Atlas (A Selection/Hat Films Fanfiction)

~ Thirty One ~

It didn't take long for Alex to come find me again. It had only been a day since we had kissed in the princess's suite when he came rushing up the front foyer steps towards the hallway of Selected bedrooms.

I had recently been making a habit of going to breakfast early so I could read before everyone else arrived, so I was surprised to see him up. Today, I had brought a book on psychology with me; it was painfully dry, but I felt like I needed to understand how people thought if I was to predict what the rebellions, rioters, and police force would do next. I was hoping it would give me the excuse to find him and present to him new ideas, but apparently he was the one coming, to me.

Alex, looking down at his feet as he took the stairs two at a time, jumped when he noticed a person at the top of the stairs, but then heaved a sigh of relief when he realized it was me. He looked out of sorts; his dress shirt hastily shoved into his waistband, and he hadn't even bothered to try and match the color with his pants. His hair looked how it did when he had been running his hands through it.

"Atlas!" he exclaimed, nearly tripping up the stairs, "I'm so glad it's you."

I looked down to grab my skirts, hiding my blush, and stepped down to meet him on the stairs. From where I stood, we were eye level. "What are you-" I started.

He didn't wait for me to finish. "We found your brother," he panted, putting his hand on my bare shoulder.

The book slide out of my hands with a rustle of papers and a heavy thud. I felt my knees go weak as a month's worth of stress flooding out of me. Immediately my eyes welled with tears and I threw my hands over my mouth to keep myself from sobbing, relief hitting me like a wave. "What-" I started, pulling my hands away from my mouth just enough to ask a question.

"He's fine," he assured me before I could even ask a question, "It's really him, and he's okay. I talked to him myself." He let his hand slide off my shoulder, the heat from his hand lingering to leave the rest of my skin cold.

I could barely see through my tears as I looked at the blurry prince, but I held back from throwing my arms around him. "How?" I squeaked out, my voice breaking.

He paused, looking up with furrowed eyebrows. "It's not. . . very clear," he explained, rubbing the back of his neck, "He wasn't found by any of my men. He was just dropped off at a service entrance early this morning right before deliveries started. No one saw who had dropped him off, but a guard noticed him during a patrol, and they recognized him from all the internal military reports we've been sending back and forth with the city police."

I realized I didn't care about all these ramblings, and quickly spoke up when Alex took a breath. "Where is he?" I asked, my heart aching at just the thought of seeing his face again. I was a second from kicking my heels off and running to him.

"He's safe. I assume he had been found by the northern rebels, but when I talked to him he didn't recognize the people and didn't mention any emblems," he prattled on, "Aristotle doesn't know what happened to Sjin, but he said it was a long train ride to get here so they were probably far away from the capital."

"Where can I find him?" I demanded, my face falling as I straightened my shoulders. Worry gripping my heart; Alex had ignored my question, and his eyes were flitting around the foyer, struggling to meet mine.

"He told me to tell you that he loves you and misses you, and that he watched you on TV and he thinks you're very strong and brave," Alex continued, evading my question again, "and he was adamant that I tell you he wasn't scared the entire time he was gone and couldn't wait to see you again."

I lost my patience, balling the prince's shirt in my hands and pulling him closer so that he couldn't turn his head away. "Alex. Where is he?" I growled, punctuating every word even as my voice shook with fear.