Hey, guys!

Okay, so... This chapter sorta sat rotting for 23 months and I'm so, so, sorry. It will haunt me for the rest of my life.

BUT I'm gonna focus on this story more, give it more of the love and attention it deserves, so hopefully it can be finished one day.

Thanks to everyone who is still reading and hasn't given up on me. I hope you enjoy.


Chapter Four.

Bea watched from the window of her room as the first selected finally arrived.

She wasn't sure how to feel about the whole thing.

Her stomach churned with a mixture of nervousness, excitement, and the waffle she had eaten for breakfast. They were finally here. It wouldn't be long before the selection would begin- and she would be finding a husband.

Though perhaps what scared her more was the fact that she would be meeting them soon. She was sort of regretting the fact that she had spoken her idea about meeting them the day they arrived, because now she was panicking. What if they didn't like her?

Bea sighed, then walked over to the vanity and grabbed the brush off of it. She had already done her hair that morning, but she felt the sudden urge to redo it.

She took out her high ponytail, then ran her fingers through her hair. She tried not to look at the way her hair now had weird dents from where the hair tie had been, and instead tried to focus on what she was doing with it now.

After a moment, she grabbed the top half of her hair and put it into a quick ponytail, keeping the rest of her hair down. It was a simple look, but it was one she liked a lot.

She tried to smile at her reflection, but she couldn't force herself to do so at the girl in the mirror. The fake princess. The girl who wore the dresses and jewels, but would never and would never - could never- be queen, or even real royalty. It was like playing dress up, but worse.

She shook her head, then stood up. She didn't have time to sit around and panic.

With every step towards the parlor the selected were in, Bea's heart thudded louder in her ears. If none of them liked her, would the selection be over before it even began? Surely all of them had been forced to enter, none of them would have actually joined because they wanted to.

Before she realized it, she could hear their voices. Some of them were soft, some louder than others. How many men were here already? Had more than one group arrived at the same time? Or were the groups bigger than Bea had realized?

It didn't matter. What was important was that they had gotten here safely. Although, if she was being honest, she did think that The Royal Selection Committee was overreacting a bit. It had been almost 20 years since her father's disaster of a selection, and nothing that bad had ever happened since.

Bea took a deep breath, then knocked on the door.

The voices inside of the room silenced, and all that Bea could hear was a soft set of footsteps. Maybe she shouldn't have knocked... It probably just caused everyone to panic.

The door opened and Bea smiled at the face she had never seen before.

He looked like he could still be in school, though she knew that wasn't true. All of the selected were graduates. His blue eyes were big and innocent, like he had never seen anything bad in his entire life.

He smiled at her, his eyes bright as his lips pulled into a slightly lopsided smile. "Hi," he greeted, then opened the door the rest of the way. "C'mon in."

"Hi," Bea said. "I'm Beatrice."

"I'm Thomson Reilley of Sumner," he said, and Bea smiled at his southern accent. "It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too," she replied. "Was the trip here alright?"

Thomson nodded. Bea couldn't help but notice that one of his perfectly styled curls had come out of its place and had fallen into his face. "It was a bit long, but the view was nice," he told her. "Angeles sure is a pretty province."

Bea sat down, then looked at the other selected and smiled. "Hello," she said."I'm Beatrice."

She wasn't sure what it was, but she wasn't sure that she wanted them to call her Bea yet. That was what her family called her. It was what her friends called her. Not the random boys who had been drawn from a hat and brought to the palace.

"I'm Flynn Sharpe," the boy beside her greeted. His eyes sparkled warmly, and Bea found herself smiling at him. "I'm from Midston."

Bea held out her hand to him. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Sharpe," she said.

He shook her hand with a smile. His grip was strong and firm, but what stood out to Bea was that he was wearing gloves. It was the late spring now, surely his hands had to be warm inside of their gloves.

"And it's an honor to meet you," he replied.

Bea turned to the other boys and they both stood up.

"I'm Yael Chazen, from St. George," one of them said, and Bea tilted her head at him. He looked so young in comparison to all of the other boys in the room. And while Bea knew that he was definitely old enough to be a part of the selection, she did wonder just how young he really was.

Everything about him was boyish and sweet, but Bea could see that he tried to hold himself high, which was more than a little interesting to her. Was it because he was in her presence? Or was it how he had been reared as a child?

Suddenly, it hit her. There was no way. It couldn't be.

"Did you say Chazen?" she asked.

At that, Yael inhaled deeply. After a second, he nodded. "Yes," he said, although he sounded hesitant.

Bea tilted her head. "Mr. Yael Chazen," she said. "You've been to some events around here in the past."

The Chazen family was an old noble family from long before Bea was alive. Of course, nobility was nothing more than a fancy title with a few perks, but Yael was a noble.

And one that she knew.

"You probably know my older siblings better than me though," Yael told her as he messed with the edges of his sleeves.

It was true. Even though Bea knew of Yael Chazen, it was his siblings that she was more familiar with. They were the ones who came to the royal events and talked to everyone.

"Maybe," she began. "But you're the one in my selection."

It was cheesy. Bea didn't normally talk like that, but it was true. Yael was the one who had entered her selection. Yael was the boy that she would get to know.

Well, if he got that far.

Bea turned to the other boy and he smiled at her. Just like Yael, this boy had a sweet smile too, though unlike Yael, he looked serious where Yael had looked boyish.

"I'm Gao Chen," he greeted. His voice was soft and low, and Bea knew that she would have had to ask him to repeat himself if he had spoken any softer. "But just Chen, please."

"Hello, Chen," she replied, and she held out her hand for him to shake. "Where are you from?"

Chen clasped his hand around hers and shook it firmly. Though his voice was soft, his grip was strong and firm. "I'm from Sota," he told her.

Bea nodded, then looked around the room. She tried to put on her best smile, but she wondered if it looked as anxious as she felt.

"I'm sure you all know me, but I'm Beatrice Angelov-Screave," she said. "Welcome to my selection. It's an honor to have all of you here."

She cleared her throat, finding her footing as their leader. "Normally the selected would all wait and meet the royal at the same time, but after some convincing, I managed to get us all a meeting today," she told them. "So I figured that we could go on a picnic if you all like that idea."

The boys looked back and forth between each other, then finally, Flynn grinned.

"It sounds like a great idea," he told her.

"Good," she said, and she didn't try to hide her happy smile. She wished that she could explain how excited she was for this, but she couldn't. She didn't understand why she was so excited. It wasn't like she knew these boys.

"Follow me," Bea said as she stood up.

The kitchen wasn't far from the parlor the boys had been in, it was only a few floors down, but she found herself constantly looking back to see if the selected were still following her.

Unlike Bea, they didn't have any sort of familiarity with the palace. What they would have seen would have been in TV specials or magazines. This was all new to them. The tall windows, expensive decorations… All of it.

When she looked back at them though, she couldn't help but smile. A couple of them were huddled up to a window while the others stood back. She wondered what their quiet conversation was about, what the view out of that window was. But she didn't want to ruin this moment for them. It was the chance of a lifetime for them to be in this palace, and she wanted them to be able to take in as much as they could.

"Sorry about that," Flynn apologized as the group walked up to her. "We didn't mean to keep you waiting, but…"

"Did you know you can see Angeles City from that window?" Thomson finished for him.

Bea smiled. The skyline from the palace had always been one of the most enthralling things in the world to her. It made the huge and overwhelming city that she called home so small. From the palace, you could only see the gray tops of the highest buildings. Yet it always took her breath away.

"I did know that you could see it from the palace," she said. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Flynn nodded, his eyes glowing with excitement. They reminded Bea of the Angeles City itself, the lights from it sparkling brightly in the dark night. They reminded her of home. "It is," he said.

"You guys should see it at night," she told them. "It's even better then."

Maybe she would take them there for a group date. It could be fun, and she was pretty sure that they would like the sightseeing. After all, she was pretty sure that none of them were native to the area.

After awhile, they finally made it to the kitchen. Of course, Bea didn't mind the stopping and the chatter. In fact, she actually kind of enjoyed it. It was a chance for everyone to get to know each other better, a chance for them to feel less isolated and alone inside of the palace.

Bea grinned when she walked into the large kitchen. Unlike her father, she wasn't banned from entering, but the work had already been done for her.

Two small picnic baskets sat on top of one of the marble counters, a note explaining that it was for Bea and the selected.

The staff had always been kind to her. They hadn't cared about her past, or even that she wasn't a princess like her other sisters. They always went above and beyond when she asked for something, and they let her in the kitchen when she was over.

Chen wordlessly looked in one of the baskets, then picked it up. "I'll carry this one," he told them.

"I've got the other one," Thomson said.

Bea smiled at both of them. "Thank you," she told them as she picked up the red checkered picnic blanket.

Like every other day in Angeles, it was hot. The sun beat down on Bea and warmed her arms and face. The heat felt wonderful, and she wanted to bask in it. She wanted to spread her arms and let the sun warm her body.

They made their way into the lush palace gardens. The flowers were blooming, and their sweet scent made Bea's mind feel hazy. She loved the pinks, purples, and reds that Princess Jehan had chosen for the garden. It felt like some sort of secret fairy garden, and she knew that she would have played something like that with her sisters when she was younger.

They settled under a large oak tree, its long branches shading them from the sun. It was cooler under it, but the warm breeze still tangled in Bea's hair.

They ate in relative silence, relishing the fresh food that had been cooked for them. Bea was always shocked at how good the food at the palace was, but

"So, tell me more about yourselves," Bea said as she leaned up against the tree. "Chen, do you have a job?"

Chen looked up at her and smiled. "I'm a nursing student, but I was working in a hospital before I came here."

Bea's father had told her years ago that all of his selected had come from different walks of life and different career paths, but she hadn't expected a nursing student to be among the fold.

"That's wonderful," she said. "Illea always needs more doctors and nurses. Do you like your job?"

Chen nodded, the sun catching his hair and giving him an almost-red highlight for just a second. "I love it," he said.

Bea smiled, then looked over at Flynn. "What about you?" she asked. "Do you have a job?"

"I'm a design architect," he told her. "It's pretty good, I'm happy with it."

"That's good," she said.

"What about you? Do you have a job?" Flynn asked.

Bea nodded. "I'm a journalist. I work at The Illean Report when I'm not in the middle of a selection." Which was true. Bea knew how lucky she was, there were people like her who weren't even allowed to hold jobs.

"Do you like it?" Thomson asked.

Bea frowned as she tried to figure out how to answer his question. She loved her job most days. Other days though, she was bullied for her opinion, for sharing any of her thoughts at all. And other days, she secretly wished that she could just be an heir to the throne like her other sisters.

Finally though, she nodded. "Yeah, I do," she answered. "What about you?"

Thomson grinned a smile that shined brighter than the sun. "I'm a carpenter," he said. "And I love everything about my job, even down to the smell of the sawdust."

Bea couldn't help but grin back at his smile and enthusiasm. It truly was amazing how different everyone's jobs were.

She turned to Yael to ask him, but as soon as she opened her mouth, a crash of thunder filled her ears.

She didn't scream at the sound, but she did yelp as the rain began to pour on the five of them.

"Hurry! Help me pack everything up!" Flynn told them as he grabbed plates and handfuls of silverware.

The five of them got to work quickly, tossing everything haphazardly into the basket.

The rain was cold against Bea's arms, and it was so loud that she could hardly hear the boys over it.

"Is that everything?" She shouted over the wind and rain.

"I think so!" Thomson replied, but looked around one last time to make sure.

"Follow me!" She told them as Chen and Yael grabbed the baskets. At this point, they were all soaked through and she wanted to get out of the rain as quickly as possible.

It only took her a few steps to realize that she wasn't going to be able to run in heels though.

Without a second of hesitation, she pulled her shoes off her feet and began running. The boys followed after her, all five of them laughing and shrieking as they did.

Within a few moments there were at the palace entrance, and once she made sure that all of her selected were there, Bea opened the door.

The five of them walked in together, the sound of their wet footsteps echoing in the large entryway.

Suddenly, Bea stopped. So did the boys.

"Hello, Beatrice, Selected."

The boys fell into hasty and clumsy bows, but Bea stayed frozen at the sight of the man before her.

"Grandfather Abernathy," she said, though he didn't deserve the title. The name felt gross in her mouth. It was something she only called him for show, something that she called him to protect her father.

King Abernathy placed his hands behind his back, then turned to the selected. "If you'll excuse us, I would like to talk to Beatrice."


I hope the 2700+ words make up for the past 23 months. *sobs in embarrassment*

A huge thank you to aliqueen16 for Thomson, tyozzie123 for Chen, Primione394 for Flynn, and Fairysecret01 for Yael. Your boys are all amazing and thank you for creating them for this story!

Thanks for reading! Love y'all!