Princess of Illéa

Chapter 24 - Mother and Daughter

In the blink of an eye, the palace is all decorated for Christmas. You can see the difference in the people now that the king has returned, the stricter guards, the maids doing everything more quickly. Clarkson's absence made the palace feel more welcoming, that's for sure.

We're all in the Illéa Capital Report, Gavril says something that I don't pay attention to when Clarkson interrupts him. He stands up before speaking.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I apologize for the interruption, but this is very urgent." he holds a piece of paper in his hand. "Since our country's birth, the rebel forces have been the bane of our society. Over the years, their means of attacking the palace, not to mention the common man, have become far more aggressive. They have wanted to end the monarchy for a longtime. Recent attacks on the families of these young girls have shown the lengths that they're prepared to go to, and we've sent guards from the palace to protect the Elite's loved ones. But now that is not enough. If you area Two, Three, Four, or Five—that is, in the same caste as any of these ladies—you may be subject to an attack from the rebels based on that fact alone. Beginning today, the rebels intend to attack Twos and work their way down the castes,"

Everyone is silent.

"That is sad news, indeed, my king," Gavril is the first to speak.

Clarkson nods. "We will seek a solution, of course. But we have reports of eight attacks today in five different provinces, all of them against Twos and all of them resulting in at least one death."

I see Celeste take a deep breath, worried for her family.

"For now, we encourage you to stay close to home and to take any security measures possible." he adds.

"Excellent advice, my king," says Gavril. "Ladies, anything you'd like to add?"

Elise shakes her head. Kriss takes a deep breath. "I know that Twos and Threes are being targeted, but your homes are safer than most of the ones for lower castes. If you can take in a family of Fours or Fives that you know well, I think that would be a good idea."

Celeste nods. "Stay safe. Do what the king says."

I see Gavril looking at America, waiting for a reaction.

"Fight," she says. "Fight. The rebels are bullies. They're trying to scare you into doing what they want. And what if you do? What kind of future do you think they'll offer you? These people, these tyrants, aren't going to suddenly stop being violent. If you give them power, they're going to be a thousand times worse. So fight. However you can, fight."

Everyone falls silent again, and then Gavril starts talking again, but I don't pay any more attention. As soon as the cameras are turned off, I see Maxon whisper something in Clarkson's ear.

"Go straight to your rooms," says Maxon. "Dinner will be brought up, and I'll be visiting you all soon."

I go back to my room and my maids help me take off my makeup and dress and put on my pajamas. I eat dinner alone, well, at least without anyone like Maxon, Mom or Celeste, but Leah eats dinner with me, so I'm not completely alone. Late at night Celeste shows up, and that's the only way I can get a good night's sleep.

The next day we all have breakfast together. I leave just after my mother, who is waiting for me at the dining room door. I don't fail to notice her giving America a little wink before she leaves. Mom has the idea of having a mother-daughter day, spending the whole day together doing something. So we go to the Women's Room, choose a discreet corner, and decide that we'll paint each other's nails.

I notice the girls from the Selection arriving little by little. As they arrive, they look at us, but, realizing that we're in a corner (on purpose), they decide to spread out away from us. Seeing that they can't understand what we're talking about from where we are, Mom is the first to speak.

"You know, my love," she starts to say, without taking her eyes off my nails. "I wanted to say that I've had a lot of time to think."

"Think about what?" I ask curiously.

"About the situation with your father." she replies. I see her quickly glance at Celeste and then look back at me. "With Celeste."

It makes me pay full attention to her. She takes a deep breath before continuing.

"I've decided that I'm going to divorce Clarkson as soon as the Selection is over and as soon as Maxon is crowned king." she says.

If I hadn't been trained to control my reaction, my mouth would be hanging open right now.

"What?" I whisper.

I know that Mom loves Clarkson, he's the love of her life. She's already told me a bit about her Selection, that she's been in love with him since she was a little girl.

"That's exactly what you heard."

"B-but..." I start to stutter, not knowing how or what to say. "You love him. You've said yourself that he's the love of your life since you were a child."

She lifts my chin so she can look me in the eye. She smiles slightly.

"That's partly true. Sometimes people we love do things that hurt us. I do love him, but I can't control how I feel about him with a button. Believe me, if I could, I would." Her hands hold mine affectionately. "But, darling, he's not the love of my life. Clarkson stopped being the love of my life the second you and your brother were born. You two are and always will be the loves of my life, and nobody hurts the loves of my life."

If we had been alone, I wouldn't have held back my tears, I would have hugged her tightly. But I know that anything like that would attract the girls' attention, so I control myself and just squeeze her hands back.

"And Clarkson? And Maxon?" I ask. "Do they know what you've decided?"

She takes a deep breath before answering. "Maxon knows, and he supported me immediately. Your brother agrees that this is the best choice for me. Clarkson doesn't know anything, Maxon and I agree that it's best to tell him everything when all this is over."

When I return to my room at the end of the day, I see Leah, Stella and Rose leafing through a magazine. As soon as I walk in they drop it, as if they've been caught doing something wrong, well, Stella and Rose, Leah knows I don't get angry about something like that.

"What were you looking at?" I ask curiously.

I see Stella and Rose exchange nervous glances, as if wondering if they can tell the truth.

"The people's favorite." Leah says, picking up the magazine from the floor and showing it to me.

I see a photo of America. One of the comments says, "Lady America is just like the queen. She's a fighter. It's more than wanting her; we need her!"

"Who's your favorite, Kat?" Rose asks hesitantly.

I smile and point to the picture of America in the magazine. "I think it's always been America."