"A friend is someone who knows the song of your heart, and can sing it back when you forget the words."

Amber

I stood still, marveling at my reflection in the mirror. Mom had been telling me that this would happen soon, that one morning I would wake up and find that I had "popped." I just couldn't believe her. Up until now, this pregnancy had seemed like it was happening to another person. There was this strange disconnect between myself and this child I was growing inside of me where I just kept thinking that it wasn't really there. Now I could see the truth. Now the truth was visible to the naked eye. I was pregnant with my dead husband's child.

Tentatively, I reached my hands down to touch either side of the small bump lodged between my hips. "Hi baby," I whispered, the sound barely coming out. "I don't know if you can really hear me but I saw someone do this in a movie once so thought I'd give it a try." It did feel weird, talking to someone without getting a response. It's not like I was expecting it to kick or anything. "I'm your mama," I finally choked out, letting a few tears slide out of my eyes.

The door to my bedroom opened and I heard my mother's voice call out. I couldn't do anything though. I was still frozen in this moment with my baby. She came to the bathroom and opened the door, stopping when she saw me standing there. "Amber…" she said, seeming to be speechless for once.

"Mom, this is really happening, isn't it?" I asked her, not even feeling embarrassed to be standing here in my underwear in front of her. She nodded and took a few steps toward me before finally I threw my arms around her and cried into her shoulder. "I'm so scared," I cried.

"I know sweetie, I know. We'll get through this though, okay? Together."

I nodded numbly against her shoulder, my hands still wrapped around my baby. "I wish Derrick was here," I whispered. For the last five weeks since finding out that I was pregnant I had thought that plenty of times but never actually voiced it. Now I couldn't deny how much I missed him and the fact that he was missing this.

She gave me a sad smile. "I know. But maybe you have a little Derrick there," she suggested, trying to brighten my spirits. I smiled back but in reality I wasn't sure if I could handle having a mini Derrick. How could I possibly look at his face on a different body everyday? "I brought you this and it seems like it's just in time," Mom continued, handing me a container of what looked like lotion. "It'll help with stretch marks."

"Oh," I said quietly. That wasn't even something I had been thinking about. There were so many symptoms and side effects to think about that it was easy to forget some of them. "Thanks."

"You'll probably have to start wearing maternity dresses soon," she said, walking over to my closet and looking inside. She noticed the disgruntled look on my face and gave me a look telling me not to doubt her. "You may not think so now but when you have to start wearing them you'll realize that you should have sooner. They offer a lot more support for your bust and are just a lot more comfortable."

"What's wrong with sweatpants?" I asked, looking at a pair of yoga pants in the corner longingly.

Mom laughed. "Yoga pants are fine until you have to go to a meeting with advisers. As long as they support your belly and you're comfortable." She thumbed through some of my dressers and pulled a few off the rack. "These will do nicely for the next few weeks."

"There's no way my boobs will fit in that white one," I said doubtfully, stepping forward to inspect it more closely.

"It's February anyway. No need to wear a white dress in the dead of winter, right?" Mom asked, putting it back from where she had gotten it. "You ready for your appointment today?"

I nodded but didn't say anything. These appointments had become something I dreaded just because of the awkward examinations and questions. Not to mention Kile. The only thing that got me through them was the prospect of hearing my baby's heartbeat. Mom came with me to the hospital wing and took her usual seat next to the bed as I waited impatiently on the stiff bed.

"Fifteen weeks," Mom mused, twisting her wedding ring around on her finger absently. "Just a little over twenty left."

"The second trimester is better, right?" I asked, sick and tired of being sick and tired.

She smiled slightly and shrugged. "Depends on what you mean by better. Sure, the nausea goes away for most and the fatigue wears away but you still have other symptoms to deal with. Nesting kicks in at some point, heartburn, the constant need to use the bathroom. Not to mention that you have to deal with all of that in addition to a growing baby."

I rolled my eyes. "Great," I mumbled when Dr. Ashlar walked in. I looked behind him, waiting to see Kile breeze in behind him but we were alone for the time being. "Where's Kile?"

"Preoccupied with another patient," Dr. Ashlar answered simply, sitting down in front of his computer. I didn't ask for the twinge of jealousy I felt when I realized that Kile was treating someone else. His gentle fingers that were once wrapped up in my hair were brushing against someone else's skin. I tried to smother the small prick of envy but it was too late. The feeling was there and unquenchable. Dr. Ashlar set right to work listening to my heart and checking my blood pressure. He frowned, looking at the dial on the sleeve measuring my blood pressure. "You're a little high, Amber. Have you been eating a lot of sodium lately?"

"Saltines," I answered quietly, suddenly frightened. "Is something wrong?"

"Saltines alone wouldn't have caused this spike. It's possible that it's nothing but hormones but I would like for you to take it easy until your next appointment with me," Dr. Ashlar instructed, writing something down on his clipboard.

"Is high blood pressure bad?"

He shrugged. "It could just lead to complications later on down the line. At this point it could lead to miscarriage."

"But I'm fifteen weeks. I thought the risk of miscarriage goes down after the first trimester," I argued. There was no way that I was going to lose this baby. No way. I would sooner lay down my own life.

"For a healthy pregnancy but if you have high pressure than this is an exception. It's nothing too serious to worry about now but like I said, you need to rest and cut out as much sodium from your diet as possible." His tone was gentle as he tried to placate me but there was nothing he could do. I was paralyzed with fear and suddenly I was wishing that it wasn't Mom who had come with me but Kile. Someone who would hug me and kiss me and tell me that everything was going to be okay. Mom knew more than anyone that this was all too real after delivering two premature babies.

Hearing the baby's heartbeat a few minutes later did nothing to quench that fear. If anything it made it worse. It gave life to the possibility that this was a real human that I was supposed to be caring for and already failing at doing that. I tried to say that it wasn't me; it was my body but that didn't make me feel any better. My body was still under my control.

After the appointment I walked up to my room and curled up in the middle of my bed with no plans of leaving any time soon. Mom would have come with me but as we were leaving a guard informed her that there was urgent business that required her immediate attention. I could have called for Shalom but I wasn't in the mood to see the pity in his eyes. I was tired of people pitying me. I just wanted everything to go back to normal.

And there, in the middle of my bed that I had once shared with Derrick, I found myself wishing for the first time that I could just take it all back and do it over. That I could just go back to that day that I fell down the steps and brushed Derrick off. There'd be no marriage, no baby, maybe even no death. Were those brief few weeks of bliss enough to balance out all of the terror and heartache of the last couple months?

Someone knocked on my door but I didn't answer. Whoever it was came in anyway and I heard them breathe steadily as they stood next to my bed, probably trying to determine whether or not I was awake. That's how I knew it wasn't anyone in my family. They all would have either been able to tell or they would have just left me alone.

"I heard what happened at your appointment," Kile said quietly, as far as I could tell not making any move toward me. "I'm sorry Amber."

I stayed quiet, hoping that maybe by just not answering he would go away. What did he have to be sorry for anyway? Clearly he had feelings for me. He probably rejoiced when he found out that Derrick had died. He was probably relieved that there was a possibility for me to lose this baby.

Somehow he must have known what I was thinking because he repeated himself. "I really am sorry." The desolation in his voice almost made me believe him. "Just remember Amber, there's only a slight chance for miscarriage. It's not even classified as a risk yet."

I turned over and looked at him and something about his eyes softened me. He really did look apologetic. He was a doctor though. How much of this interaction was clinical and how much of it was personal? Wasn't it his job to be sorry for patients who were dealt a bad hand?

"I've seen plenty of women suffer from high blood pressure during pregnancy who then go on to deliver healthy babies. Even in Namibia where resources are scarce. If they can pull through there, I think you'll be okay here in one of the finest palaces on the face of this earth," he assured me and I did feel a little bit better at his words.

I'd been such an idiot. Of course he'd seen worse when he was over in Africa working. I couldn't explain why I was about to open up to him. Maybe it was because everyone else in my family that I needed to talk to was busy or because he just happened to get lucky but whatever it was, even I was surprised when I talked to him. "This baby is all I have left of Derrick. If I lose it…I'll have nothing," I confessed, tears brimming in my eyes.

Kile took my response as an invitation to sit on the edge of the bed and I didn't mind the proximity. It felt good to have someone besides my mom or brother sitting close to me and comforting me. "You're so wrong Amber. What you shared with Derrick is something only you two will ever have. And your baby is still healthy. Some minor blood pressure problems can be normal when you're so young and pregnant."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "For some reason I feel like that's a lie you're telling me just to make me feel better."

He shrugged and a corner of his mouth picked up. "Did it work?"

I did feel a bit better but the prospect of losing my baby was still heavy on my mind, something I didn't think would change until I held it in my arms, healthy and happy. "Sort of."

Tentatively he reached up and moved a piece of stray red hair out of my face and I became aware of how dreadful I must look. Puffy eyes, pale skin, probably a little green from the bout of nausea I'd had in the morning. "I wish Derrick were here. He'd know how to make you feel better."

"I mean, you're not doing so bad."

"I'm a doctor; it's my job to make people feel better," he reminded me. So this wasn't his first rodeo. "I have to say though, it's a lot harder when that someone means so much to me."

"Who? The patient you were with earlier?" I asked, playing dumb.

He snorted. "Yeah, that guard whom I had never seen before in my life. We had a connection as soon as he walked in the door. Have I ever told you that I'm gay?"

"You could never convince me of that. You're way too good at kissing."

Kile raised his eyebrows at me and leaned back to study my face. "I'm a good kisser, huh?"

I shook my head, sobering instantly. "I didn't mean that."

He sighed and a heavy silence hung between us as we both tried to figure out how to proceed with the conversation. It was nice for a little bit. "About that kiss…it was out of line. I've already told you that. I just hope that we can at least get back to being friends. I'd hate to lose a friendship over a lapse in my judgment."

"I would hate that too."

"So you'll be my friend again?"

"God, try to sound more like a first grader," I joked, nudging him lightly.

He smiled kindly at me. "I cherish our friendship Amber. If I can't have you as a wife or girlfriend, I can settle for friend." Without offering any further explanation he stood up and walked to the door. "I'll tell the cooks about keeping as little sodium in your foods possible. For now you should just rest." As quickly as the friendly guy I had known my whole life appeared, he left and I was left with the guy who was Dr. Ashlar's assistant. I had to admit though; they were both pretty great.

America

Maxon and I were in our office when it happened. At first I didn't quite recognize it. The sound had grown to be foreign to my ears over the last ten years or so since it had been last used. "Maxon," I gasped, our eyes locking from across the room in fear.

We sat there, locked in each other's gaze for a few moments before we both sprang into action. "Take whatever you can. Aspen, lock the room down," Maxon ordered, sprinting from his chair to the doors that led to a conference room and pulling down the steel-plated shutter that helped protect the room during an attack. Some of our most valuable assets were in this room; every precaution was taken to protect it.

I reached up to pull some of the shutters down on the window but a guard pulled me back. "Away from the windows, Your Majesties," someone else yelled.

Maxon grabbed me by the arm and pulled me toward the passageway that led to the safe room. I slipped my heels off and held them in my hand as we raced downstairs. "The kids…" I said, starting to get out of breath from running and worry.

"They have their guards; they should be coming," he assured me and slowed down slightly so that he wasn't running ahead but at my side. Shay was with Annie and Khalil when we reached the door. "You should all be inside!" Maxon reprimanded.

"We were waiting for you," Khalil explained.

"And Amber."

Annie put her hands over her ears and I noticed the tears falling from her eyes. I quickly put my hands on her shoulders and guided her inside, throwing a reproachful look at Shay for not taking care of her. I understood that Amber was his twin but Annie looked horribly distraught and should have brought in here as soon as they arrived. She curled into my side, crying into my shoulder.

Win came sprinting through the door, followed by Khalil, Shay and Maxon. "Where's Amber?" I asked and Maxon seemed to notice for the first time that she wasn't with them.

"Wait, hold the door!" he called, throwing his hand in the doorframe to stop the door from closing. He disappeared in the darkness of the corridor. We all watched the door for several seconds, holding our breath.

Finally we heard her yell. "Dad!"

"Sorry we're late. She kept it pretty slow coming down," I heard Kile explain to Maxon.

The door swung open fully and Maxon walked in with his arm around Amber's shoulders. "Where's Officer Avery?" I asked, looking for a guard behind them.

"Kile was with me," she said. I raised my eyebrows at her, wondering what could have possibly brought that about. And how they were in the same room without ripping each other's throats out.

Our family met had gathered in the middle of the room and without anyone saying anything we all put our arms around each other. Annie was in the middle with Maxon's arms draped over her shoulder and his other arm embracing Amber. Shay was practically glued to his twin. Win was pressed against my other side and had her arms around Khalil's waist.

Maxon and I both looked at each other over Annie's head and I could see that he was thinking of how much he loved me and how much he loved our whole family. We had no idea what was going on outside this room but we had each other. That was enough.

"Now that we're all here and accounted for, can someone explain to me why we're down here?" Shalom eventually asked.

"Yeah, I didn't know we were having problems with the rebels," Amber said. Her tone was only slightly accusatory but I could see that she was wondering if we had neglected to tell her about something.

Dad shook his head. "I don't know. I really wish I did but I'm just as surprised by this as the rest of you." He was at a total loss. I rubbed a hand up and down his back and he smiled gratefully to me. If there was one thing Maxon hated more than being told what to do it was being threatened by an unknown source.

The door opened and Aspen finally walked in, followed by Carter and Avery. "We have a report," he announced. The kids recognized it as their signal to leave so they dispersed to different places around the room. I noticed Amber immediately approach Kile and whisper something to him that made him smile slightly. Then he led her to a chair and made her sit.

"There was a shooting in the city two blocks from the palace gates. It had nothing to do with you guys from what we could tell but the gunman got away and we decided to put the palace on lockdown to be safe," Carter said.

"Were there any deaths?" Maxon asked, looping an arm around my back.

Carter bit his lip. "Ten dead, we believe. It looks like another twenty injured."

"Ten?" Maxon and I both repeated. "How did he manage to kill so many people?"

"He had an accomplice," Aspen said, eyeing the kids warily. He seemed shaken and up until now I had thought that it was because of the attack and bringing back unpleasant memories for him but then I remembered that this probably happened near his home.

"Have you talked to Lucy?" I finally asked.

He nodded gravely. "She's fine and so are all the girls. They were at home at the time and they're under strict orders to stay in the back rooms until I deem that it's safe."

I smiled, knowing that his family was taken care of and that he was still doing all he could to protect them. "Any idea what provoked the shooting?" Maxon asked and I could see the wheels turning in his head as he brainstormed different ideas. "Surely there was a target."

"We haven't gotten that far yet. The shooting was already over by the time we got word and put the palace on lockdown," Carter said.

"You don't think its coincidence that it was so close to the palace, do you?" Maxon asked in a tight voice.

Aspen shrugged. "If the shooter was targeting the royal family, there are easier ways to do it. Still, it's pretty stupid to take part in a mass shooting so close to the palace. It just means that you'll have every eye in the royal guard looking for you, not to mention other people that work in the palace. Whoever we're working with doesn't seem to have a plan or really any sort of intelligence."

"You'll keep us updated if anything happens, right?"

"Of course," Aspen and Carter both said, bowing their heads slightly. They really didn't need to be asked. Their families were in danger here as well; they would do everything they could to protect them.

Maxon started to steer me toward the table where the kids were sitting but I turned and looked over my shoulder. "Aspen, if it makes you feel better, Lucy and the girls can come stay here until this is all cleared up."

"That would be great, Mer. Thanks."

We sat down in front of the kids and Maxon leaned forward, propping his elbows up on his legs. "We're not under attack," he prompted, seeking to comfort them first. "There was just a shooting nearby and the gunmen got away. With killers on the loose, it's best for us to stay hidden here."

Shay put his arm around Amber and she leaned her head on his shoulder. "We understand," he said in a grave voice. Annie came over to us and climbed into Maxon's lap, him happily opening his arms to her. I could see more questions in Shalom's eyes but he knew not to ask about the gory details in front of the other kids.

We waited in the safe room for several hours, the time stretching on as Aspen and Carter worked from a protected security room nearby to find the shooters. Eventually everyone went to sleep, all the kids wrapped up together in a tangle of limbs and blankets. I put my feet up in Maxon's lap and he played with my toes absentmindedly. It was really bothering him that we had no intel on this shooting. He was the type of king to swoop in and fix everything. Waiting around for information was never our strong suit as rulers.

It was a strange situation with the different people that were present as well. Georgia, Shel and Marlee were all talking quietly in the corner but I didn't miss the looks Shel kept shooting towards Shalom. Meanwhile, Kile was on his own reading a book he had somehow snagged and brought with him. I didn't know how to feel yet about his relationship with Amber. I didn't tell Maxon about them kissing because I knew he would throw a fit. I wanted Amber to follow her heart but this thing with Kile felt so rushed. I didn't want him to end up as a rebound; he deserved better.

Aspen came over and summoned Maxon and I back to the security room. I hadn't ever been in this room since I really had no reason to until now. One wall was completely covered with computer screens that had different camera angles that could probably show every inch of the palace if need be. For now they were focused on the outside perimeter of the walls.

"From what we've found, there appears to be no threat to the crown. Both gunmen are in custody and will be tried as you see fit as either criminals or terrorists. I should just warn you though that if they didn't threaten the crown, it'd be wrong to try them for terrorism," Aspen said, pointing to a screen holding a live feed of the prison lobby where we could see police taking the fingerprints of the two young me.

"Any idea for motivation?" Maxon asked, scratching his chin and watching the screen closely.

Aspen sighed. "No. We've gone over the security footage of the attack dozens of times and we noticed that they followed a woman for about five blocks before opening fire."

"Is she among the dead?"

"Sadly," Aspen confirmed. "But what would two men have against a woman? They both had decent jobs, better than the job she had. Their occupations weren't connected whatsoever. We'll keep digging and see if we can find anything about their families as well as maybe interrogating the shooters."

Something about all of this was off. "What could she have done to warrant a mass shooting?" I asked quietly, almost thinking aloud to myself. Maxon put his arm around my shoulders and rubbed my arm.

Carter raised his hand. "I think I've found something," he announced. The three of us bent closer to the computer he was on. He was looking at some sort of coded document that I couldn't decipher if my life depended on it. "Apparently she reported these two for rape just a few weeks ago."

"And?" Aspen pressed. "There has to be more."

"Judging by the report, it would be extremely unlikely for them to innocent. Her story matches up and their alibis don't. She was a journalist and published the story, exposing them both pretty effectively. They're both married. You don't think they were trying to save themselves from humiliation, do you?"

"They could have been trying to quiet her," Maxon suggested. "Yes, because she was on track to pretty effectively ruin their lives but they were scared of being caught. Maybe she wasn't the first one. They didn't want to get in trouble or be caught with blood on their hands and that fear drove them to behave recklessly." There was a moment of silence as we all thought over his words, deciding how true they could be. "Can we keep this from the press?" he asked Carter.

"The motive, yes. The shooting, no. Although I'll have to warn you though that the families of those who were hurt or killed will want a reason."

Maxon sighed. "Could we set up a meeting tomorrow with our PR advisers and the judge that will be overseeing their trial so that we can discuss this then? I think we're all exhausted and could use a night to think things over"

"I'll call them all right away and tell them that they're needed here tomorrow at ten," Carter confirmed.

Aspen walked back out of the room to open the vault door. We worked on waking up the kids then. Shalom and Amber had questions in their eyes as they could probably guess that it was safe and we had answers to what had happened. "We'll catch you up tomorrow morning," I told them. I put an arm around Win and started to the passageway that led directly up to the third floor hallway but stopped when Maxon lingered by the door. "What's up?"

"I've just got something I want to do. Don't wait up for me," he said, kissing my cheek chastely.

The kids all went to Amber's room when we got upstairs and I knew that they were in for a long night of hanging out and talking. Even if I told them not to stay up late they wouldn't listen and would be goofing off until the wee hours of the morning. It made me happy to know that they were there with Amber when she was surely going through a rough time. I went to my bedroom and changed into my comfortable clothes, considering taking a bath but if I did I wanted to wait for Maxon to be with me.

I wondered what it was though that Maxon had to do. It wasn't normal for him to go off by himself following a crisis, not when he knew that he could find comfort in either me or our children. Aspen was out in the hallway on guard when I peeked out of my door. "You don't know where my husband disappeared to, do you?" I asked him.

"Check the shooting range. He mentioned something about needing to blow off some steam and it's too dark for him to go hunting," Aspen said, leaning against the wall behind him.

He looked bedraggled and weary. Sometimes I forgot that his job could be just as demanding as mine. Maybe he wasn't my boyfriend or husband but I could still tell when he was feeling down. "Why don't you go home to your family? I'm sure Lucy could use you right now."

Aspen shook his head slowly. "I'll hang around for a few more hours, just to make sure everything is clear here."

Of course he wanted to do that. Unlike Maxon who, whenever he had a bad day at work, sought release through outside activities Aspen's only solution for his grief was to keep working. Always the protector. "Aspen, what you need to do is care for your family. Carter is here, not to mention dozens of other guards that are also committed to our safety. Please don't make me kick you out."

"You have to call security to kick me out Mer."

"And?"

A corner of his mouth pick up in a slight smile. "I am the security." I crossed my arms, daring him to challenge me even more. "Fine, I'm going." As soon as he disappeared around the corner I made my way to the passageway that would lead me to the shooting range.

The shooting range was located under gardens in a thoroughly insulated chamber along with the palace's arsenal of weapons. Maxon did sometimes escape down here but it had been years since the last time. Sure enough though, when I opened the door, he was in one of the last stalls firing a handgun that I recognized as one of his favorites. My knowledge of guns was dismal but I could still distinguish the ones he did and didn't like to use.

He noticed me as he went to reload it, choosing not to say anything. I picked up a pair of headphones and slid them on as I leaned against the wall and watched him shoot. He put the entire magazine in the center of the target that had to be fifty feet away. Finally he put the gun down and slid off his own headphones. "I just needed to clear my head," he said.

"You don't have to explain that to me," I told him. "Wanna talk about it?"

Maxon sighed heavily and put his hands on his hips, his back still facing me. He rolled out his bad shoulder a couple times. As much as he loved shooting, it was starting to get harder with his arthritis getting progressively worse. "I just don't get it Ames. Why was that woman out in the open? Why was she not being protected? Obviously these men were dangerous. If she reported them, the police should have been looking after her."

"Maybe there wasn't enough evidence for them to really have a reason to watch out for her," I suggested. I saw the surprise in Maxon's eyes at my words. "I know that what happened to her was heinous. Max, I cannot forget that she was raped but there is a system that she had to work through to bring the crime to light."

"Well maybe the system is wrong," he said forcefully. His words took me back to a different time, a different place. Right after the Convicting where I almost had to sentence a man to life in prison for a petty crime. Now I realized that Maxon was right. That man was facing a sentencing that he didn't deserve while these men walked free after raping a woman. "What kind of country do we live in Ames where this wasn't dealt with right away? Now ten people are dead because of it. Because of us. We should have had the guidelines in place for her to be safe."

I shrugged, at a loss for words. "So what you're saying is…"

"The castes are good and gone and the resistance seems to be evening out. I think it's time we start looking at other things in our government and assess how effective they are."

"You're talking about reorganizing a judicial system on the eve of our daughter taking the throne," I told him. I wasn't averse to what he was considering but it didn't make much sense to me. Unless… "You're not stepping down anytime soon, are you?"

"Ames, she's pregnant. We can't make her became a queen and a mother in the same year. We had two years between our ascension and having the twins and see what happened to us? We almost split up," he reminded me.

I shook my head. "We didn't almost split up. We would have worked out our issues eventually."

"But we would have never been the same."

"So just because she's pregnant you've lost all hope in her?"

He leaned against the divider of the stalls, standing ten feet opposite me. It had been a long day and I could see that in the shadows forming under his eyes and the way his shoulders hunched over slightly. "It's not that. She's my little girl Ames. Maybe I'm not ready for her to become a mom quite yet."

"Well, you have about twenty weeks to prepare."

"I'm not underestimating her. I just want her to be happy. She's about to enter into a difficult chapter of her life, one that none of us were ready for her to enter so soon, and it's scary."

I smiled sadly at him. "This is what's been bothering you for these last few days, isn't it? You're not ready for her to grow up."

He shook his head. "No. I'm not." Tears pooled just barely in his eyes as he went on. "I remember the days she was born just like it was last week. I marveled at this little baby that we had made together. Now she's having her own baby and I just look back and wonder where the last eighteen years went. She wasn't supposed to grow up so fast. Her life wasn't supposed to happen this way." By now tears were actually falling from his eyes.

I immediately wrapped my arms around his shoulders, pulling his head down to rest against my neck. His face was wet and I could feel his tears drip on to my sweater. "I know," I whispered. "I'm not ready either."

"I just want her to be happy," he said.

"And she will be. She just needs time to trust herself and learn how to trust her decisions."

"I want her to find someone to rely on like I found you."

I smiled wryly even though he couldn't see it. "She will," I promised. But she already had. Kile watched her like a hawk the entire time we were in the safe room and not just because he was a doctor and was making sure she was doing okay. He cared for her. Something about her relationship with Derrick always felt off but I didn't realize what it was until I saw her with Kile. She was herself with Kile. He understood her in ways that only someone who grew up with her in the palace could understand her. Derrick could appreciate her status as Crown Princess but he would have never really gotten it. Kile did. "She'll find him," I repeated.

Maybe another update later this week! Thanks for reading!