NOVEMBER 1, 2010. FOUR MONTHS BEFORE THE INVASION.

If Summer put her hands on Lilly's belly, the Watcher still wouldn't be close enough to Anne.

Summer Locket's mentee hadn't been born yet. The woman had met Nick and Hailey, but she had never met Anne, the unborn Majestic.

Theo Majestic had decided Summer should see Nova today. When she was a baby, Theo and Lilly had given her up for adoption. She had never met Hailey. Theo and Lilly believed the two sisters would meet in the future, and Summer hoped that would happen.

Pristine Claude was Nick's Watcher. He had been born before Hailey and Nova, and Summer didn't doubt he would try keeping his two sisters safe. When his third sister was born, he would keep her safe. Summer would do the same.

The woman's long brown hair touched her shirt. She had blue eyes, and she would see Anne one day.

Summer didn't live at the Soynite royal palace, but she knew people who did. Hailey Majestic lived in the home. The one-year-old would turn two on the twenty-fifth of December.

It was the first of November, and Summer had turned twenty-one today.

The afternoon sun casted warm light against the Soynite royal palace, a home harboring most of Theo Majestic's children, his pregnant wife, and other people.

Sunlight entered the blue hall through its windows. Summer didn't sit on the sofa behind her, but she did stand near Boris and Holly. He had always been an Endman. Holly hadn't.

"She won't be gone forever," Boris said. He put a wrinkled hand on Holly's shoulder. "Alice is going to be found."

"I know," Holly said. "I just miss her so much."

The lost Endman would reunite with her family. She had been missing for too long, but lost people could be found.

"I miss her, too," Boris said.

Holly embraced him, and he hugged her back. They separated. Even if Alice was still alive, she couldn't speak to her mother or royal grandfather. The person who had abducted her was the reason for that.

Who had taken the young Endman?

Holly had a child, and Theo had children. He and Lilly kept Nick and Hailey hidden from the Soynite public. Nova was a Majestic, but the public didn't know she had come from Lilly.

Theo planned on telling Nova the truth one day.

His friend Boris had no facial hair. Unlike the other Highs, he had wrinkled skin and white hair. He and his co-rulers had gained the power of immortality when they were teenagers. Boris had shut off his immortality for many years, but he had been convinced to turn it back on.

Like his fellow Highs, Boris had gained the power of immortality as a teenager. Like his co-rulers, he had shut off his immortality. They had done that so they could visibly age into men. They kept their immortality on. People like Summer and Lilly would die of old age, but the Highs wouldn't, as long as they had their immortality.

Holly looked at her hands.

"I don't know how many times I've held Alice," she said. "But I feel like I haven't held her enough. I should've kept her existence a secret from the public. Like Theo and Lilly did with their children. If I had done that, Alice wouldn't have gotten kidnapped."

Holly ran her fingers through her hair. Like her husband, she had brown hair and brown eyes. And she couldn't caress Alice's hair.

"She was only with me and Archer for a month," Holly said. "I don't want to ask the Soy Maker about her. Neither does Archer. If we do that, we'll be tempted to ask if Alice is still alive. And if I find out that she's dead, it will..."

Holly's breath trembled. Boris put his hands on her shoulders.

"If I find out that my baby is dead, it will ruin me," she said. "One day I will question the Soy Maker, but I'm not going to do it anytime soon. I just want Alice to come back home. Who took her? Who kidnapped my daughter? We need her. I need her."

Was Alice a living girl, or a lifeless one?

"I need her, too," Boris said. "Alice will come back into our lives, and she will help both of us. And we'll help her. We only spent one month with her before she was taken from us, but we will see her again. I know that. And you know it, too, Holly."

"I do," Holly said. "One day I'll hold my daughter again. I don't know how old she will be when it happens, though. But I'll hold her. She isn't a baby anymore, but she's still mine. She should be with me, and she deserves to be with me. She shouldn't be with the person who took her from her family."

Summer ran a finger along the sofa's armrest. She stood in a hall within the royal palace, and Alice didn't. The girl had visited the home before. And when Summer visited the place for the first time, Alice had already been abducted. The Watcher had never met her.

Summer had met Theo, and she would meet his unborn baby. He wasn't the only person who might smile after meeting Anne.

"My granddaughter was just a baby when she was taken from you," Boris said. "I can't even guarantee that she knows you're her mother."

Holly bowed her head.

"And she might not know that this High is her grandfather," Boris said, putting a hand on his chest. "Regardless, if Alice doesn't know that we're her family, she will discover the truth. She is an Endman. And she will be with the rest of the Endman family again. I don't believe she's dead, but she is lost. But what is lost can be found."

Someone had taken Holly and Archer's baby, but she would see her parents again. Boris's son would be with his daughter, and so would the High.

"Alice is going to be found," Boris said. "We can't see her right now, but we will. She's alive. And as long as she's alive, there's a chance that we'll reunite with her. We will see her again."

Alice's abduction had happened. She hadn't reunited with her parents and her royal grandfather yet, but she would. Summer believed that, like she believed Lilly would give birth to Anne.

"When you see Alice again, she will be able to speak to you," Boris said. "Your daughter will be able to talk to you."

"And I would love to talk to her," Holly said. "But I want to hug her, too. That's what I want right now. I want to embrace my girl. She will always be my baby, and I want her to know that. When I see her again, I hope she'll be wearing her pendant. It might be with her right now. It's definitely not at my home."

Most of Theo's children lived inside the royal palace. Nova resided beyond this home's blue walls, and the people who raised her didn't call her Nova.

"I can't hold Alice's pendant," Holly said. She crossed her arms. "And I can't hold Alice. But I want her to wear her pendant, because every Soynite deserves to wear one. Alice is a wonderful Soynite, and so are all the others. My daughter is alive. I know she is. I just wish that she was with me, not with whoever took her."

Where was Alice? That question must have haunted Holly for years. Summer might never become a mother, but she couldn't deny Holly was one. She had given birth to Alice, yet she couldn't take care of the girl.

Someone had abducted Alice. But Holly and Boris believed they would see her again. If they lost hope, that would be terrible, like if Lilly shot Summer in the head.

"I want Alice to come back to you, too," Boris said. He pointed at a wall, and beyond it were other buildings, ones that had people within it. "A lot of people out there do. No matter how much time has passed since Alice's abduction, she will return to you. She will go back to my son and his pleasant wife, and nobody will ever kidnap her again."

"It's my job to take care of her, and I can't even do that," Holly said. "I don't know where Alice is, but I do know that she deserves to be with me. She didn't deserve to get taken away like that. And if I don't find her, she will find me. I know that. Me and her have to be together. I'm sure she doesn't know that I'm her mother, but I love her anyway. I always will."

Boris sighed. "So will I. Alice needs to be with you again, and you want that to happen. It's what I want, too. I'll be alive when you reunite with her. I refuse to die without ever seeing my granddaughter again."

"Both of you are going to reunite with Alice," Summer said. "She won't be gone forever. She will be back."

A Majestic moved into the hall, and she was much shorter than the adults in it. Holly picked up Hailey. The woman couldn't hold her daughter, but she could hold Theo's. Boris left the hall. He could speak to Hailey later. It wasn't like the world would end a couple months from now.

"Summer, are you ready to see this little one's sister?" Holly said, carrying Hailey.

Theo and Hailey were Pures. He had gained all the Saves, but she hadn't. Hailey didn't have any Saves, and her housemate Don had no child. His unborn baby come yet, but he and his wife had picked a name for her. Kara.

"I am," Summer said.

"You are going to do great things, Hailey," Holly said. Hailey smiled. "And you will meet Alice one day."

Time passed.

Holding hands, Summer and Theo stood not far from a home. He had turned them invisible. Sunlight bathed them in warmth as green grass danced in the wind. The house had one story, white walls, and a blue door. The roof was the same color as the door. Summer had left a larger house, one with Highs and Majestics.

Holding a flower, a girl remained near the sidewalk Summer and Theo stood on. The child's shirt, pants, and shoes were blue. She was older than Hailey and younger than Nick.

Nova Majestic.

She had met her older brother, Nick, but maybe she didn't remember him. When she saw him for the first time, she had been a baby.

A Watcher stood in front of the house, unable to see the girl's father or the woman beside him.

Nova stroked the flower's white petal with sweet gentleness, as if it might caress her blonde hair as a reward. She dropped the flower before running toward her Watcher. Her mentor lifted her off the ground when she was close enough, and kissed her cheek. Summer smiled.

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"Having fun?" the Watcher said, carrying Nova.

"Yes," she said.

Nova grinned. Her Watcher went to the yard behind the house, holding the kid. They hadn't seen Summer or Theo, a man who had wanted to raise the girl. She didn't share a home with him, the place where her mother and siblings lived.

After returning to the royal palace, Summer found Lilly, Nick, and Pristine inside the hall where she had spoken with Holly.

Pristine stood next to Nick. She had blonde hair and blue eyes, like the Majestics Summer loved.

Lilly placed a hand on her swollen belly. Summer couldn't touch the baby living in the woman, but she would. Anne wouldn't be inside Lilly forever.

"I saw Nova," Summer said. "She was happy. Me and Theo didn't speak to her, though. We just watched her."

Theo and Lilly hadn't touched Nova in years. They could see her, and so could Nick and Hailey. But Nova couldn't get a kiss on the cheek from either of her birth parents. She couldn't hug her brother or sister.

"You are going to speak to her in the future," Lilly said. "And she will learn the truth about her birth parents. The love of my life will tell her."

Maybe Theo would tell Nova the truth. Or a different person might do it. Either way, Summer couldn't confirm Nova would learn Lilly had conceived her.

"I love Nova," Nick said.

"So do I, baby," Lilly said. She caressed the boy's blond hair. "And I love you."

Nick smiled. "I love you too."

"And you will love Anne, Nick," Summer said. "She will be here. She's inside your mother right now, but it won't be that way forever."

Lilly would give birth to Anne, and the baby girl would meet her mother and Watcher.

"My daughter is going to be wonderful," Lilly said. She touched her belly through her blue dress. "I'm going to have my fourth child, and she will be great. Just like Nick, Nova, and Hailey."

Summer nodded. "And one day you might even have a fifth child."

"My fifth child will be lovely." Lilly said. "If I end up getting a fifth one."

The woman had three children, and her fourth one hadn't come yet.

Lilly sat on the sofa. "I'm glad you've seen my second one, Summer. One day Nova will know the truth, and she will talk to me."

"Your children have a good mother," Summer said.

"And one of them isn't here. I never should have sent her away."

"Theo will tell her the truth," Pristine said. "Nova will know who her birth parents are, and she will love both of them."

"I appreciate your kind words, Pristine," Lilly said. "And you're right. But I can't stop thinking about how badly I want to be with Nova. I can't give her a kiss on the forehead. I can't hug her. I can't even speak to her. I can see her, but she can't see me. She doesn't even know I watch her sometimes."

Not long ago, Summer had seen Nova for the first time. They hadn't spoken to each other, but the Watcher had seen the girl. She had looked at her while holding hands with her father.

Nova's veins carried Majestic blood. She was more like Supreme High Theo than she knew.

"She has two mothers, and I'm one of them," Lilly said. "Nova is important to me. I'm not one of the people raising her, but I do love her. She's mine. No matter what her last name is, she's still my daughter. My first one. That will always be the truth."

"You're right," Summer said. "You have Nova and Hailey. You have two daughters, and you're going to have another one."

"Hailey won't be my youngest child anymore. She is going to be an older sibling, like Nick and Nova. Hailey will live with her sister. And that's because Anne is going to stay here. She will live with her parents and the Highs, and Nick and Hailey will keep her company. I just wish Nova was here, too."

Lilly and Nova lived in different homes than each other. The woman resided at the place where her husband and his co-rulers lived, and the girl lived with her adoptive parents. Nova's Watcher had stood outside her home, but the mentor didn't live with her. Nova's Watcher could speak with her. Her birth parents couldn't.

Lilly rubbed a hand against the sofa she sat on. "She's going to be here again. She's going to be inside the royal palace. Nova was born in this home, and her father delivered her himself. When the time comes, he will deliver Anne."

Theo had delivered Nick, Nova, and Hailey. The first man who had touched them was their father, and one of those children couldn't be with him.

Lilly looked at the blue carpet.

"Before Hailey was born, there had never been a pair of Majestic sisters," she said. "But they never lived together, and they still can't. I want to believe that they will. Nova and Hailey can't be together, and Nova has never seen her. But Hailey will live with her sister Anne. I'll make sure of it."

Lilly rubbed her Soynite pendant. Theo owned King Hase's, and that pendant had touched the Highs' foreheads. It had touched the banished Reed Pisces.

"Anne will have a pendant," Lilly said. "I just wish that she could be with her sister Nova, too."

Theo stepped into the hall, and he approached Lilly as she frowned. He put a hand on her shoulder. The man had all the Saves, and he had the power to comfort his wife.

"I'm thinking about our girl, Theo," Lilly said. "I'm thinking about Nova."

"Come with me, please," Theo said. He held Lilly's hand, and she stood. "You should rest, my darling."

"No one else is going to have this one," Lilly said, putting a hand on her belly.

She and Theo left the hall.

"You're a true example of what a Soynite should be, Summer," Pristine said. "You called Lilly a good mother. What you said is going to help her."

Summer nodded. "I told the truth."

A museum owner named Land Preachman had convinced Lilly the Freemans would attack Soy. Summer and the other Watchers had been taught how to fight and kill at the Watcher academies they had graduated from, because Soynite society needed them to be warriors who could defeat Freemans with ease.

Summer had been taught how to kill. So had Pristine.

A Watcher had kissed Nova's cheek. Giving her up for adoption had been Lilly's idea. The Freemans might invade Soy, and they might attack the Soynite royal palace. Lilly didn't want Nova to get killed by Freemans inside the home. That was the reason why she had decided to make a different couple raise the girl, her first daughter.

Nick left the hall.

"There's Nick, Nova, and Hailey," Pristine said. "And Anne will be here. I wonder how many children Lilly will have by the end of her life."

"I'm going to mentor her fourth kid," Summer said. "But I won't be surprised if she gets a fifth one."

"You saw her second child," Pristine said. "You saw Nova. Theo and Lilly love her, and she is going to love them. She will love her siblings, too. That has to happen, because siblings need each other."

"Siblings should be together," Summer said. "Nick and Hailey will be with Nova. And after Lilly gives birth to Anne, she will be with her siblings, too. Eventually. Her birth can't come soon enough. I'm ready to be a great Watcher to her. I've seen the Majestic who was adopted, and I'm ready to mentor the one who hasn't been born yet."

"I know you are. And Nick and Hailey are ready to meet her. Theo and Lilly are going to give both of them a younger sister, and they will love her. Those children love Nova and they don't even live with her. But Lilly is going to keep Anne. She will live here."

Lilly wouldn't make a different woman raise her fourth child. She would nurture Anne, and they would share a home.

"She deserves to live here," Summer said. "When Lilly gives birth to her, that baby will live under the same roof as two of her siblings. I'll hold Anne one day. I'll be a great mentor to her, and I'll love her."

Theo had decided Summer should become Anne's Watcher, and he had gotten his wish. She stood in a home that would become Anne's.

Nova hadn't spent a month living at the royal palace. Neither had she spent a year residing at the home. For a brief time, she had lived where her parents lived. But Lilly had wanted Nova to be away from the palace, the Highs' home. If the Freemans attacked Soy, the building would be a high-priority target.

If Freemans assaulted the royal palace, Summer would fight to defend its residents. She had been taught how to kill. It was every Watcher's duty to protect Soy and its people.

Freemans with laser rifles and swords had never infiltrated the palace, but they might.

"Every Soynite deserves a great Watcher," Summer said. "Just like every Soynite deserves a pendant. Anne will have one, and she will have me. I'll do my best to help her. And if the Freemans attack Soy, I'll do my best to keep the girl safe. I don't know if the Freemans will invade our planet, but I'll be ready to kill them if they do. I've been trained to do that. We both have."

"Yes, we have," Pristine said. "If Freemans attack Soy, we'll have to stop believing that all life is precious. So will the rest of the Soynites. If the Freemans come to kill us, we will have to kill them. We'll have to do it without remorse. We won't be able to afford to feel guilty."

Summer put a hand on the sofa. "The Freemans might come here. They might come here to kill me, you, and the rest of our people. But they're not here right now. That's what matters. Lilly thinks that the Freemans will attack Soy. Even if they do, they're not attacking this planet at the moment. We're alive. And there are no enemies to fight or kill. We're safe."

Anne remained safe in Lilly's womb. She would birth her fourth child, and it would become Summer's responsibility to help protect the girl.

"I wonder how long we'll be safe for," Pristine said. "And I wonder when Theo will tell Nova the truth. Nick knows she's his sister. He knows how she's connected to Theo and Lilly. Hailey knows it, too. And Anne will find out the truth. But Nova doesn't know who her birth parents are."

Nova knew who Theo and Lilly were, but she didn't know they were her birth parents. Yet she had blonde hair and blue eyes, like them. Summer had seen Nova wearing the pendant Theo and Lilly had gotten for her.

Theo Majestic.

He hadn't informed the Soynite public he had fathered children, and he hadn't told Nova the truth. She didn't know she was the sister of two Majestics. When Lilly gave birth to Anne, Nova would have three siblings.

Like Summer, Theo had no brothers or sisters. But he had a crown, a throne, and a planet under his rule. No Soynite had as much authority as Theo. Not even his fellow Highs, men who had kneeled for him. Theo led them. He led all the Soynites.

"She's safe, though," Pristine said. She leaned against a blue wall. "Nothing terrible has happened to Nova, and her siblings are fine, too. But I do wish they were together. All of them, I mean. There's Nick and Hailey, but Nova doesn't live here."

The Highs lived at the royal palace. So did Lilly, Nick, and Hailey. Anne might become the next person who would live inside the home.

"Anne will live here," Summer said. She glanced around the hall. "And she will enjoy living here. This place will make her happy. And if the Freemans do attack this wonderful home, I'll defend it. I'll defend this palace and I'll defend Anne. Every Soynite deserves to have a wise Watcher who can protect them. I will be that to Anne."

Summer had seen Nova's Watcher, someone who had shown her affection. Summer would meet Anne, and she would be a great mentor to the girl. That needed to happen.

"I saw her sister Nova today," Summer said. "I'm going to see Anne, too, and I'll be able to speak to her. I'll mentor her. I'll be like a second mother to her. And I'll love her."

"All the Majestic children need love," Pristine said. "Just like everyone else. I know that you're going to love Anne, Summer. You're going to hold her. You're going to talk to her, and you're going to keep her safe. I know you will."

A man entered the hall. He stood tall, and blue clothes covered his thin body. Brown-haired and brown-eyed, Don walked until he stood a few feet from Summer.

"Hello, you two," the High said.

A long time ago, Theo had exiled Reed Pisces from Soy, and Theo had wanted Don to become the former High's replacement. He had turned his brown-haired friend into a Soynite ruler. Don led his people well, and the other Highs did the same.

"Hello, my High," Summer said.

"Hello, Don," Pristine said.

Don made eye contact with Summer. "Have you seen Nova today? I know that Theo was supposed to take you to see her."

Summer had seen Nova, and she might do it again.

"Yes, I saw her," Summer said.

Don nodded. "Nova is the Majestic who isn't being raised by any Majestics. With Theo and Lilly planning on keeping Anne, it seems like Nova will be the only Majestic who won't be raised by her birth parents. Regardless, Lilly chose to give Nova up for adoption because she wanted to protect her. And she still wants to. Sometimes you have to make difficult choices to keep others safe."

"That's true."

Don and the other Highs had met Nova. Reed hadn't met her. Theo had robbed him of his High status, and he had forced him to leave Soy. Don had won authority over almost all the Soynites. If Reed hadn't done what he had done, Theo wouldn't have turned Don into a ruler.

"I'm fond of Lilly's friend Land," Don said. "He named a museum after me, after all. But do I believe what he believes? Do I believe that the Freemans will attack Soy? No. They haven't been on this planet in so long. The Freemans hate us, but they won't destroy us."

"What if they try to?" Summer said. "What if they come here and destroy this planet?"

"If they do that, they will also try to slaughter our people. And if the Freemans do attack Soy, Theo will make a new group of Highs. Reed Pisces stopped being one, then Theo did something wonderful. He made me into what he was. He made me into what he still is. If the Freemans attack, he will take away my status as a ruler. Like what he did with Reed."

If Theo made a new group of Highs, the current ones would lose their royal power. Reed had lost his. Theo had taken his right to live on Soy, and Reed hadn't come back.

"If the Freemans attack Soy, me and Camille want Kara to become a High," Don said. "I don't think the Freemans will attack this wonderful planet of ours, but I don't know everything. But I do know I won't be angry if my daughter succeeds me as a High. I am a ruler, but that doesn't mean I have to be one forever. There might be non-leaders who might become better leaders than I am."

Kara Ascend, Don's daughter to-be. If she would become a High, Summer didn't know it. The Watcher couldn't see the future. And if she could, it wasn't a guarantee she would see Kara as a Soynite ruler. The girl hadn't been born yet. And the Freemans had never launched a global assault on Soy.

"I don't want you to stop being one of my leaders," Pristine said. "When I was born, you were a High. When my parents were born, you were a High. You were a High when my grandparents were born, too."

"I've been alive for a long time," Don said. "An extremely long time. My wife will have my first child next year, and I will lead Soy for many more years. But if the Freemans attack, and if Theo makes new Highs, I hope they will lead our people well. I hope they won't suffer too much. And I hope my future daughter will be one of them."

Don held up six fingers.

"Six," he said. "There needs to be six Highs. No more, and no less. Theo has more power than I do, but I'm still a leader. Soy has six of them. Planet Free only has one. The Freemans will never destroy our planet, and they will never destroy our race."

Pristine nodded. "I agree."

"So do I," Summer said. "But if the Freemans do attack this planet, I'll be ready for them. I know that. Soy doesn't deserve to be destroyed."

Summer would fight to defend her planet if the Freemans invaded it.

But she would never kidnap a baby.