"Bella!" I hear someone calling my name as I flail my arms around, trying to find the surface. I wish I had learned to swim.

There's a splash and the water shifts around me, bobbing me up and down as I try to gasp for air, inhaling a lungful of water instead. I cough, trying to dispel the water best I can.

Someone grabs me around the waist, and I'm quickly hauled out of the water and laid down on the ground.

"Bella?" Edward's panicked voice comes through the haze and I force my eyes open, to see him leaning over me, completely soaked. "Are you okay?"

"I'm ok-" I'm cut off by my own coughing. "I'm okay," I croak. "You're wet."

He lets out a single laugh. "Just a bit."

"Let's get the Princess back before she catches a cold," Emmet says, quickly scooping me up before Edward or I can say anything. He gently placed me on the horse, removing his dry jacket to drape over me when I start shivering.

Edward and Emmet move faster on the way back and we arrive at the stables in a fraction of the time it took us in the morning. Edward helps me down and picks me right back up, ignoring my feeble protests.

"You're freezing," Edward says.

"S-so a-are you," I stutter out through my chattering teeth.

"Not nearly as much as you are. We need to get your body temperature up," he says, not breaking his stride.

"Y-you sound l-like a d-doctor."

"Well my sister is one. You learn a thing or two," Edward says.

We head straight for his room which is much close than mine and he doesn't stop until he deposits me to sit on top of the sink and turns on his shower.

"I'll get you something to change into," he says, turning to leave.

I grab his wet sleeve to stop him. "You h-have to warm up t-to."

"I will. After you," he runs his hand under the shower. "I think it's warm enough now."

As soon as he closes the door behind him, I lock it and peel my clothes off, folding them next to the sink and stepping under the warm blast. I immediately feel better and stay under just enough for my body to warm up, not wanting Edward to get too cold while he's waiting for me. I realize as I step out that I forgot to wait for a change of clothes from Edward, and he was most likely too much of a gentleman to try to come in here while I'm showering. I wrap one of the extra towels around me and peek out. Edward's still in the same clothes, looking out towards the window, a bundle in his hand.

"Edward?" I softly call, not wanting to disturb him from his thoughts.

He jumps a bit, turning towards me and his jaw drops, the clothes falling out of his hand.

I raise a brow as he stands there, not moving. Eventually, I walk over, picking the clothes off the ground and going back into the bathroom to change. I had accidentally grabbed both of our clothes and it all looks to be something that he had worn earlier in the week, and it smells like him.

"Your turn," I tell him when I emerge again. "I left your clothes in there."

When he still doesn't move I push him towards the bathroom. "I'm going to…get us some tea or something. You can just leave your wet clothes by the sink."

I considered going straight to the kitchen, but I stop by my room instead to change into a simple cotton dress, leaving the clothes from Edward on my bed. Just in case.

And it proves to be the right move because as soon as I step into the main hallway, I see Jasper looking distraught.

"Jasper, what's wrong?" I touch his arm and he notices me for the first time.

He throws his arms around my waist, and buries his face into my shoulder, shaking. I've never seen him like this, and it was honestly scaring me.

I give him a few moments before asking again. "Jasper?"

"Maria," he finally gets out.

I rub my hand up and down his back, hopefully providing some comfort. "Maria? What about her? Is she hurt?" My mind runs through every worst case scenario I can think of. The betrothal was called off, she was caught with someone else, anything but what comes out of Jasper's mouth next.

"She's dead."

I pull back, in shock from the bluntness of his words. "What do you mean she's dead? I saw her this morning."

Jasper rubs his hands over his eyes, frantically shaking his head. "I went to go check on her after our meeting with father. I had some things to go over with him, just the two of us, and I promised I would come get her afterwards. But then I got pulled away by one of the council members to discuss…fuck! I don't even know anymore! They just kept talking and talking and when I went to go check on her about an hour ago, she was…" He trails off, not able to finish the sentence.

"But the castle is secure. Nobody gets in or out without a guard knowing which means…"

"It was someone inside," Jasper says, his eyes now hard. "Father is furious. He's worried about what her kingdom will do. He won't stop until he finds the person responsible. And neither will I."

"Jasper!" My father barks from down the hallway. When he spots me, he glares at the both of us. "No word about this to anyone. When I find who did this," he grumbles. "This is not going to bode well for our trade. Perhaps she had a sister," he says, rattling off solution after solution to get rid of this "problem." He doesn't even seem to care that a real girl is dead.

Jasper follows after him, and I'm left watching them leave. A part of me didn't want to believe Maria is dead. That anyone in this castle could do something so horrific. Hopefully they would find the traitor soon and her family will be able to get some peace. I didn't know Maria at all, really, but she seemed like a nice person.

I go through the list of people in this castle, and I can't think of a single person who would have anything to do with this. I'm so caught up in trying to fill in the blanks of what could have possibly happened that I don't register the voices until I'm right outside of Edward's door. It's slightly ajar. I must have forgotten to fully close it on my way out.

"I can't tell you over the phone because she'll be back soon. I have a letter with everything but I…I don't think I can do this anymore…I know what I said, but things changed. She's not-No! I'm not blinded by her. She has nothing to do with this. Bella can't find out-"

"What can't I find out?" I push open the door to find Edward speaking on a phone I've never seen before. Where did it come from? And more importantly, who is he talking to?

"P-princess!" He drops the phone and I can hear the person on the other end's muffled talking.

"What can't I find out?" I look back and forth between him and the phone. "Who was that?" I grab the phone before he can, and press it to my ear.

"Edward? Are you still there?" A woman's voice asks. "Dad wants to know when you're going to send it?"

Edward hastily grabs the phone from me and cuts the call. He grips it so tight that his knuckles turn white.

"Who…what…" I can't even form proper thoughts, my mind racing at a million miles a second trying to figure out what I just walked into.

Edward grips his hair, shutting his eyes. "That was Rosalie."

"Your sister? She…you remembered? You called her?" I ask, thinking maybe it's not as bad as it seems. "But why did you say I couldn't find out?"

"That wasn't-" He clamps his mouth shut, his eyes shifting to the table by the window.

I approach it and there's a folded stack of papers and a pen sitting on top of the table. He did mention something about a letter in the call.

"Princess, don't read that," Edward weakly protests, but I ignore him, picking them up and flipping through the pages.

Almost everything I had ever told him about me, my family, the kingdom, the guards, was all neatly penned. On the last page, there was even a layout of the entire castle including the stables, the garden, and even the waterfall we had just been at this morning. Some of the writing was slightly more smudged and faded than other parts so I knew he hadn't done this all today.

I take a deep breath to keep the tears that had started to pool from falling."How long have you been writing this?"

Edward doesn't answer and I whirl around to face him. "How long?!" I'm yelling now but I don't care.

He hangs his head, refusing to meet my eye. "Since the second day."

I feel all the air leave my lungs. If he's been writing this since the second day, then that means... "So you never forgot where you came from?"

"I did!" He defends. "That first day, I truly didn't remember. And then when I woke up the next morning, it was all back."

"You've been lying to me this whole time."

"Princess," Edward reached out to me and I step back.

"Don't you dare," I say, hating the way my voice cracks. "Don't fucking touch me!"

Edward takes a step back. "It wasn't supposed to be this way."

I'm too angry to be rational, so I stay quiet, waiting for him to explain. He starts pacing, tugging at his hair again in frustration.

"You were supposed to be like him! You were supposed to be this spoiled princess who knew all about her father's tyranny and supported it."

I grip the papers in my hand. "Please, don't tell me this is what I think it is."

I know by the look in his eyes that it is, but there's still that stupid part of me that refuses to believe it. "Please."

Edward glares at the papers like they're his worst enemy. "This is my duty…"

"To steal my kingdom's information," I finish for him. "To betray me."

"I never wanted it like this. I didn't know you then," he defends.

"But you do now!" I squeeze my eyes shut and I feel my tears rolls down my cheeks. "And you still decided to go through with it."

"I didn't have a choice."

"Yes, you did. We always have a choice. This!" I hold up the papers that are now crumpled. "This was your choice. And mine was foolishly trusting you."

Duty. Desire. It was kind of funny, in a way. The thing I had been grappling with this whole time, Edward was too. And I suppose in the end, we chose the same thing.

"Who are you? Is your name even Edward? Or Masen or whatever? Or did you lie about that too?"

"I never lied to you about me." I scoff. "No, Bella. About losing my memories, sure but I never lied to you about anything else."

"But you still used me," I spit out, feeling so hurt. "You used me, just like everyone else. I'm just a pawn in whatever stupid game you're playing."

"I'm not like your father," Edward says, stepping closer, but I take a step back as he does so, keeping the distance between us.

"No, you're right. Because at least my father doesn't try to hide what he is. He didn't pretend to care about me just so he could get me to tell him information."

"That's not-Bella, I do lo-"

"Stop!" I yell. I wasn't going to allow myself to be pulled into any more of his lies. "I don't believe anything you say."

"Princess, please," his voice breaks.

"I want you gone. If you're still here in the morning, I'm calling the guards," I say, barely managing to get the words out, holding back my sobs. I'm still holding the offending papers in my hand. I chuck them in his direction and they flutter to the ground. "Here. Since it was so important to you."

I turn to leave, pausing at the door. "You were right. People do have hidden agendas."

I don't give him a chance to reply before I'm out of there, sprinting down the hallway to my room.

I slam my door behind me, locking it to make sure he wouldn't follow me. I didn't want Angela or anyone else coming in here either. I can't hold it back any longer and I break down in sobs, sliding to the floor.

The handle of the door jiggles as the person on the other side tries to open it.

I can hear Edward's voice on the other side. "Princess, I need to explain."

I bury my face in my knees and try my best to ignore his pleas for me to open the door, crying until I'm sure I'm out of tears.

Edward must have eventually given up because it's quiet. I don't want to move. I feel so numb and dead inside that I don't have the energy to move. But I force myself to get up, and shuffle just far enough to fall onto my bed, where a new wave of tears threaten to come out.

The only thing that keeps running through my head is why. Why me? Is it because I was the easiest way in? I think back to how quickly I had opened myself up to him, simply because I was craving the companionship of another person. How could I have been so stupid to allow myself to open our kingdom up to a threat like that? I had been so blinded by everything that he had offered me, charmed by his words, and frankly, his looks, that I had put my people, the ones I claimed to care so much about, at risk.

I hear a scratching sound from my door, and roll over just enough to see what it is. Some papers are being pushed under and they slide across my floor. If it was something from Edward, I would toss it out later.

I feel myself staring off into space, not finding the motivation to do anything, even when Angela and Emmet both knock to let me know that dinner was ready.

I just hide myself under my covers, wishing for nothing more than for the pain in my chest to stop.

As I close my eyes, hoping for sleep to overtake me, I can't help thinking that for the first time since Edward came into my life, I felt truly alone.