Adam

'Adam, the palace is clear,' Captain Leger said as the door to the safe room opened and some of our palace guards came in. I nodded woodenly but never took my eyes from her. How could this have happened?

'I need to find my parents,' I answered flatly, not truly meaning my words but knowing I needed to speak with them at some point.

'All the guests from the ballroom were taken to the safe room under the palace.' He told me as I brushed some of her blood caked hair off her forehead.

'My parents will be in the safe room in my father's office.'

'Guards should find them quickly.' He said looking down at where Aisling was still lying hidden under a mountain of jackets, towels and blankets. 'We'll move her to the hospital wing with the rest of the injured.'

I nodded again but continued to sit silently, gazing at her resting face however, all I could see was the knife resting against her throat, her terrified screams still ringing in my ears.

Silence bounced off the walls of the small safe room the guards had managed to get us both inside after saving us from the rebels. When I had stirred beside her in that corridor I thought I had lost my mind. I had seen the knife against her throat move before my world went black. She was dead, she had to be dead but there she was again clinging to life despite everything that had tried to pull her from it.

Captain Leger wasn't one of our guards but he had an extensive knowledge of the palace from when he was a guard here himself.

My mother spoke of him often, as a childhood friend but from my father's attitude towards him or more accurately his silence I knew there was something deeper there. I think it may have been one of the reasons for his eventual removal from our guard and the Italian king offering him a job as captain of his own.

Officer Leger would visit whenever the Italians did so I had seen him often in my life. He came back regularly without the royal family to visit his family and his wife Lucy's as well. Now he stood beside me as I watched Aisling rest. Without him she would have lost her life and it would have been my fault.

'Adam, I need to help secure the rest of the palace. I can leave these two men to move Aisling so you can go and see your parents.' He offered, motioning to two more members of his guard. I nodded again and listened as he made his way to the door of the safe room.

'She'll never be safe here, will she?'

'Adam,' he sighed, his back to me as he clutched the door frame.

'I can't keep her here and focus on ruling the nation. I can't keep her safe,' I said defeatedly, looking back down at Aisling. Every cut on her, every bruise and every nightmare would be my fault. If it wasn't for me she would have never had to suffer like this. Why had they attacked her?

'Adam, don't blame yourself,' he answered, but my mind was made up.

'I have to go,' I answered ignoring his remark, a decision shifting in my mind until it was all I could see. It was my only option. It was the only way for me to keep her safe.

Maxon

'America, Maxon, I'm so sorry,' Frederick's voice filled my silent study as he relayed the message our daughter's kidnappers had left for his son. My wife and I were silent as the words lingered in the stale air. The palace was alive with activity after the attack, but as soon as we had been released from the small safe room in my office Frederick had rung. Now our only focus was on our missing eldest daughter.

'Maxon,' America whispered, wrapping her arms around my limp body her head pressed tightly to my chest.

'We're going to find her America, I promise,' Frederick said firmly into the silence. 'We have every man available scouring London. No one will rest until she is returned safely. I promise you.'

'What if it's not enough?' I said quietly.

'Maxon?' America said in alarm pushing back from me but keeping me loosely in her arms.

'She's a princess America, they aren't just going to let her go even if we could do what they want.' I answered hopelessly.

'I want to go over there,' America announced suddenly, ignoring my melancholy.

'You are not going anywhere,' I answered harsher than I intended.

'She is my daughter and I want to look for her, I can't just sit here,' she replied challengingly.

'America, no, I will not allow it.'

'You won't allow it?' She asked incredulously, stepping back from me with her arms crossed and eyebrows raised.

'No,' I answered angrily.

'And you think just because you don't allow me to go it will stop me?' She answered, her voice raising in anger.

'Yes,' I yelled back. 'I am your husband.'

'And I am your wife. I thought that made me your equal,' she growled, glaring at me with the same look as her daughter. A tense silence fell between us, the king on the phone all but forgotten.

'I can't lose you America,' I sighed, running a hand through my hair in frustration and defeat.

'Maxon, you're not going to lose me,' she tried to reassure me, wrapping her arms around my waist again. My own arms quickly enveloped her frame and I held her even closer, a tightness in my lungs reminding me I may never get to hold my daughter again. I quickly washed the thought from my mind, my heart unprepared for the pain which accompanied it.

'We're going to find her Maxon, I promise,' she whispered against my chest, but her words rang hollow. How could she know that?

'Mom, dad?'

America

I turned quickly in Maxon's arms to the door where my son and the Italian Captain of the guard stood. I knew he had travelled with Nicoletta and Tony but I had been so preoccupied that I hadn't seen him since they arrived.

'Adam?' Maxon said pulling me back to the present. 'What happened?'

That's when I noticed for the first time that there was a large bump on my son's head and his clothes were torn. Without even realising it I released Maxon and crossed the room to my son, running my hand over the lump on his forehead and dusting off his clothing.

'There is a second group of rebels,' he announced and my hand froze. 'They tried to kill Aisling.'

'What?' I asked in alarm looking up at Aspen and then back at Maxon who I realised had returned to his stoic expression, hiding his true emotions. The tension between my husband and Aspen still existed after all these years. 'Is she all right?'

'Lady Aisling has been taken to the infirmary. She has a deep cut in her arm and two superficial ones on both her forehead and her neck.'

'Who are they?' Maxon asked, after Aspen explained what had happened to Aisling. Looking at him I noticed he had blood on him and I assumed it was Aisling's because he didn't appear to be hurt.

'I don't know, they didn't say. Mom,' Adam said worriedly. 'they could have killed me but they didn't. They were focused on Aisling. They said she was in the way of their plans. What does that mean?'

'I don't know Adam,' I answered thoughtfully.

'Do you think they will try again?' he asked desperately.

'America, Maxon? What's going on?' I looked back at the phone for the first time, realising we had yet to hang up with Frederick.

'King Frederick? Why has he called?' Adam asked in confusion. 'Is this about what you needed to see me for before the attack? Is something wrong with Amberly? Can I speak with her?'

'Adam, Amberly she… well…' Frederick stuttered not sure how to tell my son about his sister's disappearance.

'Adam, Amberly's been kidnapped,' I answered softly over Frederick's bumbling.

'What?' He asked, stepping back from me in alarm. 'What do you mean kidnapped? How could this have happened?'

'We were on our way to you and they attacked us at the airport,' Frederick explained as I watched my son closely.

'You allowed them to take her?' He asked incredulously, his anger and fear mixing into one, all aimed at the king.

'Adam,' Maxon warned.

'No, they were meant to protect her, where was prince Anthony?'

'There was an explosion-' Frederick began but Adam quickly cut him off.

'Your excuses are worthless, you let them take my sister.'

'Adam,' Maxon yelled, tired of his son's outburst.

'Maxon,' I began as another voice broke through the phone.

'You think this is what I wanted?'

'Anthony,' Adam growled, pushing past both Maxon and I to reach the phone.

'How dare you say that I didn't try to protect her. I want nothing more than to see her safe.'

'You let them hurt her and continue to hurt her for every minute you don't find her. Do not claim that her safety is your focus.'

'I'm trying,' Anthony yelled in frustration and I could hear the hurt and desperation in his voice.

'You aren't trying hard enough, if you were she would be back. In fact, if you had cared she wouldn't have gone missing in the first place.'

'Don't you dare, you arrogant, childish, sorry excuse for a man.'

'Anthony,' Frederick hissed in the background.

'No, I love Amberly and if I could I'd have her by my side right now but she was taken from me. I had to watch as the only woman I have ever loved was dragged away and all I could do was stand helpless on the other side of the flames as they took her lifeless body away. Then I had to listen through a phone as they caused her pain. Don't you dare say that I'm not trying hard enough.' Anthony finished, before there was the distinct sound of a door slamming.

'Anthony's a little tense,' Frederick offered after an extended silence as Adam glared down at the phone.

'He doesn't need to apologise for his actions Frederick,' I said quietly as I clung to Maxon's hand after hearing everything my daughter and Anthony had been through. 'We're all hurting.'

'We are doing everything we can America. You know Amberly is like a daughter to us now.'

'I know, just call us whenever you have any information.'

'Of course,' he replied before the line went dead and the room was again filled with silence. I watched Adam as he continued to glare down at the phone, anger tense in his shoulders.

'Adam,' Maxon said gently, resting his hand on our son's shoulder. He immediately shrugged it off and turned for the door, uninterested in Maxon's comfort.

'We need to talk about this,' Maxon implored as Adam pushed past Aspen who I had forgotten was still in the room with us.

'I have to speak to someone,' He muttered vaguely before disappearing out the door.

'Adam?' I called before looking over at Aspen meaningfully.

'I'm going,' he answered quickly before turning to leave after my son. 'Although I am here for the Italian royals, remember?'

'Aspen,' I warned.

'Going,' he smiled before disappearing out the door just like my son. 'Oh and America, I am sorry to hear about Amberly,' he added, his head appearing back around the door frame.

'Thank you Aspen,' I answered as he disappeared again, leaving only Maxon and myself in an anxious silence.

'America,' Maxon said softly giving my hand a squeeze in his. 'What are we going to do?'

'I'm still going over there,' I shrugged, unapologetically.

'I know,' he sighed. 'I want to come with you.' However, we both knew he couldn't, we had four other children who needed our protection and a country to run. Not to mention the suspected addition of another rebel group who's motives and origins were unknown. Our lives were filled with sacrifices.

'How long until the deadline is reached?' He asked pulling me into a tight embrace as tears threatened to fall down my cheeks.

'Eighteen hours,' I whispered, my voice quivering with the effort and Maxon just held me without response because neither of us were sure of what the future held. We could only hope and pray that we would see our daughter safe again.

Amberly

'The entire royal guard and half of the military are out looking for us,' one of the men complained for what felt like the hundredth time. I could recognise this man's voice immediately, he was the nervous one. Ever since I had regained consciousness he had been worrying about the amount of people searching for them, for me. There was disquiet among my captors and I knew it was only a matter of time before they turned on each other. I just hoped they would leave me out of their disputes.

'She's not worth this,' he started again. 'I say we cut our losses.'

'We have our orders,' another man said firmly. My sight was hidden behind a thick blindfold so I had no concept of night and day but it felt as if I had been here for hours. After speaking with Anthony I felt a renewed hope at being rescued even though my cheek still stung from where they had struck me. Being blindfolded only heightened my discomfort but I wasn't afraid. Even after everything they had done to me, I wasn't afraid.

'Order's from who, we've never even met these leaders. If we run now they'll never know. Besides their plan never involved her anyway. She's just extra insurance and after the attack on the palace they should be ready. We are putting ourselves in danger for nothing.' They continued to bicker like this for sometime as I again tried to determine how many men there were. Just when I thought I had it figured out a door to the room they were keeping me in burst open and the space was filled with frantic voices.

'The Russian's attacked,' one shouted, their panicked voices making my heart rate jump.

'They didn't want to wait anymore.' Another shouted over the top.

'The attack on the girl failed, she lives and they didn't want to wait anymore.'

'I told you, we should go. We're risking our lives for a plan that obviously isn't working.' The same whining voice complained and from the murmurs of agreement I knew he had gained more followers.

'What do we do?' Someone shouted as the room was filled with activity, my eyes darting rapidly behind the darkness of my blindfold.

'Leave,' someone shouted in reply, footsteps hiding any other conversations.

'What about the princess?' Someone shouted and I felt my blood run cold.

'How long until the deadline?' Someone replied.

'Five hours.' And I realised I must have drifted off at some point to have missed so much time. Where was Anthony? Shouldn't he have found me by now? But I wasn't afraid.

'Leave her, I don't want to cart her around,' someone said dismissively as the activity in the room started to dim. Judging from the noise there was only a few men left.

'We can't just leave her, someone needs to dispose of her. She's of no importance to us anymore. Besides if we kill her it'll make the gap between Illea and England larger.' Someone reasoned and I shifted my bound hands uncomfortably, feeling the tearing skin where I had tried to remove the coarse rope. I knew there was blood where I had rubbed them profusely when I had first woken but nothing I did seemed to loosen them. I could feel the blood run down my ankles as well, where I had tried to loosen them too, but again nothing seemed to make them looser.

'Han, you stay and deal with her, prove yourself.' Another man instructed and I heard the distinctive click of a gun as the bullet slid into place. 'We'll be at the meeting point when the job is done, don't be too long.'

There were several sets of hurried footsteps and then silence. With every heart beat the pressure of the silence felt as it was increasing. My ears strained to find the man who was charged with killing me but he was invisible in the silence.

'Why are you doing this?' I finally asked the bodiless man, hating the tremor in my voice.

'We never wanted you dead Princess, you are just collateral damage. Honestly, I was hoping your prince would save you so it would never come to this.'

'You don't need to do this, please.'

'I don't have a choice, I've already made so many mistakes, they won't accept another.' He replied sadly and I felt warmth rise behind my eyes and something tighten in my chest, but I wasn't afraid.

'Please, don't do this,' I whispered.

'I am sorry princess,' he answered regretfully.

'Do I at least get to see the man who is going to take my life from me?' I asked angrily, the burning behind my eyes growing.

'I can't.'

'You're a coward,' I hissed, knowing this was my last chance. 'You can't even look me in the eye when you do it.'

'Please princess,' he said shakily as the finality of the gun's barrel rested against my temple. The coldness of the metal washing through my body, filling every inch of me with ice.

'You don't get to beg. Cowards don't deserve forgiveness.'

'I don't have a choice,' he answered in frustration the barrel shaking dangerously against my temple.

'There's always a choice,' I answered coldly. Then suddenly, the blindfold was ripped from my eyes and I blinked furiously trying to bring the room into focus. It looked exactly as it had smelt, dark and damp. Slowly, I turned from the room to look at my would be killer and I found a scraggly man, dressed in rags staring down at me with wide eyes. The gun hung from his hand limply as his murky brown eyes watched my own.

'I am sorry princess,' he whispered as he raised the gun again and it was as if my heart stopped in anticipation.

'No, please,' I begged, the first tear finally rolling hotly down my cheek. All I could see was the cold metal of the gun, then all I could hear was the noise as it reverberate around the room.

So, it's been a while I'm sorry. I've been super busy, then I got sick and then I had a mild heart attack when I realised the due date for one of my essays was written down wrong and it wasn't three weeks away but instead only a week away. Serves me right for trying to be organised and failing miserably. I really can't believe how stupid I was. I kind of laughed when I realised my mistake and was mildly relieved that I didn't realise it a week too late to do anything about it. And now as I recover from the cursed flu (or at least I think it was the flu) I deliver you another instalment to this story. Hope you like it, although I have probably left you with more questions than answers, because I enjoy being evil, sorry ;)

Sam, OMG high school that's so exciting. I'm guessing from your reference to middle school that you are from America and therefore you have four fun filled years of high school to enjoy and I'll warn you those people will probably never grow up. I have always dreamed of going to an America high school. It looks like so much fun. We spend six years in high school in Australia because we don't have middle school. We go straight from primary school to high school. Those year sevens can be so tiny sometimes. You were of course correct I did put in Aspen, he was meant to be added sooner but I kept forgetting him. There was actually so much I wanted to put in this story that I forgot or had to omit because it was just far too long. Anyway, I hope you liked it and I hope you enjoy your first few weeks of high school and know that I am very jealous of you right now :)

Lily, thank you for your support and I'm sorry I couldn't update sooner. I hope you enjoyed this update and I will endeavour to update sooner next time :)

Chris, I'm sorry I disappeared for so long. I hope this chapter was worth the wait :)

To the beautiful guest who asked for an update, thank you for your support it means a lot and I'm glad you like the story. I hope you enjoyed this latest update as well :)

To all the wonderful readers who are still with me after all this time, thank you so much for persevering. I know I disappeared for a longer period than usual but I'm trying, I promise. I hate leaving so much time between updates because I know how easy it is to lose interest in a story when the author doesn't update regularly. So I hope you haven't lost interest yet :)

Happy reading beautiful people :)