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: I forgot to actually hit the post chapter yesterday. Thank you for being patient.

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(Cass)

CHAPTER 23

I CURTSIED TO THE QUEEN as I walked into the dining room, but she didn't notice. I looked over to Elise, who was the only one already there, and she merely shrugged. I sat down as Natalie and Celeste entered and were equally ignored; and finally Kriss arrived, sitting next to me but keeping her eyes on Queen Amberly. The queen seemed to be in her own world, staring at the floor or occasionally glancing at Maxon's and the king's chairs as if something was wrong.

The butlers began serving food, and most of the girls started eating; but Kriss kept watch on the head table.

"Do you know what's going on?" I whispered.

Kriss sighed and turned to me. "Elise called her family to get some insight into what was happening and to have her relatives meet Maxon and the king once they got to New Asia. But Elise's family says they never arrived."

"They never came?"

Kriss nodded. "The weird thing is, the king called when they landed, and he and Maxon both spoke with Queen Amberly. They're fine, and they told her they were in New Asia; but Elise's family kept saying they never showed."

I scrunched my forehead, trying to understand. "What does that all mean?"

"I don't know," she confessed. "They say they're there, so how could they not be? It doesn't make sense."

"Huh," I said, not sure of what else to add. Why would Elise's family not know they were there? What if, maybe, they weren't actually in New Asia? Where could they be?

Kriss leaned closer to me. "There's something else I wanted to talk to you about," she whispered. "Could we go for a walk in the gardens after breakfast?"

"Of course," I answered, eager to hear what she knew.

We both ate quickly. I wasn't sure what she'd found out, but if she wanted to talk outside, there was clearly a need for secrecy. The queen was so distracted, she barely even noticed as we left.

Stepping into the sunlit gardens felt wonderful. "It's been awhile since I've been out here," I said, closing my eyes and lifting my face to the sun.

"You usually come with Maxon, right?"

"Mm-hmm." A second later, I wondered how she knew that. Was it common knowledge?

I cleared my throat. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

She stopped under the shade of a tree and turned to face me. "I think you and I should talk about Maxon."

"What about him?"

She fidgeted. "Well, I had prepared myself to lose. I think we all had, except for maybe Celeste. It was obvious, America. He wanted you. And then everything with Marlee happened, and it changed."

I wasn't quite sure what to say. "So, are you just telling me you're sorry for moving to the top or something?"

"No!" she said emphatically. "I can see he still cares about you. I'm not blind. I'm only saying, I think you and I might be neck and neck at this point. I like you. I think you're a really great person, and I don't want for things to get ugly, however it turns out."

"So this is …?"

She clasped her hands in front of her, trying to think of the right words. "This is me offering to be completely honest about my relationship with Maxon. And I'm hoping you'll do the same."

I crossed my arms and went for the one question I'd been dying to ask. "When did you two get so close?"

Her eyes got a little dreamy, and she toyed with a piece of her light-brown hair. "I guess right after everything with Marlee. It probably sounds stupid, but I made him a card. That's what I always did back home when my friends were sad. Anyway, he loved it. He said no one had given him a present yet."

What? Oh. Wow. After everything he'd done for me, had I really never done anything for him in return?

"He was so happy, he asked me to sit with him awhile in his room and—"

"You've seen his room?" I asked, shocked.

"Yes, haven't you?"

(edit)

"I-." I tried to explain poorly. Maybe I shouldn't be talking about this. I'm just fishing because Maxon and my relationship isn't romantic. And really anything I want to know should come from him. As my best friend I shouldn't know more than he wants me to... right?

I guess she assumed that meant I hadn't because she replied, "Oh. Well, you're not missing anything. It's dark, and there's a gun rack, and then he has this mess of pictures on the wall. It's nothing special," she promised, waving it away. I resisted shaking my head. 'Mess of pictures' how little did she know Maxon to call it that. Then again I know i'm closer to him, maybe it isn't the type of thing he usually shares. "Anyway, after that he started visiting me during pretty much every free moment he had." She shook her head. "It happened kind of fast."

I sighed. "He basically told me," I confessed. I then paused before choosing the moment that seemed the most usual. "He made a little comment about needing us both here."

"So …" She bit her lip. "You're pretty sure he still likes you?"

Still? I wasn't sure he ever liked me. "Kriss, do you really want to hear all this?"

"Yes! I want to know where I stand. And I'll tell you anything you want to know, too. We aren't running this thing, but that doesn't mean we have to be lost in it."

I walked in a short circle, trying to make sense of everything. The part of me that admitted I was falling for Maxon was begging to play the game, while the part of me that was Maxon's friend was begging me to end the conversation.

"I'm pretty sure he wants me to stay around for a while. But I think he wants you here, too." I told her honestly.

She nodded. "I figured."

"Has he kissed you?" I blurted out. Great America, great.

She smiled bashfully. "No, but I think that he would have if I hadn't asked him not to. In my family, we sort of have this tradition where we don't kiss until we're engaged. Sometimes we have a party when people announce their wedding date, and everyone gets to see the first kiss. I want that for me."

Okay America you got your question. Now walk away.

"Wait," she said, hesitating. "Did he kiss you?"

I thought about our one kiss. Our kiss between friends. His first kiss.

"Sort of. It's kind of hard to explain," I hedged.

She made a face. "No, it's not. Has he or hasn't he?"

I felt backed into a corner. Maxon and I were friends. We actually used that word an awful lot too. But that kiss, didn't feel like friends. The times we get lost into each other's eye, doesn't feel like friends. And the insane amount he preoccupies my thoughts, doesn't feel like friends. "It's complicated."

"America, if you're not going to be honest, then this is a waste of time. I came here wanting to be open with you. I thought it would benefit us both to be friendly."

I stood there, wringing my hands, trying to think of a way to explain myself. It wasn't that I disliked Kriss. I want her to win….maybe even more than me.

"I do want to be friends with you, Kriss. I kind of thought we already were."

"Me, too," she said gently.

"It's just hard for me to share private things. And I appreciate your honesty, but I'm not sure I want to know everything. Even though I asked," I said quickly, seeing the words coming to her lips. "I already knew he had feelings for you. I could see it. I think I need things to be vague for the time being." Yes that was the best way to say Maxon and I are just friends while at the same time having a strong undercurrent of definitely not just friends and I really should be hearing this from him because we are best friends and that was part of the deal from the start and I have no idea where we stand but you are definitely wedged in there and that's why I want the two of you to be happy while having a burning jealousy because I definitely have feelings for Maxon far deeper than I am willing to admit. Because all of that is something I will probably never get out of my mouth.

She smiled. "I can respect that. Would you do me a favor though?"

"Sure, if I can."

She bit her lip and turned her eyes away for a minute. When she looked back, I could see the hint of tears in her eyes. "If you're certain that he doesn't want me, could you maybe warn me? I don't know how you feel, but I love him. And I'd appreciate being told. If you know for sure anyway."

She loved him. She said it out loud, fearlessly. Kriss loved Maxon.

"If he ever told me for sure, I would tell you."

She nodded. "And maybe we could make another promise? Not to purposely get in each other's way? I don't want to win that way, and I don't think you do either."

"I'm no Celeste," I said with disgust, and she laughed. "I promise to be fair."

"Okay then." She dabbed at her eyes and straightened her dress. I could see it so easily, how elegant she would look with the crown on her head.

"I need to go," I half lied. I probably should work on the intelligence. "Thanks for talking to me."

(cass)

"Thanks for coming. I'm sorry if I was too intrusive."

"It's fine." I stepped away. "I'll see you later."

"Okay."

I turned as quickly as I could without being rude and made my way to the palace. Once inside, I quickened my pace and bolted up the stairs, aching to hide.

I made my way to the second floor and headed toward my room. I noticed a piece of paper on the floor, which was unusual for the typically immaculate palace. It was by the corner leading to my door, so I guessed it might be for me. To be sure, I flipped it over and read.

Another rebel attack this morning, this time in Paloma. Current count is over three hundred dead, at least one hundred more wounded. Again, the main demand appears to be terminating the Selection, calling for an end to the royal line. Please advise on best response.

(edit)

My body went cold. I scanned both sides of the paper, looking for a date. Another attack this morning? Even if this was a few days old, it was at least the second one threatening the selection. And the demand was again ending the Selection. Was this what all the recent attacks had been about? Were they trying to get rid of us? Why wasn't this in my intelligence briefings? Had I missed signs of an attack and they hid it from me? Were there no discernable signs and they didn't want me to get upset? Was my clearance simply not high enough? I suddenly realized there were almost never numbers in the reports. I pocketed the paper. I needed answers.

I finished my analysis around four o'clock and went up to deliver them. As a rule the report had to be in by five and it had to be hand delivered. The guard had given me the okay, so I knocked on the door.

"Come in" I heard the general called.

I had never seen the room so empty. Inside it was only Gavril and the General, and technically Gavril wasn't one of the eight advisors that was supposed to know my position.

"Sorry to bother you sir, I'll come back later." I quickly said backing out of the room.

"You're no bother, Gavril and I were just chatting." he looked curious about what I could possibly be doing here especially because elites weren't, as a general rule, allowed on the third floor. I'm sure I looked frightened as I walked in. I did not want the king to be any madder at me than he currently was. The General continued though, "Oh the king and I were going to tell him at some point anyways." I couldn't understand how he could be so casual about anything with the king. I could barely make eye contact with the man unless I'm angry. "Lady America is acting as a Junior Strategic Advisor for domestic offensives."

I walked to them and handed the general my mark up. Gavril looked baffled, "What could she pos-" he was cut off by the general handing him a report. I felt a little smirk creep up on my face as Gavril looked as though his eyes may fall out of his skull. He kept flipping through, rereading parts over and over. It was most definitely comical.

"You're dismissed, Lady America." The General said, smiling back at me.

"Actually sir I was hoping to talk to you in private." We moved to the other side of the room giving Gavril plenty of space to process.

I pulled the note out of my pocket and handed it to the General. "Why wasn't this in my report. I found it outside my door, someone must have dropped it by accident. But three hundred people dead?" I shook my head. "It's really hard to do my job without all the information."

"Yes well in general, as I am sure you have realized, we admit the numbers of casualties from your documents. In this case we decided to admit the entire attack in case you figured anything else about it." I gave him a puzzled look. "We were afraid that if you knew that people were getting hurt from the selection you would do something rash."

I started to laugh a bit and the general looked puzzled, "Given my track record that is certainly reasonable." the General joined me and after a few seconds I paused to catch my breath. "Does Maxon know?"

"Some, he doesn't know how bad it is though. We filiter his documents too. He knows we filter them at this point, and he certainly isn't happy about it." I nodded. Maxon had mentioned to me before how frustrating it was that he wasn't always given all the information.

"Well in the future if you could at least let me know that an attack happened and maybe a scaling system of small, medium, large. My job would be a lot easier and more effective."

"No promises, but I'll try." I nodded and turned to leave, "And Lady America, for every attack you see on that paper you've helped to stop at least three more." I smiled back at him. Everyone kept saying things like that, and I knew why. When working this job you constantly have to remind yourself of that or you'll get caught up in all the death. I can understand them wanting to protect me from just how much death it is, but I was far more concerned with how many lives protecting me cost.

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