AMERICA'S POV

The month passed in a whir of planning and meetings. Maxon's wish for the ceremony to commemorate the guards was happening in a matter of days, and it was going to be perfect. Each night I shared the plans I'd made and asked for his opinion on them, he didn't seem all that interested but he was just stressed. He was having to do all his normal work, including going to meetings, along with having a leg that he can't walk on properly.

"Hey." I started, looking between two menus for the ceremony. Maxon grunted slightly in response. "Do you prefer sausage rolls or pigs in blankets?"

"Doesn't matter." He said quietly, I went on trying to get him to speak properly to me.

"They were both favourites when I was growing up, they had them at almost every party we went to. Sometimes I used to sneak a few home for May and-"

"It doesn't matter, America." He shouted, staring hard at me across the room.

"Maxon, what's wrong?" I asked, standing up and walking over to him. As I approached he slammed a big book over the top of the papers and glared at me.

"It's nothing to do with you! Why don't you get back to your pointless worrying about what food you're going to serve at your pointless party." He turned his back on me, I was glad that he couldn't see the hurt in my eyes.

"It was your idea, Maxon. You're the one who came up with the idea for this big ceremony and party, and I fully supported it. Just like I always have and always will." I said the last part softly, trying to calm him down, it didn't work.

"So you were supporting me when you refused to speak to me for weeks because of what happened to Marlee? Or, perhaps, you were supporting me when you suggested removing the castes in front of the whole country, giving my father just the fuel he needed to whip me harder than he ever had before? And the whole time, you were still with your 'ex' boyfriend."

I could feel his hot breath on my face, contrasting with the cold tears I felt falling down my face. There was a twinge in my stomach. I stormed from the room and into the corridor before he could see my full breakdown that I could feel coming. The door shut with a satisfactory bang and I ran down past the doors, praying that no one would see me this vulnerable.

Eventually I came to the women's room. I hadn't been in for a while but nothing much had changed, except for the white grand piano I'd had put in here. I know that I had a music room but this was different, this was the room where I might entertain guests, it would be easier in here. Also, it meant that no one would come in and disturb me.

I laid down on the sofa by the window and stared up at the ceiling, tears still falling quickly down my face. I've made some huge mistakes. I thought to myself. Maxon was an idiot to choose me. I stared out of the window into the darkness of the night. The stars illuminated the gardens just enough for me to spot our bench. It was of little comfort to me tonight, but still it helped to relax me slightly and I somehow managed to fall asleep.

It was just starting to get light when I woke up, the sky had turned a beautiful shade of orange, I stared at it for a moment before sitting up. My blue dress from yesterday was creased after having laid in it all night; my orange hair had mostly all fallen out of the bun I'd had it in and pins covered the spot where my head had been. I tried to scoop them up quickly, but as I stood I felt a sharp pain in my stomach. I dropped the few pins I'd managed to pick up as I gasped in pain. But it soon passed so I recollected the pins and trudged back upstairs towards my room. I had to get ready, regardless of how things were with Maxon and I.

"Where have you been?" Marlee shouted as I walked through the door.

"Fell asleep in the women's room." I mumbled as I walked over to the mirror and sat down.

"Why were you in there?" Mary asked, coming over and brushing my hair.

"I happen to be a woman; why shouldn't I be in the women's room?" I snapped. Apparently this had been enough because my maids did my hair, make-up and dressed me in silence.

"We'll leave you here to wait for Maxon, he won't be long." Marlee said softly and then they all left the room.

I stayed sat at the mirror. My red hair was up in a bun, exposing my golden twirls of earrings dangling down. I wore my father's bird necklace around my neck that matched the light blue floor length, straight dress that I wore. I had the bracelets that Maxon had given me during the selection on and the sight of them brought me close to tears again, as I remembered how much he loved me.

"Oh, good. I heard that you'd disappeared this morning but I'm glad that you decided to come and perform your duties. Come on then." Maxon was at the door, still not looking at me. I stood and walked over to him. He rolled his eyes. He still had a crutch under his right shoulder, though his cast had been covered by his trousers.

"What have I done to offend you so much, Maxon? Everything was perfect a month ago when I told you about the baby, what have I done since then?" I hissed as we walked down the corridor. Maxon said nothing, took my arm and walked us down to the great hall where the ceremony was being held.

At the other end of the hall was a raised white platform with two thrones to the right of the stage. Maxon and I had decided last week that we wouldn't wear crowns today so that we could show that it wasn't about us but was about the guards. To add to this, we also entered the hall with everyone else and headed to our seats, the only thing we couldn't remove was the use of thrones.

Maxon placed his crutch leaning against the chair as we sat down and watched the hustle and bustle as everyone sat down on the tables all around the room. I was surprised how many people fitted in the hall, there must have been a few hundred people or more in here as each guard had invited their family to join in the festivities. I spotted Magda waving madly in one corner, along with the rest of the Ledger family and Lucy, she was beaming at me so I smiled and gave a small wave back.

Maxon stood to start and took my hand, but as I tried to stand I buckled at the pain in my stomach and let go of his hand.

"Stand up, America." The pain subsided and I managed to stand but I was now overcome with the fear that something was wrong. I smiled at him and helped him move towards the microphone podium, which he promptly put both hands on for support. I took a step back and looked at him, trying to concentrate on what he was saying.

"My lovely wife and I have invited you all here today to commemorate the bravery…" what if something was wrong with the baby? "and to remember those that have fallen in order to protect the royal family." I felt another stabbing pain and gasped, Maxon looked around but when I smiled he turned back to the front. "We feel that it is necessary to reward these…" I couldn't concentrate on his speech anymore. The pain kept coming back and I was starting to feel as though I couldn't stand any longer. Slowly, I shuffled backwards towards the chair so that if I did pass out I would simply fall onto the chair rather than disgracing myself by falling onto the floor. The room started spinning and my hand went out and grabbed onto the chair behind me. Shaking, and hardly able to breathe, I tried to steady myself but failed. I started to hear a ringing in my ears that was gaining volume so that I almost didn't hear the gasp from some of the audience, as Maxon turned so I could see his face – which now held fear and concern rather than hatred – before the world around me descended into darkness.

Oh dear. What's going to happen next? Drop me a review and we'll find out soon!