It's been almost a week since Amberly asked me to become her daughter. The queen had decided to dismiss Kriss without telling her about the adoption in order to avoid any drama. Obviously, Kriss would find out when she watched the Report tonight, but at least she would already be at home. With everything that had happened, an angered Kriss was something that neither of us were willing to deal with.

I stood back stage as Amberly addressed the nation. "As you may know, a few days ago, my son, Prince Maxon, was supposed to propose to his future wife. Unfortunately, there was a rebel attack before he got the chance to make that announcement. Many lives were lost in the attack, including my husband and son." She paused for a bit, collecting her thoughts before continuing. "I realize that this leaves Illéa without an heir. I also realize, through the polls in the media, that you, the people, favored Lady America.

"I was planning to call off the Selection entirely, but it was brought to my attention the day after the attack, that the rebels had killed Lady America's family. So, in response to these unfortunate events, I have decided to adopt Lady America, giving her a new family and Illéa a new heir. May I present to you, Princess America Schreave." The room erupted in applause as she said that.

Taking a deep breath, I stepped on stage and walked to stand beside Amberly, who welcomed me with a hug. Once everyone had settled down, she turned back to continue her announcement. "The coronation date is undecided as of right now. The funeral will be held on Monday. I urge you to come together and unite in these grieving times. Do anything possible to resist the rebels that slaughter our people everyday. Fight in any way that you can. Thank you and good night."

With that, the Report ended, and Amberly and I headed to a dinner that was either going to be full of stories of our loved ones or awkward silence and staring at the two empty seats at the table.

--------------------------

The dreaded Monday had arrived. The funeral for the king and Maxon would happen first, followed by a small funeral for my family.

My maids had me in a high collar black dress. The neckline was a sweetheart neckline and the sleeves were long cape sleeves. There was floral silver detailing sewn onto the shoulders, and a band navy blue velvet was sewn around the waist. The shoes were black heels with floral silver floral detailing that matched the details on the shoulders. The only jewelry that I wore was my songbird necklace. My makeup was light and natural, and my hair was done up in a braid crown.

The funeral would be open casket, which meant that I would have to see his lifeless body, and I would have to watch as he was buried six feet under ground, things I wasn't ready to do. This wasn't something I had imagined having to do for a long time or ever.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by a knock on the door. Since I was still getting my makeup done, Lucy went to answer the door. In the mirror, I saw my new mother, Queen Amberly, enter my room. Amberly wore a long sleeve black dress, with a deep v-neckline, high collar, and beaded embroidery on the neckline and sleeve cuffs. Her black shoes were open toes, and kind of resembled a boot shape. Her hair was pulled back into a low bun and a diamond tiara sat on top of her head.

"Are you ready?" she asked me, a sad smile on her delicate lips.

No, I wasn't. But for her sake, I put on a brave face. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be," I told her. She just nodded at me, waiting for me to step down from the small platform I was on and walked at my left side down the seemingly short hallways to the entrance of the palace.

My breathing was shallow, and I could faintly feel Queen Amberly grasp my hand and squeeze it. The large oak doors were opened and the wintry air made me shiver. In the large circular driveway was a long, sleek black limo. The driver stood at the passenger side and watched as two more guards guided us down the steps and led us into the back of the limo.

When I could make out the inside of the limo, it looked rather plain and simple. Black leather seats and a TV strapped to the back of the seats in front of us. But the car felt crowded. I tried to even my breathing, counting slowly in my head, and trying to hold back the tears that started to pool in my vision.

It was inevitable that I was going to cry today, I just didn't want to start this early in the day, especially since the funeral hasn't even started yet. The drive there was rather silent, there was a certain heaviness in the air that should have been addressed, however both Queen Amberly and I didn't feel like starting a conversation.

Upon arriving at the destination, there were already many reporters waiting to interview us about how we felt about the death of the many people, mainly Maxon and King Clarkson. I continued walking while Queen Amberly told them she felt very saddened by the news of their deaths and knew they were in a better place now.

I sat down in one of the pews in the church, quickly looking over the building. It had many stained glass windows, blues, reds, yellows, greens, and purples creating pictures that I as an artist was jealous of. Each piece of glass looked so different, but yet they all came together to form a beautiful piece of art.

The building itself was made of steel and wood, and the usual church pews were wooden with white and blue cushions. Up on a small stage was the pastor standing in front of a wooden pedestal which had a small bible placed on top. The pastor was dressed in white and black robes, and I could barely make out the small thin outlining of his glasses that sat on the bridge of his nose.

There was a person sitting at the organ, by a wooden cross, and some people had already arrived in the steeple as well. Celeste was there, wearing a black one-shoulder halter collar dress. The collar was attached to the sleeve, which was located on the right shoulder, and on the left side of the collar was a large black bow. The dress was a fit and flare dress that ended just above her knees. Her shoes were black, close-toed, four inch heels with straps around the ankles. At the front of the straps were black bows that matched the one on her dress. Her nails were gold acrylic nails that matched her jewelry, which consisted of large, gold, double hoop earrings and a gold Bvlgari Serpenti Tubogas watch on her left wrist. Her makeup incorporated a matte smokey eye look with deep, wine red, matte lipstick. And finally, to top it all off, she wore her hair down, parted to the side, and curled in a way that gave off 1950s vibes.

I wanted to walk over to her and hug her, but she started talking to one of Adele's children. I looked over at Queen Amberly, who looked very remorseful, so I simply squeezed her hand, letting her know that I was there for her, that I too lost some important people and loved ones.

The ceremony started soon after all the guests filed in, and even that went by in the blink of an eye. I tried not to listen too much to what the priest had said, but I did catch some words and sentences here and there.

Before I knew it, eight men in black tuxes went up to King Clarkson and Maxon's coffins, picking them up and walking out to two of the waiting limos, placing them on the top before tying the sleek coffins so that they won't fall off during the ride through Angeles and then to the royal cemetery.

Queen Amberly and I were escorted down to our own limo and were taken directly to the cemetery. It wasn't long before the coffins themselves had arrived after we, ourselves, arrived at the cemetery and led to where two large holes had already been dug right before the gravestones that read Maxon Calix Schreave and Clarkson Schreave.

After the funeral for both King Clarkson and Maxon, Amberly and I would be doing a small funeral for my entire family. Again, everything seemed to blur together, and before I knew it, Queen Amberly was walking over to another part of the cemetery, dragging me along, but also slow enough so that I wasn't too far behind.

The same priest from Maxon and King Clarkson's was there to give the appropriate speeches for all of my family. Tears fell silently as I looked at the many graves that I had to help bury. My eyes scanned over them all, and I let out a sob when my eyes passed over May's gravestone that was next to Gerad's gravestone.

Distantly I could feel Queen Amberly's hand squeeze my own, and I squeezed it back to reassure her I felt it. But looking at all these graves that belonged to my family angered me. How could the Southern Rebels do this? Why would the Southern Rebels do this?

Looking at Astra's grave is what made my blood boil. How could they kill an infant? How could they do this to children, to families? It didn't make sense to me. But it also worried me. If they killed my family, would they be after all my friends as well? Would they be out to get anyone who had any personal connections with me? Like Aspen?

I was suddenly very sick, the bubbling feeling pooling in my stomach and threatening to spill from my mouth. But I didn't want to throw up. I wanted to scream. I wanted to scream all my worries away and find that this was all one sick and twisted dream. Astra, Gerad, May, Mom, Maxon, all of them. They were gone forever, and left me to live out the rest of my life alone.

Faintly I could feel the tears streaming down my face by now, and I couldn't register any movement. Before I knew it I was in the princess' suite, staring at the now light blue walls. I walked past my desk, where the blue bracelet Maxon gave me was shoved in the far back of the bottom drawer. Where all his letters were stuffed along with it, and one of the photos Maxon took of me. All memories I couldn't face. Not today, and not for a really long time.

I sat down on the king sized mattress, and stared at the door that led to the princes' suite. Maxon's old room. The memories flashed over and over in my mind, and I couldn't take it anymore. I let out the bubbling scream, and suddenly I was on the floor. The sound of the door to my room opening didn't fully cross my mind, and a flash of blonde hair caught my attention. I tried to process what was happening as two arms wrapped around my torso.

"Breathe America." The person whispered into my ear.

"Marlee." I whimpered, wrapping my own arms around her, trying to calm down my shaking body.

"Shhhh. I'm here now, America." Marlee quietly said, now stroking my loosely braided hair, and squeezing me in her slim and pale arms.

"Marlee. Maxon. He's-" I tried to stutter out, only to be cut off.

"Don't think about him right now. Just try and focus on breathing."

I could only nod in return, doing as she said, and tried to breathe in through my nose and breathe out through my mouth. It was a technique my dad taught me to use if I ever wanted to stay calm during a performance in front of a large crowd. Breathing in and out always sounded so simple when I was younger, however during a panic phase, it seemed harder than usual.

Soon enough I had calmed down and Marlee guided me into my bed, before stroking my head until I started to feel tired enough to fall asleep. The last thing I saw was the ring on her finger, with the background of her simple black dress. All I could think of what could have been between Maxon and I. If only he lived.