Formatting? Idk her. Hopefully this is legible.

AU of The Heir where everything is the same except Kile is eliminated on the first day- story told in snapshots. This could absolutely be turned into a full-length fic, but will I be the one to do it? Maybe. My history of impulse control is very poor. I really just liked the idea of Eadlyn falling in love with someone outside her Selection- BUT NOT ERIK BECAUSE HE SUCKS.

"This isn't going to work."

"No, it really isn't," Kile agreed, probably the first time he'd ever agreed with the princess on anything. "Would you consider eliminating me now?"

"I think we'd all be happier that way," Eadlyn said plainly. "No hard feelings, then?"

"None at all."

§

"I heard the parade didn't go so well."

"Shut up. Like you care," Eadlyn muttered darkly. Saying the parade didn't go very well was an understatement. She felt disgusting in a way that didn't wash off, and all she really wanted was to be alone, but it hadn't occurred to her that the place where no one would look for her- the library- was also one of Kile Woodwork's favorite spots.

"I care. Regardless of how I feel about you, throwing food at someone is no way to solve your problems."

Regardless of how I feel about you. He had an infuriating way of picking at her temper. "So you agree with them, then?" she demanded, voice rising. "You think I'm that horrible?"

"I didn't say that. I meant-"

"I'm so glad I eliminated you," Eadlyn snapped, storming off before he could get another word out.

§

"Did you really kick out a third of your suitors in one go?"

Eadlyn didn't know why she kept letting Kile talk to her. His ability to get on her nerves was excruciating. "Yes. Will you quit bringing it up? Are you just impressed because you can't count that high?"

"You're not the slightest bit worried you'll drive away all your marriage prospects?"

"Of course not. It's an honor to marry the princess. Most people understand that."

"Most people don't know you as well as I do."

The actual most annoying thing about Kile, Eadlyn thought, was how much he could annoy her without stretching the truth in the slightest. He had such a gift for fraying her temper, pushing her to the brink. "And thank you for reminding me why you were the first to go."

He rolled his eyes. "I didn't mean to offend you." Lie. "I'm sure they're all still head over heels for you."

"As they should be."

§

"Josie put my name in for your Selection. No idea how she got you to pick me, though."

Eadlyn barely looked up. "I figured it was Osten. Seems like his type of trick. Glad you solved the mystery."

"I just didn't want you to think, you know, that I did it on purpose."

"It never even crossed my mind."

Not very often, anyway.

§

"You punched a guy," Eadlyn said in amazement." She'd said it at least four times already. "In the face. Oh my god, Kile!"

He shrugged helplessly. "It's not like I planned it! He was threatening you and Fox! Something just took over."

To Eadlyn, it sounded like there was something different about the way he said you and the way he said Fox. "Still, I'm grateful. I don't know what would've happened if…"

"Don't think about it. You're alright, aren't you?"

Oddly, Eadlyn wasn't sure. The fight was over and Burke hauled away, but an unfamiliar knot sat in her stomach, kicking up her pulse.

§

It probably should have been one of Eadlyn's boys comforting her, but it was Kile, arms wrapped around her, her tears soaking his shirt. He'd never seen her so vulnerable before; his increasing sense of dread had nothing to do with that was going on in the operating room. It was wrong to see the princess cry. He would've lied to her, done absolutely anything to take this misery away from her, and the realization all but knocked him off his feet.

"She's going to be okay, Eady," Kile muttered into her hair.

There was none of her usual fight. Any other day, Eadlyn would have snapped how would you know that, Kile? or right, because you're such an expert on heart attacks. Now, she clung to the words as tightly as she was clinging to Kile himself. "She has to be. I don't know what I'd do if…"

"Don't think like that. Just breathe."

Telling the princess what to do had never worked before, but Eadlyn was distressed enough to obey. The ragged, gasping sobs slowed to sniffles, then silence, but she never pulled away. Kile stood just as still, afraid of what might happen if he moved an inch and broke the spell. He'd never seen her like this before and hoped he never would again, but god damn it, if he wasn't going to be the best possible shoulder to cry on, even if it was only him because the Woodworks counted as family and none of the Selected did yet.

Angels sang when the doctor announced that Queen America had made it through surgery, but Eadlyn didn't let go of him until a nurse was ready to lead her to her mother's room. She turned back to Kile, tear tracks lining her face, but already starting to look like the put-together princess again. "Thank you," she said in a low voice, threatening to break in two again, and all Kile could do was nod, a lump forming in his throat.

§

Even the most powerful person in the world could do nothing about a coma. For that reason, Eadlyn dreaded visiting her mother's room in the ICU, but her father refused to leave the queen's side, and she needed to talk to him. "Dad, I want to cut my suitors down to the Elite. I need some advice."

"That's a good idea; you should focus on family now." Her dad turned to her, briefly looking away from his unconscious wife. He hadn't left the hospital wing in days. "Just be direct with them. Given the circumstances, I'm sure they'll understand you need to make a large elimination."

Eadlyn shifted uncomfortably. "It's not the eliminating I'm worried about."

"What, then? Do you need help picking the top ten?" he tried to joke. Neither of them was really in the mood for humor; a dark cloud hung over the entire castle.

"No, it's not that. What if…" It wasn't like her to make mistakes, much less admit to them, but obviously things weren't going exactly to plan. "What if I wanted to add someone back in?"