When I stepped into women's room the next day, there were three less girls with us. 

Two had left on their own volition. Even though that was technically against the rules, I didn't think the princes wanted to hold any of the selected here against their wills. However, I was surprised to find out that Lady Valentine was also dismissed yesterday. 

"Dismissed?" I asked Beckii in a quiet whisper after I had heard the news, "So she didn't leave because of the attack?" 

"She broke one of the rules," Valeera explained, "She slapped Albany." 

"Do you know why?" Beckii asked, leaning in expectantly. Valentine always struck me as the perfect lady. Albany must have done something really bad to push her to violence. 

"I don't know, but something tells me Albany probably deserved it," she answered, rolling her eyes as she shot a glare towards the model. 

"Valentine was the only one that was higher than her in the polls," Valeera pointed out, "she definitely provoked it." 

Beckii paled, bringing a hand up to her mouth. "You don't think she's going to go after someone else, do you?" Of course Beckii would be worried, since she was very closely behind Albany right now. "I mean, those polls are only what the people think. It's the princes' decisions still, right?"

"If they're smart, they'll consider what their people want," Valeera said, checking around for Silver before kicking her heals off and stretching out across the couch she was sitting on. Beckii looked as if she was going to cry when she heard that. 

"But as long as you don't let Albany get to you, you'll be fine," I added, trying to reassure her. 

"I doubt Prince Ross will be sending you home, not when you're the only one that has gotten a second date with him," Valeera added. 

I balked at that. I hadn't known about Beckii's dates with Ross; I considered her the selected I felt closest too, but Ross hadn't mentioned it either, even though he knew I considered Beckii my friend. I came to the terrible conclusion that I didn't know anything about Beckii other than surface details I could read in any magazine scattered around the Women's Room. 

"Besides Atlas," Beckii said, almost sounding jaded. 

My head snapped towards her incredulously. "What?" I asked, "What do you mean by that?" 

"Nothing," Beckii muttered, turning her eyes down to avoid my gaze, "you just spend a lot of time together..." 

I actually laughed at that. I forgot that everyone else still thinks I'm competing. Both the girls looked startled at my reaction.  "I can promise you there is nothing going on between Prince Ross and I," I assured them. I then turned to Beckii. "Listen, I'm not Albany. You don't need to keep things from me because you think I'll get jealous or use the information against you..." 

"Atlas, you're my competition," she said quietly, still avoiding my gaze. 

"No, Albany is your competition," I stressed, "Beckii, you can trust me. And honestly, I think your a better princess now than I will ever be in my entire life." 

"Really?" she asked, perking up. 

"Of course," I said, laying a hand on hers, "You're good with the people, you're sweet, caring, loving. You're always so collected and composed, you really have a charm to you. I would be the luckiest person in the world to be able to call you my queen one day." Beckii blushed, smiling into her lap.

"I think you would be good a queen too," she said quietly, looking me in the eye, "You've got a fierce personality, you could enact incredible change in this country." 

I didn't agree with her, but I didn't voice that either. I don't know why anyone would think that I was queen material. My temper made me do stupid things and, if my experience the past few days was anything to go by, I was also an emotional wreck under stress. 

And besides, I had Sjin and Ari to go back home to. I didn't have time to be queen. 

"And you have something that no one else has with the princes," Valeera added in, "Trust." 

I couldn't even begin to list the reasons why she was wrong. "First of all, no I don't. Prince Alexandre, hates me."  

"We all saw you during the attack. All three of them went to you before anyone else, even the king and queen," she said. I looked around the room, which had gone strangely quiet. Everyone was looking away, but they were most certainly listening in to our conversation. I wished that Valeera had kept her voice down. 

"That's because I was almost hit with a brick," I said, throwing my hands up in exasperation, "They were checking to make sure I was okay." 

"And then they asked you your advice," Valeera pointed out, not realizing how much damage she was doing, "Prince Ross has already made a confidant out of you." 

"The princes are looking for wives," Albany butted in from across the room, standing up, "not confidants. They have enough advisers already."

"That's not true," Beckii defended, "their queens should be there to listen when they're stressed or need advice." 

"Why do you think we're being taught military strategy?" Valeera added. 

"Fighting is the only thing Atlas knows about," Albany sneered, turning towards me, "Isn't that right, kick boxer?" She spat the last words like an insult.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize taking my clothes off in front of a camera was such an important part of being queen," I snapped back. 

"At least I look good doing it," she smiled threateningly, "I'm not the one with muscles like a guard." 

"And I'm not the one with the personality of a toad," I said, followed by a few giggles from around the room. I smiled at Albany smugly. 

Albany's eyes flashed with anger, but then a stiff confidence replaced it. I don't know how, but I knew what was coming next. "And I'm not the one who fought in cage matches for money." 

There were gasps and shocked expressions all around the room. Cage fighting was a felony, that kind of slander could get me kicked out of the competition. I shot up out of my seat, but Valeera was there with a hand on my arm, holding me there. "She's just trying to get you kicked out like she did Valentine," she hissed. 

I put on my fighting face, but Albany knew she had me. "I don't even think Prince Ross could keep you after hearing about this." 

"That's not true," I defended, "and even if it were, you have no proof." 

"I'm sure a few of your financial backers would testify against you," she sighed dreamily, looking at her nails as if she were bored.

"I don't need to remind you that gambling is also illegal," I growled, taking a step forward, "As well as slander and lying under oath." 

"Atlas, it isn't worth it, she's just trying to get under your skin," Beckii said, standing. 

"Aw, little Beckii Cruel," Albany cooed, "I really enjoy your videos. Especially the one you posted after getting caught with that boy from Area-" 

"Shut up!!" Beckii screeched, "That was two years ago! And I apologized-"

Suddenly the doors to the women's room opened and Silver clicked in on black heels. "Good morning lad- What on earth is going on?!" she asked, seeing our threatening positions and the anger clear on our faces.

"Just a debate about our latest economics lesson," Albany said, smiling warmly at Silver. 

Our tutor looked towards the remaining three of us, and I could tell Valeera and Beckii were waiting for me to say something. "Yeah, taxes..." I muttered, not waiting for a response as I made my way towards the door. 

"Lady Atlas, I was just about to go over the schedule today," Silver said as I passed her and out the doors. "Lady Atlas! Always storming out like this is hardly lady like- you need to learn to control your temper..." 

I ignored her as I stalked back to my room, unable to deal with any more irritants today. So I would miss a lesson, what did it matter? I would never need to know event planning and table etiquette once I left here.   

------------------------------------------------

"You know, you are really not supposed to be in here without me," Prince Alexandre's voice said, penetrating my thoughts. 

I was meditating, practicing the breathing techniques I had been taught to calm myself down before and after a fight. 

I had managed to get some workout clothing and a promise to keep my whereabouts a secret from my begrudging maids, and then wandered around for half an hour avoiding guards before I found the barracks and snuck in their gym. It was around 10 o'clock in the morning, so it was empty and I was able to workout in peace. They had a great set of punching bags, and I was eager to get started on them. 

I wasn't looking for a fight right now. "I'm sorry," I said, opening my eyes to see the prince leaning up against the door frame, probably the most casual I've ever seen him. "I couldn't find you, so I assumed you were busy." 

He didn't seem to want to start a screaming match either. "Well next time don't come here unsupervised," he drawled, "I can at least keep guards from talking to anyone about this. You, on the other hand, could get me in some serious trouble if you mentioned my name." 

"Noted," I said, rolling my eyes as I stood up and grabbed a roll of athletic wrap. 

Prince Alexandre watched me for a moment, as if I were just going to be a minute. "How long are you going to be?" he asked, annoyance creeping into his voice. 

"However long I want," I said, returning his venom, "We had an agreement, remember?" I started to wrap my fists up, and tied off the end of my left hand with my teeth. I was always used to Sjin doing this for me, so they weren't as tight or comfortable as I wanted. 

He opened his mouth to argue, but then dropped his head into his hand. I had to suppress a small smile at how quickly he had realized it was pointless to argue. I was in my element, and finally I was starting to gain some confidence and steadiness back. 

"I will... have a maid bring me my work," he muttered, sighing. 

I spent half an hour warming up, getting over the self consciousness a private audience gave me. But after that I began to practice my more harder moves, a small part of me wanting to show off my skills. I was working up a sweat, but I was also getting into my rhythm. I had nearly forgotten Prince Alexandre was there, until he looked up at me through his eyebrows and asked "How do you do that?"

He must have meant my high kick with a roll dodge. "Uh, I just let the force of my kick bring me down to the floor so they can't grab onto it, even if they're quick enough to react," I said, shrugging. 

He looked me up and down, and then opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something. However, he shut his mouth again and kept a steady gaze on me. I waited a minute, giving him a confused stare, before returning to my work. 

"Show me," he blurted out after I turned back to the punching bag in front of me. 

"Was that an order?" I asked, trying to keep the aggression out of my voice as I mocked him. 

"Are you going to make me say please?" he sighed.  

"I thought you were a gentleman," I pointed out, but continued to avoid a fight, "And I'm almost positive you can't do that," I said, suppressing a laugh. 

However, he didn't mean it as I joke. He peeled off his suit jacket and laid it on the back of his seat. "Then show me something else, show me that... that punching thing you did," he said, walking over to me. 

"The punching thing?" I asked, huffing out a laugh, "You're going to have to be more specific." 

"You know..." he muttered, looking as if he was regretting his decision now, "it was three punches and... and you used your forearm..." He trailed off and looked even more uncomfortable and embarrassed. 

I decided to humor him. "You mean this?" I asked, punching out in front of me twice and then hitting the bag with my forearm to simulate a block. 

"Yes," he nodded, trying to look serious and princely still. I thought it was kind of funny, and seeing him embarrassed made him seem more human. 

"Watch closely, okay?" I said, slowly down the move to show him better. I punched with my right arm, brought it back up to my face to keep it covered, and then punched with my left and quickly turned my fist outward as I blocked the bag with my forearm. "Now you," I told him, taking a step back. 

I watched him get the two punches down, but his right fist left him open and he turned out his left fist too early. besides, he was holding his thumbs inside his fists, which were just asking to be broken. "First of all," I said, taking his hands and making him flinch while I corrected his fists, "you're going to break your thumbs. Second, you're standing all wrong." 

I showed him how to stand with his feet staggered for better balance, and then made him try again. He got the coordination right, but his power was lacking. Prince Alexandre was built, but the kind of built you get from working out on machines, instead of from fighting or manual labor like me and the lower castes. His muscles didn't know how to work together, regardless of how strong he was. 

"You're punching with your shoulders," I told him after watching him a few more times, "you need to get your power from your core." 

"How am I supposed to do that?!" he asked, throwing his hands up in the air in frustration. 

I sighed and looked up towards the ceiling, not wanting to have to work with his temper. I moved him back into his stance, making him flinch every time I touched him. "Keep your core tight," I said, standing behind him and lighting holding his waist with my hands, "put all your energy into keeping those muscles tight and then just channel it into your arms right before you extend into the punch. Ready to try again?" 

He looked over his shoulder and looked into my eyes for a moment, neither of us breathing. I only realized how close I was to him as our gazes locked; I could feel the heat coming off his back, and the muscle beneath his soft dress shirt under my hands. 

I stepped away from him, and we both snapped out of it. "Yes. I am ready..." he said, and I took the opportunity to wander around the punching bag so I could keep it from swinging along with separating us so I didn't have to look at him. I couldn't get the picture of his unguarded blue eyes out of my head, and I starred out at the rest of the gym, trying to process my feelings. 

I was sharply brought back to reality as the shock from the punching bag made me take a step back. "Woah," I said, stepping around to look at the prince, who was smiling and looking as alive as I'd ever see him. 

"How was that?!" he asked, excitedly breathless. 

I laughed. "Great! You really caught me off guard," I praised. 

"That was awesome," he breathed, "Thank you Atlas." 

"Yeah, well, I guess eights are good for something besides alcoholism and drowning in rivers, right?" I asked sarcastically, not realizing how bitter that sounded until it left my mouth. I walked over to the table where I had my stuff and started to unwrap my hands, hoping he would just ignore the comment. 

"Hey!" Prince Alexandre barked, suddenly very hostile, "It is not my fault you are an eight." 

"No, it's your fault I can't forget that I'm an eight," I sneered, turning to face him, "What happened to all the selected automatically becoming threes?" 

"That works for all fives and above," he said as if were obvious, "You don't even have the same education as everyone else here." 

I sighed and rubbed at my eyes with a hand. "You are fucking hopeless Alexandre," I sighed, "How are you going to run a country when you hate half of your subjects because of a goddamn number they were given at birth? When's the last time you thanked one of the sixes or sevens that wait on you hand and foot 24 hours a day, huh?" 

"I am royalty," he scoffed.

"You're arrogant," I shot back, "and a pretty pathetic prince."

He stood looking at me, nostrils flaring and fists balled at his sides, but didn't have anything to say. I turned and left, making sure no one caught me in such causal clothing as I made my way to my room to change for lunch. I had to find Prince Ross soon before these rumors got out of hand, and I only hoped that Prince Alexandre would keep our spat a secret, considering he would get in trouble for allowing me in the barracks.