Captured (The Captive #1)(28)

And then he had kissed her.

And that damn kiss had almost been her undoing. She thought back to the kiss she had shared with Max, it had been sweet and kind and it had left her feeling safe and warm. Braith’s kiss hadn’t left her feeling any of those things. It had left her shaken, torn, bewildered, on fire, and longing for more. Longing for so much more. She wanted him to hold her, and kiss her, and touch her forever. Yet it wasn’t possible, none of it would ever be possible.

She was a blood slave; she was supposed to die eventually. What was going to happen to her?

She chewed on a piece of cheese as she watched the light play over the gardens. Though she didn’t think he was, she knew there was still a possibility that he could be playing with her. That he was toying with her emotions only to make her emotional breakdown even more pleasurable in the end. But if that kiss was a sign of anything, she thought it was definitely a sign that he would not purposely be cruel or mean to her.

She just didn’t know exactly what he was going to be to her. She was far from certain of anything these days. A few weeks ago she would have been terrified by this realization; she was surprised that she was not terrified now. And she felt that it was because of him. It was hard to be terrified when he was there, looking out for her, taking care of her, protecting her.

Aria frowned as she realized that she had never really been sheltered before. Her family loved her, and had always tried to keep her safe, but she had been on her own far more often than she had been under their wing since the time she was a young child. In her life, children could not be sheltered, not once they were old enough to start helping out. Every hand was needed in order to try and feed the many hungry mouths, and to help keep everyone safe.

Hunger, it was a foreign concept to her at the moment, as she munched on some more cheese and fruit. But it was not a concept that was foreign to her family, to her friends right now. Guilt tugged at her, for a moment she could not swallow the food as it stuck in her throat. She was daydreaming about something that could never happen, a life she could never have, and her family and friends were still struggling, still fighting for their lives every moment of every hard day.

Arianna managed to choke down the food, but she dropped her half full plate back on the tray. Her appetite was gone now anyway. Though she had been given this brief moment, this reprieve from the hunger, death, and struggle that had constituted most moments of her life, she knew that it could not last. It could never last. His world would never allow it to last. And she was a foolish child for even thinking that it might. A foolish child for not realizing the futility of this whole situation.

Aria touched the leather binding of the book, her fingers trailed slowly over it as she admired the simple beauty of the thing. “Do you need me for anything else?”

Arianna lifted her head; she had forgotten that Maggie was here. She had been working on Arianna’s dresses; some of them had needed to be let out as she had put on weight. “Oh no, thank you though. Would you like something to eat?”

The girls brown eyes widened slightly, her mouth curved in a small smile. Though she had not commented upon the bruises marring Aria’s skin, Aria had seen the shock and dismay in the girl’s tender gaze. Aria had wanted to tell her that the bruises were not from Braith, that he had not done this to her, but the words stuck in her throat. It was probably best if people began to believe he was mistreating her, though Lauren’s dismissal might negate that fact. She imagined rumors and gossip were already flying around, and she found that she didn’t care.

“No, thank you, I have other things I must attend to.”

“Oh,” Aria said softly, feeling a twinge of guilt over taking the girl away from her work. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to keep you.”

“Oh no, it’s fine,” Maggie assured her. “You are my number one priority. The prince has seen to that.”

“I see.”

“I’ll see you later.”

“Yes.”

Maggie was at the door, her hand upon the handle before she turned back to Aria. “The prince has never had a blood slave before, did you know that?”

Aria felt her eyes widen, her mouth parted slightly as she stared at Maggie in disbelief. She recalled her encounter with Braith’s sister. The woman had asked what he was doing with her. She had thought the question odd at the time, had wondered if she was the first but she had never given much credit to the notion. This revelation did little to ease the confusion inside of her. In fact it made it even worse. “No, I didn’t know that.”

Maggie nodded. “It’s true, he has never had one.”

Arianna frowned, her eyebrows drawing sharply together as she thought over what Maggie had just revealed. She didn’t know what to make of the words, or what they might implicate. Why would he choose her then? What was it that he wanted from her?

Before Aria could ask any of these questions Maggie slipped out the door, leaving her alone with her thoughts. She sighed softly as she settled onto the window seat, torn and guilt ridden. It was an awful mess that she was in, that they both might be in right now. She didn’t know what the rules for a blood slave were, but she imagined she was not supposed to be treated so kindly. And she was fairly certain that she was not supposed to live for long.

That realization turned her thoughts back to Max. He was out there somewhere, going through God only knew what and possibly on the verge of losing his life already. Sweet, gentle Max who deserved far better than what he was probably enduring right now. Sweet, gentle Max who was only here because of her. Aria sat silently, her thoughts turning over the situation. Max had vowed to try and rescue her, they had both known that it would be a slim possibility, but was there any chance that she might be able to get to him?