Rebecca Ch 18

Au Note: First off, HeartBroken Sal, welcome to the family! I loved your review. It made me smile.

Btw, guys, I had a snow day today. Do you know how happy that makes me? Very happy. Unfortunately, it is Friday. You all know what that means.

Without further ado, Rebecca Ch 18, the reveal, my dearies.

When I woke up, I was in the chair by America's bed, with Sam's jacket around my shoulders. America had asked me to stay with her the night before and had invited May to stay too. I was supposed to stay on the couch but I needed to be near her, not across the room. I needed to be able to step in front of her if the king realized she wasn't dead and came to finish the job. Nothing ever came.

After the two sister had woken up, May left and I got America ready for the day. I made sure to bandage the whip marks and pick a dress that wouldn't show them or agitate them. She couldn't bend her back, play the violin, or turn quickly. If Maxon put his hand on her back he would know something was wrong, so we made sure to map out her day so it didn't come near his schedule. She didn't need him finding out, although it was inevitable. He would find out today at the Report, but she didn't know that.

I walked her to the dining room, noticing the whipping made her stand up with perfect posture, "Okay, walk in there and show him he doesn't affect you. Don't even look at him, but if he asks a question look him straight in the eye. He doesn't get the pleasure of seeing you fear him. America smiled slightly at me and gave me a stiff hug. I was too scared to hug her back.

"Go on in. I want him to think you got here all on your own. I'll come in in a couple minutes."

She nodded, walking into the dining hall with her head held high. I was proud of her.

After a couple of minutes, I walked in and saw that America and the king were actually talking to each other and having a conversation about the snow outside. Maxon was looking at me with curiosity, but the fear in America's eyes wasn't there. He still had no idea what had happened the day before.

Her family knew something was wrong with the conversation, or at least with America, and remained quiet. May smiled at me and reached for a chair for me to sit in, but a maid was already getting up. She smiled at me before she went to get a plate of food. I followed her to the kitchen when she stopped and turned, "I'm getting you your plate Rebecca."

"I need you to do something for me. You know Report tonight? I need as many maids and guards you can get outside the doors once it starts."

"Why?"

I couldn't tell her much, "You like Lady America? If you want to protect her you will get as many guards as you can down there."

"Okay, for Lady America."

"Thank you, I appreciate it."

I walked back to the dining hall and America smiled at me, her conversation with the king finally over. She was so relieved. "Hide your emotions. Or he'll see."

Her face was automatically wiped, but her family had heard the whispered remark and looked at me strangely. They were going to be hard to keep quiet until tonight, which meant I had to get America away from them. The last thing she needs is her mother or father sniffing what was wrong. I needed them on her side for tonight.

"You know, I know America has work today, so I thought I could take you to the art exhibit today, give you all a tour of the palace. After all, you might be living here, it might be beneficial if you knew your way around."

That sold her entire family. Her mother was relieved that whatever I had said wasn't about Prince Maxon, May and Gerad wanted to explore the palace, and America's father wanted to see the artwork there. The only one who didn't like what I had said was Celeste's parents. They were trouble waiting to happen, and if their daughter was just a copy of them, I didn't want to find out what they were like.

I had another maid tell Sam to look after America for me. He would know what I meant.

Turns out, once America's family got to see the palace they forgot about America's strange behavior. They also didn't seem to see the maids and guards that went around the palace. That made me smile, so far the plan was working. Sam gave me a smaller tablet that fit into my pocket. Every once in a while it would buzz as Sam told me that everything was okay. Turns out, they did have a run-in with Celeste's parents. They had threatened her, telling her they would ruin her chance with Maxon or anyone else for that matter. Celeste's father had roughly grabbed her arm and they had had to redo some of her bandages, but Sam said she did phenomenal and didn't let it bother her.

A little while later, it was time for the Report. I had told America that Sam and I were taking advantage of the TV show and going out on a real date. To say the least, she was ecstatic. She made Lucy, Mary, and Anne make me a dress, a long dress that was flattering and a soft pink. They put my hair up in a simple bun, not wanting to overdo. I felt beautiful and incredibly awful for what I was going to do.

I walked her down and when we reached the doors, her beautiful red dress flowing out behind her she said, "I'll be fine. King Clarkson can't get under my skin."

"No, he never will again." I leaned forward a little bit so no one within the vicinity could hear me, "You know I would never let harm come to you, right? Do you trust me?"

"Of course I do."

"Just remember, storms always run out of rain, and they make the most beautiful flowers. Winds may come to blow them down, but the strong always survive."

She smiled at me, "I'll always remember. You're as much of a sister to me that May is. Thank you."

That made my heart burst, "No, thank you. For being the sister I never had. You know my mom died, Dad died the same month. You became part of family I had back at home. My brothers would be very happy to know you."

"You should bring them some time. I can tell them just how hard their sister is working to make sure they can have enough money. They would be so proud."

"Okay, get in there before I cry."

She entered the room, and I waved to her family, all of whom were sitting behind the cameras. Then I waited. I waited to betray the best friend I had ever known. I took my hair out of the dun and started pulling at it. I barely noticed the crowd that came towards me until they were five feet away.

"You called?" the guards, butlers, cooks, and maids there probably outnumbered the whole army. There were so many here that believed in America, believed in what she could do for this country, believed in her philanthropy project, and loved her honesty, bravery, kindness, and intelligence. I had to smile.

"I did. In a couple minutes I'm going to walk through those doors. I'm going to leave one slightly open. If someone tries to attack America or anyone else in there, you are to go in and stop it. You are not to harm the attacker. Just to keep them back. Do you understand?"

Most of them nodded. Then the doors opened and Gavril smiled at me, "How's my princess pauper? Care to join us?"

I walked in and everyone looked at me. Maxon looked shocked and slightly frightened, Elise looked blank, the king looked slightly angry that a spy had been in his palace that long (boy if he knew), and the queen looked a little shocked and interested. Elise had a blank look on her face, the same one she usually had on. Celeste looked absolutely pissed as did Kriss. America…America looked confused and shocked and frightened and incredibly upset.

"Rebecca? What are you doing?" she asked.

I ignored her.

"So, Rebecca. Why don't you tell our viewers, the royal family, and the Elite what you were doing in the palace?"

I took a deep breath. I had rehearsed this moment so many times, "I was sent to the palace to show the country who the Elite were when they were off camera. The secrets I uncovered were shocking, the reaction to me coming, even if they didn't know who I was or what I was doing here was even more shocking. I came here with only the intention of coming here and destroying the Elites reputation, but so much more happened. I got one of the best friends I will ever have, even though today I will lose her, I fell in love, I discovered how our country is run and what the consequences are, I got to know the risks of the job of dating Prince Maxon, I got to know him and what he's gone through, I discovered what it meant to be a princess and what it took, and I got to personally know the staff and what they thought of their potential future princesses.

"After this journey through Hell and back, I came back stronger, more aware of our country, and with the utmost certainty of who should be princess."

"And, who do you think should be princess?"

"Why would I tell you if I could just show you?"

"True."

A screen and projector were quickly set up and it showed a little bit of my first interaction with America. She didn't move. My first interaction alone with Celeste. She hopped up from her seat, "Oh, I thought you were going to be smarter than to show that, you b***h."

Two guards, one of them was Sam, held Celeste back and placed her under arrest. They handcuffed her to the arm of the chair, not allowing her to leave, then the other guard sat down in the chair she was handcuffed to so she couldn't move it. He crossed his legs like a lady would then turned to America, who was sitting next to him, "How ya holdin' up, lil sis?"

"Right now is not a good time, Maxwell." She said. She had not stopped looking at me during the whole entire exchange, "are you going to ruin us all, Rebecca? Is that what you're going to do? After we trusted you with those secrets? Was any of your little act real?" She looked like she was going to cry. I was already crying.

"You said you trusted me. I need you to show me that now."

Someone, I don't know whom, pressed the play button and it resumed. It showed America and Maxon's interaction during and after the Celeste incident, including the talk where we figured out about Maxon being abused. The king looked incredibly mad, but didn't say anything besides, "I would never hit my son. This conversation must be taped over to make it look like that was what she said."

It showed the rebel attack and the infirmary. America said nothing.

The Italians came, another conversation among the kings that was "taped over" according to the king.

Sam's kiss; I don't know why someone added that in, but Sam winked at me and gave me his crooked smile. The deal between America and the Italian king. She said nothing.

The Handom deal with Elise. The poor girl broke down in sobs and America enveloped her into a stiff hug, but it still helped quiet the sobs raking throughout the room. We were almost there. Why weren't we there yet?

Gavril reminded them of last week's Report and it showed when America and I were walking to the studio.

Then, it showed Kriss. She was handcuffed straight away. She didn't have time to process that I had put two and two together and told the whole world about it. I winked at her, giving her my best salute. Maxwell laughed and America shook her head at me, although she looked more than a little concerned. She knew her secrets were getting close.

IT went through the rebel attack and showed America's whispered conversation with Aspen, then the story, and the freak-out. Then it showed the sweet coverage about America telling Maxon. I had never seen this coverage before, but I was glad to see it now. It really was a sweet moment between them.

It showed America apology to me and the violin. Her family arriving and how she didn't try to change them.

It showed the wedding, (unofficial wedding) and, for the first time, America smiled. Celeste seethed from her spot on the floor, Kriss was still looking at her parents, who wouldn't meet her eye, Elise's eyes were still blank, King Clarkson kept a mask on his face, the queen tried to do what her husband was doing but was failing miserably, a broad smile spreading across her face, and Maxon just stared at America, like he was the luckiest person on Earth. I hadn't watched that footage, but noticed that during the whole wedding all Sam did was stare at me,\. That made me so much calmer. At least I would still have me.

Then she grimaced, knowing what happened the day after, "Stop," I said, turning towards America as the footage stopped, "You both tell each other before I do, right? Well, I'm pretty sure Rebecca just scared the crap out of you."

America looked at Maxon, who seemed very concerned. We sat there for a minute, listening to the king's heavy breathing, almost like he was daring her to tell the Prince. Suddenly she closed her eyes and blurted out, "Your father whipped me."

All Hell broke out. The King rose from his chair, Sam rushed forward to intercept him, but was wiped to the side. He hit his head on the corner on the way down and I screamed. The Prince and the army surged forward. Maxon toward America and the army toward the King.

The king was held back, handcuffed, and taken from the room. Slowly, the army dispersed, although some stayed behind to make sure no one else tried a surprise attack on America as she and Maxon talked. I could hear America's mother's sobs from here, May's harmonizing agonizingly with her mother's.

"You can play now." I said, and as the sounds of the whiplashes filled the air, Maxon kept talking to America as she stared at him with a blank, but still love-filled face. Maxwell moved out of the chair next to America's and Maxon sat down in it. He held her hand, never stopping his talking. She wiped the tears from his eyes as soon as they fell.

Then, the screen went blank, the lights were turned back on, and I looked at Gavril, "I think Prince Maxon's choice is obvious now."

The queen sat alone on her throne, before joining Maxon and America as Kriss and Celeste were escorted out of the room and to cells, "So…what your father said was taped over…that was real? Did your father do that to you?"

Maxon hesitated for a second, "Yes, it's true."

Everyone dissolved into sobs.