Maybe

Chapter 6

~Nathan~

This is just what we needed right now. A Rebel attack. There were a few when I was young, and I don't remember much from them. Just that they happened. Now I was Marissa and my father in a small room hidden somewhere in the palace.

"Where's Mom?" I ask.

"Hopefully safe in another safe room," my father said.

"Alison?"

"I don't know where she is."

My pulse quickened. A list of every bad thing that could happen to her starts to fill my brain. She could die, be injured, or taken. Something told me that these rebels were different from the other rebels that have attacked the palace before.

Just then two knocks came at the door. It was soft, but my father's head shot straight up. He rushed over to the door and opened it. Alison ran right in, and into my arms. She hugged me tightly. I was a whole foot taller than her so I had to bend down a little to look her in the eyes.

"Hey, look at me Alison," I say to her. She moves her face from my chest to look into my eyes. "It's going to be okay. We're safe in here. Okay?" She nods a tear stained face. "Okay. Come here." She hugs me again.

I see Marissa sit on a small stool near the corner of the room. She looked scared too, but not as bad as I thought she was going to be. Alison let's go of me, and moves to dad. I go and sit by Marissa. Her eyes are closed, and her head is leaning against the wall.

"Hey," I say.

She opens her eyes, and I can see terror behind them, but she has a way of masking it. "Hey," she says.

"Are you okay?"

She nods her head. "Yeah I'm fine. I've been through worse. Don't worry about me."

I give a small laugh. "What?" She asks with a small laugh in her voice.

"I'm just thinking. You're probably the calmest girl in the Selection right now."

She laughs. "You're probably right."

There's just something about Marissa that sets me at ease. I see a small smile appear on my father's face. Alison is laying down, probably asleep. My father is sitting on the ground next to her, his hand on her shoulder. I can tell that my father also feels at ease around Marissa.

The room begins to go still, until my father breaks the ice a little. "I don't mean to be rude, but what's your name again?" He asks.

"I'm Marissa Singer, Your Highness," Marissa responds.

"Ah. Are you at all related to America Singer?"

"Yes actually. She's my mother."

He nods his head. "I can tell. You look just like her."

"So everyone keeps telling me."

I'm generally confused now. Everyone seems to know Marissa, and I don't know why. "Okay. I have a question. Why does everyone know Marissa? Or at least her last name?" I ask.

"It's a long story. A short version is that her mother was in the Selection. She was one of the last two. Everyone loved her mother, but something happened, and I didn't chose her," my father said.

"So you're saying this is the second Singer to be in the palace for the Selection?"

"As weird as it sounds. Yes. I had no idea that she entered, so no rigging was involved."

"I wasn't thinking that. It's just, I don't know. It really does seem weird. Fate?"

"Maybe. All I'm saying is that don't make the same mistakes I made."

"And what is that?"

"Thinking you made the right decision, but question if you did for the first few years."

I shake my head. My father loved me, and my siblings. But these last few years it has become evident that he hasn't been as in love with my mother than in the past. I knew he might've regretted marrying my mother, but he would never regret us. I knew I wasn't going to make the same mistake as my father. I wanted someone who loved me for me.

I hear a soft snore coming from next to me. I twist to see Marissa asleep. Her mouth is open only slightly, allowing a small snore to escape every so often.

"Here," my father says. He hands me a blanket that was on the shelves next to him.

I take it and wrap it around Marissa. She shifts a little, but settles down again. I don't know what to do, so I move from the seat, to the floor.

"I'm still trying to get the hang of everything," I say to my father.

"Don't worry. You'll get the hang of it soon," he says with a reassuring smile. "You can't say anything of what I said in here to your mother. Can you promise that you won't."

"Yeah. I won't tell her."

"Good."

I hear the door unlock, and two guards walk in. "You Majesty. The attack is over. The bulk of the levels have been cleaned, and are working on getting better. It's safe to return to the rooms, and I advise everyone to stay there until morning," one of the guards says.

"Thank you. You may return to your posts," my father said standing. The guards now and leave the room. "I wouldn't bother waking them. I can get Alison if you can get Marissa to her room."

I nod. I stand to pick up Marissa. I carry her bridal style out of the safe room, and through the messy halls. There was red paint over the walls, that the writing wasn't legible anymore. I don't focus on that, and just focus on getting Marissa back to her room.

I see some of the Selected making their ways back to their rooms. Some stare, some just keep moving, and others look like they're ready to kill Marissa given the time and place. I move past them all, and to the end of the Selected rooms where Marissa's room was.

I walk in, and her maids were already there.

"What happened?" One of them asks.

"She's just tired. She fell asleep in the safe room. She should be fine by the morning," I say. The nod their heads. "Take good care of her please."

"Yes, Your Majesty." They all bow, and I leave the room . There was so much I still had to sort out in my mind.