Your Royal Husbandness (The Selection fanfic)

Ch8: The Offer

America's POV:

The gruff voice of a man woke me. I kept my eyes closed while listening to their conversation.

"Do you think she's gonna wake up anytime soon?" The man asked.

"Did I really hit her that hard? She's been out for 4 hours! It's about time she wakes up!" A girl hissed.

"Later when I tell her about the offer, keep your mouth shut, okay? Let me do all the talking," The man whispers just enough for me to make out his words.

Without thinking clearly, I sat up a little too quickly, a shredding pain penetrating my head.

"What offer?" I muttered, squinting at the tearing pain.

"She's faking it! I knew it! I bet she's been eavesdropping for the past hour!" The girl with straight brown hair shouted accusingly. The man beside her shot a stern glare at her. The girl groaned and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

I observed the surroundings briefly as I steadied my breath. I was sitting on the floor, leaning against a cold steel wall in a cell, with two strangers in front of me.

"America---" The man began, but I promptly cut him off.

"How do you know my name?" I squinted and looked at him skeptically. "Who are you? Why did you kidnap me?"

The man opened his mouth, then closed it, and started speaking after a moment of thought. "I'm Garrett. This is Ava. We're here on behalf of the Southern rebels---"

"Get away  from me," I growled, emphasizing each word with all my strength.

"We'd like to make a deal with you," He continued gravely before I could even react, "We have been watching you. You've never approved the caste system nor the monarchy. All your life, you've been wanting to get rid of it like a starving lion wanted to hunt down his prey. Though you're officially a One now, deep down you still wanted to bring down the monarchy and the caste system, bringing this Illea madness to an end, to have equality in Illea. " Garrett said as he wandered around the cell. 

"What exactly are you suggesting?" I asked as I tried untying the knot around my hands but failed.

"You are going to assassinate the King." Garrett spoke matter-of-factly.

"What on earth are you---" I yelled at him, wanting to strangle his throat so badly.

"Don't forget you were once a Five. If you didn't got picked for the Selection, you wouldn't be where you are now. You'd still be a Five, worrying about money, rights, and so many other things, and blaming the monarchy and the caste system for the rest of your life."

I glared at him as he speaks, wondering what other barbarous plans he and the southern rebels had in mind.

He cleared his throat and continued, "We have been observing you since the 35 girls were picked for the selection. It's always our plan to bring down the monarchy, but we never truly succeeded. We figured the best way to succeed is to get rid of the crown prince. After countless failed attempts, we believed the only way to end the castes is to leave the assassination mission to someone who is close and dear to the crown prince. Or, someone who will be close and dear to the crown prince. So we decided to let one of the Selection girls--the future princess do it.

"We know that girls from the upper castes will never do that since accepting the job would mean giving away all their money and power. So we planned on offering the job to one of the Fours and Fives. We observed you along with the other Fours and Fives since the list of participants of the Selection was published. And we thought you were perfect for the mission. Though you never opposed the caste system in ways Six, Seven, Eight and us rebels did, you were not happy with it. What set you aside from the other Fives in the Selection is that you are not the type of person that is hungry for money and power. You will not let the caste nonsense continue just to secure your status. So we came to a decision to make you assassinate our King."

I let his last words linger in the air as I process all of it. I chewed the inside of my mouth to see if I could feel the pain, if this is all real or just a convincing nightmare. My heart sank when realization hit me.

 This is not a dream.

"And seeing as you are now the wife of the King, now is the perfect time to do so." 

"What makes you think I'll do it? Just because I despise the caste system doesn't mean I'll assassinate the King." I said defensively. 

"The caste system is never the right thing, you know that. And the only way to get rid of it is to kill the royals, end the monarchy."

"I will not do that. There must be another way."

"I don't think you have a choice, my dear." He lowered himself so that we are at the same eye level. "If I'm correct, your family lives nearby the palace. So, if you do not do so, I won't guarantee what would happen to your dear, sweet, and loving family." He smiled at me after delivering his threat.

By then my heart was pounding fiercely against my chest. I could hear nothing but the sound of blood rushing through my veins.

Mom. May. Gerad. Kenna.

My heart sank to a bottomless pit.

What am I going to do?  I can't kill Maxon. I'll never kill Maxon. Killing him is the last thing I would do. But my family would be in danger if I don't obey the southern rebels.

Garrett stood up straight and said to me sternly, "You have exactly 3 days time to consider the offer. Meet us here on Wednesday, midnight to let us know your final decision. If you don't show up, we will be more than happy to invade your home back in Illea,"

He walked towards the door and turned to face me again, "Oh, and don't even think about telling your King and plan an attack on us. If you do, you will lose more than you can ever imagine."

His glare was like a blade, tearing my flesh into pieces. My body was shaking involuntarily against the wall. I held my breath, trying my best not to show fear. I can't let them know I'm scared. I will not let them know I'm scared. I put on a brave face and uttered, emphasizing each word, "You will regret this,"