I curtsied to the queen as I walked into the dining room, but she didn’t notice.  […] The queen seemed to be in her own world, staring at the floor or occasionally glancing at Maxon’s and the king’s chairs as if something was wrong.

Damnit, so not only does the book limit the queen’s “strength” to putting on a brave face, but she can’t even do that much?  I’m sorry, but being melencholied to distraction isn’t actually any better than breaking down in a case of weepies.  Both ways you slice it, it still ends up with someone unable to function without her husband there.

Elise says that Clarkson and Maxon didn’t ever arrive to see her family in New Asia.  Again, we have no idea how big New Asia is or what’s going on there, so it doesn’t mean much.  Maybe Elise’s family just extended an invitation and the king went “guys, that’s 100 miles out of the way and taking time away from that whole emergency thing.”  I mean, it’s a juicy rumor, but it’s not really enough to get an astute listener worried.  And…indeed, America doesn’t think any more about that.  But she just straight-up doesn’t think about it.  She doesn’t go “eh, that could be anything,” or “well, that’s only half a story.”  Nope, she shrugs and has no thoughts to offer on the subject.

After breakfast, Kriss wants to talk to America so they go walking in the gardens.  Kriss says that she thinks the two of them are about tied in his affections, but she doesn’t want things to get ugly, so she’s offering…to be honest about her relationship with Maxon?  An offer of friendship, or a “hey, let’s agree not to sabotage each other” I could see, but why on earth would you offer to discuss the intimate details of your romance with someone?  (That is, someone you don’t already have that kind of friendship with.)  And then she asks America to do the same thing.  Kriss, honey, if you’re in an over-share-y mood, that’s your own special snowflake, but at least understand that not everyone shares that habit.

America doesn’t bat an eye at this, probably because it means we can info-dump more romance plots this way.  She asks when Kriss and Maxon got so close.  Kriss made him a card to cheer him up, and he mentioned that none of the girls had given him a gift yet.

What?  Oh.  Wow.  After everything he’d done for me, had I really never done anything for him in return?

Congratulations on realizing what a self-centered brat you are, honey.  Don’t worry, it won’t stop people from genuflecting at your feet.  It’s good to be a Sue.

Also, Kriss has been in his room.  But hasn’t kissed him, because she asked him not to, because it’s some sort of tradition in her family that the first kiss is in public at a party.  All fine, I guess, but I’m not sure what the point of all this.  It doesn’t really mean anything, because it’s just random details.  Each person will assign different weight and importance to all these things.  We don’t have a chart that we can place hand-kisses and room visits and see where you are on the romance relationship journey. 

America offers no such details herself, because she points out that just because Kriss is comfortable sharing intimates doesn’t mean she is.  But she still wants to be friends.  Kriss at least has the grace to respect that, she just asks America to warn her if she finds out that Maxon won’t pick her.  Oh, and also not to sabotage each other.  So, basically, what she should have opened with.  Better late than never.  

She loved him.  She said it out loud, fearlessly.  Kriss loved Maxon.

So, that seals it.  Maxon is not going to win this triangle, Kriss will be the next queen.  This book is not brave enough to brake the clichés and do anything else.

On her way back to her room, America finds a random piece of paper on the floor which is a…note?  Memo?  Random-ass paragraph of exposition on an otherwise blank piece of paper?  It mentions another rebel attack with 400 casualties, and that the rebels demanded again for an end to the Selection and the whole royal line.

Well, about time we finally figured out what they want.  But that was easy to guess.  It’s what rebels usually want when there’s a crappy, ineffective monarchy in place.  America acts all shocked – shocked I tell you! – to learn this, which makes me wonder how terrible these rebels are that they haven’t been shouting this demand from the rooftops.  What did they do, just deliver a card to the palace?  “Could you please to be stepping down now?  Thanks.”