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was thorough. The air alone could leave America with a nasty infection, but it was clear that Anne wasn’t going to let that happen.
    America screamed again, and I shushed her. “It’ll be over soon, America,” I said, thinking of the things Maxon had told me before I was caned and the words Carter had spoken as it was happening. “Think of something happy. Think about your family.”
    I could see she was trying, but it clearly wasn’t working. She was in too much pain. So I gave her more brandy and continued to give her sips until Anne was finished.
    When it was all over, I wondered if America would even remember any of this. After Anne wrapped the wound in a bandage, she and I stood back and watched America sing a children’s Christmas song while drawing imaginary pictures on the wall with her finger.
    Anne and I grinned at her sloppy movements. “Does anyone know where the puppies even are ?” America asked. “Why are they so far away?”
    We covered our mouths, laughing so hard we were crying. The danger had passed, America was taken care of, and in her head there was a puppy emergency.
    â€œLet’s maybe keep this to ourselves,” Anne suggested.
    â€œYes, I think so.” I sighed. “What do you think happened to her?”
    Anne tensed up. “I can’t begin to even guess what theywere doing, but I can tell you for sure, that was a gunshot wound.”
    â€œGunshot?” I exclaimed.
    Anne nodded. “A few inches to the left and she could have died.”
    I looked down at America, who was now poking her cheeks with her fingers, seemingly just so she could see how it felt.
    â€œThank goodness she’s all right.”
    â€œEven if she wasn’t my lady, I think I’d still want her to be princess. I don’t know what I’d have done if we lost her.” Anne spoke not simply as a servant but as a subject. I knew exactly what she meant.
    I nodded. “I’m glad she had you tonight. I’ll go get the boys to take her back to her room.” I crouched beside America. “Hey, I’m going now. But you try not to break yourself again, all right?”
    She nodded sluggishly. “Yes, ma’am.”
    She definitely wouldn’t remember this.
    The guard who had come for me was standing at the end of the hall, keeping watch. The other guard was sitting on the floor just outside the room, fidgeting with his hands while Maxon paced.
    â€œWell?” the prince asked.
    â€œShe’s doing better. Anne took care of everything, and America is . . . Well, she had a lot of the brandy, so she’s a little out of it.” The lyrics of her Christmas song trilledthrough my head and I giggled. “You can go in now.”
    The guard on the floor was up in a flash, Maxon right behind him. I wanted to stop them, ask questions, but now probably wasn’t the time.
    I wearily walked back to our room, crashing now that the adrenaline had faded. As I approached, I saw Carter sitting in the hall outside our door.
    â€œOh! You didn’t have to wait up for me,” I said quietly, hoping not to disturb anyone else.
    â€œI put her on our bed,” he said, “so I decided I’d wait out here.”
    â€œPut who on our bed?”
    â€œThe girl from the kitchen. The one who was with the guard.”
    â€œOh, right.” I sat next to him. “What did she want with me?”
    â€œIt sounds like you’re training her. Her name is Paige, and based on the story she just told me, tonight was a really interesting night.”
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    He lowered his voice even further. “She was a prostitute. She said America found her and brought her here. So the prince and America were outside of the palace tonight. Do you have any idea why?”
    I shook my head. “All I know is, I was just helping Anne stitch up America’s gunshot wound.”
    Carter’s shocked expression