

I rolled my eyes, and Yasmin got off the bed, pulling me with her. ''And now, you're going to choose your date.''

''I don't even know these girls yet. I spoke to a few during dinner, and I bumped into one of the Selected in the hallway today. That's it. How do I know who to choose?''

''Fine. Then we will make it random,'' Yasmin said as she let go of my hand. She walked over to my desk and grabbed the Selected files. She put them on the floor, one by one, and then stepped away. ''Pick one.''

I cocked an eyebrow. ''You're serious? Leaving the first date of the Selection up to fate?''

''Yes. Why not?''

''Have it your way.'' I looked at all the files, before bending down and picking one up. I opened it and looked at the picture inside, before smiling. ''Not bad.''

Yup, Killian sort of has an awkward side. Next chapter will be the first date! Still leaving it a mystery who it will be.

So, Bea, the Princess of England was created by the lovely Irew2376. I hope you enjoyed her character and her interesting past with Killian. Hmmm and what could have happened in the stables that I'm trying to suspensefully build up?

I created a more general Seeking Redemption board on my pinterest in which I will post faceclaims that are not of the Selected, i.e. of the Royal Family and other side characters (like Bea). And I also added Killian's riding outfit to his board, if you want to check that out. :)

Oh and I added a poll to my profile in which you can choose your top three girls. I chose the options of three votes because then everyone will have to choose someone who isn't their character ;). I will update this poll regularly and it will influence the story in a way.

I hoped you all enjoyed this chapter and Viollca's POV. Don't worry, all the girls will get POV's, I just don't want to put too much different POV's in one chapter. Thank you all soooo much for the continuous reviews, it means a lot to me! You are the reason I'm writing this story. I want to give a special thanks to some of my most loyal readers (ha, this sounds like I'm some bestselling author) who always give the loveliest and extensive and quickest reviews:

GenuineHarajukuDoll, more. than. just. a. story, XOStarbrightXO, Deeptha13, Delicate Golden Flower, WaffleManiac and my new reader Irew2376. You guys are awesome!

Thanks for reading!

~wolfofstark