I would've had this up earlier but I had some server problems Oh well, here it is anyway, chapter 19!
MAXON'S POV
I woke on the side of the road a few hours later, just lying in some mud. I sat up and rubbed my eyes, praying that it had all been a dream, sadly the more I woke up the more I remembered it to be true. I had left America there, left her in that desolate place. I left the love of my life behind so that I could carry on being King. I had to do something right, she'd given up so much to let me do this. I stood, there were a few cars on the road and it didn't take long for someone to stop. It appeared to be a family, with the father driving, his wife next to him and two children in the back seat.
"Are you ok there?" The woman asked. As soon as she had spoken, her eyes widened and she looked very apologetic, as if she'd said something wrong. "Your Majesty." She added quickly.
"Do you by any chance have a phone that I can borrow?" I asked, I assumed that they were twos or threes, by the fact that they had a car, and so were more likely to have a phone somewhere. The woman nodded at me and rummaged around in a bag for a moment before revealing a phone and handing it to me. "Thank you." I typed in the number for the palace guard. It rang for a few seconds before a voice that I vaguely recognised answered.
"Good Morning, Officer Robert Powell of the Palace Guard speaking, how may I help you this morning?"
"Officer Powell, this is King Maxon, I need to speak with Officer Ledger if he is available."
"Yes, your Majesty." There was a moment of pause, presumably whilst he found Aspen.
"Your Majesty?" It was him but he sounded confused.
"Aspen, thank Goodness. I need you to come and pick me up. There's been a catastrophe."
"We know, we've been looking for you all night. Where are you?"
"On the side of a road just south of the city." I could see the lights of the city from here, we were on the side furthest from the palace, for once I was glad that my father had made me memorise the roads around the city, turns out it is useful!
"Ok Sir, we have a car in that area it will be with you in about half an hour. Good bye." I could hear the relief in his voice, clearly thinking that both America and I were safe now.
"Aspen, they took America." It hurt so much to say the words out loud and if it wasn't for the car full of people that were watching me. I could hear heavy breathing on the other end of the phone and then it cut out. I turned back to the woman who looked shocked herself.
"Did you say-" She started but then thought better of it and took back the phone that I was handing to her. "Never mind, good day Your Majesty."
"Good day and thanks again." I call as the car pulls away and they continue on their journey. I stand away from the side of the road, awaiting the car. It feels like forever.
AMERICA'S POV
I hadn't slept, but in what I assumed must be morning, a man came and pushed a bowl of porridge through the door, opening it slightly, pushing the food in and then closing the door again. I ate it quickly, not realising how hungry I had been until it was gone. It was pretty nasty stuff, far too much milk in it but at least it was food. Almost as soon as I'd put the bowl down there was a beam of light as the door opened again and a man stood in the doorway, he had a dark beard, but I could see nothing else of him.
"Follow me." He near-growled at me. I stood, my legs weak from sitting for so long made me almost fall down again, but I managed to remain standing and trudge along behind the man.
I followed him down a couple of corridors that were still quite dark though there were a few lights on the ceilings giving off a faint yellow glow. It felt like a maze and we ended up going down about five flights of stairs, but eventually we came to a little door at the end of a long hallway.
"Get in." He growled again as he opened the door. I obeyed and went inside the little room. It was colder here, I could tell that we were underground now. I turned and looked back at the door as it slammed in my face.
The room was smaller than the last but this time had a small yellow bulb that flickered on when the door closed. There was a small metal sink on one wall and next to it was what I assumed to be a toilet. Obviously there were no windows, so after only a few moments in the room I felt claustrophobic. It was worse in some ways, with the bulb being on, it showed me the entire expanse of my world, this would be home for the rest of my life, I suppose.
MAXON'S POV
The second I walked through the doors of the palace I saw him. Aspen Ledger. The ex-boyfriend of my one love. There was a part of me that said I should hate his guts but there was another part of me that knew that he may be my best chance at getting her back.
"I-Is it true, did I hear you right on the phone. Is she gone?" I could hear the desperation in his voice but I knew that I would break down when I told him what happened.
I ushered him into one of the smaller sitting rooms just off the main entrance way. He sat on one of the couches and looked up at me expectantly. So I recounted the entire events, from the rebel posing as the chauffeur right up to me phoning for help, after which he was silent, saying nothing, doing nothing, except thinking. I thoroughly understood his silence, I mean I was still in shock and I'd got it in small pieces, how would I have been able to cope if it had all just been given to me all at once like that.
"You're an idiot." He said finally. I stopped pacing (which I had absentmindedly started doing after telling my story) and looked at him. "You're an idiot, Maxon. You don't get a second chance with America Singer. She'll have found someone else before you know it. Someone she swore she would never love." The last part was added in a mutter. It took every part of me not to punch him right there and then.
"Do you not understand me Ledger? She's with the rebels. We have to rescue her." I shouted. His face remained straight, unmoved by the whole thing.
"And I will do whatever it takes to do that. I'm just saying that if you somehow get her back and manage to keep her love, never ever let her go again."
"I didn't want to let her go this time." I whispered, I was fed up of arguing. America would still love me after all this, wouldn't she? "Great. Nine in the morning, meet here and be ready to free America."
I walked upstairs to my bedroom in silence. It felt utterly wrong, all of this, but I knew it was the only way to save her. I prayed that she knew that this was the way that it must be. I prayed that she would still love me when we were reunited. I prayed that she could find a way to forgive me.
AMERICA'S POV
This is hell. I'm trapped in a room, with no one. I'm lonely and scared, I don't know what to do. I know I need to get out. I know I want to be above ground with fresh air in my lungs and Maxon's arms around me. I'm not sure how long I can stand this, and it's only been a few hours (maybe, I have no concept of time in here). The door opened and a man walked through, he had short, dark hair and a slight smile.
"Come with me, Miss America." I stood and followed him down the hall and into another room. There was a chair in the centre of the room and some rebels were sat on chairs around it. The man pushed me into the centre chair and took one of the chairs around it. Opposite me sat a man, who I assumed was the boss, who had a red beanie hat over his hair and almost down to his brown eyes. I studied him, trying to figure out a weakness, but he looked so strong and confident, I figured his only weakness was his arrogance. Maybe I'd find a chance to exploit that later.
"Good morning Miss Singer. We would like to ask you some questions, your co-operation would be greatly appreciated and we may be more gracious towards discussing your release." I nodded slowly. I knew that I should try not to answer their questions properly, but I really did want to get back to Angeles, the Palace, my family, and to Maxon. "Good. Firstly, how long have you stayed in the palace."
"Almost six months." I answered, I was shocked, had it really been that long?
"And how many times was the palace under attack during that time?" I tried to think, I honestly couldn't count. There were a few times that stuck in my head, obviously. Maxon and I in the small safe room, the last one in the selection, the first attack I saw. There must have been at least ten attacks.
"I'm not sure." I answered honestly. "I don't think that I can count them all, at least ten, probably."
"And where did you hide during these attacks?" Oh, so this was why they wanted to know about the attacks.
"Safe rooms." I said confidently, it wasn't a lie, I just wasn't being very clear about their locations.
"Clever." The man said sarcastically. "Where were the safe rooms?"
"I don't know." This, once again, wasn't really a lie, I mean there were so many safe rooms, I didn't know the locations of them all yet.
"You must know or else you couldn't have gone in there."
"Well, clearly you know about the locations of some because you had me locked in one for a few days. Didn't you?"
"We know there are other entrances to that one and we know that there are many others for the palace staff."
"I don't know where they are! I never used them. It wasn't part of the initial welcome tour. On your left you will see a secret safe room that no one must know the existence of. It just didn't happen." He stared at me for a bit and I stared back before he finally sighed.
"Put her back, she needs a few more days in solitary before she'll speak to us properly." The man from before stood and grabbed hold of my arm, pulling me from the chair and then out of the room. I willingly walked back along the corridor towards my cell and stopped in front of the door.
"You know that you've got him cross with you now." He near whispered.
"I'd rather he hurt me than the people I love." I answered, not lowering my voice.
"I told them you'd be like this, I watched you on the Selection, I mean you were the most defiant of the lot. I thought you would've made a great Queen. But, whatever. You're here now so I guess we'll never know." He pushed me into the room and shut the door with a bang. Leaving me alone once again, with still know idea of the time or even the day.
So what did you guys think? Leave me a review please! I want to know if you like it or hate it. I'll see you next time.