America studied the draft of the budget proposal in front of her, doing everything in her power to avoid biting her lip or chewing a fingernail in concentration. Silvia was sitting right across from her, studying her own copy, and America didn't want to be politely reprimanded in front of Marlee, who took the other chair opposite America's desk, a light crinkle on her lovely brow as she studied the budget.

"Can we shave anything off of Maxon's birthday celebration?" America asked. They were looking for funds to earmark for structural improvements to America's prenatal clinics. The buildings were seeing a lot of traffic, between the clothing donations and beginnings of childcare centers, and most provinces were requesting help funding necessary improvements and repairs.

After taking care of immediate expenses, America had invested the rest of the King of Swendway's money (originally meant for K, to help destroy the monarchy of Illéa and make room for the Swendish monarchy to ascend the throne). She was content to leave the money as Maxon's financial advisers had recommended, and only to spend the interest she earned off of those investments each year.

It meant that she didn't quite have the mountain of cash that it seemed like she should have, to pay for every initiative she wanted, right away. But it also meant that, every year, she'd always have a nice surplus of funds for her very own projects, and so would Addy's husband someday, and on into the future. It was quite the legacy to leave for the people who would sit on America's throne after her.

"Well…" Marlee mused, flipping over to the cost assessment for the annual celebration. "You're sure about how much you want to pay the orchestra?"

"Of course!" America snapped. "That's their livelihood, Marlee. We're not going to pay them like unskilled workers, they've honed a difficult craft!"

"Alright." Marlee put her hands in the air, in surrender. "I was just thinking out loud."

America sighed, remorseful for her tone. "I didn't mean to snap at you, Marls… I just…" she hung her head and closed her heavy eyelids. "I'm starting to feel like I haven't slept since Addy was born."

Marlee nodded sympathetically, "She's still keeping you up all night?"

"She's gotten a lot better in the last couple of months, but she's far from making it through the night. I keep giving Kenna time off because she really needs the rest, but at the same time… I'm at my wit's end."

"What about Maxon?"

"I can't… I can't ever bring myself to wake him, if the baby doesn't. He's the King, he needs all the rest he can get."

"He's Adrienne's father, Ames." Marlee reminded her, seriously. "You need to make sure he's doing his part." Then she giggled, "I tried to let Carter skip turns waking up with Kile after he was born… you know, Carter's a guard. He needs his rest, he has to protect all of us." America nodded, and Marlee continued, "By week three, he was already talking about having more babies. That was it. I started making him take his fair share of turns in the middle of the night, and he hasn't brought up having another baby since." she was smug with herself over this trick.

"Maxon pulls his weight, it's not that. It's just… it's just hard, that's all."

Marlee nodded in complete solidarity. No other explanation was needed, motherhood was just plain hard sometimes.

"Your Majesty," Silvia interjected, "If I may… The Queen of France is interested in joining in King Maxon's economic agreement with the German Federation. Her country could do with a favorable exchange rate with the Germans. Perhaps, in exchange for an opportunity to promote herself to King Maxon, Her Majesty Queen Daphne might be persuaded to gift the bottles of French champagne for the evening."

America looked over the estimate and gaped at how expensive the drink was. "That's a whole building renovation, maybe two."

Silvia nodded, knowingly.

"What do you suggest? An… invitation?"

"Mending fences with France wouldn't be the worst decision, your Majesty." Silvia suggested. "We don't want to let any resentments fester."

"What do you mean?"

Silvia squared her shoulders, "I only mean that we should try to have friendly relations with as many nations as possible, to put Princess Adrienne in the best position for her eventual reign."

America winced, thinking of Addy having to deal with Maxon's ex-almost-girlfriend's drama. "You're right. Let me talk it over with Maxon, and we'll look into some backchannels to extend the—"

America froze when she heard the alarm sound.

Her brain wanted it to be something else, a fire alarm or a minor gas leak. Her body knew before her mind accepted that it was the rebel alarm; the tiny hairs rising up on the back of her neck. Her eyes flitted to the door to Maxon's office, through which the secret entrance to the safe room was located, and then her eyes flitted to the door to the hallway, a mad impulse to race upstairs to Addy's nursery seizing her and not letting go.

She knew it was the wrong impulse, but she had no way to fight it. She had to defend her daughter.

Marlee must have felt something similar for Kile, but unlike America, Marlee had been through a rebel alarm as a mother before. She grabbed America's hand, "Let's go down, Ames. That's where they're bringing our kids."

It felt wrong, but America ignored her instincts. She let Marlee tug her away as Silvia locked the door to America's office, as well as Maxon's empty office, and then followed the others through to the hidden passage.

The stairwells to the safe room were well-lit now, part of the renovations that took place after the massive fire, set by the rebels, had gutted the previous version of the main safe room. In a meeting discussing the rebuilding efforts, Aspen had gone so far as to say that the fire had been a good thing, in that it gave him the chance to upgrade the facility with modern safety technology in a way that had not happened since the Palace was built in the time of Gregory Illéa.

America had looked at the small patch of slightly roughened skin on Aspen's hand, a souvenir from the fires, and found it incomprehensible that he could say such a thing. But, then again, how typically Aspen to place updating an underground bunker to keep America and her family safe, over his own wellbeing.

When Silvia, Marlee, and America made it down into the room, Maxon and several of his security advisers were already there, along with little Kile.

"Mommy!"

"Hi, baby." Marlee opened her arms to him and hugged him tight.

"Daddy had to go fight bad guys."

"I guess so." Marlee kissed his blonde head. Carter was supposed to have had the morning off to spend with Kile, but this emergency had taken precedent.

"Marlee, thank you for delivering my wife." Maxon offered a small smile, coming over to embrace America. "Carter brought Kile down here, and I promised to keep an eye on him until you made it."

"Thank you, Maxon."

Maxon nodded, then kissed America's cheek.

"Addy?" America asked him.

"Not yet." he replied. "Do you know where they were?"

"I have no idea." America confessed. Paige was with Addy that day, which meant they could have been anywhere from the nursery to the stables.

Maxon frowned and tried to sound confident. "They'll be here any moment."

But the moments passed, and they did not appear.

Mary and the new maid, Natalia, made it down. So did Gavril, after a fashion. Luckily, Kenna and Astra were visiting Magda that day, so they were away from the Palace and wouldn't have to make the often frightening journey down to the safe room. Only Addy and Paige were missing.

America couldn't take it anymore. "I'm going." She made for the door.

"Ames, No!" Maxon placed his arms around her to hold her in place.

"Let me go, Maxon! I'm not going to stand here while God knows what happens to our baby—"

"Sir." America and Maxon froze, turning to the voice of the hesitant guard at the top of the stairs. Neither of them knew him by sight, he was a fairly new recruit. "It's been ten minutes since the initial alarm. I have to seal the door now, according to protocol."

"Let me out!" America made a break for it again.

Maxon held firm, "America, you don't even know where to look for her!"

"Well, she's not down here, so I've got that scratched off my list." she snapped.

"Stop it." Maxon hissed, then turned to the officer. "Close the door."

"No!" America called. It was like she was having an out-of-body experience. She knew she was the Queen, and supposed to be setting a calm example for everyone else in the room. She thought of Amberly during Maxon's Selection, and couldn't stop a remorseful glance at poor Silvia. Silvia, who'd had to put up with America as the poorest substitute for Amberly imaginable.

But Silvia wasn't looking dismayed or embarrassed at America's display. She had her arms folded tightly, and there were barely restrained tears her eyes. She was as worried as America was, but much more Amberly in the way that she showed it.

"Maxon," America continued, "The protocol is stupid, Aspen only just made it up a few months ago. We don't have to follow it! We can't just lock our baby out of the safe room."

Maxon nodded to the guard, who turned to seal the door. "If they make it down, the guards will immediately unlock the door for them. By now, they've probably taken shelter in one of the smaller rooms, Ames, and it doesn't make sense to leave all of us exposed if they're already tucked away."

America sagged in defeat at his logic. Still, she looked at him like she'd never seen him before. "How can you just stand there? How are you not tearing this Palace apart, brick by brick, to find our baby girl?"

The hurt was evident in Maxon's eyes. He took her questions as accusations that he didn't love Addy enough. "Do you trust Paige?"

"Yes."

"Addy's personal guards?"

"Yes."

"Then you have to let them do their jobs. You can't make it worse by running, headlong, into a rebel attack."

America closed her eyes, trying to get control of her emotions. "Am I recommending that we dissolve the caste system, live on the Report, all over again? Is that what I'm doing right now?" It was her way of asking if she was being rash.

Maxon chuckled and glanced over at Gavril, who was smiling fondly, though he was looking pointedly away to try to give the King and Queen a little privacy. "Yes, a little. We were very thorough after Addy was born, rewriting the protocols for her."

"I have to do something." America shook her head.

"We've already done something. Don't you remember the weeks of meetings, pouring over the blueprints of the Palace, finding extra money in the budget for security upgrades? Don't you remember hand-selecting each of Addy's guards out of a pool of prospects chosen specifically by Aspen? You trust Aspen, don't you?"

"Yes, of course."

"Well?"

America couldn't explain it. It was worse than having an arm ripped off, not having Addy with them. She'd so much rather be shot again than not have her baby with her during an emergency.

She turned away from the door and out of Maxon's grip, then huffed over to take the seat next to Mary. In the renovation, they'd done away with the throne-like chairs to which the monarchs had once been confined. It just didn't make sense, with the kind of rulers Maxon and America were trying to be, to set them apart like that in an emergency safe room. The people chosen to go to the bunker with the King and Queen had made a career out of serving their rulers, but Maxon and America had devoted their lives to serving the people, and the royal safe room was no place to forget that.

America liked the new arrangement because it meant that she could sit wherever she liked, and Mary was looking especially sympathetic at the moment. Mary wrapped America in a hug and mumbled soft reassurances as America's head flopped onto Mary's shoulder.

"Where's Justin today?" America asked of Mary's husband.

"He'd have been overseeing paperwork when the alarm went off, he'll have had no problem making it to the safe room across from his office." Mary reassured her.

America nodded, glad in her mind, but unable to feel anything in her heart except agonizing worry over Adrienne.

A thought crossed her mind that she didn't want to speak aloud, but didn't know how else to get it out. It made its way to her tongue, but she bit it back until she couldn't contain herself any longer. "Maxon, what if they've taken her?" America blurted.

Maxon, still standing near the steps leading up to the sealed door, turned to look at her, surprised.

America pressed on, "What if the rebels came to take her? Or hurt her? What if they came specifically for her, that's the only reason they're here, and we weren't there—"

"America, I guarantee you that if rebels have infiltrated the Palace, they were trying to take or hurt her." Maxon's matter-of-factness was jarring.

America hadn't been expecting that. She'd been expecting reassurance. She needed reassurance. Why wasn't he reassuring her? "Maxon?"

"That was true for me, when I was a baby, too. And my father, before me." He explained. "When there's only one heir, they make for appealing targets."

America didn't know what to say to this. Some part of her had known that this was true, but she and Maxon had never openly discussed it. When they spoke of Addy's security, they focused on everything they would do to keep her safe, not of the threats that they were keeping her safe from. Somehow that distinction was important. Like having a smoke detector in place, but never talking about fire.

"Ames?" Maxon said, when she still hadn't responded. "I'm still here, aren't I? They didn't get me, did they?"

"No."

"They were a good deal stronger and more numerous when I was a baby, weren't they?"

"I guess."

"Yes. But they never got me, and they won't get Addy." He tried so hard to sound sure, but America could see the flicker behind his eyes, the unspoken ending of his proclamation:

'I hope'.

America closed her eyes, frustrated. She could no longer tell how long they'd been down there. Time made no sense at all this far underground. Had it been half an hour since the alarm had sounded? Maybe just fifteen minutes? How long since the door had been sealed? Because that had been the ten minute mark...

There was nothing else America could do, so she started counting in her head. That way, she'd begin to know when minutes passed. It was the only thing that was positively knowable at that moment, and she damn sure wanted to know it.

She got to thirty. She got to sixty. She kept counting. A hundred and twenty. A hundred and eighty. When she got to two hundred and twenty-seven, there was a loud click at the top of the stairs, followed by the tell-tale beeps of codes being tapped in.

America launched to her feet, heart freezing in her chest. She couldn't breathe, and didn't even care to try. All that mattered was finding out what was behind that door.

At first, the only thing that she could see was the guard coming through the other side.

He stopped at the top of the stairs and stood clear to make room.

Maxon was there first. "Thank God!" he said, offering a hand up.

Paige took his hand as she carefully navigated the steps, a fussy Addy tucked into the crook of her other arm. "Your Majesty." Completely out of breath, she dipped a little curtsey.

By then, America was there and was scooping Addy out of Paige's hold. "You're both alright?" Maxon asked.

"Fine, sir. We were out at the tree castle, the Princess' guards surrounded us when the siren went off and wouldn't let us move until they'd cleared the area."

Maxon nodded, trying to look as if he'd suspected as much all along, but the relief was too obvious all over his face.

"Thank you, Paige." America said, the first tear finally falling down her cheek. "Thank you so much..." She wrapped Paige in a tight hug. "I was so scared..."

"I'm sorry it took so long, your Majesty."

"Not your fault." Maxon reassured her. "You were perfect, just keeping Addy safe and fairly quiet."

America released Paige and started rocking Addy back and forth, shushing and soothing the fretful baby. The bunker was soundproof, among other things, so now that the loud, wailing siren wasn't hurting Addy's ears, and now that her Mommy and Daddy were there, Addy was calming down fairly quickly.

Maxon rubbed little circles on America's back, peering down over her shoulder as Addy settled in.

"What did you see?" Maxon asked Paige, glancing up from drinking in the image of his daughter.

"Not much, your Majesty. The guards shielded us well. I didn't hear any gunshots, though."

"Good." Maxon nodded, grimly satisfied.

Even America felt better at that news. No gunshots meant that it wasn't a bad attack. If it was like the really bad attacks she'd been through before, there would have been gunshots and yelling all over the Palace. Whatever was happening up there, the guards could handle it.

America strung close to fifty kisses across Addy's face, and then released her for Maxon to take his turn. Still, she held on to Addy by proxy, in that she kept her arms looped around Maxon's waist, looking on.

Maxon made a goofy face at Addy, and Addy giggled loudly, causing the whole room to burst into smiles. "That's my girl." Maxon murmured, holding her up to his chest and kissing the top of her head. "That's my baby girl." he said reverently against her skin.

America and Maxon both sat on the floor and raided the baby bag that Paige kept on hand whenever she was with Addy. Inside they found a soft blanket and spread it between them, laying Addy down in the middle.

"How's that, my dear?" Maxon cooed. Addy was already kicking and reaching, practicing her newest trick, rolling over. Once she could consistently roll herself over, crawling would be no problem at all. This time, instead of making it all the way over, she rocked herself to a sitting position and chewed on her hand while gaping at her parents.

Addy continued to amuse the room with spontaneous baby noises and her continued quest to make the journey from her back to her tummy. Soon, the tell-tale click and beeping rang out from the top of the stairs, and Aspen appeared. "All clear, your Majesty." he bowed to Maxon.

"Give us the room, everyone." Maxon requested of all of the advisers and staff.

"I'll be back in five minutes." America told Marlee and Silvia, who curtseyed and headed back up with the rest of the room. When Paige gave America a questioning look, America shook her head. "I'm keeping Addy for the rest of the day, you may have the afternoon off."

Paige curtseyed, too, then left the room. Now, it was only Aspen and the royal family.

"What happened?" Maxon asked, scooping Addy into his lap and tickling her belly a little. She giggled until he stopped.

"It wasn't rebels." Aspen said, face lined with something close to sadness, or possibly shock. "It was… essentially a false alarm."

"What does that mean, Aspen?" America asked. She knew Aspen's face very well, and she could read that there was more to the story.

"It was… a local man. An Angeles citizen, according to his identification. He wasn't trying to hurt anyone… other than himself."

"I don't understand." Maxon said.

"He was distraught. Distressed. I don't know the right word… he wasn't in his right mind. He came here today, knowing that if he triggered an alarm, the guards would open fire at him. He wanted to be shot. He wanted us to kill him."

They were all silent for a moment. Addy reached with both hands for Aspen, his uniform dazzling her. He scooped her up, happy to oblige his princess.

"Did it work?" America asked, afraid of the answer.

Aspen shrugged. "He's receiving critical care at the hospital wing, and if they can stabilize him, they'll move him to the General Hospital in Angeles."

Maxon nodded, "That's the right call."

"What could lead a man to do something like that?" America shook her head, not expecting an answer. It was incomprehensible to her.

Aspen was clearly rattled, though Addy was trying her baby-best to cheer him up. "I think… I don't know, but whatever it is, I think it's more common than it seems. I think this kind of thing happens all the time. It happened in Carolina, remember the Tally family?"

America shook her head, but then she stopped. She did remember the Tally family, distantly. They'd had two kids near Aspen's age, and the mother had died suddenly. "That's what happened to their mother?"

Aspen sighed and rubbed his eyes. Addy placed her little hand over his, and he lowered it down to kiss her chubby knuckles. "No one ever talked about it, but that was the ugly rumor."

America stared down at her lap. Aspen made it sound like some kind of secret epidemic.

"I want to meet with scholars." Maxon said, to himself more than anyone. "Someone out there is studying this, even if it is taboo. Isn't that right?" Neither Aspen nor America knew, but Maxon was convinced that he was right. "I want to meet with them, and I want to do something about this. If something out there is hurting my people, I don't want to ignore it or pretend that it isn't happening. That doesn't make any sense."

"I'll help." America said, taking Maxon's hand. "Whatever tactical support you need from my office, wherever you need me to go and speak, or just be seen… we'll coordinate everything."

Maxon smiled, gratefully. He knew she already had a thousand crusades to attend to, and it warmed his heart whenever she made time to join him on one of his.

Addy said, "Ahyayayayayayayah!"

America laughed, but it reminded her. "What time is it, Aspen?"

"Nearly eleven." Aspen peeked at the wristwatch on his free hand.

"She's hungry. That's what that was." America brought herself up to standing and then held her arms out for Addy, "Let's go upstairs and I'll feed you while Aunt Marlee and Aunt Silvia and I finish our meeting."

Addy was happy to be transferred to her mother.

"You weren't supposed to have her today, do you have any bottles, Love?" Maxon asked, concerned.

"No, but I've got the source." America winked, and nodded down to her cleavage.

"That'll do." Maxon grinned. "Thank you, Aspen. I know you have reports to collect."

Aspen bowed and headed back upstairs.

Maxon folded up the blanket and carried the baby bag for America, keeping his free hand on her lower back as they hiked up to their offices. "You'll keep her close?" Maxon checked.

"She's not leaving my sight." America swore. "Probably not for the rest of the week."

Maxon nodded. "You know… In a way, I'm glad our new system was tested. It pointed out a glaring flaw in the protocol that we all overlooked."

"What flaw?"

"Addy's guards need to radio in with her location as soon as a rebel alarm sounds. And they need to check in every couple of minutes."

"What if the radios aren't secure? What if the rebels get their hands on one from a fallen guard, or the frequency is intercepted, or—"

Maxon nodded gravely, "We need to work that out, too. It'll be a good challenge for Aspen to focus on for a while."

America nodded, thoughtfully. If anyone could figure it out, it would be Aspen. And if he couldn't, he'd know who to ask for help.

"You know," Maxon continued. "Maybe we should do drills like this every once in a while. Just to test the system, like it was tested today."

"What are we preparing for?" America asked. "There hasn't been a real rebel attack in Addy's lifetime." Not quite six months, but America was proud of it all the same. It was very different from Maxon's first six months of life, she was sure.

Maxon shook his head, "As long as there is government, there will be those seeking to destroy it. Wherever there is order, there will always be forces looking to create chaos. The rebels as we know them may be gone, but sooner or later we'll be up against something else."

America supposed he was right. "Okay, we'll have drills. But not too often, Maxon, I don't want to create an atmosphere of fear in our home."

"Agreed."

"And we'll announce most of the drills ahead of time, so that the staff can be prepared without falling behind schedule. You know how late they have to work when they fall behind schedule."

"Alright."

"And even the rare surprise drills, you and I will know about. I don't want to have to feel the way I felt today when that alarm went off, not if I don't have to. Not unless it's a true emergency."

"That's fair." Maxon agreed.

They were through the entrance in Maxon's office now. America turned on her heels and kissed him. "I love you. I'll see you at dinner?"

"Yes. I'll see you both then." Maxon blew a loud kiss on Addy's cheek, resulting in a shriek of baby laughter, handed the baby bag off to America, and then unlocked his office door and headed back to his previous meeting.

Marlee and Silvia were waiting right where they'd been sitting before the alarm, and America thanked them for their patience as she and Addy piled in behind America's desk. Out of the baby bag, America fished a shiny, silent toy for Addy to play with, and the Princess shook and chewed away at it as America returned her attention to the women before her. "Now, where were we?"