Maybe

Chapter 48

~Nathan~~1 Year Later~

I was down in the palace dungeon. Today was the day Kriss was going to finally pay for her crimes against the throne.

"Kriss Ambers, in the last year you have been stripped of your duties as Queen, stripped of your last name, and stripped of your caste. You are no longer a daughter of Illéa. A year ago you had kidnapped the Selected girl Marissa Singer, and attempted to murder her. Years prior you had also kidnapped the young Prince Ben, and held him against his will. These are crimes all punishable by death. Your life is what you will pay with for your freedom. Will you accept her payment for your crimes," my father says. I could see in his face that he didn't want to do this.

"I do accept my punishment," she said.

"Then by the power vested in me you shall be killed for treason against the throne. The way you shall die shall be chosen by the people."

Shouts rose from crowd of people gathered in the square. I couldn't tell what they had chosen, but I knew it was going to be painful.

"Then Kriss Ambers you shall die," my father said.

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It was after the execution. Even though I did not except her as my mother, she still was one. There was a piece of me missing now, but hopefully it will be filled.

I absentmindedly walked down to the infirmary. I did it quite often at this time.

As I wonder through the halls of the infirmary I find the room. Her room to be exact.

It was a year ago that everything happened, but it still felt like yesterday. She is eighteen now. She still didn't hasn't woken up yet. Her heart monitor drones out her steady heartbeat.

Majority of her wounds have healed. The doctors are afraid that she may have to relearn things. How to talk, how to walk. They also tell me that she may not even remember anything. Which meant me, the Selection, everything. I couldn't bear the thought of that happening. It shouldn't happen to someone as strong as Marissa. It just can't.

Looking at her body as I sit next to her I find something that I didn't know was there. Brushing away a strand of her hair I find a small burn mark. Kriss didn't torcher Marissa with heat. Then I remember one of Kriss's last messages to us from a year ago. She addressed America. Kriss had the Rebels burn down her house. Marissa was still in the house as it burned. This mark was from eighteen years ago. It was a beautiful mark in a odd way. I graze it with my finger, and I swear I saw her flinch a tiny bit.

I grab her hand, and lean my elbows on the bed. "Please Marissa, come back to me," I whisper to her, then kissed our hands.

I rest my head on the bed, and just stay like that. I don't know how long I stayed like that. Maybe an hour. Finally looking back up, Marissa is still peacefully sleeping. Looking down at my watch I see that it's dinner time. I lean over the bed still holding her hand, and kissing her forehead.

"I love you so much. Don't give up yet Marissa," I whisper.

Then in a faint voice I hear, "I love you too."

I snap my head to her face to see Marissa has her eyes partly opened. "Marissa?" She gives a small laugh. "Oh my god. Marissa," I cry. I wrap my arms around her. "I'm going to go get a doctor I'll be right back."

She just moans. I let her go, and she gives me a smile.

I quickly rush out of the room to find a doctor. Once I find one I go back to her room. She was still awake.

"Your Highness, I must ask you to leave as I do check ups on Miss Singer. Why don't you go get her family down here," the nurse said.

I look at Marissa, and she give me a slight nod of her head. I smile and rush out of the room.

First I go to my father's office. I don't bother knocking, and just barge through the room. His head shoots up, and he pears over his glasses that he occasionally wears.

"Nathan! You know better," he starts, but I cut him off.

"She's awake," I say.

"What?"

"Marissa. She's awake." He stands up. "The doctors are doing a check up on her. They told me to come and tell you that's she's awake."

"I'll get her family. Find your brother and sister."

I rush out of the room, and to Alisa's. Again, I just barge right through. She's laying on her bed holding her pillow looking at a book. She glances up at me.

"Did you need something?" She asks lazily.

"She's awake," I say slightly out of breath.

She sits up. "She's awake?"

"Yes. Dad wants you down there."

She springs from the bed with a loose pair of pants on, and runs down the hall to the infirmary. Father was definitely going to have a talk with her about wearing pants.

I go down another door to Ben's room. Yet again, I enter without knocking. Ben has been getting along fine. He occasionally walks with a limp due to a broken bone in his leg. Ben jumps at my sudden entrance.

"She's awake," I say.

"Who Marissa?" Ben asks. He never knew Marissa. He only assumed that Marissa is the one that we talk about a lot.

"Yes. She's awake. Father wants you down there."

He sets down whatever he was doing, and follows me downstairs. When we get down there everyone is there. Marissa's family, along with mine. A doctor came out of Marissa's room, and I stepped forward.

"She is indeed awake," he said. The room erupted into cheers, cries, and hugs. "But," the room got silent again, "it will be a very long recovery. We don't know how much we will have to train her to remember. Sometimes when patients are out for a long time like this they forget certain things that used to be muscle memory. Things such as walking, writing, talking, eating. We already know that she remembers the Selection, Kriss, and everything else. We also know that she can talk just fine. But those simple things we will need to work at until she can depend on herself again. She will have to stay down here for quite awhile until she can move around easier."

"May we see her?" America asked.

"Yes. But please not everyone all together. America I believe you and your family should go first."

So America and her family walks in.