I Scored Myself A Mate

It is an unfamiliar feeling, very unique and certainly so unusual. This thrill that Alex felt as he run with his best friend through the icy halls of the deserted palace, the snow falling outside, the moon was their only observant and their only possible betrayer.

As their footsteps echoed in the halls, as the sound began turning louder and louder mixing with his furiously fast heartbeat Alex felt that he was playing in a movie. The way everything around him was set. The image of Mark's back leading him to their final destination and their careful steps at every corner, their cautious looks and gasps as they tried to avoid once or twice a few servants that passed them by. 

It was a cold night, but Alex assumed that this place was always cold as he checked his fingers that had turned red and numb. He was only wearing a shirt and from the blush and red nose on Mark's face he understood they shared the same sensitivity to the freezing cold. Like it was stopped in time everything around him were still and all these decorations made of ice never seemed to melt. The chairs, the bed everything was frozen and when they stopped for just a slight second to catch their breaths Alex wrote Theseus' name on the foggy window, carefully with caring strokes he read the letters mumbling the name again and again. Such a peculiar name but why did it much him so much. 

They were going to become shadows too. Walking wall to wall inspecting their surrounding but even though they should be looking stiff and nervous they seemed relaxed as if they had done this a million times, as if they had become accustomed to lies and deceit. Everything was just a very tragic play and Mark and him now stood at the center stage. In case they were caught they needed to look natural and Alex, he needed to look weak and crippled because that's the state everyone's used to seeing him in. It was natural for him now to be hurt or injured in some way. It was natural to have enemies with long claws and crazy eyes placing their dirty hands into your soul and clawing every bit, destroying every strong part and leaving just…a cell. 

"We are almost there. But we need to be quiet when we search the office. We don't want anyone to hear us." Mark warned him as they face the huge door of the throne room. The so called secret office was hidden behind the icy throne. A place only for Theseus and his entrusted companions to know, where he kept his secrets or he revealed his pain. 

"Mark wait" Alex said and grabbed his best friend's arm before he attempted to enter the room. 

"What is it now?" he asked him annoyed. He had noticed how Alex always found time to stall on their way there, how he looked lost and hesitant.

"I don't want to do that to Theseus. Deceit him, steal from him" The green eyed boy said felt the heartbreaking guilt clench his bloody heart. He was the only one. The man with the hair as white as snow and the eyes that reminded him of lilacs, the man who always wore black leather gloves and dark clothes that his all of his pale skin was the only one who had treated him like he was worth something, like he deserved to be alive and that he could survive. He treated him like he was strong even though he hadn't felt that way in a long while. 

It was betrayal, going behind his back like that. Invading his sacred place. Alex believed that his office since he didn't share its location with others was something that needed to stay hidden, he didn't even know the importance of the locked wing. If he did know he would have made sure to never even think of approaching. If he knew what was in there, the fact that Theseus had caged all of his pain and despair in that wing he would have stayed away.

Or maybe not. He would have opened the doors and saw what was behind those eyes, that shone cheerfully at one moment and then they seemed drowned in despair. After he saw he would wish to destroy everything, every fraction of what hurt him and ease his restless heart. Oh, there were so many things he didn't know, so many things he couldn't grasp and by these little few stories and pieces of dreams he couldn't understand. The burden he carried. 

"No it is not. You need to start thinking of yourself. This does concern you. You need to remember. It's for your own good and protection. You can apologize to Theseus later." Mark told him placing his palms on his shoulder. "Now come on. We need to get inside before anyone sees us." 

"I'm sorry" Alex mumbled as he walked straight to the icy throne. Mark was in a hurry but the brunet's leg didn't seem to want to speed up so he grabbed his wrist and literally dragged him behind the throne, revealing the small door. 

"Listen now. These is something more in this office that might help you. A golden book. It has bard songs in it. It tells the story of…the elf nation" he said not exactly revealing that the story was Allias'. Hymns and song filled with adoration and sorrow about the descendant of the mighty sun.

"Okay I will keep looking for it too" Alex said and Mark pushed the camouflaged door and as he entered he pulled his friend inside too. 

Alex gasped when he first witnessed the state of the place. It was definitely not what he had imagined. It was pure destruction and despair. It looked like a storm had raged on and destroyed everything. The furniture was upside down, some of them were broken and the book were on the floor, their pages ripped. Everything was a raw mess evident of some internal struggle.

"Well this is unexpected" Mark said as he scanned the room. He bit his lip worried how they could control this whole mess to find something as small as a key. 

"Maybe we should leave. Something must have happened here." Alex said feeling even worse. Theseus was not well, obviously he had caused this, who else could ruin the kings private study room? They would be really heartless to just go in and step on this disaster to only create more chaos. 

"No! help me search in this desk. Probably the key will be kept in a drawer" Mark assumed and continued walking around the room like nothing had happened. 

"Mark!"

"Listen to me! I was so shocked when I heard you were injured. My heart was about to break. I can't lose you! I just can't. You are of the most important people in my life and I am too weak to protect you. Too mundane, too human say it however you want but I can't have you risking your life for me in this state or for anyone. I can't have you caring for anyone when you don't even care about your own self. Fine! You want to feel bad about breaking in Theseus' office? Great I will be the bad guy and care for you. I will do it. I will search so you go back to sleep because honestly Alex I can't sleep at night. I am worried that even know every day might be our last. EVERYONE hates us. We are nothing to them but you right now are everything to me. I left my home, I haven't talked with my parents in so long, they must be going insane and I know there is no going back now. How could I after everything I've seen. You are the only one I have so please…love yourself more, fight for yourself more because you may not see anything good in yourself, you may think there is no point sometimes but I do. I see my family. You are the only one I can trust. The only one I can talk to so please; I love you so much. You have to stay alive. You hear me? And if hurting Luke, Theseus, Mikael or whoever the hell it is. Even God himself, if I have to hurt them to keep you alive I will. But I need your help" 

Mark was crying. His kind and cheerful eyes were filled with worry and his heart was always skipping a beat scared that something bad might happen. He couldn't stop his tears. He was frantically wiping his face and when Alex hugged him tightly he kept crying making his shirt wet. 

"I am sorry." Alex whispered kindly. "I am sorry I got you into all of this, I am sorry I get you so worried because I am a mess I am so sorry but you are the only one I have too. I love you so much you know that right? I could never be more blessed. Having a friend like you is the only thing that has ever happened to me, I mean it and because you are so important to me I am sorry for making hurt. I know…I will do it. I will keep us safe, I promise and one day we will get to be happy. I am sure of it, no matter what it takes. So don't cry" Alex told him and looked at his friend with a very calming and kind smile. "I am here. I will always be here; you don't have to worry. It's you and me. It has always been" he told him and careful wiped away his tears as Mark nodded like a small child.

"Well that's a new twist in the story. Is this some kind of new romance?" Someone said and Alex's eyes traveled to the small door. His jaw fell and for a second his heart stopped beating.