Well, as promised I updated both days of my break from work. I'll try to update again soon but I have a half marathon next Saturday and that's the only reason I get next weekend off work. But I'll try super hard to make time to update again! :) Also, if any of you know The One by the Backstreet Boys, the song I used in this chapter then I would just ask that you try to imagine the beat slowed down to a waltz but the lyrics were just too perfect for me not to use! Plus the title of the song fit perfectly itself.


America's POV

I walked out into the gardens where the reception was being held. The perimeter was swarming with guards but they and Maxon must have thought it was safe enough to hold the reception outdoors. It was an unusually warm evening for being just a few days before New Year's but I liked it. Carolina winters were usually so much harsher but that might have been due to the fact that we didn't always have electricity or heating, proper clothing was also usually in short amounts. I enjoyed this winter weather though, it was simply amazing. I walked towards Nicoletta smiling softly and I could feel several of the guard's eyes on me. Celeste was right, this outfit was going to draw so much attention. The pearls helped me to feel regal unlike the last time that I had a special dress pulled out to wear. That time I had only felt like a high class hooker by the end of the day. I kept walking towards my friend, ignoring the fact that Maxon was currently greeting Kriss' parents, smiling, laughing, and shaking their hands as they all posed together in photos. He hadn't seen me yet and I was secretly glad. I didn't want to have to go and talk to either of them, not here, not yet.

"Nicoletta thank you so much for getting me this job," I started as she threw her arms around me in a hug. I hugged her back before pulling away for a moment. I looked at her in her light orange dress. Not many girls could pull of that color or shade but she looked extremely good in it. I almost wished that I could pull it off but it would completely clash with the color of my hair.

"You look absolutely stunning, America," she stated, kissing my cheek as was custom in most of Europe. I smiled softly back at her and lightly let my hands fall next to my hips. "I mean it, any one would be lucky to pick you up now that you're a single former Elite!"

I shook my head and gave her my biggest smile. "Thank you, some friends of mine helped to pick it out. I had no idea what to wear what this or what would be appropriate. I still don't even feel like I'm right for this job but I feel so honored that you do."

"Nonsense, Lady America. You are exactly what us Italians wanted on your thrown but since we couldn't have that, we had to be able to offer you a way to keep a hand in your government. You are such a wonderful idealist," she smiled and pulled me around to introduce me to several of her relatives as we waited for everyone else to get to the reception. Unfortunately it seemed that Maxon, Kriss, Queen Amberly, the Italians, and I would all be at the same table for the meal portion of the evening. There would be some light ballroom dancing afterwards inside of the palace and then the evening would be finished. I knew that there was a tradition for the engaged couple to have their first dance at the reception and then a different one at the wedding. It was to be a beautiful spectacle but I was beginning to think that it would make me throw up.

Finally, Maxon and Kriss reached the top of the table and the rest of us followed suit to our seats. Nicoletta sat next to me and gestured for her younger brother on my other side. "Lady America, this is Prince Daniele. He's your age," she smiled lightly elbowing me as she whispered the last part into my ear. "He's actually one of the diplomats that you will be working with, given that I am the heir to our thrown," she finished giving a teasing smile to her brother.

I turned towards him to shake his hand. He stood out from the rest of his family. While every other Italian I had met had golden skin and light features, he did not. He was slightly more tanned and toned. He was missing the lean features that Nicoletta, their cousins, and parents seemed to have but it was simply out of his muscle mass. His eyes were a light chocolate brown however, which was the slightest of all his features. I smiled and extended my hand towards him, which he lightly lifted to his mouth and planted a small kiss on his lips.

"Lady America, what a beautiful name for such a beautiful girl. How wonderful it is to finally meet you in person, I can't wait to start working with you," he said as he lightly dropped my hand back onto the table. I smiled at him and couldn't help but to adore his accent. I had always heard about this sensation that could come out from women from the simple accent of a foreign man. I didn't think it was actually true until this moment.

"It's very nice to meet you as well, Prince Daniele." I replied and turned back towards Nicoletta as we waited for our meal to be brought out to us.

She smiled and wiggled her eyebrows teasingly back at me after her brother excused himself to go and use the restroom. I guess he had already dove into his champagne while we waited for the main course to be brought out. She giggled before finally revealing her thoughts to me. "You should get to know him, he's quite impressive for a boy. And who knows, maybe you two could fall in love and get married. Then you could be my sister-in-law!"

I rolled my eyes at her gently and teasingly nudged her back. "Who knows," I replied as our meal was brought out. Conversation between us died down after that as we just focused on eating.

Maxon's POV

Kriss' parents were absolutely lovely and treated me with the upmost respect and love. It was as if we were already family. I smiled and gestured Kriss over to our seats as I knew that it was time to start the celebration. I would be making a few toast in honor of our treaty, my fiancée, and our new diplomat. I couldn't help but stare at America as Kriss and I took our seats at the head of the table however. She looked absolutely breathtaking in the outfit that her maids had picked out for her. The dress showed off everything that I had adored in her and the heels themselves almost seemed to give her enough confidence to light up the entire room. The pearls were a lovely choice to contrast the simplicity of the dress and shoes. I quickly tore my eyes away from her, though it must have been too slowly for it to have gone unnoticed by Kriss. I saw her lightly glaring at America's back so I tried to comfort her by wrapping my arm around her. For once, she didn't let me.

We took our seats and I pulled her chair out for her. Everyone else followed suit and the side dish was presented for us by the head cooks. It was a simple side of salad and soup to be followed by the best cuts of chicken, grilled with lemon juice and other spices, that our kitchens could offer. I managed to get Kriss to let me hold her hand once we were sitting down and that relaxed me about how badly I had offended her. I was trying to get better now that I knew America was moving on from me, too. But the news I had received today was making that a little more difficult than it should have been.

While we ate, I couldn't help but to glance around the tables at all of our guests. It was then that I noticed Prince Daniele kissing America's hand. That made my stomach turn. It brought back the memories of when I myself had done that. How soft it had been when I kissed her hand. I shook the thought out of my head and looked back over at Kriss. She looked beautiful in her dress as well but I still couldn't make it stand out as much. No matter how hard I tried these feelings still weren't going away.

I received my meal first and took a small bite before it was handed out to the rest of my guests. It was then that I heard Nicoletta's comment that America could marry her brother. That shattered the already scattered and missing pieces of my heart. How horribly it was that she could marry some other prince. How terrible it was to hear someone suggest that America could fall in love again. I didn't know the extent of the relationship with Officer Aspen Leger at this point, now that Officer Alexander had told me things I hadn't heard before, but if it was nothing there was a good chance that she could start flirting with Daniele. He always had a swarm of girls around him, flirting with him but I had never seen him show interest like he did with America. I put down my fork and forced myself to swallow the bite I had already placed in my mouth. But no part of me had any appetite left to eat dinner or dessert.

I could almost feel Kriss glaring daggers at me as she dropped my hand. Kriss! I forced myself to rip my eyes off America once again, just as Prince Daniele came back to the table. I felt absolutely terrible for what I was doing to her. She didn't deserve this. I tried to re-center myself back on our evening. Maybe when I made my toast and danced with her it would make her feel better. I smiled at her and even though she smiled back, her eyes looked sadly at me.

As everyone else finished their meals, I lightly tapped my spoon against my wine glass and stood to start making my toast. "First off I would like to thank all of you for coming to celebrate this joyous occasion. Not only do we have a new alliance but I am no longer the most suitable bachelor in Illéa," I teased not sure how to start this night of toasting and dancing but everyone seemed to react well to my joke.

"First off I would just like to thank Lady America for agreeing to become diplomat to the Italians. It is such an honor to be working with you and I know that you will do a fantastic job at the task. You are smart and cunning and you will be able to work well with the Italians who hold very similar qualities to yourself." I saw a small blush fill her cheeks and couldn't help but to smile brightly at that. At least there was still a part of her that I could charm. I needed to know that, I needed to be reminded that I had been able to help someone fall in love and trust me and they had done the same for me. Perhaps it would be the reminder of that simple fact that helped me to fall in love with Kriss.
"Second, I would like to thank the Italians for giving me the honor of making this my first official act as," I froze for a moment. I couldn't say king I wasn't quite there yet. But I didn't know where to take that sentence as I had already started it. I looked to my mother for guidance and she simply gesture to take a deep breath before I continued. It was that simple action which helped me think straight about how to continue. "An adult and acting authority feature in our beautiful country. I hope that it has helped place trust in me throughout our country and that everyone can see that I will be just as good of a king as my father."

I then smiled down at Kriss and lightly took her hand. I looked across a few tables over at her family and smiled at them as well. "I would like to thank the Ambers family for giving me permission to marry their daughter. It is such a great honor to have them here tonight, celebrating this royal engagement. They are truly wonderful people who have bred quite the extraordinary young Princess. I am so honored that Kriss has agreed to become my wife. I know that I might not always have acted in the best ways to her but I promise you now, my dear, that I will do everything I can to make you happy for the rest of your life." I bit the inside of my cheek finishing on that note as I thought it would be wonderful if only she could be able to do that for me as a certainty.

Everyone clapped at my speeches, even America, but I could tell that hers were a bit slower. Kriss seemed to accept my apology and understand why it was actually being given, instead of everyone else who just assumed it was things that had gone on during the Selection. Chocolate lava cake followed my toasts and then everyone was escorted inside the palace for the ball. I had invited Marlee and Carter to join us then, wanting to show everyone that they had received my fullest forgiveness and would be given their former jobs back. I wasn't sure what Marlee would do now that she was a Two but I knew that they would figure something out.

Kriss and I had our first dance to the song 'The One' by some old band I had never heard of before (The Backstreet Boys, apparently it was the first dance song at my father and mothers' reception after their wedding so I had allowed for it to be the one that I danced to Kriss with). We moved together gracefully and slowly to the soft beat. Others started to join us and I found myself looking over at America and Daniele. I felt instant jealousy but managed to contain it much better this time. I drifted with Kriss as I listened to the lyrics to carry me away from thoughts about America.

There you were, wild and free

Reaching out like you needed me

The helping hand to make it right

I am holding you all through the night

I'll be the one, I'll be the one

Who will make all your sorrows undone

I'll be the light, I'll be the light

When you feel like there's nowhere to run

I couldn't help but feel like the words to this song were solely written for me and America. But as I continued to dance with Kriss and watch her over my shoulder, I knew that this was the life we were going to live. I would marry Kriss and she would have my children. America would fall in love again and become someone else's wife, someone else's mother of their children. She would be happy and I would have to learn to be happy as well. There was no other way but to move on. In all of our stubbornness and fighting, I had lost her for good and I had finally managed to accept that. I had put back the pieces of her heart that Aspen Leger had broken and now someone else would put them back into place from how I had broken them. That was to be the end of our story.

I'll be the one, I'll be the light

Where you can run to make it all right

I'll be the light

I'll be the one, I'll be the light

Where you can run to make it all right

I'll be the one to hold you

And make sure that you'll be all right

I'll be the one

I leaned down and kissed Kriss softly on her forehead. I had failed America but I still had time to make things right with my fiancée. There was still time to make sure we had a happy life together if I was willing to change my attitude and be a better man for her.

America's POV

It was nice to see Marlee and Carter welcomed back into the good graces of the kingdom at the reception ball. But I had to admit to myself that watching Kriss and Maxon dance all night to love songs made me more than sick to my stomach. By the end of the night I was a little tipsy and Daniele offered to walk me back to my room. He held his arm around my shoulder simply to keep me from walking into something or falling down in my drunken state. He opened my door to find that Celeste was still sitting there on my bed. It was the only time that he let me go during that entire walk.

She smiled up at him and helped me over to my bed. Then it was almost as if they had forgotten that I was in the room as they started to chat away. I don't remember when or if they left my room as I passed out and didn't wake up until the next morning when I had to get up and start dealing with the consequences of my drinking. Hangovers weren't pretty, or so I had heard, and now I was learning that first hand. It was only then that I heard Celeste come in behind me. She must have stayed the night in my room then. I could almost hear how much her head was shaking at me as she looked down at me in my newest pathetic and weakest state. But she still held back my hair and pulled it away from my face as I continued to throw up into my toilet.

"That prince is awfully cute, don't get any ideas though." She teased lightly. So there was a real spark that had been there between them last night. I smiled softly, happy for her, before going back to throwing up once again.