Joel begrudgingly went to the safe room, where the wailing siren was less loud. He wanted to stay and help the guards fight, but they had insisted that he go to the safe room. He was trained in combat, he knew he could be of help, but the guards told him that he would only get in their way and there was protocol to follow. He sighed as he stepped inside of the room and the doors closed and locked behind him. He scanned the room, the thirty remaining Selected were already in the room. Annalise stood, talking to Jeffrey who looked pale and terrified. Annalise pulled him into a hug and stroked his hair.
"It's okay, they can't get in here," Annalise spoke to Jeffrey softly as Joel approached the pair. "Do you want your medicine?"
Jeffrey shook his head and when he saw Joel he immediately pulled away from his mother.
"How is everyone holding up?" Joel asked. He glanced at Jeffrey who sat on a chair, tapping his foot anxiously. Callum, on the other hand was reading a book, seemingly unaffected by what was going on just beyond the doors of the safe room.
Annalise sighed, "About as well as can be expected." She said as she took a few steps away from her children so they could talk privately, but still be close enough in case they needed her. "How are you doing?" She asked.
"I'm fine," Joel replied honestly. "I tried to help the guards, but they wouldn't let me."
Annalise raised her eyebrows in surprise, "You tried to help the guards?"
Joel nodded and smiled slightly, "I'm trained in armed combat, but they said they had protocols to follow and that I would just get in their way."
"I would hate for them to mistake you as a rebel, though I appreciate you wanting to help." Annalise said with a smile.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Joel asked.
Annalise nodded, "If you could stay with Jeffrey and Callum that would be a big help, I need to check on the others."
Joel nodded, "Of course I can do that."
"And try to get Jeffrey to take his medication, it's for panic attacks, which I'm sure he's going to have soon enough. I'd like to prevent that." Annalise added as she leaned forward and placed a kiss on Joel's cheek. "I think he likes you, he told me about how you stood up to Rupert for him."
"I just did what anyone else would do," Joel said with a smile. He couldn't believe that the Queen had just kissed him in front of the other Selected, but none of them seemed to be paying attention, they seemed to scared to be focusing on anything other than themselves.
"I'm not sure that anyone else would have done that." Annalise said as she handed Joel a bottle of pills. "I'll be right back."
Joel nodded and watched the Queen walk away before he approached the princes. Joel crouched in front of Jeffrey who kept fidgeting in his seat.
"Hey bud-Jeffrey," he quickly corrected himself.
"What?" Jeffrey asked, though he didn't sound annoyed.
"I really think you should take your medicine," Joel encouraged.
"I don't want it," Jeffrey said stubbornly.
Joel nodded, "I know you don't, but it'll help you feel better. You don't want to have a panic attack, do you?"
"No…" Jeffrey trailed off.
"Then you should take it," Joel urged as he held out the bottle of pills. Jeffrey relented with a sigh and took the bottle from Joel. Joel started talking to the boys about his adventures in the wild as Jeffrey opened the bottle and popped a pill in his mouth, which he swallowed dry. He handed the bottle back to Joel who placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. Joel was surprised when Jeffrey allowed him to maintain contact and gave the boy's shoulder a reassuring squeeze.
Meanwhile, Annalise approached Greg, who looked a little shaky.
"Hey, it's okay," Annalise said, as she placed a hand on his shoulder. She figured that the rebel attack would have an effect on the war veteran. "We're perfectly safe down here," She said in a soothing tone.
"I didn't mean to freak you out Annalise. It's just…hurts to remember sometimes," Greg said.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Annalise asked, she was used to Jeffrey's panic at the sound of the alarm, but he had medicine to help him take the edge off. But she knew that Greg's trauma from the war must be much different to what her son was going through, and she felt out of her depth with him.
Greg shook his head, "Just…keep doing what you're doing."
Annalise nodded, and pulled Greg into a hug, which he gladly returned. "It's okay, you're safe, the rebels have never found this safe room."
Greg nodded, inside they could barely hear the alarm, but he was still on high alert knowing that there was the possibility that the rebels could break in at anytime. And he had nothing to defend himself with. But he also knew that Annalise had kids and other Selected to attend to.
"I'll be fine." Greg said as he pulled away from the hug. "You should be with your kids."
Annalise nodded again; she knew she had to make her rounds to the Selected. She glanced over at Jeffrey and Callum, Callum seemed engrossed in whatever Joel was saying to them, and she was surprised to see Jeffrey allowing Joel to hold onto his shoulder. Jeffrey kept sneaking glanced at his mother but seemed okay enough.
Annalise decided to make her rounds a little faster so she could be with her children. It was unfair to leave Joel with Jeffrey, she knew how he got. Annalise approached Noah and Jerry who were talking amongst themselves.
"How are you two holding up?" Annalise asked, she couldn't believe that three weeks into her Selection there was already a rebel attack.
"I'm okay," Noah answered.
Jerry nodded his head in agreement, "It's all just a little overwhelming."
"I know, I remember during my first rebel attack I was terrified, unfortunately I've grown accustomed to them," Annalise said. "This is the safest place for us to be, rebels have never breached it."
"That makes me feel a lot better," Noah admitted. "How are the boys holding up?"
Annalise glanced over at her children then back at the two men in front of her, "They'll be fine, they're used to this." She said, Jeffrey looked a bit calmer and seemed to be engaging in Joel's conversation a bit more.
"Jeffrey's looking a bit better," Jerry commented, noticing that the boy wasn't as pale and had stopped fidgeting.
"His doctor prescribed him anxiety medication to help during rebel attacks, I'm afraid they're quite common," Annalise said.
"They happen that frequently?" Noah asked.
"Unfortunately, yes." Annalise said with a sigh. You have Rupert to thank for that, she thought. "If this is all too much for you, once it's over you are free to leave."
"No," both men said at the same time.
Annalise smiled slightly, "Well, then I guess I'll see you around, I really need to check on the others and get back to my boys."
Noah and Jerry both nodded, and Annalise made the rest of her rounds. A lot of the men were scared, but some were angry that they hadn't been informed of the possible dangers of the Selection. Annalise found herself irritated by this, there were rebel attacks all over the country, what made them think the palace was immune to them? She had offered everyone the chance to leave, and ten men had agreed, which meant that her Selected would dwindle down to twenty, Annalise was a little disappointed, but understood their desire to leave, they had kids and families, they couldn't die during a Selection.
She returned to her children and pulled Joel aside, promising Jeffrey that she would be right back.
"Any luck?" Annalise asked.
Joel nodded as he handed her the bottle of pills, "He took them."
"Thank you, Joel, I'm sorry to have dumped them on you," Annalise said with a smile.
"Its all right, I had plenty of stories to keep them occupied," Joel said.
"I'm sure you do, you lead an exciting life," Annalise said. "Thanks for being so good with Jeff, ever since his father died…"
"You don't have to say it, that would scare anyone, I'm surprised Callum isn't more affected."
Annalise sighed, "That's because he wasn't in the room when it happened."
"Wait, you don't mean-"
"Jeffrey was visiting Darren in his office; the alarm wasn't working at the time. They heard yelling and gunshots from the hallway, they never would have made it to a safe room in time, so Darren hid him in a storage chest," Annalise said. "Jeffrey told me that he didn't see anything, but he overheard the whole ordeal. When they were gone Jeffrey was left alone with Darren's body for, I don't even know how long, I'm not sure he does either."
Joel glanced at Jeffrey, who stood from his chair and made his way over to his mother. Annalise wrapped an arm around Jeffrey who clung to her. Joel couldn't believe that Jeffrey had been through that and felt bad for the poor kid, but admired his strength, it must have taken a lot of courage to keep from crying out and giving away his location.
"Don't leave again," Jeffrey said.
Annalise nodded as she rubbed his back, "I'm not going anywhere."
"Do you mind if I keep you guys company?" Joel asked, Annalise was too busy taking care of everyone else, someone had to stay and take care of her.
Jeffrey shrugged a shoulder, "Do what you want."
The rebel attack lasted hours and ended just before dinner. Since the kitchen didn't have enough time to prepare a gourmet meal sandwiches were prepared for the royal family and the Selected, which they ate on the grass in the gardens. Everyone, except for those that had decided to leave, sat in little groups, with Annalise and her children sitting on their own. Jeffrey had calmed down from the attack but didn't seem to want to leave his mother's side. Annalise smiled at her son, as bad as it sounded, she loved his vulnerable moments, because it was the only time that he let her in. After dinner, Rupert ruined the afternoon by taking Jeffrey for business, and of course he refused to tell her what it was. Annalise sighed as she watched her son leave with his uncle, wishing she could do something to stop it.
"Is Uncle Rupert going to take custody of me too?" Callum asked worriedly.
Annalise shook her head, "No, Callum, he's not going to take you too."
"Then why did he take Jeffrey?" Callum inquired.
Annalise sighed, "Because he's the heir and he wants to control him."
"Oh," Callum said.
Annalise ran a hand through his hair, "But don't you worry, I'm going to get him back."
"I hope you do; he's been really mean since Uncle Rupert took him away from you," Callum said sadly.
"I know," Annalise said softly. She kissed Callum on the top of the head. "Go play."
Callum nodded and approached the Selected. Annalise smiled slightly at that, of course his first instinct was to go to them for a playmate.
"Let's play soccer!" Callum said excitedly.
The men gave him shocked looks, they had just been through an attack on the palace, and he wanted to play soccer? It made no sense. At first, they men were reluctant to play, but when Annalise offered to be referee they were all on board. They separated into two teams, one person had to sit out because there would be uneven teams, so they decided that everyone would take turns keeping Annalise company.
Greg was the first to keep Annalise company. They sat beside each other on the grass.
"Have you ever had therapy, Greg?" Annalise asked.
Greg nodded, "Sort of, there was issues with my insurance after a while they wouldn't pay for it anymore."
Annalise reached into the pocket of her dress then handed him a card, "That's Jeffrey's therapist, she specializes in PTSD treatment, consider it a gift from me, I'll make all the arrangements."
"Thank you, Annalise, it means a lot." Greg said as he took the card from her.
Annalise smiled as she leaned back and rested her hand on top of Greg's, "You've done enough for your country, it's time your country does something for you."
Greg held onto her hand with a smile, "You're an incredible woman, you don't deserve what Rupert's doing to you."
Annalise sighed, "And you don't deserve what your ex-wife did to you, if I can help you in anyway I will. If you need help with lawyer's fees, I can help with that, I'm sure Noah knows someone who could help you fight for custody."
"Thank you, Annalise, I really appreciate that," Greg said. "But I think the money from the Selection is more than enough to cover lawyer's fees."
"Good, I'm glad," Annalise said as they watched the boys play soccer. Another Selected came to switch off with Greg, but he declined, opting to spend more time with the Queen. They talked for a couple of hours until it was time to get Callum situated in bed.