Chapter 20 "So you see, I thought you were dead.” Leaning back in his chair, Juden shrugs as he concludes his confession. “And without your body as proof you were dead, I had to wait for twenty years to pass so that I could claim the Throne.” Shocked by all this information, I run my fingers through my hair and try to make sense of all of this. The Rebellion fourteen years ago was caused by this man. My parents death was caused by him. But there is one thing I need to know. "You never tampered with my memories, did you?" Looking into his eyes, Juden stares back at me with an unwavering stare. "No, I just wanted you dead." I can sense his honesty in his words and sigh. The mystery of how I lost my memories remains. “Your confession has been recorded. You will be executed in two months time and so will you co-conspirators. It will be public and televised and the people will know what you did." My decision is final. The people need to know what a monster Juden Trilavantas is and how

Chapter 22 "Alli veggies do not go into a mac and cheese." Looking up from cutting the red bell peppers in front of me, I roll my eyes as Sky glares at the small amount of vegetables in front of my cutting bored. You would think I just said I killed a puppy with how he is looking at the bell peppers. "Mine does. You need something to counter the meat and copious amounts of cheese." Returning to chopping the bell peppers, I make sure to keep them small. "Wait there is going to be meat in it?" Stopping my cutting once again, I look up at Sky who raises his hands in surrender. I guess he finally took the hint he is starting to annoy me. Around us the chefs and cooks are chuckling, leaving Sky and I in the small corner while they prepare meals for the rest of the Palace staff. "Yes. So grab the pack of ground beef in the fridge and start cooking it off. Make sure to strain the fat when its done so the mac and cheese isn’t too greasy." Ordering Sky about, I return to finishing my task

Chapter 24 I lay awake in my bed thinking about today. From The interrogation and how heartless Alli was when Max was torturing Juden. She never flinched, just stared on with a blank expression. He had it coming, but even I flinched when he screamed in pain from his fingers being broken. At first I was worried with her reaction, but then when we left the dungeon and made our way to the green house I saw the girl that always sang to the flowers. The soft kind hearted smile that she gives to those who are kind to her. “I wish I could remember him, the boy I mean. I would tell him thank you for protecting me and helping me...” Those words, her voice, float through my mind. I wish I could tell her everything, let her know the truth of who that boy is and how long I have been waiting to see her again. How leaving her that day at the apple farm broke me. Demitrias never deserved her, never deserved to go retrieve her from Lady Pricilla’s Prison for Troubled Women after I was the one that

Chapter 26 Sitting in front of my computer, I look at the screen and try to focus on emailing my cabinet members, needing to set a date for a meeting before I head over to the meeting with the Generals. Sky had shocked me when he confessed he wanted to be the Captain of my Elite guards. I wanted to refuse, to ignore his request, but instead I asked for some time to think and ran to hide away in here before the Guards went about their day either patrolling or training. My Elite were given a tour of the Palace thanks to Ellisia and Adam while Sky and Arian went to finalize the plan for arresting those in cahoots with Juden. And I went to hide with the intention of doing work. The door to my Study opens and Adam walks in, Ellisia following right away with a tray of snacks and sweet tea. “You okay Alli?” He asks, coming to sit in the armchair in front of my desk while Ellisia sets the tray down. “No. Sky wants to be a part of my Elite.” I admit honestly, Adam letting out a low whistl

Chapter 28Dipping a chocolate chip cookie into my glass of milk, I am glad I asked one of the Maids if she could run to the kitchen and grab as many of the freshly baked treats as she can with a couple of cartons of milk as once everyone settled their things into their rooms, they all ended up in my room with each one of us wearing pajamas.“These are delicious.” Lia states as she shoves a whole cookie into her mouth, getting an eye role from her twin. I laugh, taking a bite of my own as Sky sits beside me on the love seat, his left arm resting along the back of the furniture.“I think Alli can make better cookies.” He chimes in from beside me, winking at me when I roll my eyes at him.“You can bake?” Max asks excitedly, making me sigh.“And cook. Sky hates that I put bell peppers in my mac and cheese -”“That’s because vegetables don’t belong in a mac and cheese.” He cuts me off, giving me a dramatic eye roll as he takes a sip from his glass of milk. Everyone chuckles at Sky and I,