THE PUPPET MASTER

Prologue

"Everything can change in an instant. Everything. And then there is only before and after."

~Jared~

It's crazy how everything you know can be nothing but an illusion. How everything you hold dear can be ripped away in the blink of an eye. It only took one sentence for me to realize that my whole life was a lie.

My breath hitched as I stared out of the foggy window of the car. The dark sky was devoid of stars, the only illumination coming from the street lamps that cast eerie shadows across the sidewalks. I shivered, letting out a puff of air that was visible in the cold weather.

Snowflakes fell in graceful patterns, covering the ground in a thin coat of white. I would have been more appreciative of its beauty if I weren't so freakin cold. Growing up in Angeles had sheltered me from the biting cold of winter, so I'm certainly not accustomed to the harsh cold winter provides in other provinces.

Honestly, I have no idea where I'm going. I was kicked out of my life about 3 hours ago, and so far, I've avoided thinking about what I'm going to do with myself now.

My mind has been torturing me with every detail of the conversation that changed my life, playing on repeat like a never-ending horror movie.

The whole day had been enjoyable and relaxing, which should have been suspicious if I had cared to think about it. Livvy and Kayleigh, my younger twin sisters, coerced me into joining them for Karaoke, hosted by none other than Grayson Kingsley, the Report Show Host and my best friend. Each of my siblings put on a performance, and Grayson applauded us all, despite our lack of any musical talent whatsoever.

Tyler, my 13 year old brother with an ego bigger than the world, blackmailed me into singing a duet from a Barbie song with him, and you can guess how that ended. I'm surprised no one started crying of a broken ear drum from our off key pterodactyl screeches.

Despite our horrific attempts at singing, we all returned to the palace in high spirits. It was then that my parents decided to break the news to me. They called me into the throne room, which was only used on formal occasions, and that alone was nerve racking. Despite my apprehension, I was still at ease after busting my gut from laughing. However, the king delivered the blow quickly and coldly, not leaving me much time to process.

"Jared, you're not my biological son." Way the rip the band-aid off, dad.

Obviously, my first reaction was denial. I mean, you can't just break news like that to your kid and expect them to calmly accept it and walk away.

"Of course I am. You're my father," I explained to him stupidly.

"No, Jared. My real son is living on the other side of the country, where he is safe."

"What?" I was incredulous. Was this some sort of joke? I looked toward my mother for some sort of sign that my dad was out of his mind. Her smile wasn't very reassuring, but it soothed me all the same. My dad looked at her for help, and her soft voice steadied my racing heart.

"Jared, I need you to be patient and hear me out. This is very important." I nodded, though thoroughly perplexed, as she seemed to mentally prepare herself, looking to my father for confidence.

"You know that when every first born royal child of Illéa is born, the royal oracle makes a prophecy about them."

I nodded slowly, still not quite catching on. Of course I knew. Everyone knew. Seeking out the oracle in the month prior to the baby's birth was a tradition that the King and Queen of Illéa had started over 8 generations ago. Every baby received a prophecy that was officially announced sometime after their 20th birthday, the week before the Selection was hosted.

My 20th birthday was in two weeks, and it was a nationwide event that was eagerly anticipated by the whole country.

"Your mother and I decided to seek out the oracle in her 8th month of pregnancy. But the prophecy… it was not one of prosperity."

My blood chilled. For as long as magic had existed, there had never been a prophecy that did not predict blessing and good fortune. For there to be even a chance that the heir would bring destruction and chaos… it was terrifying to consider.

"This prophecy was one of blood."

My heart stopped, and for a moment, my lungs refused to take in any air.

"The vision the oracle saw predicted that there was a chance the prince would be murdered before his 20th birthday."

My brain was foggy as I struggled to follow the conversation. Was my father telling me I was probably going to be killed within the next two weeks?

My father's voice remained steady and cold as he continued.

"We had to protect the heir at all costs. He was our number one priority, so we devised a plan. We announced the prince's birth two weeks after he was really born, hiding him from the public so his true birthday wouldn't be known."

My brain was still hazy. Was he telling me that I was safe now? And why did he keep referring to me as 'the prince,' as though I wasn't in the room with him?

"In the 2 weeks before the prince's birth was announced, we hid him away so he would be safe until his 20th birthday. But we couldn't simply send him away, because he could easily be hunted down and we could see his prophecy come to fruition. We had to replace him with another baby, a false prince." He paused before continuing. "You."

My head pounded and the room spun, but my feet seemed to be glued to the floor.

"I think I'm going to be sick," I moaned. In an instant, my mother was by my side, resting a comforting hand on my back, but the world was still in a haze.

I took another moment to process before finally sputtering a string of incoherent language.

"But- I- never- it was- was all a lie?"

"Yes," my mother spoke from beside me, her eyes full of sorrow. "We had to fool the world to protect him, so we had to fool you too."

Somehow hearing my mom confirm the story made it feel all too real and all too painful.

"The real prince is currently living with a wealthy family in Carolina. He goes by the name Jaxon. He has been well educated and brought up properly. It shouldn't take long before he is completely capable of assuming the role of the King." My mother answered the silent question in my eyes in a rehearsed voice, as though she had repeated this information to herself many times before. "I haven't seen him since he was born," she said, her eyes downcast.

I felt a sting of betrayal as she talked about the real prince, her real son.

"He'll be arriving at the palace tomorrow. You both turned 20 yesterday, so we will be able to safely announce the prophecy and the new prince on the report this Friday." My father spoke so calmly, like he wasn't throwing away my life with every word that left his mouth. "Jaxon will host his selection shortly after, as soon as he feels his is ready."

"And what about me?" I finally asked, terrified of the answer.

"You will be sent to live with your biological cousins in Dakota. We cannot afford to give you a proper send-off, so you will leave tonight. There will be enough commotion with Jaxon arriving tomorrow, so we don't want to overwhelm the public with a sendoff for you, as well."

He said it in such a cold and careless manner that I had trouble breathing. I had thought it couldn't hurt any more than it did after being stabbed in the back by my parents, but having my own father tell me that I wasn't important enough to say goodbye to was like him twisting the knife.

"Am I not even allowed to say goodbye to my siblings?"

"I allowed you all of today to say goodbye to my children. That should have been enough time to satisfy you."

The way he called them his children, like I wasn't one of them, was enough to tell me that I wasn't wanted here anymore. But that didn't make it any easier to leave.

So now, here I am, sitting cold, numb, and all alone, driving through the middle of nowhere to live with a family I had never met.

I've never known what true betrayal feels like until today.

Hi! it's me! I've decided to start another syoc, and it's full of mystery and magic! the SYOC form is on my profile, as well as a description of the members of the royal family and some more details about the princes. for the record, Jared will be returning due to public demand to cohost the selection with Jaxon, and that will be cleared up in the next chapter. the rules are below, and I've included an extended summary for those of you who are confusedxD

Summary

In a world full of magic, mystery, and lies, those who have power will do anything to keep it. King Jakobbah of Illéa is determined to keep his crown, and he isn't afraid of hurting those around him in the process. But with a rebellion brewing, the selection may be the only way to keep his family safe and keep a firm grip on his throne. With two boys vying for the crown and 35 girls competing for their hearts, deception and manipulation hold the kingdom together. Everyone has secrets in this game of thrones, and this puppet master is determined to pull as many strings as necessary to keep his hold on the crown.

In case you're still confused, Jared will be coming back, and he and Jaxon will cohost a selection filled with Trials for both them and their selected to determine who will be the better king. Magic exists but is mostly unused due to its dangerous nature, however, there are obviously some situations(like the Oracle and the prophecy) in which it is used. It is legal to use, however, it is very rare and only used in desperate situations. If you're still confused about anything, feel free to PM me or leave a review and I'll do my best to clarify for you! again, things will be made a lot more clear in the next chapter, but the prologue was necessary to set the stage. if you're interested in submitting a character, the form is on my profile.

Rules:

1. Please be diverse! I love different appearances and personality, so be creative!

2. Please give me new, unique characters. I don't want characters you've already submitted to other stories, sorry:(

3. You can submit a max of 2 characters, and they are allowed to know each other.

4. This is NOT a first come first serve. I cannot stress how important this is. I will be choosing the most detailed, thought out characters that fit the story, and if your character is flat or does not fit with the story line, I have the right to turn them down, so please don't get upset if your character is rejected.

5. DETAIL! I love detail, and the more detail your character has, the better chance they have of becoming a main and making it further in the selection.

6. I'll only be accepting characters through PM. I'm sorry to all the guests, but I need to be able to speak to you about your character. If you do submit, please title the PM First Name, Last Name: The Puppet Master.

7. I love creative backgrounds and names, so feel free to have fun with creating your girls! Unique names are my favorites, but don't go so crazy that the name looks like something from a different language that would be impossible to pronounce.

8. This will be a very interactive story, so if you have pinterest, please feel free to create a board for your character! My pinterest is Alexia Roosenhaan, and I have lots of boards, such as clothes, social media, face claims, and just extra random stuff that inspires the story.

That's all I can think of at the moment, but if you have any questions, please PM me and I'll do my best to answer!

After I receive all the applications, I'll divide the characters into 10 main and 10 supporting, so I'll be accepting 20 total. The more detail and creativity to the character, the more likely they are to get a main status.

Also, this chapter is definitely one of the shorter ones, and I promise everything after will be longer, and I'll be rotating povs between Jared and Jaxon. Have fun creating!

~lexi