Silence. I looked at the family before me and saw a combined look of shock. Even King Clarkson looked saddened by the news of my fake death - which I found quite hard to believe. I held my breath as Queen Amberly began to cry. To see this kind and beautiful woman cry over my apparent death was heart breaking because even after all the Selection had put me through, I still cared for the Queen. Kriss had pulled her oblivious daughter in for a hug, hiding her face in her daughter's brown hair. It surprised me how much grief the family was gong through for my death - I had always believed that they truly hated me.

As turned to look at Maxon. I thought he would be shocked, maybe even slightly glad - but to my amazement a tear was running down his cheek. He didn't speak a word but merely looked at me as though I had slapped him in the face.

"How did she die?" Clarkson asked gruffly.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not allowed to say." I replied quickly, averting my gaze.

Suddenly, Maxon's face turned to anger as he shouted:

"Why? Why would you withhold that information from us! We are Royalty and you are nothing but a -"

"Why should I tell you?" I screamed back, losing all self control, " You never even tried to reach out. You left her for dead the minute you chose Kriss!"

All of my emotion poured out. All of the anger that I held back for the last seven years became channelled into my rage towards him. His anger changed to momentary shock before returning to anger again.

"What she did was treason!" he shouted back.

I hadn't noticed quickly enough that Aspen had turned back around. I had been surprised that he was still in the palace after all that had happened but I forgot this when he started walking towards Maxon.

"She was ending it!" Aspen yelled, "She was telling me she chose you! You absolute -"

Quickly, before the two men could try to kill each other, I moved myself between them. As I tried to restrain Aspen, Andrew appeared and held Maxon back. I had never been more thankful for my assistant in my life. He returned a fuming Maxon to his chair before turning back towards me.

"Eadlyn, all rooms have been checked. There is no sign of any other intruders." Andrew informed me, "We have set you up a temporary office in one of the spare rooms"

"Thank you Andrew." I replied as I removed myself from an angered Aspen.

"Your Majesties, it is safe for you to return to your rooms. As a safety precaution, I believe that dinner should be had in your personal quarters tonight and I will make sure that guards are posted outside all of your rooms." I informed the Royals who had now recovered from the news - even Maxon had managed to compose himself.

"Thank you Miss Weston" The King replied curtly, "May you come to my office tomorrow for the meeting that we were supposed to have?"

"I would like that very much." I said and turned to Aspen, "You are not fit to continue today so return to your chambers for the rest of the day."

Aspen quietly agreed as I turned back to my assistant, who was waiting for me by the door. As Andrew escorted me to my new office, I heard angry shouts from the King - who I could only assume thought I was far enough away that I wouldn't hear what he was saying. It must have felt off-putting for someone who you had never met to take charge of everything. I felt bad for a man that I had never trusted or liked.

As we twisted and turned through the halls, many began to feel familiar. It wasn't until we stopped at a door that I realized where we were - my old room. My hand shook as I opened the door. Andrew must have noticed because he gave me a concerned look as I made my way into the room.

It was like stepping into a memory. Nothing had changed.

"This room had been locked but we managed to find someone to unlock it."

Suddenly, I could no longer control my emotions and broke down in tears. After all that I had been through over the last seven years and all that I had tried to forget, I was now back where I didn't want to be. As the hot tears rolled down my cheeks I cursed silently that I had allowed my emotions to take control over me. Thankfully Andrew closed the door and pulled me in for a hug. He held me close as he whispered:

"I'm sorry America. I shouldn't have left you with them."

Andrew knew more than anyone what I had been through. He had helped me so much and had provided much needed support during my time in the Special Forces. He had always been there when I needed him and was the brother I never thought I needed.

It wasn't long before I stopped crying and set up my desk. I intended to spend much of my time in here so I arranged it perfectly. Andrew had brought my small suitcase in that contained many sets of black suits and flats - it had been many years since I had worn a dress or heels. As I began to unpack I saw that the wardrobe was full of clothes. As I inspected them, I realised that many of these were dresses that I had worn before. I questioned why the room had never been touched for seven years - I had been sent away and was hated by the Royals.

Once I had finished I returned to my desk and turned on the computer on my desk. These were still uncommon objects but were necessary for my line of work. I combed through the files I had been given to try and work out what had happened. For the rest of the afternoon I spoke with officers and interrogators to learn what I could about the latest danger and the rebel that had managed to infiltrate the palace. I arranged with Andrew to speak to the rebel in question the following morning as I did not feel I had the energy after all that had happened.

As the afternoon turned to evening, I began to hears shouts in the corridors once again. Although I was at first fearful that it was another attack, I became more relaxed as I realised that the voice was familiar. BANG! My door was thrown open and a raging prince stood there.

"Get OUT!" he shouted.

I did not react and chose to continue to type my report. I would not let him get to me. As I finished my sentence, I turned to look at him.

"Your Highness, I am here to ensure your safety. Why on earth does it matter what room I am stationed in?" I asked politely, keeping eye contact throughout the conversation.

He stormed towards the desk and said through gritted teeth:

"This was America's room."

"Why does that matter to you? You hated her and accused her of treason. Why does it matter that someone else is using the room?" I questioned.

Maxon's face shifted from rage to sadness. I watched carefully as he collapsed into the chair opposite and scanned the room. As I looked at him, I remembered all of the happy memories that we had shared here. I hadn't noticed that Maxon had returned his gaze to me until he spoke.

"I don't hate her Miss Weston... I miss her."

"She told me how you had acted on the day of the Engagement. You never wanted to see her again." I said quietly.

"I didn't for a long time but over the years I have come to quietly miss her - and I'll never ... never see her again." Maxon replied.

Even though there had been days when I had screamed his name in anger and nights when I had cried myself to sleep over losing him, I knew that I had always loved him. I had been the one who had ruined what we had and I had paid the price for that mistake by losing him. I had always believed that he didn't miss me and to hear Maxon say that he did miss me brought me some comfort.

"Maxon, she missed you every day - even after what happened on the Engagement day." I said truthfully, "She went through so much after she left but she never forgot how you had made her happy."

I smiled sadly at him and turned back to the document I was writing. Sensing that he was no longer welcome, Maxon began to leave my room.

"Why did you lock this room away?" I asked just as he reached my door.

Maxon turned back around to face me with a sad smile.

"Even though I was angry, I just hated the idea of anyone else in here. I just wanted to lock that room away and forget about her." he explained.

Once he had left, I stood up from my desk and moved towards my balcony. The cool night air ran through me, making me pull my suit jacket tighter around my waist. I needed to forget about my past and focus on the mission. If I was to save Maxon and his family I needed to forget about who I once was. America had to be dead to me.