The One: Maxon

Chapter 37

Once all my father's advisors and officials entered the room, it quieted down.

"You wish to speak with us, sir?" one of them said.

"Yes." I took a deep breath and sat up as much as I could. "I am going to dissolve the castes." There was a beat of silence before the room erupted into chatter, mostly protest and confusion. I held my hand up and it immediately went silent. I never knew the king held so much power.

"It is not up for debate. I know it will take a lot of time and effort and I wish your assistance to complete such a daring task, but it must be done. In my father's absence," I choked a little, "In his absence I have made this executive decision." There were glances being exchanged all around the room but no one dared oppose.

An hour later there were dozens of people moving in and out of my room. I had a million papers on my lap and desk. Things were already being discussed to move forward with this plan. I knew I needed to rest but I couldn't stop moving or I would have to sit alone with my thoughts.

"Your Majesty," a voice said. I looked up and there she was, my America in a deep bow. I breathed. She stood and stayed in place as if waiting for instruction or permission to move.

"Set the papers here, Stavros," I said to my advisor. "Would everyone please leave the room? I need to speak with the Lady." People began to filter out, bowing before their depart. Once we were alone, I really looked at her. Her arms were wrapped in bandages and there were a few exposed cuts with ointments on them. But she was okay. She looked as if she wanted to say something but wasn't sure how.

"I'm sorry about your parents," she said finally. I nodded.

"It still doesn't feel real. I keep thinking that Father is in his study, and Mom's downstairs, and any minute one of them will come in here with something for me to do." I patted the bed for her to some sit.

"I know exactly what you mean," she said. I gave her a sad smile.

"I know you do."

"She tried to save him you know. A guard told me a rebel had my father in his sights, but she ran behind him. She went down first, but they got Father immediately after." I shook my head slowly. "She was always selfless. To her very last breath."

"You shouldn't be so surprised. You're a lot like her," she said.

I frowned. "I'll never be quite as good as her. I'm going to miss her so much."

She took my hand and kissed it.

"But at least you're safe," I said, not looking directly into her eyes. "At least there's that." She smiled and looked down, both of us unsure of what to say.

"There's something I want to show you," I said suddenly. "Mind you, it's a bit rough, but I think you'll still like it. Open the drawer here," I instructed. "It should be on the top."

She pulled out the drawer in my bedside table, noticing a pile of typed papers right away. She gave me a questioning look, but I just nodded toward the writing. "Read it."

She started reading the document, trying to process what it said. She seemed to get to the end of the first paragraph and then reread it.

"Are you . . . you're going to dissolve the castes?" she asked, looking up at me.
"That's the plan," I answered, smiling. "Uh, don't to get too excited. This will take a long time to complete, but I think it will work. You see," I said, turning the pages of the vast file and pointing to a paragraph. "I want to start from the bottom. I'm planning on eliminating the Eight label first. There's a lot of construction we need to do; and I feel like, with a little bit of work, the Eights could be absorbed into the Sevens. After that, it gets tricky. There's got to be a way to get rid of the stigmas that come along with the numbers, but that's my goal."

She looked at me with awe and pure adoration. She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

"I want you to know that this is all your doing. Since the day you called me into the hallway and told me about being hungry, I've been working on this. It was one of the reasons I got so upset after you did your presentation; I had a quieter way of reaching the exact same goal. But of all the things I wanted to do for my country, this would have never crossed my mind if I hadn't known you." There were tears in her eyes when she looked at me. One by one they streamed down her face as she smiled.

I cleared my throat. "There's, um, something else, too." I placed a ring box on top of the paper. She stared at it without making a sound. "I've been sleeping with this damn thing under my pillow," I said with a chuckle in my tone. "Do you like it?" She examined it, stunned to her core. She opened her mouth several times, unable to get any words out.

"Twice now I've tried to do this on a grand scale and failed spectacularly. As it is, I can't even get on one knee. I hope you won't mind if I just speak to you plainly," I began. I felt slightly embarrassed to be unable to kneel before her. She nodded, tears regathering in her eyes.

"I love you," I said. "I should have told you a long time ago. Maybe we could have avoided so many stupid mistakes if I had. Then again, sometimes I think it was all those obstacles that made me love you so deeply. What I said was true. My heart is yours to break. As you already know, I'd rather die than see you in pain. In the moment I was hit, when I fell to the floor sure my life was ending, all I could think about was you." My voiced cracked as my own tears threatened to overwhelm me. I swallowed the lump in my throat and continued.

"In those seconds, I was mourning everything I'd lost. How I'd never get to see you walk down an aisle toward me, how I'd never get to see your face in our children, how I'd never get to see streaks of silver in your hair. But, at the same time, I couldn't be bothered. If me dying meant you living, how could that be anything but good?" I said with a half-shrug.

She started to cry, but for once I wasn't lost. I knew these were tears of joy and I knew that we were each other's comfort. Her presence was enough to calm me, and I her.

"America," I said softly. She wiped her face not worrying about the makeup on it. "I know you see a king here, but let me be clear; this isn't a command. This is a request, a plea. I beg you; make me the happiest man alive. Please do me the honor of becoming my wife."

She still seemed too stunned to speak, so instead she crawled into my arms, as free as I could make them, and embraced me. We gazed into each other's eyes, smiling. It was quiet but so loud at the same time. It was if I could hear her thoughts chanting the same song my heart had been singing since I met her. When her lips touched mine, it felt like the first time. It felt like I was learning her again but in a new light.

She was everything. Everything.
And finally, she whispered the word that placed the first step in our life together.

"Yes."

—————-
I hope you've all been enjoying the story, but don't worry it's not over completely. There's going to be one more chapter (the epilogue) for this book.

As I said in an announcement, I'm writing a short, a novella if you will about Maxon and America's honeymoon. Since there's no book guideline for me, it'll be new and more of my own voice.

The characters aren't going to change, but it will be a bit spicier cause they have to produce an heir at some point, right ;)