Chapter 7

The door handle rattled and stopped as quickly as it had started. The door slowly began to open. America grabbed Marlee's hand and gripped it tightly. Maxon would definitely be suspicious if he found Marlee and America just "hanging" out in his office, especially when her office was located directly next door. America racked her brains looking for an excuse. The only reason for them to be in his office was to see him. Damn thought America. Trying to think of another reason to why they were there. She saw the notepad in Marlee's hand and grabbed it quickly. This was it. She was leaving a note for Maxon on his desk, and Marlee was there because….. America thought harder, because the note was from both of them. America smiled in relief and stood up poised and ready to great her husband as he came through the door. Except it wasn't her husband who entered the room.

A tall slim guard with blond hair walked quietly and carefully into Maxon's office. He paused as soon as her saw America.

'I uhh….' He said looking around the room, 'I thought I heard something in here…. I was just checking,' he said pronouncing each word carefully but still almost stumbling over his words. He smiled kindly once he had stopped speaking.

'I was just leaving a note for Maxon,' America said nervously and smiled back at the guard. 'Jackson right?'

'Jacobson,' he corrected her and stook a little taller.

'Very well,' America said grabbing Marlee's arm and dragging her past Jacobson towards the door, 'Nothing's happening here you can return to you post,'

Jacobson smiled and followed the two girls out of the room.

'Your Majesty?' Jacobson said from behind them.

'Yes?' America said turning around to face the guard.

'Your note?' Jacobson said gesturing over towards the almost empty desk, which contained no paper which resembled any notes.

'I almost forgot,' America said in mock confidence trying to hold back the blush growing across her cheeks. She dipped her head not making eye contact with Jacobson and quickly scribbled out a note with the first thing which came to mind, ripped it from the notepad and placed it on the desk.

M –
I didn't want to disturb you during your meetings today.
Marlee and Carter loved dinner with you, we should do it again sometime.
- A x

Jacobson watched her carefully the whole time and followed them out the door.

'Maxon's office wasn't locked when I entered,' America said to Jacobson once they were all standing in the hallway.

'He must of forgot when he left,' Jacobson said pulling out a ring of keys from his pocket and locking Maxon's office door.

'Secure,' he said with a small smile, 'Anything else miss?'

'No,' said America smiling. She and Marlee turned around and scurried down the nearly empty hallway. They both felt the presence of the tall blond guard's eyes watching her, and kept quiet until they had turned the corner.

'That was close,' Marlee said excitedly.

'I know,'

'What did you write on the note?'

'Some nonsense about really wanting dinner plans again,'

Marlee laughed, 'Well you know I'm good for dinner anytime,'

'Yeah,' America sighed, 'Me too… But that was scarey, I just didn't realise we were making so much noise,'

'They choose guards who have very keen senses,'

'That's right,' America said remembering what Maxon had said the other day about Jacobson being one of the best guards the castle had.

'Speaking of that… where was your guard,' Marlee said confused

'They probably had a turnover and couldn't find me when we snuck off through the tunnel,' America said almost chuckling, 'He's probably searching all over the castle for me,'

Marlee laughed at this, 'Let's got to the Women's Room, you'll be easy to find there,'

'Good idea,' America said.

The two of them grabbed a few books from the library on the way to the Women's Room where they decided to relax for the afternoon. After few minutes America caught sight of the door opening a crack and a red faced guard peeking inside. She elbowed Marlee.

'There he is,' she whispered and the two of them laughed quietly.

Marlee had left the Women's Room earlier that day but America remained, happy that Silvia had excused her for the day when Marlee had interrupted them. She didn't sit in the large chairs near the doors of the room which were reserved for members of the Royal Family, but instead sat on the couch staring out the window. It reminded her of being In The Selection and made her heart ache every time she looked up from the couch and didn't see Queen Amberly sitting in those large chairs. She avoided sitting in those chairs because they were Amberly's.

America didn't have much time to grieve the loss of Amberly. The majority of her time after her death was devoted in helping Maxon grieve both of his parents' death. She was his rock. She was strong for him. She couldn't grieve for a woman she only knew for a short period of time, when in comparison Maxon had known and loved her for his whole life, but America had formed a close connection to Amberly towards the end of The Selection. The way Amberly had looked shocked yet pleased when America called her "Mom" jokingly, was what played over and over in her head when she stared up at that chair. Amberly always wanted more children and America was more than happy to help fill this void.

America's concentration was broken by Silvia. She was standing right in front of her.

'America?' Silvia repeated sternly infront of her.

America snapped out of her daydream, 'Yes Silvia? I thought we had finished for the day'.

'Yes we have, don't worry,' Silvia said with almost a grin on her face, 'I just have some light reading for you'.

'Light reading?' America repeated.

'Yes,' said Silvia placing a large tattered leather bound book on the table.

'This isn't light reading, Silvia,' America said, her eyes widening at the thickness of the book.

Silvia chuckled, 'It's light reading for you, I've done most of the hard work'. Silva then rotated the book so America could see the top of the book where several different colored sticky note tabs stuck out.

'I've color coded most things,' said Silvia, 'But I did it quite quickly and some of the notes still remain from when I did this for Amberly'

America smiled at the thought flicking through the same pages just as Amberly had done when she was in America's position.

'What is it exactly?' America asked.

'I'm sure you know all the rules associated with being married to Maxon. Most of them are straight forward and almost mimic completely the same rules of marriage as a non-royal engagement. Obviously there are some important differences, but I'm sure we have covered them before'.

'Mmm yes,' America said remembering going over the 20 or so pages of her marriage contract with Silvia before the ceremony took place.

'However,' Silvia said carefully, 'There are so many more rules and technicalities existing for the crowned Queen of Illea. These have existed since the days of Gregory Illea,'

America rolled her eyes and dragged the book into her lap, its weight feeling like a small child.

'It's recommended you read through these before the ceremony, so you can perform your duties as Queen to the best of your abilities,' Silvia said in an almost rehearsed voice.

'You make it seem like I won't like what's in here Silvia,' America said doubtfully.

'It depends on how you look at it,' Silvia said, 'I'll be in my office if you have any questions or I can come here or your office if you prefer'.

'Thanks,' America said annoyed. So much for the rest of her day off.

Silvia curtseyed and turned to leave the room.

'Wait,' America said stopping her, 'What are the colors for?'

'Blue is Termination of Marriage, Green is Roles and Duties, Orange is the Public Relation section and the Yellow are other important notes, or leftovers from previous Queens', Silvia said reciting her code. 'You can read the whole book if you like however most was covered by your wedding contract or common knowledge',

'Thanks Silvia, that's all,'

Silvia curtseyed and left the room to America and her large rule book. America surveyed the colored tabs of the sticky notes sticking out of the top of the book. There was an overwhelming amount of blue tabs. What was that again? America thought, wishing she had taken down notes while Silvia was speaking. She opened the first blue tab and read the title: Termination of Marriage. She skimmed the first few lines and shuddered. This wasn't termination of marriage due to mutual agreement or even if Maxon chose, this was termination due the law. She read on.

If the Queen can't compile with the following conditions of the role, termination will end her position. Eligible members of the Elite will be brought back to the castle and The Selection will continue. If no members of the Elite are eligible for the role a new Selection group will be pooled from the population in the King's age group (see Selection Law 457b).

The Queen will be sent home to their home province stripped of their title, but will retain a caste of 3.

America's eyes widened. So The Selection wasn't over. Kriss could come back and take her position at the castle if she couldn't agree with these rules. America shook her head. That idea was absurd, how hard could being the Queen actually be, these rules probably were a precaution anyway. She skimmed through some of the tabbed pages Silvia had marked reading a few laws.

Coronation Law 75a. Within 6 months of the coronation ceremony a royal heir must be conceived.
Coronation Law 75b. The Queen must advise the Royal Advisors directly after being notified of an existing pregnancy.
Coronation Law 75c. If an heir is not born, one conception every 12 months must be abided by until achieved.
Coronation Law 75d. The Queen may not enter sexual relations with another individual while trying to conceive an heir.

Coronation Law 89. The King can call for a divorce whenever he demands. Requirement: 6 months marriage counselling.

Coronation Law 103a. The Queen must complete the work given to her (invalid if in compliance with Coronation Law 77c)
Coronation Law 103b. The Queen can hire advisors and assistants to help complete work.
Coronation Law 103c. If pregnant, the Queen has no obligation to complete her daily tasks

America slammed the book shut loudly. She was too tired to casually read over these rules, they seemed pretty serious. She doubted if Maxon knew even half of them. America decided that she would organise a time with both Silvia and Marlee where they could sit down and go through the rules with a fine tooth comb.

America scribbled a note to both of them arranging for them to meet tomorrow at 9 to go over the rules. She then lugged the book out of the room and gave the note to a nearby maid to deliver.

'America!' someone called from the hall behind her.

America turned to see Maxon half walking half running down the hallway to see her.

'I love accidently running into you,' he said smiling, pulling her in to a big hug. America hugged him back smiling too and he placed a kiss on her forehead.

'Thanks I needed that,' America said pouting.

'Bad day, my love?' Maxon asked moving his hand down to the middle of her back and directing her down the hallway.

'Yeah,' America said agreeing with him.

'But… You saw Marlee right and what was it? She wants to have dinner again?' Maxon asked.

'Oh yes!' said America startled, remembering her quick "in the moment" thinking which lead to the hasty note left on Maxon's desk.

'Mmmm… I thought I would have put her off dinner any time soon with my behavior,' Maxon said bashfully. America laughed.

'Yes, I should have told her not to mention your coronation,' America said, despite the fact she had gone out of her way to make sure Marlee mentioned it in the first place.

'You don't have to leave notes on the desk for things like that, I thought it was going to be something important or…' Maxon winked at America. She nudged him in the side.

'Well we sometimes hardly see each other you know,'

'What about dinner now then?' Maxon said abruptly.

'What with Marlee?'

'No… just you and me, come on I have nothing right now'.

The two walked hand in hand down the hallway to the dining room and sat at a table. Wait staff brought plates over to them shortly after they had sat down. America was pleased to have been served a chicken based meal on rice whereas Maxon had been served steak and potatoes. It always amazed her how the staff remembered which meals they had both enjoyed and the quickness in which they served them.

'What's the book for,' Maxon said, gesturing to the large Coronation Law book America had placed in the seat next to her.

'The long list of obligations I have now that I'm going to be Queen,' America said.

'Sorry, love,' he replied with a sympathetic smile.

'You know we need to get onto conceiving an heir pretty soon afterward?'

Maxon stopped eating and moved his hand over to America's, 'Yeah, I did,' he said pausing, 'Is that something you're okay with? I can speak to my advisors and try and see if you don't have to straight away,'

'No its fine I guess,' America said

'I usually wouldn't have been crowned until I was older, so at first I didn't think much of the rule, but because of the circumstances…' Maxon trailed off.

'No Maxon really, it's okay, I always wanted a large family,'

Maxon smiled sweetly at this remark, 'At least that's something I can look forward to,'

'And also.. If I'm a no good Queen you can recall The Selection. You could end up being married to Kriss,' America said waiting for Maxon's response.

'Eugh,' Maxon said with a look of disgust, 'I'ld never do that,'

'Apparently it's not your choice,' America said matter of factly.

'Well you better read up on those rules and perform,' Maxon said jokingly, 'I don't plan on losing you anytime soon'

America nodded and started talking about gossip she had overheard in the castle. Maxon seemed grateful for the change in conversation. An hour had almost passed by the time the King and Queen stood up to leave the dining room. Although they had just finished their dinner, they had eaten much earlier than they usually would have. America wondered if Maxon opted for early dinner plans because of busy work plans later in the afternoon.

'Are you busy this afternoon then?' America asked as they passed through the main hallway.

'Yes, very busy,' Maxon said with a small smile on his face.

America sighed. She was annoyed with the lack of time she and Maxon had spent together of the last few weeks.

'Busy plans with my wife,' Maxon added after seeing the disappointment on America's face.

'Really?' America asked in disbelief.

'Really,' Maxon confirmed picking up America in his arms and carrying her to the Royal Suit.

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