Chapter 10

America's POV

I walk into the dining room and sit down on my chair. All twenty-five girls still getting ready for breakfast so it's just me and my kids for now, Samuel and Jeremy that is. Katie left early this morning. At five to be precise. She is still flying at the moment, only about four hours into the thirteen hour flight. Leonardo and his wonderful family who I haven't seen in a while live in Rome, Italy. I am sure my daughter is going to absolutely adore it there, as I did.

A maid pours some water into my glass and I ask her to bring me my usual cup of English breakfast tea. The doors open and my husband walks in looking as handsome as always. Maxon, over the years hasn't really changed. His skin has obviously gained some wrinkles and he has a few grey hairs, but it doesn't show to much in his blond hair. Nevertheless he looks young for his age and people often believe that he is younger than he truly is.

"Beautiful," he greets with a smile as he bends down and kisses my cheek. I blush and lean into his touch. Of course he can still make me feel like a giddy school girl.

"How was the meeting, my love?"

"It was alright, same as always. We discussed some of the money balances and other political issues. Other than that everything seems to be like it should."

"That's good." He sits and our hands lace together. Emily, the maid walks in with me cup of tea and places on the table. I eagerly take a sip of it, shivering as the warmth covers my body.

Maxon scoots closer and nuzzles his head into my neck, forgetting that his children are in the room. "Cold?" His lips brush my skin as he says it and another shiver goes through me, this one being a different kind then the last.

"Something like that," I say closing my eyes.

"Mom." Jeremy's stern voice makes my eyes snap open again. "Can't you do that in your room." He face scrunches up in disgust and I smile. Sam is turning red from me and Maxon's actions and yet he shoots out an arm to scold his older brother. I love my little Sam, he never likes picking fights. It warms my heart to see him be so caring towards everything.

I feel Maxon's smile against my neck. I nudge him and he leans back but quickly turns my head to give me a childlike kiss on my lips.

"Don't worry son, soon you will have a wife to do this with and your own kids to bother," Maxon teases and Jeremy shakes his head.

"At least I'll be nice enough to keep my inappropriate actions away from my kids eyes, thank you very much."

Maxon laughs as he scoots into the table and I roll my eyes.

The doors suddenly open and Silvia and her niece walk in with the Selected. All of the girls bow and take their seats.

"Doesn't it just feel weird being in a room full of girls again," I say into Maxon's ear.

"Mm, definitely. It makes me remember my selection. I almost feel like I am going to turn around and see my parents again."

I look at him and give him a sad smile. His parents have become a subject we don't really discuss. It's not that it's a sour subject, in fact we used to talk about them a lot. He would tell me stories of when he was little and he and his dad would play games or when his mom would cook something in kitchen and ask for his help. Of course he has also told me the rough stories as well like when his parents would fight and Amberly would leave a room crying. They never fought much but when they did Maxon told me it would get ugly. He also told me when his dad started getting aggressive with him. I could never imagine a little version of Maxon crying, shriveled up into a tiny ball with nowhere to go, it breaks my heart. When I was pregnant with Jeremy, I started crying because I remembered his stories. Maxon came in yelling my name and when I told him the reasons for my tears he just smiled sadly and brought me into his strong arms, telling that it was all over and it would never happen again.

I pat his leg and lean over to kiss his cheek. The butlers bring in the food and I don't hesitate to grab five strawberry tarts, two scoops of scrambled eggs, and a couple pancakes.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think your pregnant." Maxon says and I snort.

"Please, this is my typical breakfast."

"Typical America," Maxon smiles before looking at me.

I dig in and don't stop until I'm done. Breakfast is the time of day to re-energize yourself. When I was little I would always have decent breakfasts. Even when we were low on food we would still save everything so our breakfasts could be filling.

The main doors open and in walks in a guard. I look up as he walks closer to me and Maxon.

"Yes," Maxon asks.

"There's been an accident in the staff dormitory area. It looks like some electrical system must have been maybe tampered with or just not working because most of the light and lamps exploded, some maids got hurt."

"How many?"

"About ten."

"Ten."

"Yes, it seems to be that it was aimed at a certain sector." The guard says. He and Maxon are talking in hushed tones. Most of the selected don't seem to notice the conversation so it's private enough.

"Do you know which one?"

"Sector C."

"Are the maids who got hurt in the infirmary."

The guard nods. "There are no major injuries, only some cuts from broken glass. I know that some had to get stitches."

"Okay, do you think someone did it? I know for a fact that we have a safe electrical system."

"We don't know, where investigating."

"Let's have a meeting later."

The guard nods again and leaves. Maxon looks at me but doesn't say anything. I'm not sure what happened but as long as no one got hurt, that's all what really matters.

Jeremiah's POV

"What happened father?" I'm curious to know what happened. I was trying to listen but with all the chit chat I couldn't make out the conversation. All I heard was something about an electrical problem.

"Maids in sector C got hurt," my dad says and automatically something catches my attention.

"How?"

"Lights exploded."

My eyebrows shoot up and I'm thinking again. Where had I heard someone talking about sector C. I could have sworn I remembered...

And then it hit me. It hit me like a brick to the head. Amanda was sector C, Amanda's room was there. Amanda could be hurt. If Amanda wasn't in my room she could be hurt.

My knee bangs into the table and I cringe. My parents look at me with wide eyes. The whole room is looking at me with weird stares and wide eyes.

"Seems that I hurt my knee, if you will all excuse me, I must get this checked." I jump out of my seat and fake limp to the doors. The guards standing beside the doors open them and when they close behind me I break into a sprint. I run as fast as I can. I hope that Amanda is okay, I hope with all my heart.

I make it to the infirmary and I reach for the knob to open it but I stop. I can't go in there, if Amanda really is in there what will I say. "I'm in here for Amanda." No.

I take a step back. I decide to walk to my room, if anything Amanda is there. I walk nervously up the flights of stairs. Please let Amanda be alright.

I open the door and it's quiet in my room, it seems to be empty. I walk over to the door leading to my study; Amanda usually cleans there. I open the door and take a few steps inside.

"Jeremy?"

I turn around and there she is. I run to her and give her a tight squeeze. "Oh my god, I though you got hurt, I thought something happened to our baby."

"Why would you think that," she says concerned.

"You didn't here, there was some sort of light malfunction in your dormitory area and some people got hurt. I thought you were one of them."

"Oh! Is everyone okay." Her face crumbles into worry and I reach to stroke her soft cheek.

"They're all okay, nothing major."

"Oh." Her face shows relief and she must be thinking of friends that sleep there with her.

"How's are little baby doing," I say patting her belly gently.

"Peanut is fine."

"Peanut?" I say smiling.

"Well we don't know if it's a boy or a girl yet so I decided to call it Peanut for now," she smiles widely and giggles.

"I think that's a good nickname. Peanut it is. You better not cause mommy any trouble Peanut, you hear?" I warn looking down at her stomach.

Amanda giggles louder and I can't help but laugh with her.

I leave a little while later. I decide that I'll ask a few girls on dates. I need to start to get to know them, so I might as well start now.

Katelyn's POV

It's been ten hours and I can't stand it anymore. I stand up and walk around the cabin. Illea's time is around three o'clock in the afternoon and I much rather be there, reading under my favorite tree then on my way to meet a guy I have never even seen before. Two nights ago, when my parents told me I had to marry Leonardo they made it clear that they never wanted to make me do this.

"Why are you making me then?" I said sobbing. My mom came over to me and hugged me, she hated seeing me cry. Of course, I was only crying because I had to leave Cass. Now all I want to do is laugh at me stupidity.

"We don't want to do this to you, sweetheart, you have to know that. We would do anything to let you find love on your own, but unfortunately it's not up to us." My mother stroked my hair then, something I long for right now.

"What do you mean."

"Well Leonardo's parents have been struggling to find a wife for their son. Being such good friends with us they thought it would be a good idea to have an arranged marriage with you and Leo. Besides it would make it even better for our alliance."

"But you already have a strong alliance with Italy," I said while wiping the tears that coated my cheeks.

"I know. I'm sorry, honey. Look at it from their prospective, Leo is already getting old, he's turning twenty-one this year and he needs to get married and take his place on the throne. His parents are already old, older than Maxon and I for sure and sadly the King is getting sick. They need to find him a wife soon, they're losing time."

"So I was just like a last minute back up."

"No, not at all. We discussed this when you were young. It's always been a possibility."

"I just wish I at least knew what my husband looks like, I don't even know him. Everyone says he is super serious and boring. How am I supposed to survive there mom," I shouted and shook her shoulders a little.

"Kate," she laughed. "It's going to be fine."

"No, I'm going to marry him in what... less than six months, I'm going to know nothing about him. How am I supposed to sleep in the same bed with a man I don't even know."

"You'll know him honey, and I am sure you'll like him. You guys will hit it off, you'll see."

I remember rolling my eyes and getting up. I stomped out of the room and slammed the door. My dad had always told me I had my mother's attitude, he says I am a complete copy of her. It's true I guess, we have the same hair, same eyes. I just can't understand how my dad puts up with the both of us, I mean come on were not that easy to handle at times.

"You should sit, princess. Were experiencing some turbulence," a guard says and I roll my eyes. I sit and buckle up. If only there was some way to make the time move faster. I close my eyes and I am surprised when I find that I actually do feel tired. I keep them closed and soon I am asleep.

The bumpy landing jolts me right up. I look around for a second, confused but then I remember where I am and grumble. I take a peek out the window and for a second I freeze. This place looks absolutely beautiful. The guards help me up and I am escorted out of the plane and into a black limo. The air around me is cold and I feel rain start to drizzle on me. I read that the weather is gloomy and cold during the month of October, but I don't mind. I love the rain and snow more so then the hot summer sun. Even though the day is cloudy the terrain around me still glows with beauty.

I get in the limo and soon after were off. My stomach starts to churn as we get closer to the palace. I am meeting the man I am going to marry, the man I am going to, hopefully fall in love with, the man I am going to have children with, children. Oh god! I don't even know him, I don't even know what he looks like. This has got to be the worst marriage in the history of marriages.

"How much further," I ask for the hundredth time.

The guard up front sighs and mumbles something in Italian to the driver. I can't pick it up. I understand Italian, I can't quiet speak it but I can understand when someone speaks. "Twenty minutes, princess."

Twenty minutes... well shit.

Fifteen minutes...

Ten minutes... My heart beat quickens.

"Are we there yet?" I ask again.

"Five minutes, principessa."

I huff and slump over my seat. My heart beat isn't going down and I feel like I can't breathe. Well I guess this is it. I am going to die. Tell my parents I love them, I want to say to the guard.

The minutes tick and then we stop. I look up, we've stopped at a gate. It opens and we continue. Can I just jump out right now and run or maybe throw up, I don't know.

We drive around the massive fountain and stop right in front of the door. I take a deep breath and wait for the guards to open the door.

I start walking up the stairs to the tall front doors and once at the top the guards reach to open it. I walk inside and my breath catches in my throat. This palace is enormous. The ceilings are so high and I feel like if I were to scream you would be able to hear the echo for minutes.

My eyes wander and I pass a huddled group of people. My eyes immediately shoot back to them and there they are, my future family. They are standing right there. I notice the king, the queen, their young daughter, and then my eyes lock with the most handsome guy I could have possibly imagined. Out of all of the guys I created in my mind, he was not even close. His features are defined, his lips full, his flawless dark brown hair combed back perfectly. His eyes look me up and down, his lips part and I feel my stomach flip flop. He is flawless, a god, he's... I bite my lip, I run a hand through my red hair. I take a step but I stumble and I fall into darkness.

OOOH CLIFFHANGER!

Hello everybody! I hope you liked this chapter. I'll make sure to start the next chapter with Katelyn's POV. Let's see what happens with her and her new handsome prince! Please don't forget to leave a review, thank you. Until next time- Bella.