THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR PATIENCE! School is so CRAZZYYY! it was so bad i had my dear darling best friend write this chapter for me! I gave her plot and details, i edited it, and added things. BUT this is mostly her work! And i wouldn't change a thing! she wrote it just like i imagined it in my mind except better! Lets give a round of applause to Sliversparrow757 ! and here you are my dears!

The entire country believed me to be dead.

My parents.

My siblings, even May.

They thought I was gone.

Suddenly, the temperature of the room seemed to drop. I began to shiver, despite the warmth of the outdoors. My chest felt like it had been crushed, like all the oxygen had been sucked from the room. I heard myself gasping for air, and I realized my eyes were squeezed shut.

"Lady America. America? Are you okay?" Zeke inquired softly, sounding like he was a million miles away. His voice bellowed in my mind like it was echoing through a million empty caves with nobody to answer. I jumped, and felt the rough touch of his calloused hand on my bare arm, having forgotten he was there. I opened my eyes and he hastily drew back his hand, looking slightly flustered.

"I'm f-fine. I'm.. I'm okay," I stuttered after a silence, then sat up to look at him and cleared my throat. "I was just thinking about my family. They think they'll never see me again. And Maxon. He needs to know I'm alive." Tears filled my eyes at the thought of how Maxon, my own Maxon, must be feeling at my supposed death. No, I thought. He doesn't love you anymore, I told myself. However, the feeling remained.

"Right now, they may be safer thinking you're gone," Zeke said with just a hint of anger hiding in his expression.

"What? Why?"

"As you probably know, King Clarkson sees you as an enemy of his country. An obstacle to having willing subjects to revere and bow down to him. Apparently he feels like you are enough of a threat to kill you, or at least stage your death," Zeke explained, then paused to take a breath. "Since he is the king, he has access to a lot of things we average citizens do not. Including the special poison he used on you. It slows your heart rate down to the point it's barely perceptible, lasting for about four days. Since you woke up early I'm guessing there was no one there guarding you, that's how you got out so easily."

"Why just stage my death? Why not kill me and get it over with?" I questioned, feeling sick.

"My guess is, it was for Maxon."

"What? Why? Maxon and the entire nation think I'm dead! How could it be for Maxon?"

"I think his plan was to ship you to New Asia or some other country under a fake I.D. and give you a new appearance, so that no one would believe you if you tried to convince them you're Lady America. Then he would just leave you there, telling no one who you were or where you were, so everyone would continue to believe you to be gone. Then, if Maxon started grieving or lashing out to those around him on account of your death to the point that he is incapable of ruling when the time comes, King Clarkson could tell him the truth about your life and whereabouts to stabilize his emotions again. Of course, he'd probably tell the prince to maintain absolute secrecy about you so no one would find out."

I sat in a shocked silence for a few moments. It was hard for me to process, this scheme the King had come up with. It seemed so improbable, impossible even. Doubt began to creep into my mind.

"Hold on... How do you know any of this?" I asked distrustfully.

"He used to work as a palace guard," a female voice answered from behind me. I whipped my head around to see who it was.

A medium height girl about my age was standing in the doorway of the cottage. Her striking resemblance to Zeke made it obvious that this beautiful girl was his sister. They had the same ocean blue eyes, sneaky smile and dark hair. Hers, tied up into a wavy ponytail, reached the small of her back.

"Hey, Janae. This is America." Zeke introduced me, motioning in my direction.

"As in Lady America? I thought she was.." Janae stopped talking but i would never forget the tone in her clear, silky voice.

"It's a long story," Zeke sighed breathing heavily.

"I don't suspect this has anything to do with why you were kicked off the Kings guard, does it?" Janae said, looking at her brother scoldingly.

"Umm..."

"That's what I thought. You were nosing around when you heard about Lady America's death and got caught, didn't you?"

Zeke hung his head in defeat, glancing at me sheepishly. I giggled, despite my distrust for him. Janae just sighed, but I could detect the merriment in her eyes.

"Get over here and help me with dinner, you useless thing. We have a guest, remember?" Janae teased, pulling on Zeke's sleeve.

Despite the relaxed atmosphere, I still wondered if I should trust Zeke.

Later, Zeke, Janae and I enjoyed a late, yet surprisingly delicious dinner of waterfowl eggs and a salad topped with various fruits and nuts. It was a simple meal, but it was nice to have something light after the rich delights of the palace kitchens.

It was now completely dark outside, Zeke and Janae had gone to bed. As I laid in the bed they made for me on their single couch, I pondered my situation. I was sleeping in the house of two perfect strangers, one of which had worked for King Clarkson, the very man who tried to stage my death.

I also had a growing sense that I should visit Maxon. When I had tried to bring this idea up to Zeke earlier, he had hastily stopped me with the excuse that it would be much too dangerous. It only furthered my doubts about his motives. No, he hadn't done anything to prove he was untrustworthy, but I had only just met him this morning. What are the odds that he just stumbled upon me in the woods? How could I know he wasn't sent to tail me by the King? He could even be part of the rebel movement for all I knew. I didn't even know why he was living out here in the middle of nowhere with a sister and no parents. I wished I had Maxon to confide in.

Oh, Maxon. How I missed him, despite the way he had hurt me.

Quickly, I jumped to my feet. I could not fight this desire to see the Prince. I tread silently across the floor, making my way into a tiny bathroom. Noiselessly, I rummaged through the bathroom cabinet. I looked for something, anything that could help me disguise my appearance so I could attempt sneaking into the castle. My finger ran over something sharp. I gasped to myself, cradling my hand as I held my finger up to the moonlight. Droplets of blood lined a cut near my fingertip, but it was nothing serious. I sucked my wounded index finger, using my free hand to find what inflicted the damage. It was a pair of scissors. I bit my lip. Well, what other options do I have? I thought to myself. Holding up the scissors to the first section of hair, I swiftly cut it.

Down fell the first few strands of my long red hair. I eyed them as they floated to the floor. I clasped my eyes shut, just to re-open them when I made quick work of the rest of my hair. I snipped away until I was left with a medium length cut that brushed barely past my shoulders. I studied my face in the mirror. Not different enough, I decided. I needed something else.

After digging around the cabinet again, I stumbled upon i bottle filled with a dark liquid. I rolled it around in my hand till i saw a label 'chestnut hair dye'. I froze, staring at the bottle. Did I really want to do this? I fingered my newly shortened red locks. For Maxon, I thought, I will do it for Maxon. It was the only way I'd have a chance to see him.

I squeezed the content out and combed the dye into my shining hair, making it into a messy bun to keep the stained hair off my clothes. Then snuck quietly out of the bathroom. I would have to rinse the dye out in the river outside, running water was too noisy. Grabbing my bag, I ran out the door, reaching my hand out and gripping the knob I turned it slowly. Reversing the motion I carefully closed it as slowly as possible so it wouldn't creak. Next I trudged down to the river. I pulled out my hair tie, letting my hair fall over my head. I started to put my locks into the river when i saw the brown ripples move over my reflection. I looked into my eyes. This wasn't me, i changed myself, this wasn't America. I felt moisture on my cheek, my world was falling apart, now i have to do my best to fix it. With that I ducked my head under the icy water, and tried to rinse as much of the dye out as i could. I just finished, putting my hair into a simple ponytail. I stood up shakily. I got up to continue, slinging my pack onto my back. Before i could turn away from the river I saw a shadow in the moonlight showing on the clear water.

I felt someone grab my waist from behind and throw me to the ground, causing droplets of water from my hair to spray all over me and my attacker. I let out a bloodcurdling scream. My attacker clapped his hand over my mouth. He laughed as I made a futile attempt to bite him.

"Hush, sweetheart. We wouldn't want that boy in there to hear you, now, would we?" a raspy voice whispered in my ear.

My stomach clenched, and I felt like throwing up. I'd recognize that voice anywhere.

It was one of my last rebel captors.