When the world went to chaos, I was disappointed to find that adrenaline didn't kick in until I was almost already in the safe room.

I didn't need my maids too wake me, of course, because the sirens were plenty loud enough for that, but they busted into my room anyway. One was still in her uniform while the other two wore pajamas, but nothing seemed to inhibit their haste as the three practically ripped the sheets off me. Gone were their private, polite demeanors, and tranquil faces: replaced by bright eyes lit with panic, and rushed movements. Justified, of course. They didn't blatantly voice their stress, but their bodies spoke to me thousands of words. This could not be a drill. This room, this entire palace, was no longer safe.

But their panic somehow calmed me.

It was this inexplicable sort of a non-feeling that forced me into my bathrobe and slippers, and out into the chaos of a hallway of pure stills. Though not practical in any way, it was nice to have something warm on my feet, and my arms. If anything, I'd guess that the agreed upon Safe Room was less than cozy.

Girls rushed from rooms like racehorses pounding down their designated dirt tracks: teams of maids acting as jockeys and forcing them forward. I watch as Drew, shoeless, sped down the hallway, with Lea desperate to cling on as she's dragged away by her friend's outstretched hand. Raven, taking charge, ushered at least five girls in front of her and struggled to push them quicker to our haven. Avery tried to frantically shout commands, although bolting several feet in front of us, I could barely even make out our Safe Room's location: two floors down, underneath the stairs.

In a dizzying race to reach our destination, while trying to keep my eyes peeled for my friends, not lose a slipper, and try not to get trampled, I was able to connect the dots. But only just barely.

No one could hear anyone over each others' voices. I couldn't concentrate, couldn't think. I felt tired, sick to my stomach with dread, and to try to approximate how the other girls felt in that moment would be absolutely futile, and entirely wrong to even attempt. It was hard even to decide what I was feeling right then. Tired? Of course. But alert? Numb? Panicked? Or… curious? Am I feeling scared? Probably. But I haven't been able to tell so far.

We scuff down the stairs in a jumbled mess, each girl nearly tripping over the one in front of them but catching themselves just in time. I think I nearly fall once, but a couple girls try to grab my arms before I'm trampled down the staircase and too mangled to make it to safety. Is that what would happen? I suppose it's too hard to tell. I can't quite say who my saviors were, or even how many. I catch flashes of colorless skin, lengthless hair, inaudible voices… I want to thank them but can't quite reach the words.

When we make it to the base of the stairs, it's a very short span of time before we hear the engine. I'm not quite to the door of the Safe Room, but stop dead in my tracks. Adrenaline has at last kicked in and I experience everything at once.

I can make out that only about a sixth of us are inside the shelter already, making their way, single file, down the supposedly concrete (by the sound their feet are making) steps. The palace seems still and uninterrupted. It's only the Selected, as far as I can see. I think Avery might have made it ahead of us, and I reckon she's already down the stairs, coolly leading a pack of girls to safety. But as for the maids, the guards, and the rest of the workers? They seemed to have left us alone: I have no idea where they are. The air is still and humid with so many sweaty girls pushed up so close together, and I find myself gasping for breath. With each haggard inhalation, my lungs wheeze. I can hear tears dripping down faces and onto the marble floors while we wait our turn into descent, and unsteady breathing, and the mumbles of prayers from some. And… that rush. A plane, or maybe a jet, all the way over the noise of the sirens. Slowly and steadily… Getting louder and louder and-

I'm shoved down the stairs, Natalyn in front of me and Adriana, being the source of the push, at my rear. I'm near the base, descended into the clear ground, when I feel it. There's a singular rush, and the entire basement rattles. Someone from behind me screams, and I hear a near voice hyperventilating. I know it's not me, because I've stopped breathing all together.

"Hurry up!" Delilah screams, desperation obvious in her voice.

I try my best not to stall, forcing the line in front of me down the stairs faster than I was going, and trying to make sure that the last girl could close the staircase's door before the aircrafts could circle back around and maybe even strike. It's difficult, but there's overwhelming relief when we're all safely locked into the room. Someone lays flat against the door and pants, and the rest of us try to steady our feet from falling out from under us. I grip my head and shakily stumble into an opposing wall. I feel my feet sink, and I allow myself rest.

I keep my eyes open, and watch girls scramble amongst each other, looking for friends and nice places to sit. I notice that most of us have taken refuge by one of the sturdy, plastered walls. Not the most tasteful of rooms, but if it could keep us safe…

The royals are off in a corner, conversing wildly. I feel as if I can almost make out what they're saying, but Ivy finds me quickly and collapses next to me, looking too tired to cry, but maybe just about to.

She takes a very deep breath. "I've been here before," she told me, legs curled into her side while she looked around.

"I know."

"You do?"

"Yes," I confirm, "without proper lighting, terrible smell. This is where you went after the first Report, right? When you went looking for the bathroom."

"Yeah. Good memory." Ivy sniffles at the dankness. I have to agree that the smell isn't the nicest, but it's tolerable, at the very least. I want to throw up, but for entirely separate reasons.

Noise in the room slows to a stop, as none of us know what to do. King Adrian stands from his spot against the west wall, sandwiched in between the rest of his family, and clears his throat to grab everyone's attention. As if he didn't have all eyes upon simply standing up. It wasn't exactly like any of us had anything more important to focus on.

"Ladies, I am so sorry for the trouble, and the panic I'm sure many of you are feeling. I'd like to ease your confusion and doubts of your safety, but I can't completely, I know.

"We do not have very much information about this event. We do know that this is not a drill, but to our knowledge, no open fire or explosives been dropped on the palace or anywhere else in the country. The aircrafts some of you may have heard flying overhead are currently unidentified. We will remain here in the Safe Room until further notice. Should the situation turn dire, we will all exit via a concealed door that the family and I will grant everyone access to. This room will only be occupied, however, should we have a reasonable suspicion that nuclear weaponry will be unleashed on the palace. In this case, we find it unlikely, but not impossible."

Nervous chattering comes immediately from the group. I feel my own heart seize, and Ivy's head is in her hands as she mumbles something unintelligible.

"This is not to scare you." King Adrian assures us. "Myself and my family would like you each to feel more secure, and we agreed it would be best for you to have all available information we have. We'll update you all if we hear anything, ourselves."

Queen Nadia pulls her husband's hand down and whispers something in his ear. The King nods.

"Additionally, Prince Cameron will be making rounds and talking with each of you. Any questions you may have will be directed to him." I watch him as Ivy nods out of the corner of my eye. Autonomically, I feel myself do the same, and my insides warm. How I can manage to be excited when the situation is so scary is beyond me. But this is the first time we've talked since our interview, Prince Cameron and I. I'm looking forward to it: sue me.

"What do you think he'll want to talk to us about?" Ivy asks me, as quiet conversation overcrowds the room once again. "You don't think it's going to be, like, a second interview, right?"

"No, I don't think so." I tell her, keeping a carefully trained eye on Prince Cameron, as he makes his way to the first girl: a softly sobbing Mahalia. "Probably he'll just ask us if we're doing alright, things like that."

"Yeah, probably. Do you think some girls are going to ask to go home, though?" Is it so terrible that I pray to God some will?

I take a second to think through everyone who remains. Would they really sacrifice the journey for this? That would be the sensible option, I suppose… "Would you?"

"Oh god no!" Ivy pales and splutters. "Why, would you?" I can almost hear the hope creep into her voice, though she might try to hide it. I can't judge her for it, though. I'd be lying if I didn't want a few girls going home after today. I don't know how many would even want to leave, but it would make it easier. And Ivy? Prince Cameron seemed to like her. I wanted my friend to say, no doubt about it, but on the other hand, I could still be friends with her outside of the palace. And only one of us could have Prince Cameron.

"No, no of course not." I assure her. To her credit, Ivy smiles wide. I don't hear any sarcasm in her voice when she tells me, "Thank God, I don't know what I'd do if you left." I can't help but laugh in relief.

"Honestly, same." I squeeze her balled up fist and smile. "Hey, where do you think Giselle and Evie are?"

Ivy looks confused, and we take a second to scan the walls. "I think I see Evie over by Ember… And I think Lea. And Drew."

"And Giselle?"

"Haven't found her yet, but I don't really think we should be nervous or anything." She cranes her delicate neck to keep looking. "Oh! There she is, over by Thera and Clio."

"Alright, so everyone's safe and everyone's accounted for."

"Well, out of the four of us, yes." Ivy looks more than relived.

"Hey, do you think I have time to take a nap before Prince Cameron comes over?" I joke. Ivy looks unsure, seemingly weighing my options for me.

"Knock yourself out. I'll wake you when he comes!"

"No-no, I wasn't serious." I laugh. My friend looks confused. "I-"

"Ladies?" Our conversation is cut off as Cameron awkwardly leaning over the two of us. I see Ivy's mouth pop open. "Sorry-would you mind waiting a minute to go to sleep? I'd like to talk to the two of you, if it's okay."

"Um." I'm at a loss for words. "Yeah, of course. Sorry."

"It's fine." He mumbles, sitting on the ground in front of us, legs criss crossed. "So how are you two feeling?"

"A little freaked out," I admit, looking to Ivy. She's completely frozen. I nod on her behalf. I'm not sure if it came off that way, but that's what I intended, at least. "Honestly, it's just the not knowing. It's all just so… ambiguous, as of now. Have you guys heard anything new yet?"

"Nothing new." He says, shaking his head. "I wish we knew anything, or even had anything to hide from you, but we don't. I feel the same way: I'm honestly just as scared as I'm sure you ladies are."

Not if his eyes were any indication. No, I didn't see the same downturned eyebrows in Prince Cameron, or a new vulnerability to the green of his irises. And up so close to him… Well, it was a lot easier to tell. But anyone who has any sort of a basis in body language could tell that the Prince wasn't so terrified, as he made himself out to be. I observed no hunched posture, fidgeting, or obscure hand tics. He wasn't scared at all.

And if nothing else, I was relieved. If he wasn't scared I wouldn't be either.

The storm inside me stilled.

"So how much longer do you think we'll be stuck down here?" I ask, looking around.

"Hard to say. It depends on whether or not someone… well, attacks." I hear Ivy suck in a breath, the first sound she's made since he's come to talk to us. Prince Cameron's and my head snap to her, and she looks like shrinking into her robe like a turtle. I grab her hand and give it a squeeze. If she wants to say something, this is her opportunity.

She remains mute. I decide to recover the silence.

"Are we going to war?" I ask hesitantly, praying that his answer will be no. We can't have a war. Especially not a bad one. Not while I have two brothers who are at just the right age to be drafted… One with an infant son, and the other with a brand new job he loves.

"We don't know." Screw security. I feel my stomach drop to my knees, and mouth pop open but no breath escapes my chapped lips. "We're still neutral for the time being, and would love to stay that way. But if this turns into an attack, I'd have no doubt that would change quickly. It most likely depends on this event right now."

Ivy mumbles something, out of her state of shock.

"What was that?" I ask her, an invitation to speak up.

"Say your prayers, I said." She tells us. Prince Cameron nods, and I squeeze her hand again.

"Well, I think I'll leave you ladies, let you have your patiently waited for rest, Lady Aspen. If either of you need anything at all, please come up and talk to me. If we find anything out you'll be the first to know."

I nod my head as I watch him stand up. "Thank you," I manage to choke out.

As Prince Cameron moves to the next little clump of girls, I crumble.

I'm knocked absolutely breathless.

"War," I gasp, feeling a tear roll down my cheek. I look up to Ivy's vacant face. "War."

"War." She agrees.

"I can't-" How even to find the words… "We can't have a war!" Ivy shakes her head and stares sadly at her lap. "Ivy, I have brothers! Oh my god we can't- We-"

It's my friend's turn to grab my hands, and she holds my face still as I choke on my own tears. "Aspen. I promise you. We're going to make it through. Nothing has happened yet. Nothing has even… happened." I nod and squeeze my eyes shut. "You're going to be okay."

…

Princess Cassia Havillard

I was pretty sure we're all going to die.

It's impossible to confirm, but it's coming. We built the bomb shelter for a reason, after all.

This stupid Selection. The stupid timing. Endangering over a dozen innocent girls. Yes, the best if ideas at the best of times. I'm so happy Illéa is run by someone as traditional as my father. I'm sure it'll make our funerals unforgettable, all his rigid traditions.

We're all going to die.

If Cameron got his tradition, and I didn't get mine, I think I'd kill him before the bombers could even get ahold of him. I know he didn't want any of this. He honestly couldn't seem any less interested, half-heartedly conversing with a series of petrified girls he had no idea what to do with.

Me, though? I'd like to find love.

Maybe unrealistic, living in my world, but the anticipation for my own Selection made me shiver. I wanted that. Not necessarily what my parents have. I want my own chance to be them but not screw it up. I just wanted the opportunity of it. To immerse myself with romance and laughter and all that. I don't know if that seems sappy: it does in my head, but it's not how I want to sound. I don't want love in the naïve way I think my parents went about it. I want a real relationship: a real love.

But in the spirit of an acute lack of naiveté, it's impossible to even pretend like this is an option for me.

I really really don't want to die.

No one wants to die. Well, maybe if you're suffering. And I know that sometimes I can be ungrateful, and act like I have no perspective, but I do. I understand. I know that I'm very fortunate. I get to live in a beautiful palace and eat good food. But more importantly, I have a warm home and a family. I have options. I may not get everything in the world, but I'm far from deprived or suffering. I do not want to die.

I don't want to get abducted either. No one wants to get abducted. Not me, not my siblings, and not the maids.

Oh my goodness the maids. To be quite honest, I can only imagine the kind of suffering poor Eva Pal must be going through.

As the Illéan Monarchs, we have a very specific duty to protect our staff. They have their own Safe Rooms, their own bomb shelters, their own bedrooms and closets, and they can even pick one day a week off their schedule to have to themselves. We are not inhumane to our workers. It is our job to protect them. But fifteen days ago, we failed in that regard.

I have never personally met Eva. I might have seen her passing in the hall once or twice, but it's impossible to remember, through all these years. I've seen her picture, and she looks familiar, but she has a familiar sort of a face. Mousy, pale brown hair infused with soft clay, and downturned, wide brown eyes. Her skin is pale, and she has a soft sort of a square of a jawline, with a dimple on her upper cheek, near her right eye, when she smiles. She's at about an average height, average weight, and she's somewhere from age 17-23. Her poor father, Andres, bless his heart, says he can't remember. It was her mother Carmen, he said, who remembered that stuff, but she died a few autumns ago. He has now lost his wife, and lost his only daughter. Andres Pal was going out of his mind.

The investigation took all damn morning. Every precaution, of course, is worth it to find this poor girl, but I figured the ladies would start to get suspicious. Someone of them seemed like naturally, genuinely intelligent women. Many of whom, by the way, my brother should be a lot more excited to be with than he seemed to be. Those girls deserved better than him.

Damn tangents, sorry. Damn Cameron…

Eva Pal is missing. We need to find her. We've got teams out, and investigators scouring the bathrooms and maids' quarters. I thought it was a bit excessive at first, but that's because I guess I wasn't fully aware of the situation.

There was a break in. In the palace, legitimately, about seven steps from the Women's Room. If that were some sort of a terrorist? There could have been a massacre. They could have easily just stumbled into that room and killed every single Selected there. It was during the screening of the first Report that the women were here for; they were all vulnerable, and could have been cut down in seconds. Imagine the catastrophe.

In truth, I was becoming more scared as they days went on. I was worried when I first found out about the conflict, which escalated to concerned when discovering our "little international spats" with Vietnam -a sworn ally of India- and slightly panicked about New Asia (still undecided, but dangerously close to siding with the others).

My parents now found it hard to conceal. My father looked constantly weary, and my mother had started muttering to herself again. As if letting your mind wander into No Man's Land wasn't scary enough, having silent, paranoid-confirmation from the nation's pillars was downright terrifying. Just a thought, but if my parents thought there was any chance we were all going to die, we probably would.

I do not want to die.

I look to the girls around the room. I hadn't really met the majority yet. Sure, a few hung around me, Elena, and mom in the Women's Room, but not so many of them dared. Not that I blamed them. I suppose we could be an intimidating bunch. Mom even specifically said she didn't want to meet the girls yet; she thought it would be useless to meet so many new people who aren't going to be of any importance to her soon enough. If she could just know who the winner will be, and get to know her, I think she'd prefer it. I wanted to talk to some of them, but I didn't want to get attached, either.

It especially killed Elena. She wanted to meet them bad.

I watch my sister as she looks wistfully at the Selected. She sits to my left, fiddling with her own fingers and anxiously tapping her toes.

If she wanted to meet the Selected, I decided, it could be a last wish I would grant her.

"I'm going to go talk to some of the Selected." I announce boldly, finally standing up again on wobbly stilts of legs. I look to Elena quickly and nod in the direction of some of the other girls, and walk away, even though my mother hisses my name and demands that I come back to where I was sitting.

I look around the room, choosing my first girl. Elena, I've noticed, as picked a small group of three, who hold their hands outstretched in a warm sort of an invitation.

I spot only a few people sitting by themselves. One of which is a pretty New Asian girl, with perfect skin and flowing brown hair. Her name is Lady Natalyn, for that I'm almost sure. Dressed in a flowering red kimono, Lady Natalyn had her bare legs tucked neatly toward her abdomen, and she gave me a wide, friendly smile as I sat down to talk to her. She nodded her head as supposed to bowing, which I thought was perfectly fine. All these new girls bowing to me felt stupid, and since they were only just trained in curtseying, they sometimes look a little stupid doing them.

"Good evening, Princess Cassiopeia."

"And same to you," I say with a smile. Then, jumping right to my most pressing question, I nonchalantly ask her, "So, Lady Natalyn, does the threat of possibly imminent death make you agree with me in saying that Cameron maybe just… isn't worth it?"

Natalyn's mouth is open, and her jaw moves up and down as if she was speaking, but no words come out. She manages to stutter a little bit, first staring holes through my eye sockets, then anywhere but at me. It seems as if I've stunned her.

"I was not at all prepared for that question," she says finally.

"Oh. Right, sorry. Kinda intense, I get that." She smiles again and nods at me, pretending to be more comfortable than she really is. I have officially made this situation uncomfortable. Whoops. "Well, I'll let you get thinking, then." I scuffle away awkwardly, trying not to look back and make eye contact. I can hear a few girls around her start to ask questions in small clumps, so I decide to desert that area.

Instead, I walk to the wall opposite to the one where I was with my family. Elena is with Lady Pepper, the only one on that particular wall who's alone, so I wander to a group of two. Lady Mahalia, whose carob skin is practically glistening, sits with her knees awkwardly pointing at the actively ranting Lady Raven. Raven's hair (with a hue to match the name) is thrown up in a very knotty, very frayed and very messy bun, and she's chewing gum furiously as I approach her. She wears a simple charcoal t-shirt with a New Asian symbol on it, and flannel shorts. Lady Mahalia, a rather stark contrast in a cream silk pajama set and thin white robe, clears her throat loudly to get Lady Raven to stop talking as she watches me approach. It's not before, however, I hear her talking about potentially strangling something.

A smile etches across my face. If no one else, this girl might agree with me.

"Hello Ladies." I smile wide and excited, sitting criss cross in front of the two.

Lady Mahalia addresses me as "Your Highness" and formerly asks me if I'd like her robe, which I inform her will be less than necessary. Lady Raven quickly spits her gum into a crumpled tissue, which she shoves into her pocket quickly and gives me a half-hearted grimace.

"Alright, so I've got to ask you both." I start, as the two girls wait patiently and for me. "If it was me, and I was in this competition, I swear to Whatever that I'd be furious! Like, not to scare you, but we're probably gonna die, right? I don't know, actually. Also, I understand that it may be wrong to ask you not to be scared and then ask you if we're going to die. Honestly, if you're scared, you have every right. So that's why I'm curious, is this 'chance' with my brother really that important that you're willing to risk your lives?"

The ladies sit for a moment and consider.

"Is this your way of asking us to drop out?" Mahalia asks inquisitively.

"Well no of course not, that's not my place to tell you anything. I'm just really trying hard to understand. I guess it's just because he's my brother and I hate him, but isn't Cameron –er- Prince Cameron kind of an insufferable little douche?"

Raven snorts. "Despite the fact that I didn't really understand the risks, but I didn't come into this competition really knowing anything about you guys, especially not Prince Cameron, who you never hear about ever. I've been keeping a really open mind, and honestly he's not worse than any guy I've ever dated. Better, even, because at least he's polite. But honestly, I haven't had a date yet. I don't know whether or not that's a good thing, since he's eliminated the majority of girls he's gone on a date with, but I can't decide until then. So far, and I'm sorry for saying this, because I understand what you're saying about brothers, but he's not so bad at all."

"I think he's very nice." Mahalia adds politely, as if with a harrumph. "Well, not in the showering you with rose petals and pulling out all the stops to see you smile, affectionate kind of nice. But I say, give him time. Who knows what could happen if he falls in love with one of us. And in the mean time, I think the possibility is worth the wait."

"Alright, I get what you're saying… maybe." I respond. At least now it makes a bit more sense to me, even though it wasn't the answer I was looking for. "Y'know, I almost slept through the sirens last night."

"You did not." Raven challenges, while Mahalia snickers.

"I did. My maids had to wake me up and everything. Honestly, my snoring almost overpowered it I think." The two girls laugh.

Mahalia seems to think this was the best thing she had heard tonight. Raven had her own story, about being up anyways and literally herding five girls (of which she couldn't even remember who) down the hallway like a sheepdog. In their presence I immediately felt more relaxed, and by their easy smiles and laughing eyes, it was no time at all before we had forgotten where we were (and why we were there) in the first place.

No longer were we unequal. We weren't a one (a princess, at that), and whatever castes those two girls were. None of us even stopped to ask each other, and the unbreakable divide between our lives was shattered like a bomb against glass as we became quick friends.

Now, if no bomb could come in and shatter our lives, it might make a tranquil end to a worthy night.

I am so freaking sorry. Before anyone yells at me for not posting in FOREVER (which I do understand it has been sooooo so long since I've posted something), I've actually had the majority of this written for a good while. I took a short hiatus to work on some original things, but I'm glad to be back, at any rate!

Cassia is back, by (somewhat) popular demand, and we even got to see a few girls I don't talk about that often in this chapter! I'm going to work on that. I don't at all mean to be only focusing on a handful of girls throughout this entire story.

That being said, I have revoked all of the Main/Main Abbreviated/Supporting/Minor titles of the girls. I didn't really feel like that was fair, and so now it's gone. There were so many regrets because I didn't want a huge main cast, but I was afraid that a lot of them would get shafted by this so it's taken out now!

In other news, The Unbreakables has finally gotten over a hundred reviews! Thank you so so much guys, your feedback and support means the absolute world to me!:)

Remember to review!

xoxo (and it's a long time coming)

Scarlett