The King's eyes scowl directly at me. Dinner is quiet, far too quiet for the norm. I don't do anything about it though, because of the King's words that are engraved in my head: "You're going to need to learn to hold your tongue. If not you and I will be enemies. Trust me when I say that you do not what to be my enemy."

My plate, which I typically find room to eat all of, remains untouched. It's been a few days since the attack. It's also been a few days too many of my growing fear of the King. But, lastly, it's been a few days of planning - and not for the country, but for myself.

I shift my vision from my empty plate up to Maxon, who stares straight at me. He reaches for his ear, tugs it, and sends a slight smile in my direction. We haven't been together alone since I've been back in the castle, and I don't know how ready I am for it, anyways. I slightly shake my head, refusing his offer, and my vision trails back down to my untouched food.

I easily could've said yes, but I'm not ready. If I go, I could've messed something up, and I'd rather not risk my time here at the palace, or worse, with Maxon. The plans that my Anne, Lucy, Mary, and I compiled up so far are fragile - they could shatter by one wrong misstep.

When the royal family excuses us from dinner, I hurry up to my room to avoid any of the other girls. I almost trip rushing up the steps, but I find my balance, continuing on my journey to my bedroom.

I fling the door open, startling the maids who are holding a sheet of paper. Anne smiles at my presence, or maybe my ungracefulness. Maybe both. "Lady America, we have your final plan, and I believe you'll love it."

I return the smile and plop myself on the bed, next to Lucy. Anne continue to speak. "We already know you hold a special place in Maxon's heart, and everything you do will affect him in some sort of way. You mentioned that he wanted to earn trust in you, correct?" All three maids wait for an answer. I nod my head in response. "Perfect. Well, we scratched our previous plans for these."

My eyes scanned the sheet - there was only one line of writing that read: Change nothing.

"Change nothing? But do you know how hard it will be for him to love me after everything that happened? I can't just change nothing, it won't work." I worry, furrowing my eyebrows together.

Anne sighs, but Lucy pipes up. "You did it once before, why can't it happen again? There must be something special about you that he is holding onto."

Lucy has a point, but I am already off to a bad start. If I am just me, I would have accepted Maxon's offer to see each other, but I didn't. I would've chatted amongst the girls for a little, or even at dinner I might've said something.

"Well, maybe we have this all wrong. Maybe it should be to find who you were before you came to the castle or before you met Maxon." Mary states further. The maids all nod their heads in agreement, and I join in, agreeing with them.

Maybe that is all I did need to do - just discover myself again. I'm not some apparent targeted rebel or some Lady in a castle, I was America Singer, a Five.

The maids leave me to my lonesome and I take all of this in. Discover myself. Discover myself as America Singer. Well, I have an idea where to start. Ambling to the dresser, I open the drawer and pulled out my violin, which I haven't played in ages.

My fingers move in such grace that the rest of me does not have. I begin playing May's favorite song - a peppy and difficult piece that took me a few days to master. Whenever I played it back home, May always listened with a beaming grin on her face.

Three knocks sound at the door and I stop my violin. I know it wasn't my maids, so that left my mind with thinking of two people: Aspen or Maxon. With my violin in my hand, I scurry to the door, heart pounding quickly, and tug it open to see Maxon standing there.

His lips purse together and he runs one of his hands through his blonde hair, avoiding eye contact at first. "I heard music when I was on a stroll and I figured it could only be one person." At this point in time, his eyes meet mine, and we both send each other a little grin. "Mind if I come in?"

"Not at all," I reply, almost sounding stiff and unlike me.

Maxon walked in and sat on the edge of my bed, staring at me. "When I heard the music, a smile was brought to my lips because I haven't heard you play anything in so long. It sounded like..." Maxon trails off, attempting to find the right thing to say, "music to my ears. Literally."

A small laugh escaped through the thin crevice of my lips. "Well, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I haven't played in a while. I just needed a little taste of home. It's hard to find that here when I'm enveloped in such luxury, you know?"

"Actually, I don't, but I understand where your coming from. It's nice to be reminded of what used to be." Maxon whispers, his voice so quiet that I can barely hear it. He silences himself after speaking, and I feel his eyes stare at me. My cheeks burn red.

I traipse to the drawer and put my violin away, then find room next to Maxon to sit. "Let me guess, you're not here because of the music, right?"

"That could be part of the reason," Maxon answers, staring straight ahead. "I'm just confused as to why you denied my ear tug. You never do. It shocked me in that moment of time. But then I realized that you never fail to surprise me."

I never fail to surprise him. That's true. He continues to speak. "Ever since I've met you, you've always been so unpredictable. It's quite, quite lovely. Yet on the other hand, it's very irritable because I never know what you'll do next." Maxon chuckles a bit, turning his head toward me. Our eyes meet and my fingers begin to tingle - I want to wrap my arms around his neck and bury my fingers through his hair, getting lost and never finding a way out.

Would America Singer would do something like that? Or is it just something Lady America does?

"You're quiet. What's on your mind?" Maxon reaches for my hand, plays with my fingers, and eventually laces our hands together. I melt, just a little.

I sigh. "I'm losing my sense of who I used to be and I feel that if I find it, I'll -"

"Your Highness? Where are you?" A voice rings through the hallways, stopping me from speaking. Eventually, a guard stops in the door. He's one I haven't recognized - tall, dark-skinned, but handsome. "Sorry to interrupt, your Highness, but you are wanted by the King immediately."

"We'll continue another time, I promise," Maxon squeezes my hand ever so slightly, and sprints out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

Once again, I am alone, but instead of playing more music, I decide that wallowing in my past and in my loneliness will only do harm to myself. I force myself out of my room and stroll down the hallways, admiring the beautiful paintings. After going down the stairs, I see the doors to exit to the garden and decide to exit. The guards don't deny me access, they just let me pass, which surprises me because of the amount of damage the last attack did.

But as my feet touch the plush grass and I'm blinded by the sun, I finally feel like I'm America Singer. To heighten the feeling, I slip off my shoes and carry them in my left hand, watching my pedicured feet sink even deeper into the grass.

After a few minutes outside, I walk back in and decide to go the Women's Room where Elise, Celeste, and Kriss all sat in front of the television. Of course, Elise and Kriss keep their distance from Celeste. When I walk in, all of their eyes trail up to me. None of them say anything, which almost worries me.

I amble to view the television better, where the Report is playing. On it features a picture of me - a still shot of when I announced that I should eliminate the caste system. Then it flips to a video of a bunch of people gathered together, chanting something I couldn't make out. The shot zooms into a sign, and my mouth drops.

The chanting becomes clearer as I read the sign.

"America The Brave" reads the signs and chants the crowd. A picture of me - another sign - is held by a few other people, still chanting.

Through the cries, I hear a voice that yells, "America, lead us to freedom!"

My eyes fill with tears, creating a blurry image in front of me. I hear a gunshot through the television, and a yelp escapes through my lips as I stand and run out of the room, up the stairs, and into my room. Tears continue to escape, and I just scream, pounding my fists on the wall.

America The Brave? Why are they looking up to me?