999 Pieces

Chapter Eight: Aspen

An arm gently shaking me awakens me from my slumber. “Meds again?” I quietly ask the nurse as I rub my eyes.

“No, Officer. The King wants to see you,” she whispers, careful to not wake my sleeping neighbors.

“At this time of day?” I ask, glancing at the clock.

“He said it was urgent. A butler is coming with a wheelchair.”

“As His Majesty wishes,” I grumble, sitting up.

The butler arrives with a wheelchair and the nurse helps me into it. The butler once again rolls me out of the Hospital Wing, towards the stairs. Like last time, some guards wait there, ready to carry me up.

After carrying me up two sets of stairs, I quietly thank them and the butler resumes pushing me

“Where are we going?” I ask as we make a different turn.

“His Majesty has set up a conference room.”

“Wasn’t the King and Queen’s funeral today? Why does he need to see me?”

“The funeral was today, yes, but I don’t know anything about why he wishes to see you, Officer. All he said was that it was important.”

The butler makes another turn and stops in front of a door. He quickly opens it and pushes me into the room. To my suprise, it isn’t just Maxon waiting for me. I bow my head at Maxon, giving him a questioning glance as my chair is rolled next to his.

“How are you, Aspen?” Maxon asks.

“I’m feeling better. The doctor said I’ll be walking soon,” I say, looking around the room. “Why have you called all these people here?” 

“Right, well you’ve met August and Georgia,” he says and we nod at each other. Maxon gestures to the next person. “Aspen, this is Gavril Fadaye. Gavril, this is Aspen Leger, a close er-friend of America’s and soon to be our new General.”

We nod at each other, and I can't help but admit that I'm a little star stuck.

“This is Stavros, one of my most trusted advisors,” Maxon continues, gesturing to the person on his right.

I nod, recognizing him. I had seen him a lot when I was posted in King Clarkson’s office.

“And of course, you’ve met Kriss,” Maxon says finally, his face hard.

“I don’t believe I thanked you for slapping some sense into me, Officer Leger,” Kriss says softly, smiling. ”I don’t think I would have made it out without your help.”

Maxon raises an eyebrow. “You slapped her?”

I nod. “I got her out after I helped you. Anyways, why am I here?”

“Well for starters, since Aspen and Stavros don’t know, Kriss and Gavril are Northern Rebels,” Maxon states simply, as if it’s no big deal.

I feel my eyes widen. “What?”

“Gavril told me yesterday. I found out about Kriss when I saw her necklace earlier today,” Maxon says. 

“The sign of the Northern Rebels is the North Star, which you can see on Kriss’ necklace and Gavril’s pin,” Georgia explains. “We use it to recognize each other, so it’s a closely guarded secret.”

“Smart,” I state. “But what does this have to do with us?”

“For many reasons, but I’ll start with the more personal one,” Maxon begins, turning to me. “The day before the attack, America found out about Kriss. Do you know how she could have known about the sign? Did something happen when you were in Carolina that could have prompted this?”