Trapped (Maxon and America Love Story)

Chapter 9

"You look absolutely stunning, your majesty."

"America," I say to Mary. I twirl around and look in the mirror. I do look gorgeous. My hair has a braid as a crown, and the rest of my hair is put into a tight bun. I wear two inch black heels. By the end of the night these will kill me.

"Knock knock," Maxon says coming in. He walks up to me and kisses me. "You look ravishing tonight. Not that you always don't but you look amazing tonight."

"You look very dark," I say looking at his complete black tux. "I look bad don't I," he says. "You look dark. Very dark."

"I am supposed to be a shadow. I think I should wear dark clothing."

He holds his arm out. I loop mine into his. We walk down the stairs and wait at the huge door. We're supposed to make a grand entrance. All we're going to do is welcome everyone and have the first dance. Candy is everywhere. The sound of people chatting fill my ears.

Two guards open the doors and lead us into the Great room. People appluse as we walk in. Maxon and I go onto the stage and welcome everyone. Then we head to the dance floor. He puts a hand on my waist and intertwines his fingers with his other hand in mine. I rest my free hand on his shoulder. He smiles at me. Whenever I see his face I always smile. "Tonight?" Maxon whispers in my ear. Then wiggles his eyebrows. I let out a slight giggle. People start to dance around us. I rest my head on his chest. I'm already tired and it's only the first song.

Once the song switches Aspen approaches me. He's dressed in his guards uniform when he's off duty. A navy blue suit jacket and black dress pants. "Very interesting costume you got there," he says, "my I have this dance?"

"Of course."

He puts his hands in the same places as Maxon. He's a friendly distance. Not as intimate as Maxon's spacing. "This is a great party," he says, "it feels like yesterday, you were in the Selection."

"Yeah," I say as the memories start to flood back. Marlee and Maxon appear the most. I scan the room for Marlee and Carter. They're dancing. I can tell Marlee is getting tired with a baby in her stomach. One year ago their love was forbidden, now they can show it to the world. "How is your family?" I ask.

"Good. They've been doing a lot better after the checks I've been sending. They're almost ready to move up to fives."

"That's amazing news! Soon we're going to dissolve eight into seven. We're hoping that the sevens will start to rebuild the rebel territory. Then move sevens to sixes. It's going to be a long experience."

"And I believe you two can do it."

"Thank you. That actually really means a lot."

"No problem."

The song ends and I take a break. I take my heels off and hide my feet under a table. Marlee sits with me and Lucy does too. "Congrats Lucy! I'm going to be the best God parent you will ever have! In fact both of you will have!"

"Thank you America. This little beast is starting to kick. We found out it's a boy yesterday. Aspen wants to name him Aspen junior."

"That sounds like him," I say.

"Congratulations Marlee. We're both going to be parents."

"I'm kinda scared. I've never done this before. I don't even know how to change a diaper," Marlee says frantically.

"You're going to be a great mom, Marlee. Both of you will be. There's no doubt about it."

"Have you and Maxon ever thought about it?"

"We both want kids really badly. So far no luck. We've been trying for a while," I say looking at Maxon. He chugs a glass of champagne down. Then grabs another. He's going to get drunk tonight. Drunk Maxon is not the best. He can be silly but sometimes it's not good. He gets more of a temper and gets aggressive. Or he can get very intimate and I'll just leave it at that. But most of the time he gets aggressive. I don't know how many drinks he's had. I hope not too many.

I don't realize it til Lucy snaps in my face, that someone is trying to get my attention. I peek up getting back to reality. A man holds his hand out, "may I have this dance?"

"Certainly."

I don't realize who he is until he speaks. It's the prince of England, Edward. "Afternoon your highness," I say. "Right back at you, I guess. Please call me, Edward."

"America," I say.

"How has the new royal life been treating you?" He says with his British accent.

"Pretty good I guess. I was expecting to just get to eat the food all day." He lets out a laugh. "You are quite a character, America. I've spoken to your husband. He said that you are dissolving your caste system."

"Yes. It's been a long process but we've figured it out."

"Great."

His ice blue eyes stare into mine. He smiles shining his perfect teeth. His blonde and brow hair is combed to perfection. He wears a simple tux. Nothing extravagant. He has brown hair tracing his jawline but is short. He winks at me. I blink fast making sure I know what i just saw. Did the prince of England just hit on me. "You're very beautiful. I see why King Maxon shows very much favor in you. I'd do the same." I'm speechless. He's committing treason to his country. He could get killed here if he even just a little bit, intimately or inappropriately touched me.

"I think you'd have fun in England. You should stay in the palace there. Maybe for a vacation. We welcome you at anytime."

"Maybe one day. At the moment Maxon and I are very occupied with work. But I would love to come."

"England welcomes you with open arms." His mouth comes to my ear. "Maybe we could go up to your room for a quick visit," he whispers. I put my lips to his ear, "Like in hell I would." He backs away from my ear. "Feisty, I like feisty." His head flips around the room. His eyes scan everywhere. He touches his lips to my neck. I smash his foot with my heel. "Bloody!" He says. "Think again. You're lucky I won't have you executed for treason."

The song ends and he limps away. I go through many songs. By the time the festival is almost over my feet are killing me. I scan the room for Maxon. He's nowhere to be found. I wonder how many drinks he's had tonight. Once I thank everyone for being here the room empties. I look for Maxon and ask everyone. No one knows where he is.

He'll come to bed at some point. I walk with my heels in hand. I trudge up the stairs as my feet ache. I just want to fall onto the bed and go to sleep with Maxon. If he'll ever show up. I'm too tired to notice anything but when I walk into my room I stop. I drop my heels and my jaw drops. Tears stream down my face. They cloud my vision as I run to my room. I slam the door and fall onto the bed. I sob into my hands. How could he do this to me?