Page 123 of The Frog Prince

Something tugged at his wrist, and he opened his eyes to see Otto smiling at him, pulling his hands out of his pockets and sliding gloves onto them so gently and slowly that only Alwin noticed.

With his hands hidden from sight, Alwin could reach awkwardly through the window to hold Lorenz. The sob that ripped from his lips broke Alwin’s heart, and he felt his own tears slide down his cheeks as he embraced his brother. His home. His family.

“Alwin,” Lorenz said into his shoulder before pushing himself upright and grabbing Alwin’s upper arms. He held him away, grip firm and grounding on him as he stared at him. “You’re alive. I knew you were alive. I kept telling everyone you were out here.”

“All is well, Brother,” Alwin said, smiling at Lorenz and looking into those mirror eyes as if it was the first time he’d ever seen them.

In a way, it was.

The first time as the new Alwin. This in-between being he had chosen to become to help those he loved most.

“I have missed you,” he said.

Lorenz’s arms trembled under Alwin’s touch. “I have missed you too. We all have, Brother.”

A shadow of a doubt filled Alwin’s mind, and it must have shown on his face, because Lorenz, despite not having seen him in nearly a decade, recognized it immediately. “Alwin?”

Alwin looked at him, afraid and weary and ready to just flee into the forest again. Where he was known. Where he was accepted.

“You believe me, don’t you?” Lorenz asked. Alwin nodded, knowing it was feeble and unconvincing. “Alwin?”

“I… There is much to tell. Much you do not know—” The words got stuck in his throat and a croak left his lips, making him gasp and pull back on instinct, covering it.

“Easy, my prince,” Otto said softly, putting one hand on Alwin’s back, stroking between his shoulder blades.

It drew Lorenz’s attention. “And you are?”

Otto smiled that friendly, welcoming smile of his. “Otto. I am Alwin’s…um…”

“Mine,” Alwin said through the haze of his panic. “He is mine.”

Lorenz continued to frown. “Was he the one hiding you from us this whole time?”

“He’s the one who brought me back.”

Lorenz locked eyes with him seriously. “Where were you, Alwin?”

“I’ve been—”

“Maybe the middle of the road isn’t the best place to discuss this?” Otto suggested gently, glancing around them.

Lorenz paused, taking his own cursory look around. “You make a good point. We had best hurry back to the palace then; we will be able to talk privately there.”

“No,” Alwin said.

Lorenz flinched, visibly hurt. “What do you mean? You have no intention of coming back?”

“I have every intention…only…there might not be a place for me there anymore.”

“What are you talking about? Of course there is a place for you there! It’s your home, Alwin. We’re yourfamily.”

“But I am not the same Alwin anymore,” he said quietly before looking up. “I am not the son, the brother, or the prince you used to know.”

“None of us remained unchanged.” Lorenz shook his head. “All we ever wanted was to find you alive. To have you back. Nothing you say can change that.”

“You should not promise that before you’ve heard my story. It may not be something you can hold to.”

“I will promise what I damn well want. And what I want is for my brother to return home,” Lorenz declared. “Whatever you feel I need to know, tell me now, because I am not leaving here without you.”