All rights to Kiera Cass. This book is designed to make story edits that largely follow the original plot. So even in the edited parts it is often largely Cass's writing.

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Author's note 1: I decided to post two chapters today since the last chapter was almost entirely the same as the original. (This chapter was posted about four hours after 16 though). I will also be posting two chapter tomorrow because chapter 18 is extremely short and basically the same.

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(edit)

CHAPTER 17

I SAT AT THE BASE of the tree, legs folded up to my chest, waiting. Mom always said that was what we were supposed to do when we were lost. It gave me time to think about what had happened.

How was it possible that rebels had gotten into the palace two days in a row? Two days in a row! Was that really all the entail? We had to have a better way to predict these attacks. I started reciting the information I knew, trying to find a connection I missed before. But I was soon distracted.

My legs had a bunch of scratches on them, and now that I wasn't hiding, I could finally feel the sting. There was also a small bruise halfway up my thigh that I wasn't sure how I'd acquired. I was thirsty; and as I settled down, I felt worn-out from the emotional, mental, and physical strain of the day. I let my head rest against the tree, closing my eyes. I didn't intend to fall asleep. But I did.

(cass)

Sometime later, I heard the distinct sound of footsteps. My eyes flashed open, and the forest was darker than I remembered. How long had I been asleep?

My first instinct was to climb back up the tree, and I ran around to the other side, stepping on the torn remnants of the rebel girl's bag. But then I heard people calling my name.

"Lady America!" someone said. "Where are you?"

"Lady America?" another voice called. Then, after a while, in a loud voice, a command came. "Be sure to look everywhere. If they've killed her, they might have hung her or tried to bury her. Pay attention."

"Yes, sir," men chorused back.

I peeked around the tree, focusing on the sound. I squinted, trying to make out the figures moving through the shadows, unsure they could really be here to save me. But one guard, his slight limp not slowing him at all, made me finally sure that I was safe.

A small patch of fading sunlight fell across Aspen's face, and I ran. "I'm here!" I yelled. "I'm over here!"

I ran straight into Aspen's arms, for once not caring about who saw. "Thank goodness," he breathed into my hair. Then, turning toward the other figures, "I've got her! She's alive!"

Aspen bent down and picked me up, cradling me. "I was terrified we were going to find your body somewhere. Are you hurt?"

"My legs a little."

A second later, several guards were surrounding us, congratulating Aspen on a job well done..

"Lady America," the one in charge said, "are you injured at all?"

I shook my head. "Just some scratches on my legs."

"Did they try to hurt you?"

"No. They never caught up to me."

He looked a bit shocked. "None of the other girls could have outrun them, I don't think."

I smiled, finally at ease. "None of the other girls are a Five."

Several of the guards chuckled, Aspen included.

"Good point. Let's get you back." He went in front of us and called out to the other guards, "Be on the lookout. They could still be lingering in the area."

As we moved, Aspen talked to me quietly. "I know you're fast and smart, but I was terrified."

"I lied to the officer," I whispered.

"What do you mean?"

"They did catch up with me, eventually."

Aspen looked at me in horror.

"They didn't do anything, but this one girl saw me. She curtsied and ran off."

"Curtsied?"

"I was surprised, too. She didn't look angry or threatening at all. In fact, she just looked like a normal girl."

I thought over Maxon's comparison of the two rebel groups and knew this girl must be a Northerner. There was absolutely no aggression in her, only a drive to do her task. And there was no doubt that the attack last night was from the Southern rebels. Did that mean something, that the attacks weren't only back-to-back, but by different groups? Were the Northerners watching us, waiting for us to be this drained? Thinking about them spying on the palace so intently was a little frightening.

At the same time, the attack was almost funny. Did they simply walk in the front doors? How many hours were they in the palace collecting their treasures? Which reminded me.

"She had books, lots of them," I said.

Aspen nodded. "That seems to happen a lot. No clue what they're doing with them. My guess is kindling. I think it's cold where they stay."

"Hmm," I replied, not really answering. If I needed kindling, I could think of much easier places to get it than the palace. And the way the girl was so desperate to gather up the books made me sure it was something more than that.

(edit)

It took nearly an hour of slow, steady trekking to get back to the palace. I spent a lot of it picking twigs out of my hair and even though he was injured, Aspen never let his hold on me slip. In fact, he looked to be enjoying the walk despite the extra labor. I liked it, too.

(Cass)

"The next few days might be busy for me, but I'll try to come see you soon," Aspen whispered as we crossed the wide, grassy lawn leading up to the palace.

"Okay," I answered quietly.

He smiled a little as he looked forward, and I joined him, taking in the view. The palace was glittering in the evening sun, with windows lit up on every story. I'd never seen it like this. It was beautiful.

(edit)

For some reason I thought Maxon would be there, waiting by the back doors for me. He wasn't. No one was. I was instructed to go to the hospital wing so Dr. Ashlar could tend to my legs while another guard went off to tell the royal family I'd been found alive.

I, however, had other plans. I trudged my way to the third floor and sent the guard to the conference room to ask if the advisor were working on rebel analysis and could use my help. He returned a few minutes later and gave me the okay.

I knew I must have looked like a mess. Though my hair was better than before it must have still been messy, my legs were scratched up, and my dress was torn. I couldn't care less though, I was frustrated with the way the rebels attacks were going.

I walked in and all eyes turned to me.

"Lady America are you alright." Cane asked.

"I'm perfectly fine, I just decided to take a little run in the forest. It was nice to get outside the castle walls for a bit." They all laughed and I continued, "Although I would love to figure out how to predict these rebel attacks so I don't keep embarrassing myself. For all my skill in martial arts and behind the scene planning, I'm surprisingly bad in battle." They laughed again.

"Well you saw this week's entail for rebels. What did you think." I knew they had seen my mark up by this point, but these kinds of things are always better explained.

"We were attacked by Southern rebels last night, and Northern today."

"What makes you think there are two different rebel groups?" Cornel Junespring asked.

"Well actually it was Maxon's theory, but everything I've seen holds to it." Maxon explained how he got there, and with my endorsement it seems they were taking his idea seriously. His schooled excitement of being listened to did not allude me, however. After about fifteen minutes, most of the advisor had seemed to buy into the two rebel groups theory. We began to move into restructuring the, clearly flawed, intelligence agent distribution based on this, when Maxon offered me his jacket. I knew from the look in his eye that it was not optional so I draped it around my shoulders.

By the end of a two hour meeting we had a new plan for intelligence officers to hopefully get better information. For if there's one thing everyone in that room agreed on, it's that two unforcene attacks in less than 24-hours is not acceptable.

When I left, I found Maxon had excused himself with me. "Hey." I said quietly.

"Have you gone to the infirmary yet?" Maxon asked.

"It's really just scratches My Maxon." I responded.

He gave me another one of those looks and we went to the infirmary. It stung as they washed out and bandaged my legs but I did my best not to react. Maxon was propped up in a chair by my bed, so close he could rest his head by my elbow if he wanted to.

There was a long pause as we sat there, unsure of what to say next.

(cass-minor edits)

"I thought of something today, when I was in the woods," I said casually.

He smiled a bit more. "Oh, really?"

"It was about you."

He inched closer, his brown eyes focused on mine. "Do tell."

"Well," I started, "I was thinking about how you were last night when Elise and Kriss weren't in the hall, how worried you were. And then today I saw you try to run after me when the rebels came."

"I tried. I'm so sorry." He shook his head, ashamed that he hadn't done more.

"I'm not upset," I explained. "That's the thing. When I was out there alone, I thought about how worried you probably were, how worried you are about the others. And I can't pretend our friendship is perfect….especially right now."

He chuckled. "We've seen better days."

"But you still ran after me. You handed Kriss off to a guard because she couldn't run. You're trying to keep us all safe. So why would you ever hurt one of us?"

He sat silently, not sure where I was going.

I took a leap, and did what I probably should have already done: trusted Maxon. "I understand now. If you're that concerned with our safety, you couldn't have wanted to do that to Marlee. I'm sure you would have stopped it if you could."

He sighed. "In a heartbeat."

"I know."

Tentatively, Maxon reached across the bed for my hand. I let him take it. "Do you remember how I said I had something I wanted to show you?"

"Yes."

"Don't forget, okay? It's coming. As you know this position requires a lot of things, and they aren't always pleasant. But sometimes … sometimes you can do great things."

(edit)

I didn't understand what he meant, but I nodded. If as an advisor I could save families, I trusted that as a prince he could do things of at least equal magnitude.

"I suppose it will have to wait until you're done with this project though. You're a bit behind."

"Ugh!" I pulled my hand from Maxon's to cover my eyes. I'd completely forgotten about the reception. I looked back at him. "Are they still going to make us do that? There've been two rebel attacks, and I spent the majority of my day lost in the woods. We're going to mess it up."

The nurse came back and gave us permission to leave. Maxon offered his arm and for the first time since Marlee's canning I took it despite feeling like I didn't have to. As we walked down the hallway Maxon's face was sympathetic. "You'll have to push through."

I let my head playfully fall to his shoulder. "It's going to be a disaster."

He chuckled. "Don't worry. Even if you don't do as well as the others, I don't have it in me to kick you out."

I looked back at him, as his best friend confirmed. "Are you saying that if the others do worse, one of them could be kicked out?"

He sighed. "I have about two weeks before they expect another cut. This is supposed to be a big part of it. You and Kriss have the harder setup. A new relationship, fewer people to do the work; and while the culture is very celebratory, the Italians are easy to offend. Add to that the fact that you've hardly been able to do any work at all …"

I looked down at our feet moving against the tiles.

"I'm not supposed to help, but if you need something, please say so. I can't send either of you home."

There, in the hallway, my heart broke for the first time over Maxon Schreave. And the ache was unthinkable. Up until then I could convince myself that I didn't care about everything I'd seen between him and Kriss, up until then I had convinced myself that Maxon had only a small piece of my heart if any at all, but now I knew for sure.

He liked her. And I liked him. And I had whatever I had with Aspen. And this was just way too many messy feelings. So I did what I always did: shoved it deep down inside and further friendzoned myself.

I nodded at his offer for help, before adding playfully, "So you and Kriss?".

Maxon blushed a little, "I don't know. She's a strong contestant."

"Maxon Schreave she's one of 5 girls left, I hope she is more than a strong contestant."

"Well I definitely like her." Wow that hurt, I really should stop pushing. But then he quickly added, "At least a little." And I couldn't help but wonder where all this hesitation was coming from.

We got back to my room and Maxon invited himself inside, sitting beside me. He started playing with my hand a little. "Once things calm down a bit more maybe we can continue those photography lessons. You've more than held up your end of the bargain."

I giggled a little bit. But then I suddenly realized I had fulfilled my end of the bargain, so why was I still an Elite? The plan was to keep me here long enough for Maxon to pick and then to make me an advisor. But I already was an advisor. So why wasn't he letting me go? Too scared to ask, so instead I just responded "That would be nice."

Maxon's hand moved down further to Aspen's bracelet. "What's this?" he asked. My face must have gone scarlett, "Ah from soldier boy. Things must be going well between you guys." He tried to hide it well, but a hint of jealousy slipped into his voice, "What is this? A button?"

I nodded, "He gave it to me so I could keep a piece of him close." I almost regretted saying it, but I didn't want to lie to Man about Aspen and I.

"A romantic?" Maxon noted, his voice full of surprise. "Well I'm glad there was someone to comfort you with Marlee when I could not."

I nodded again, by motions feeling inconsequential. There was just something about Maxon commenting so pleasantly on my relationship with Aspen that didn't feel right. In the same way thinking about Maxon and Kriss made me nauseous.

"Well I really should be getting back." Maxon kissed me on the forehead. "Good night My America, I'm not able to find words big enough to express how relieved I am that you're here, in one piece. I've never been so grateful for anything."

I was stunned into silence, the way I always was when he touched the shy places of my heart. His words bursted down the barricade I held my my feelings for him behind.

I lay down to sleep. Everything I know, spinning.

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Author's note 2: I really like the way this plays out and the confidence America displays, she's really starting to feel comfortable as an advisor! Let me know what you think of it.

Thanks for reading. As always please comment! I love to hear your thoughts!