Selected of Illèa-A Selection Fanfiction

8

Lucas's POV

The rebel alarms sound and as soon as they do, I herd everyone towards the safe room. My mom comes running down looking behind her. I do a mental check of the selected and come one short. Julie.

I start running out, but guards stop me from exiting. "Lady Julie isn't here! I have to find her! Let me through! YOU IDIOTS! LET ME THROUGH!" I scream as they continue to block the door. "We have our best guards on it, but your life is to valuable, your majesty!" General Leger, a close family friend, firmly tells me. "WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU! THEY COULD KILL HER! I HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY AND I INTEND TO FULFILL IT, SO LET ME THROUGH!" I yell, my voice becoming hoarse. The guards stay firm.

I turn around and begin my pacing. I count to ten over and over again. I pace back and forth. Somewhere in the safe room I hear Scarlett crying dramatically behind me, but I pay it no attention. I pace again and continue counting to calm myself. I run my hands through my hair nervously.

My mom comes and puts her hand on my shoulder. She gently guides me to a cot where she sits me down. She rubs my shoulders and back to relax my muscles. She looks worried, which worries me even more.

The safe room opens and the girls exit to their rooms. I go to the gardens, right to the secret room. I see something lodged in the stones. I pull on the statue, and the object falls on the door. It's Julie's key.

I enter the room, praying that she's in there. I'm welcomed with silence. She's not there. I run up to the castle as fast as my legs will permit. I find General Leger and order an extensive search of the palace grounds. I hope and pray that we find her. She is just so important to me, more important than the other girls. She's the sun to my earth. The Juliet to my Romeo. The Guinevere to my Lancelot. I...I love her.

I search for hours, look in every nook and cranny. In the woods by the gates, the lagoon behind the castle no one but me can find, the unused rooms, everywhere. No one can find her. I slam my fists against the wall in frustration. My watch says 10 o'clock p.m.. I've been searching since 1 o'clock. That's nine hours and she's nowhere.

My fists begin to bruise, but I don't care. I slam again on my bedroom wall. And again. I'm almost screaming in my frustration. I haven't ever been this frustrated. My usual calmness my dad said will be one of my best qualities as king.

A maid rushes in my room, "Your majesty, come quick. It's the rebels. They are broadcasting live in 30 seconds!" My feet carry me to my dad's office faster than I've ever run. I make it just in the nick of time. The T.V. switches on to see a woman's face. She starts speaking, "Hello, your majesties. I'm the leader of the rebel group, my name is Laryn Mark. We have taken captive the selected, Julie Canterbury. We hope you understand that for everyone to get what they want, we have to cooperate. In order for you to get Miss Canterbury back, you must pay the ransom. If you stick so much as a toe out of line, she will not return to you unscathed. The ransom is ammunition and weapons and lots of it. We will give you a week to respond with the weapons and ammunition. Everyday you are late will be harm inflicted on Miss Canterbury. After a month, we intend to kill her. I suggest you hurry." The feed cuts.

We stand in silence, utterly speechless. My dad turns to me with a serious look on his face. "This is not an easy decision, and I will need your help. Do you understand?" I solemnly nod. This is going to be the hardest decision I've ever made. It faces the dilemma: do I do what's best for my country, or for the one I love?

***

I wake at 5 o'clock and head to the kitchens. I grab a couple muffins and go to my office to brainstorm. The first thing that I realize is, even if we decided to give them the ransom, where would we give it to? Secondly, there may be way to track the signal if they send another video. Thirdly, what would we do if they don't give her back when we produce the ransom?

I decide to take the second thing up to Jake. Jake is my best friend. We grew up together because our mom's were best friends in the selection. His dad is General Leger. The thing about Jake is, if something is technology related, he knows everything about it. When we were twelve he accidentally hacked into the palace's most secure records. My dad had him encrypt it and no one has hacked into it since. If anyone can trace the signal, it's Jake.

"Hey, Jake. What's up?" I ask as I enter the systems control room. He's sitting with his favorite laptop typing like crazy. "Not much, just designing a new encryption system," he replies with a shrug. I nod my head. Of course he is.

I hear someone come up behind me. Jake talks first, "Hey, mom." I go after him, "Hey, Aunt Marlee." She comes and hugs me tightly. "I'm sorry, this must be so stressful!" she tells me sincerely, "Is there anything I can do to help?" "Actually, I was just wondering if Jake might be able to trace the signal of the videos if they send one again," I tell them both. "I might, depending on how long the video is and the security they have on it," Jake puts in. "Thanks, man," I tell him, truly thankful.

I say goodbye to both Jake and Marlee and make my way to my office. I find the paper I was writing yesterday morning and start on it again. I have to plan a meeting with the Italians, again. I like most of them, but the oldest princess is about my age and really likes me. And to be honest, I really don't like her. I also have to make a treaty with New Asia on trade. I bury my head in my hands. Why is life so complicated and stressful?