Captured (The Captive #1)(14)
Aria shuddered; she wrapped her arms around herself as she fought against the tears of despair and longing that threatened to spill. She was staring at the prince, but she could not see him through the waves of homesickness that swamped her. And then there was Max, poor Maxwell, trapped somewhere within this town, with some creature that Aria highly doubted was being as nice to him as the prince was being to her.
She did not want to think about what that monster was doing to strong, caring Max. Yet now that she had opened that can of worms, she could not get it to close again. She was not the most experienced person in the world, but she had lived in the woods, and on the far edges of society long enough to know the base cruelty that could be committed by vampires, and by broken, corrupt people. Her family had always tried to keep her sheltered, but there were some things that one could simply not be kept protected from forever. And Max would be experiencing many of those things over his time with that woman.
The soft touch on her arm caused her to jump slightly. She blinked the prince into focus, trying hard not to let him see just how lost she felt right now. “I was not thinking last night Arianna; I am not used to having humans around for more than an hour or two. You have to eat, you must be hungry.” Her stomach rumbled in eager response to his words. His frown deepened; his concern for her became apparent. “Come.”
He led her to one of the sofas and settled her upon it before turning to the tray. Aria watched in awe as he heaped a plate high with food. She was certain that he had never done this for anyone; she could not understand why he was doing it for her, or why he had even rescued her from the ugly little vampire of yesterday. He turned back to her, handing her the overflowing plate. There were foods on it that she didn’t even recognize.
She stared at it for a long moment before he handed her some napkins and a fork. She twisted the fork in her hand as she inspected it. She had seen them before, had even used them a few times, but she was not well versed with the practice of it. She much preferred her fingers, but she had a feeling that the use of her fingers would not be overly accepted here.
He placed a smaller tray over her lap, and then lightly placed her plate on top of it. Aria’s hands were trembling as she moved the fork awkwardly in her hand. She stabbed at some of the fruit before successfully spearing it with the strange utensil. She longed to dive into the heaping plate of goodies, but forced herself to at least try to appear civilized in this grand place.
The prince placed a glass of some orange colored liquid beside her. “What is that?” she inquired, heat coloring her face as she realized she had forgotten to swallow her food first.
He didn’t acknowledge her breech in manners though, but instead sat on the sofa beside her. “Orange juice, I have heard that it is rather tasty. People seem to like it anyway.” Aria studied it for a moment longer, lifted it, sniffed it, and then cautiously took a sip. The liquid was cool, sweet, and refreshing. She downed the rest of the glass in one long swallow. “You approve?”
She smiled tremulously at him as he reached over to refill her glass. She studied him questioningly; she was unable to understand why he was doing this for her, why he was being so kind to a rebel human. She did not ask him though, for she wasn’t entirely certain he would give her a truthful answer, and she didn’t think he would appreciate her mentioning it in the first place. Instead, she decided to simply enjoy the delicious meal she had been handed.
She dug in with renewed gusto, somewhere along the way she even forgot that he was watching her as she repeatedly helped herself to some more of the delicious concoctions upon the large tray. Her stomach was bloated, but wonderfully full for the first time ever when she finally pushed her plate aside, wiped her mouth on her napkin, and sighed contentedly.
“Are you full now?” he inquired softly.
Aria ducked her head; heat flooded her face as she realized exactly what she must have looked like in front of him, eating almost half of the copious amounts of food upon the tray. She had just consumed more than she normally would have in three days. “Yes.”
“Good. I must go out for a bit, but if there is anything you need Maggie has been told to get it for you. You need only ring for her. There is also a guard stationed outside your door so do not consider escape.”
Aria’s eyes widened as for the first time she was truly reminded of the fact that she was a prisoner in this place. That she was trapped here, and at his mercy. He had been kind to her so far, but how long could she truly expect that to last? Aria swallowed nervously, her hands folded tightly in her lap as she struggled to keep her face completely impassive. Though she tried to keep her terror hidden from him, she knew that he could sense it.
“I will not be gone long.”
Aria managed a small nod. It was all she could do to make that gesture; she did not trust herself to speak right now. The prince rose slowly, straightening the dark shirt that he wore. She noticed that he was dressed sharply, and sporting the ring that marked him as the prince of the house of Valdhai. That marked him as a member of the house that had been ruling the vampires, and the world, for the past hundred years. A ring that he had not been wearing yesterday. Whatever he had to do today it appeared that it was relatively important, and official.
The wolf rose beside him, its green eyes bright as it stared at Aria for a full minute before turning its attention back to its master. Aria noticed that the head of the prince’s cane was a bright silver wolf, seconds before his large hand closed around it. He whistled softly for the wolf, who padded eagerly over to him before they both slipped out the door.