America's POV
It was the morning of Kriss' departure and the conversation I had with Maxon had kept me up all night. I wondered if it had left any effect on him. I laid in bed and picked the sleep out of my eyes wondering if I could call in sick to Daniele for the remainder of the day. I didn't think that he would be particularly fond of the idea of me skipping out on a lesson but I also didn't think he would mind having a free day to be with Celeste for a change. But I wanted to try and talk to him about any ideas he had about why the Archbishop had been killed. I didn't know why I was so obsessed with this problem but I wanted to help Maxon in whatever way I could. I knew that if I could help him find an answer, he would be able to relax more. I groaned at the knock at my door, wondering how it could possibly be later than 8 o'clock already. "Come in," I whispered, pulling my hair back quickly so the mess of bed hair wouldn't be too terrible. In walked Scott with a tray of food before he stopped upon seeing me still in bed.
"I can come in later," he said trying not to dwell upon how awkward the situation was. I couldn't help but shake my head and giggle. It had been much worse when Aspen had walked in on me and Maxon, nearly completely stripped and locked in a lover's embrace as he cuddled me that morning.
"No it's fine, I didn't mean to over sleep." I said climbing out of bed and walking over to the sofa. I smiled at the scent of strawberry tarts and fresh juice. I guess if I had to be awake on such little sleep that I could do with that being the beginning of my day. "Maxon came to talk to me about what happened at his coronation and I couldn't help but shake the things that we were talking about."
"Maxon came in here pretty late." His voice seemed sour but there wasn't much else to go by with his facial expressions. He offered me a plate and started to eat his own. "It was strange what happened though. Probably one of the weirdest attacks I've seen and you probably can't make sense of it without knowing who was in charge of it." I nodded my head as I stuffed my mouth with the strawberry tarts. It wasn't anything I didn't already know and being reminded of it didn't really help me feel better about it. I would have liked to hear a new development or news that would have been helpful to my cause.
"Yeah that's what we were talking about. He said it's been hard planning his wedding as it is but this just made it even worse."
"Kri—Princess Kriss was supposed to be coronated today. So I can understand how it could be harder. At least there's still an official queen to put on postage stamps and in charge of all that business. Would have made some policies and lines of work harder if we had lost the queen and couldn't put a new one in place." He stuttered through as he kept eating his own food. The conversation was a little awkward but I couldn't blame him. We were trying to get to know each other better but I understood why it could be hard when I was still hanging around Maxon. He was my version of Kriss and I just had to show him that we were just friends. I leaned closer to him and lightly put my hand on his.
"I see. Thanks for coming and checking on me last night." I said smiling at him. "And thanks for breakfast I know that I look like I'm a mess."
He shook his head and laughed at me. "You look beautiful America," he returned tucking a stray hair behind my ear. I smiled letting him and blushed lightly at the feeling of his fingers on the back of my neck. I had forgotten how good it felt to have someone touch me gently and lovingly. Our only kiss had been extremely off and a little rushed. He fumbled around his pocket and pulled out a key, putting it gently in the palm of my hand after running his fingers down my arm gently. "I know that you are trying to be Maxon's friend and help him figure out what happened yesterday. This is a master key to some of the more secure rooms in the palace. It'll help you look into whatever answers you need." He said smiling as he finished his breakfast. "As for me I'll have to be on my way and get working before I get into too much trouble. Don't let too many people know you have that key, please." He said kissing my hand as he got up and walked out of the room with the dirty breakfast dishes.
I smiled down at the key and was grateful for the small token of a present that I had been given. With this I would hopefully be able to have a few questions answered. I quickly ran myself a bath and sent Mary with a note to Daniele that our lesson for the day would have to be postponed and to enjoy his date with Celeste. I headed down the hallways and walked throughout them trying to decide where to start or what I was even looking for. There wasn't going to be a flashing sign that pointed me towards the things that I wanted to know as much as I wanted that to be the case—it would simply be far too easy. I stopped for a moment and that was when I decided that I wanted to go and look through King Clarkson's old office. I wasn't sure what I was going to find there but for some reason I felt drawn there. And with this master key, I knew that there wouldn't be any problem getting in there. As I walked the halls I braced myself for the things I might find in that evil man's office.
Maxon's POV
I woke up slowly that morning after my discussion with America. The part of me that seemed to have been fighting against all the feelings I had left for her were over. It had just vanished into the night with the words that we had said. I knew I had no right to her future and what she was going to become but I couldn't help but wonder what I was going to do now. She had been such a large chunk of my life for so very long. I rolled out of bed thinking about Kriss. I did love her and I did have feelings of affection for her but I didn't know if that meant I could move on with her the way America did with me from Aspen Leger. I rubbed my temples as I started to get ready for the day. How was I supposed to make Kriss my queen when she was leaving? Maybe I should just let her go and find a wife another way—give myself a real chance to fall in love all over again, not just have the simple feelings of love for another person.
Getting out of bed I roamed the halls, trying to decide how I was going to get through the day. I had to get back to my council meetings after I had breakfast with Kriss and saw her to her car. I didn't want to have to get into another argument with them today about ending the Caste System. The death of the Archbishop wasn't going to help my cause either because the matter proved that the lower castes were only going to continue to fight against us so long as we held any real power over them and there had to be a government in order for the country to survive.
I threw on my best suit as it would be my first meetings as King. I was King now. This was the first moment I had for it to really dawn on me. After all, when I should have been celebrating I was busy keeping everyone quiet and calm in the Safe Room. I walked out into the hall and was greeted by my guards as King Maxon. That sent shivers down my spine. I couldn't help but wonder what my father would think of what that name would sound like together—not that he would have actually let me have any real power or pull any strings. I was meant to be his puppet and that was all I was going to amount to if he had remained alive. It was the first time that I was grateful that he had passed away, regardless of all the pain that my mother was going through. I knew that she was still grieving and would never quite get over him but this was the way things had to be for me to have a chance at ruling my country and making it better off for the long run. The Caste System had been my father's baby so to speak and undoing it would be my greatest accomplishment.
I reached the dining hall and saw Kriss quietly speaking to Scott as he headed out of the room with a tray of food. I wondered if he was off to see America and what was going on between the two of them if they weren't a couple or at least not what they seemed to be in America was being honest with me. He nodded softly at me as he walked out the door. Kriss turned around and smiled at me as she walked over to me. She looked stunning in her silver dress and violet heels. I didn't think that silver could really make a beautiful dress but the way her maids had done it with a little sequence added in had made it absolutely breathtaking.
"Hello, my King," she said with a soft giggle as she leaned in and kissed my cheek. I turned so I stole a soft kiss from her before allowing her to pull away softly.
"Good morning, Lady Kriss. Shall we have some breakfast before you head off?" She nodded and I pulled out her chair. We settled for chocolate chip muffins, some eggs, and a little bit of juice. There wasn't much conversation between us but we simply held each other's hands, enjoying being sat together in our perfect, private little moment. I wondered if our mornings when we were married would be this dull. "Are you ready to go?"
"Yes, I'm all packed and my maids were going to load up the car before I went home."
I nodded. "Are you sure that you want to go?" I muttered quietly to myself.
"I'm going to go do some preparation for our wedding, Maxon. It'll be safer if I do it out of the palace rather than doing it here. I'll come back when it gets closer so we can agree on the color scheme and the cake, of course. I just think it'll be best if I'm out of the way for a while and can recover from all these attacks. I still wake up having nightmares. The other night, I even dreamt that Celeste had been shot and killed to start the attack and that terrified me. And I never even really liked her. I don't want to be on the verge of falling apart every time I have a nightmare. I need some time to rest and recover from all of this, but I'll get better if I can just have a break for a little bit. Please don't think lesser of me because I need to get away."
I kissed her hand. "I could never think lesser of you, Lady Kriss. I can understand perfectly why you would need a break from all of this. If I could go with you, I would."
After breakfast I walked her down to her car. I had decided after our short conversation that Scott could be spared to take her home and stay for at least a week to make sure that she was going to be safe. I knew that he was one of the few guards that I could actually trust and one of the only ones who was going to be willing to go. Aspen Leger was still undergoing physical therapy while he waited for his wedding day otherwise I would probably try and send him. He was the reason that we had survived that day and we needed to keep physically able guards at the palace but it would just have to be alright for one week. After that I would find someone else to take his place and have him brought back to the palace so that I could keep my strength in numbers.
I kissed Kriss' temple as she loaded in the car. I thanked Scott as he carried his bags into the back and got into the front seat. "Don't worry, Max. I'll keep her and her family safe while I'm out there. I promise you won't be left without a queen." I nodded and thanked him once again hoping that we would be able to remove any of the bad blood that remained between us.
America's POV
I shifted through a few of the drawers in King Clarkson's former study. I wasn't too food on the things that I was finding. Little notes about things that Maxon had been doing wrong, notes about how disappointed he was that Maxon had allowed for me to find out so much, and of course, the whip that had been used countless times on his own son, stained with a few streaks of blood on it and in that drawer. It was enough to make me more than sick to my stomach and realize that I probably wasn't going to find something in here that would help me solve the problem of why the Archbishop had been killed. I got up from kneeling on the floor in front of the desk to head towards the door. That was when I heard voice coming towards the room and began to panic briefly. I turned quickly and dove into the wardrobe in the corner of the room. I peaked quietly out of the small crack in the doors, trying to get a look at the men entering the room from behind the coats that Clarkson had left in the closet.
"It's not like the king ever trusted his son to take over," one of the men laughed. "He should have been as good as dead like his father was that day but he managed to escape, unfortunately. The Archbishop couldn't do the job we assigned him to or else it would all be over now."
"It's a shame the real Archbishop had to be killed off before we could even begin the ceremony," the other laughed back. "People need to learn to cooperate with us. After all, if we don't take over after King Maxon is killed, the world around them will just descend into anarchy."
I stood back and couldn't believe what I was hearing. The real Archbishop had been killed before the ceremony had even begun. I tried to get a better look of them so that I could identify them and help Maxon get them locked up and questioned but from my location it was absolutely impossible. I leaned back and kept listening. So they had gone as far as to dress up another man as the Archbishop and try and get him to kill Maxon during the coronation. I couldn't believe that the Southern Rebels would go that far. And they were still in the palace and there was no way to know who these people were because I couldn't see them and I was pretty sure that the security camera in the room had been turned off after King Clarkson's assassination. I felt absolutely useless with the information that they were handing me. I heard drawers being flung open and things being scattered across the floor. I retreated further in the wardrobe so they wouldn't be able to find me in here as things got thrown closer to the doors. Luckily, they didn't come in and try to look in here before they disappeared from the room.
