Prince Killian

~4 Years Ago~

''Killian!''

My mother gathered her skirts and followed me after I practically ran out of the stables. I stopped under the leaves of a giant oak tree and turn around to face her, my skin pale.

''I.. I can explain.. Just please listen to me, '' she pleaded. I stared at her, my face hard like stone. She took this as a sign that I wouldn't run away and after making sure that no one was around, she started her story.

'' First, you have to know that I love your father with all my heart. We're just not in love anymore. After your father chose me as his One, things were good. We were happy. We were the best of friends, worked very well together and were good partners. A few years after being married, we didn't spend much time together anymore due to your father's new duties as King. I was very lonely. We grew apart, never slept in the same room anymore and we stopped being lovers. I.. I sought solace with my horse and spent a lot of times at the stables, which is where I got to know Sam.''

Sam was the stableman, he took care of our horses. My face changed from stone to disgust. I knew the man well, and I couldn't believe that he was the one feeling up my mother.

''We spent a lot of time together, talked a lot, and grew closer. He understood me. He took away my loneliness and he listened to me. One day, I realized I had fallen in love with him. And he felt the same way.''

She stepped towards me and took my hands in hers. ''I still love your father. But as my friend and partner. Not like Sam.''

I yanked my hands away from hers, folding my arms in front of my chest. I could barely even look at her, all I saw were those images of her and Sam flashing before my eyes.

''Killian..''

''I want him gone.''

Mom's eyes grew wide. ''What?''

''I want him gone. If you don't want me to tell anyone about this, he needs to go. I don't want you cheating on dad anymore.''

Mom was always so composed, so put together, but in that moment, I could see her heart shattering right in front of me.

I averted my eyes and turned around, marching back to the palace. True love was a myth.

That night, Sam was fired. We never saw him again.

~The Present~

I was sitting at my desk, all the pictures of the Selected sprawled in front of me. The start of the Selection had brought back many unpleasant memories. I couldn't help but think of my mother when I looked at them. She had been a Selected. My father had chosen her and she had betrayed him. What if one of my Selected would do the same? What if I would fall for one of them, marry her and she would betray me as well?

I couldn't take the risk. Love was a lie. My parents had always seemed like the perfect couple, but I had known for the past four years now that it was an act. Mom and I had always been close, and surprisingly, nothing changed after I caught her with Sam. We both pretended that it never happened, which was easy considering I had Sam fired. She pretended that she wasn't hurt, but I knew she was. And I pretended that I wasn't disgusted and that my image of her and love wasn't shattered, but it was. We were both just pretty good at hiding it.

And so the drinking began. And the playing around with girls. I couldn't take them seriously. I couldn't consider them as potential wives, not even potential girlfriends. All I saw were potential betrayals. And now I had fifteen of them, and I had to marry one. How was I going to do this?

I grabbed a small card and envelope from my drawer, and started writing. I had to get through this process, and I couldn't do that without the dating. It was time for my second date, and I had a pretty good idea on who I wanted it to be with.

I called over my butler and handed it to him, gesturing to the name on the envelope so he'd know where to bring it to. I sighed and got back to my paperwork. The Halloween Ball would be in a week, and we had invited the Royals of the German Federation to come stay at the Palace for a few weeks. It was going to be a hectic time.

Princess Yasmin

''Where are we going?''

Tristan had told me to dress casual, and not look like myself, which was hard because all I had were designer clothes. Thankfully, my maid Hailey had some clothes I could borrow from her. When I walked up to our secret meeting spot, which was a big oak tree behind the stables, concealed from view, he looked me up and down and rolled his eyes.

''Is this what you consider casual?''

''I did my very best. Casual doesn't mean not fashionable,'' I replied as I straightened the black hat on my hair. I was wearing black shorts and a white see-through shirt, with a white top underneath. With the hat on my head, no makeup on at all, and big glasses on, I didn't look like a Princess. Which was something I had to get used to.

Tristan sensed my discomfort and pulled me into his arms. ''You look beautiful,'' he said as he leaned down to plant a kiss on my lips.

I smiled up at him, ''You're such a flatterer.''

''As if you don't like getting compliments.''

''You're right, I do,'' I giggled. ''So, where are we going?''

''I want to show you my world for once. Something outside the palace walls.''

My eyes widened in shock. ''We're sneaking out?''

Tristan grinned. ''Yep.''

Anxiety started to creep into me. I had never been outside the palace walls without tons of guards and security.

''Hey. I won't let anyone hurt you. I'm here to protect you,'' Tristan promised as he cupped my face in his hands. ''And besides, I'm positive no one will recognize you. That's what this outfit and the glasses are for.''

He was right. I only ever wore my glasses when it was time to go to bed and my contacts started itching. And I had never shown the outside world what my face looked like without makeup. I looked quite different from my usual princess getup. I looked like a normal girl.

''Okay, okay. But if I start to feel uncomfortable, we're going back.''

Tristan bowed and flashed me a grin. ''As you wish, Your Highness.''

I whacked him on the shoulder before laughing and taking his arm. ''Lead the way.''

Tristan took me out from a back exit that only guards used, and the guard on duty didn't seem to think anything of Tristan taking a girl outside the Palace walls. He probably thought I was a maid who was going on a date with him.

It took me a while to relax, but after a few minutes of walking around the bustling streets of Angeles, I felt the tension in my shoulders slip away. I had never seen Angeles like this. I had never seen any other city like this. When I was there, walking through the streets with security surrounding me, it was always hectic. People would shout our names, take our pictures and push and shove to get closer to us. But now, no one even gave me a second look. I was just a regular girl, walking through the streets with her boyfriend.

Tristan took me to a bar, which apparently was one of his favorite places. It was smoky inside, but it had a rustic feeling to it which I liked. The fact that the place was dark and the lights were dimmed only added to my anonymity.

''I bet you can pick up a lot of girls here,'' I joked as we sat down at a booth in the corner.

''I won't lie, I used to. And all of them had brown hair and blue eyes. Just my type.''

''Ah, just like Lady Monroe. 'Your type of girl', right?'' I asked, trying to hide the jealousy in my voice.

''You are my type of girl, Yas. I was trying to make you jealous. And those girls I used to pick up, well, I tried to make them your replacements. But they came nowhere near you.''

I stared at him, before I broke out in a fit of giggles. ''Wow, I'm so dumb sometimes. How did I not realize it sooner?''

''Beats me,'' Tristan said with a smirk, as he ordered us drinks.

He had just taken a sip of his beer when a loud song started booming from the speakers. He put down his glass, with a bit too much enthusiasm which caused half the content to spill over. ''This is my favorite song! We have to dance.''

I looked at him with a blank expression on my face. ''You want me to dance? In front of all these people?''

''It's not like you've never done that before.''

''That's different. Those were waltzes, foxtrots and what not. Not this.''

He rolled his eyes and grabbed my hand, pulling me up. I tried to protest but he was already pulling me forward to the middle of the bar. Tristan wasn't the only one who had the idea of dancing, as other bargoers were letting loose around us. I watched them with fascination and curiosity. They didn't seem to have a care in the world. Most of them seemed of lower castes, which meant their lives weren't that great. But in that moment, it didn't seem to bother them. They didn't seem to think about it. All that was on their mind was this song, this moment, and letting go. And so I did as well. I allowed Tristan to pull me close to him, and we danced.

So yep, Killian is a bit messed up. We'll see if he can be fixed, and who is able to fix him!

Sorry if this chapter is shorter than usual, I just really wanted to do another one on our Prince and Princess. I hope you still liked it!

Like I said in this chapter, the Halloween ball is coming up. The next chapter will be another date, and the chapters after will be the ball. So please send me your characters costumes! And try to be a bit original, hehe. Looking forward to them! You can pin/send them to me via pinterest as well.

Pinterest update:
- Princess Yasmin board: Chapter outfit

Oh and please vote on the poll on my profile if you haven't already! It's for the crowd favorite and I've restarted it.

Thanks for reading and for the amazingly sweet reviews!

~wolfofstark