A/N: I don't own any characters.

cal witch, guest, & nattiebroskette - Thank you for continuing to review. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Grace POV

We were all getting along better, but we were also all stressed. Brie and I were preparing for our guest and Eva was working with AJ. We had our guest on the day before the ball. We were preparing for the guest from Italy. I was exacted because we had so many options for what we would do.

"Are you ok?" A voice asked me and I turned to see Justin. I had hoped it would be Dean. He had been unusually cold to me lately. I wanted to talk to him, but I wasn't sure he even wanted to talk to me anymore.

"Just busy." I said and he nodded.

"How's the wound?" he asked me.

"It's mostly healed." I said and he nodded. He was one of the few people that knew I had nightmares from the attacks.

"Lady Grace." a voice said and I turned to see Seth standing there.

"Dean wants to see you." he said and I nodded. I shared on least look with Justin and left. I walked with Seth to wherever we were headed. I still got lost around her.

"Don't say anything about it." he said and I looked at him strange. He opened the door, ushered me in, and shut the doors. Dean was sitting in the floor of his room with his back shredded.

"Seth, help me." he said and I was so surprised to see the new wounds and many old scars.

"He brought me." I said and Dean's head whipped around. I saw a mix of shock, happiness, and distain.

"You can leave." he said and I walked closer. I picked up some towels that he had attempted to use and wet it in the bowl next to him. I pressed it to his back. He hissed and tried to move.

"Let me clean them." I said and he sighed.

I dabbed at them and got them mostly cleaned up. He sat still and I finally got done.

"Thank you." he said and I nodded. I knew that something had changed between us.

"What happened?" I asked him.

"Don't worry about it." he said and I felt a pang of hurt go through me.

"Why not? We are friend." I said and he spun around quickly. I could tell he was upset again. I just wanted him to be my friend again.

"Friends? I thought friends were honest with each other." he snapped and I looked at him confused.

"What are you talking about?" I asked him. I hadn't told anyone about the conversation I had with either Stephanie or the other girls.

"You and Justin?" he screamed and me and I looked down. He had over heard us that day.

"That was before I met you." I whispered.

"He was the one you were in love with?" he asked me and I nodded.

"Was in love with." I said and he scoffed.

"You are an amazing actress. I fell for you… even when tried not to because you wanted to be my best friend. I just let you in and you lied to me." he said and I was trying not to cry.

"I fell for you too." I admitted and he laughed.

"You will say anything just to stay for your family. You know they stopped paying them a long time ago." he said and I nodded.

"Then why didn't you send me home?" I asked him and he sighed.

"I don't know. I should have." he said and I nodded. I turned to leave and I felt a hand on my arm.

"Don't tell anyone about my back. No one needs to know how my father deals with my stupidity." he said and I nodded.

"I won't, but please don't drag this out and keep me here anymore if I don't belong here." I said and walked out. I didn't know if I wanted to be there anymore.

Dean POV

I hadn't spoken to Grace since she helped me that night. She drove me crazy. I couldn't get my mind off her, but I couldn't figure out why she didn't tell me it was Justin. I hadn't really talked to anyone about it, but Mother could tell something was off.

We were getting ready for the ceremony. The ball was also tonight. I had jewelry delivered to each girl. I hoped they liked it, but I still wanted Grace to like hers the most. I had heard that she and Brie had done much better than the other girls with the guest. Father wasn't happy about it, but the rest of us were. I knew that Grace and Brie were my two front runners. I even kept up with the polls and knew that Grace was the front runner with the people. I thought it would be Eva, but they wanted Grace. I knew that drove father crazy because she was from a lower level of society.

"Ready for this? You will have to send someone home after tonight." my father asked me as I sat next to him. We had just come in and were waiting for sentencing.

"I am. I will see how they react to this." I said and he nodded. My mother wasn't happy with this because she knew that they were all being given hardened criminals.

Brie POV

We were all nervous. The ceremony and then the ball. I was looking forward to tonight. I had heard they were going to bring our families in, but I didn't know if it was true. I missed my family so much.

"I don't think we should do it." Grace said. She had been trying to convince us just not to do this. I know that none of us were looking forward to sentencing men to prison. I didn't think I would be able to do this.

"We have to, so just get it over with." AJ said and we all nodded. Grace was going to do it, but she didn't look happy about it. We all were in very nice dresses. Grace looked like a princes in the gold and red dress she was wearing. I had picked out a purple dress. AJ and Eva picked brighter colors. The maids dressed us in the nicest dresses we had been in so far.

"Ladies, come on." Stephanie said and we all followed her. We were announced and people cheered as we walked out.

We went one by one and sentenced the prisoners to their time. I was shocked that we had harder criminals. I was expecting a thief not a rapist. I watched as it was Grace's turn. They wanted her to go last. I knew that the king just wanted her out of the selection; we all could tell it.

"What's your crime?" she asked the man.

"Murder." he said and the crowd quietly shocked. I shared a look with the other girls. We were all surprised to hear this.

"Why did you do it?" she asked him. I was surprised to hear this.

"He tried to rape my daughter and I killed him as I stopped him." he said to her. He had tears in his eyes.

"Are you sorry?" she asked him.

"Yes, ma'am, I just wanted my daughter to be safe." he said and I saw Grace nod. She walked down to him and stood him up. I watched in amazement as she took her earrings and necklace off and put them in his hands.

"Go pay the king your debt and be free. I warn you, though, do not do this again. You will not be so lucky next time." she said to him. He smiled at her with tears in his eyes. He gave them to the king, who took them with disdain, and waved the man away. He practically ran down to his family. The crowd was going crazy and the king motioned for the camera to cut off. I saw Dean looking at Grace with amazement. She had certainly done what none of us couldn't, but I hoped that she didn't get sent home because of it. She would make a great queen.

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