I was right. The selected girls were all in the women's room which was now filled with 24 beds, 6 along each wall. Eight of the girls had gone home after the attack and with Celeste gone and Marlee hiding, that only left twenty four of us. I was surprised that so many had stayed, if I didn't have Maxon, I wasn't convinced I would be able to stay. I couldn't believe how much had happened in the last twenty four hours and I wondered if I was still asleep and this was all just a dream. I went over to a bed by the far window, looking out to the gardens. If I wasn't going to be allowed to go outside, I would at least be able to look. Anyway, If Maxon walked past in the gardens then I wanted to be able to see him.

As I sat on my bed, some of the other girls began to trickle in, ten appeared in this dose, all claiming beds as far away from me as possible as they all glared. Then Kriss walked in, and I knew why they were scowling. Red puffy eyes showed that Kriss had just been crying. She went and sat with the other girls on the bed nearest the door. Ashley was the first to approach her and comfort her, she had always seemed so reserved before, I had clearly done something to annoy them all. I turned away from them and decided that I would be first to sleep that night.

"Shhh" I heard a whisper coming from near me, I couldn't decide who it was but I decided to keep my eyes shut and pretend to sleep. I heard footsteps and quiet giggles quickly getting louder. I felt a dark shadow come over me and I turned, unable to take it anymore. Twenty three girls surrounded my bed, with Kriss at the forefront.

"What?" I yelled, sitting up in bed, staring into each of their sly smiles.

"We just wanted to give you an early engagement present." Kriss told me. "Here's your dress for tomorrow, your only surviving dress from the attack." She said as she flung a cream garment bag on top of me.

Quickly I undid the zip, not even pausing for breath. Inside was the beautiful dress that Lucy and Mary had painstakingly made for me, despite everything else going on. The only problem with the prettiest dress they had ever made was that it was ripped. Ripped to shreds it was, only a little of the cream cloth remained.

It took everything in me not to rip Kriss's head from her neck, but I managed. For Maxon, I managed not to kill my 'competitor'. I decided I would take the high road and, showing no emotion, I walked out of the room and towards the stairs. As I did this, Tuesday hit me hard across the cheek, leaving a red mark and I felt something hit the back of my head, but I wasn't sure so I gave it no more thought. I knew where I needed to goo

When I got to my old room, I burst into tears in a crumpled mess on the floor. I hated Kriss, actually hated her. This was not happening, she had not done this because Maxon loves me. There were clothes strewn all over the floor, all broken and ruined, the sheets had been thrown of the bed, I could see the duvet on the floor but the rest had gone amiss and even that was fairly ruined with mud and blood. I managed to press the bell and prayed that Mary and Lucy would still be awake enough to help me, I really needed them right now.

Within minutes I heard the thundering footsteps of two small women. Mary and Lucy were coming, they burst through the door and saw me as a mess on the floor, still clutching the garment bag.

"Lady America, what happened?" Lucy asked, crouching on the floor next to me.

"Kriss." I barked back and through the garment bag onto the unmade bed. My two maids unzipped the bag and stared in horror at what they saw.

"Get the prince." Mary ordered Lucy and she obeyed, curtsying as she left. "We need to make you a new dress but I don't know if there will be time to make something as intricate as this. Only…" She had to swallow back tears as she gained the strength to continue her sentence "Only Anne could have designed something like this." I thought she might cry, in fact, I thought I might too, but we both managed to cope as we stared at the dress, neither of us sure of what to do.

As I watched Mary, my eyes couldn't focus properly and I could only just make out Maxon's voice as he shouted my name. Before I knew it, I was on the floor.