I hope you all enjoy this double update. Consider it an "I'm sorry" for taking forever to update this story. Once again though, updates will not be regular although I hope to have this story finished by New Years.

Once again, this chapter wasn't edited so sorry for the mistakes.

Thanks again for reading and reviewing everyone!

Four hours later, all of the damage and deaths were accounted for and the repairs–and funeral preparations–had begun. We'd lost many good soldiers in the battle with the rebels as well as a few maids who hadn't been able to reach the safe rooms in time.

It was long, tedious work to restore everything to the way it had once been and the work was not yet finished. Every dead body that I had lifted had cut me deeply, none of them had needed to die but the rebels just didn't see that. They were killing hundreds with their vicious attacks just for a shot to grab the power from my family.

Thankfully, most of the bodies had been carried outside to be buried so the remaining damage was mostly crushed glass and bloodstains on the walls and carpet.

I left the cleanup crew to their work once I had everything organized and went to collect my siblings from my room. We all needed an explanation from my mom about what had happened.

Once we reached the infirmary, we all huddled around the bed in which my mom sat.

"Is everything all right?" Dad asked me quietly while my family fussed over my unconscious mother.

I nodded. "Yes. You'll have to sign a few things later but everything else has been taken care of and the cleanup crew is already working on getting things straightened out."

"And the count?"

I sighed and raked a hand through my hair, knowing that he was referring to the number of deaths. "Fifty two guards, four maids, one cook, and five gardeners. They came in through the service entrance but had a small band of rebels attack the front gate to divert the guards' attention while most of them snuck in."

"Southerners then."

I nodded in confirmation.

My father rubbed his temples and sighed again. "We need to fix our security system; they've gotten inside too many times lately. It could be possible that they have a few people helping them from the inside as well so it's going to make it harder to find a system that will work. We'll just have to do inspections again to see if we can catch any of them."

"Already taken care of. I've arranged for inspections to be done once the main hallways and rooms have been set in order."

"Good work, son." My dad looked at me and clasped my shoulder. "You will make a fine king."

I straightened my shoulders at his praise and nodded in a form of silent thanks.

My mom groaned from her bed as her eyes began to open, ending our conversation.

She smiled at my dad weakly once her eyes had focused. "Hey there."

My dad just shook his head, tear misting his eyes. "If you do that one more damn time, I am going to have a heart attack, America." Although he sounded irritated, he smiled down at her and kissed her forehead gently.

"Justice?" my mom whispered.

"A bullet hit his spine and one of the disks shattered. The bullet wouldn't have affected him as much but…"

"But what?" my mom snapped, her tone taking on the same harshness that it had when she'd been directing the soldiers.

"The doctors believe," my dad sighed heavily, "that Justice will be paralyzed from the waist down. They said if he wouldn't have been moved or if he'd been treated immediately, it could have been prevented. They also said that it's unlikely that they'll be able to repair the damage now."

"What's the percent chance?"

"They are ninety percent sure that he will be paralyzed in some form, sixty percent sure that it will affect his legs. They've transferred him to Bruce's room so that he can be taken care of when he wakes up."

My mom hung her head, burying her face in her hands. A minute later, her sobs echoed among the groans of pain within the infirmary.

My dad sat on the edge of her bed, wrapping his arms around her. He kissed her hair and repeated "it isn't your fault" to her again and again.

She just shook her head into his chest and continued to sob, tremors wracking through her entire body.

After a while, my mom finally peeled away from my dad and wiped her tears away quickly.

I sighed. "Mom, you need to explain this to us. I think we deserve to know why you fought and how you knew how to fight."

She just nodded sadly. "Yes, I suppose you deserve an explanation after everything that's happened."

And so she began her tale, starting with her entry into the Selection and ending with her reconnection to my grandparents, Uncle Garrett, and a man named Kota–though she said I'd met him as a child I didn't remember him and she explained that he was our uncle but that he was often busy with his artwork.

My siblings and I sat in silence when she was done, simply absorbing the vast amount of information. I was tempted to scream that she was lying, but the truth was in her eyes and coated all of her words when she spoke. My mom had lived through hell and I'd never even known.

As the silence among us continued, my mom eventually swung her feet over the edge of the bed.

Dad shook his head but helped her up and held her hand as she untied the back of the thin infirmary dress she had on. Soon, her back and the scar I'd seen before were exposed.

My siblings gasped when they saw the multitude of scars that covered her back, no area had been spared.

I stood and made my way over to her. "May I?" I asked softly.

My mom glanced at me then nodded, her muscles tensing.

I was very, very careful as I pressed my hands along her back. Each bump and rise of her skin lapped at least two other scars. Though none of them were recent, rage swelled within me toward the vile man who had done this to her…the man I was related to by blood.

"How long were you beaten?" I asked as I pulled my hands away from her skin. The amount of scarring made it apparent that she had suffered for a while.

"Your grandpa, my father, hit me for a while before I came to the palace. But King Clarkson was far more violent and I worked under him for about four years."

I shook my head as I sat down on the chair next to her bed, overwhelmed by everything that I had learned.

If I was related to that monster by blood, was it possible that once I became king that I'd become as corrupt and evil as he had?

I placed my head in my hands and sighed heavily. I had thought learning of my parent's past would have helped me. Instead, all I felt was a growing sadness and loneliness, as well as disgust.

What my mom had survived was incredible. The trials and tribulations she'd faced had nearly killed her. I was sad for her, for the life that she had been forced to endure.

I was also amazed by her strength. Through all of the shit that she had to go through, she never wavered in her love for my father. She'd held on to their love even when she through she would never be able to speak to him again. And I know that my father had held on to that love just as much as she had, even if he had married another woman when he though my mom had died.

I yearned for that kind of all-consuming love. I wanted someone who would never give up on me, someone who would stand by me no matter what. I wanted the love that my parents had and yet I had done nothing in my life to deserve that kind of love and for that I was disgusted with myself.

Hearing the truth of my parents past had changed my whole perspective on life. Love was not physical satisfaction or desire, nor was it simply knowing a person well. Love was the desire to risk anything in order to keep that person safe and happy, even if it killed you. Love was not easy, it was working together to fight through the hard times because in the end the feelings you had for each other are worth it. Love is strength and it is weakness. Love allows you to take on the world but it also leaves your heart in the open to get smashed.

I was not in love with Grace as I'd thought I'd been for so long. I was infatuated with her, not in love with her. I firmly believed that we could one day love each other though, or I hoped that we could.

Love is a contradiction, it is hard to love someone continuously but I was going to fight with every breath within me to find that woman who I would love.

I simply hoped to find my wife and in the process share a love with her like that love that my parents shared.

My eyes had finally been opened and I was ready to embrace my future.