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  “I had some food brought up for you.”

  Aria had already noticed the heaping mounds of food piled upon the tray in the middle of the room. Her stomach rumbled eagerly, and loudly. She had never seen so many wonderful looking things in her life. She remained frozen for a moment, uncertain of what to do as she gazed upon the cheese, fruits, breads, and meats piled upon the tray. It was enough to feed all of the people within the caves for a day as they had all learned how to eat scarcely, and survive on very little. In fact, Aria couldn’t remember a day when she had not gone to sleep at least a little hungry.

  This might very well be her first.

  “Arianna?” She turned toward the prince, blinking rapidly as her stomach continued to rumble loudly. So loudly in fact, that she was embarrassingly certain he could hear it. He stared at her for a long moment, his eyebrows raised over the dark lenses of his glasses. “You are hungry Arianna, you must eat.”

  She nodded mutely, but she could not bring herself to step up to that heaping tray, not when so many others would be going hungry today. Not when her family would be going hungry today. For the first time she allowed her thoughts to turn to her family. They would be worried sick about her, half crazed with their loss. Poor William was probably devastated. Her father and Daniel would be moving stoically onward, burying their pain, which would eat them alive inside. Just as it always did. They would bury themselves in plans, and future attacks, and their anger and hatred for the vampires would grow until it consumed them.

  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.

  Aria remained sitting long after the sound of the lock slid home.

  ***

  The next few days passed in much the same way. Maggie would come in the morning to assist her in dressing but Aria refused her help with the shower now; she had it figured out. Even the razor and shaving part of it. She did not have the zippers or buttons of the dresses down though, and because of that she was grateful for Maggie’s help.

  The prince sat with her at breakfast every morning, and then disappeared for a few hours during the day. During his absence Aria would wander aimlessly around, growing increasingly anxious by her capture. Around noon another heaping tray of food would be sent up, she would eat it alone, and miserable. The prince would return, talk with her for a little bit, sit with her while she ate dinner, and then retire to his room.

  It was the loneliest Aria had ever been, and she had spent many nights, and days, alone in the wo
ods, or within the caves. But on those occasions she had always known that she would return to her friends and family, and their joyful, loving company. Now, she knew she had very little hope of that, and that the rest of her days may very well consist of being trapped within these rooms, eating incessantly, and wandering aimlessly around.

  It would only be a matter of time before she went crazy from it.

  Aria wandered silently into the library again. She studied the walls of books, her gaze running over the thick leather bindings. She often found herself in this room, curious as to what the books contained within their depths, wondering about the stories within them. She moved slowly toward them, trailing her fingers over their covers. The leather was cool, soft and nice beneath her fingertips. She wished she knew what they said.

  Oh, she knew a few words, not many, but enough to be able to decipher plans and most of a message, but even that was not enough to help her with these endless mysteries. She could make out most of the titles, but when she opened the covers she found that almost everything inside blurred into gibberish.

  She slipped one of the books free of the others. It was the one that fascinated her most for some reason, the one she repeatedly returned to. She opened it, flipping slowly through the slightly yellowed pages as she picked out certain words upon them. Not for the first time, she found herself wishing that she could make sense of it.

  Shaking her head, Aria released a soft sigh as she closed the book and slid it morosely back on the shelf. “Something against Ivanhoe?”

  Aria jumped, nearly releasing a small shriek as her head snapped up. She had not heard the prince enter the apartment, but there he was, standing in the doorway, his head bowed as he studied her from behind his glasses. Aria swallowed heavily, not sure how he would react to finding her here, and certainly unsure as to what Ivanhoe was.

  “Ivanhoe?” she asked softly.

  He remained unmoving for a moment, his eyebrows drawn sharply together. “Yes, Sir Walter Scott’s tale of Ivanhoe. It is quite entertaining, and something I thought you would enjoy as he was a bit of a rebel himself.”

  Arianna couldn’t help but smile at the teasing tone in his voice. Though she was lonely, and lost here, she found that his company was oddly comforting. Probably because he was one of the only two people that she had to talk to in this strange, uncertain world. “Oh,” Aria glanced back at the novel, glad to finally know what the title of it was. “I see.”

  He moved away from the door, coming slowly toward her. Stopping beside her, his arm brushed lightly against hers as he reached for the book that she had just replaced. Aria’s heartbeat picked up slightly, she still did not trust him, still despised his kind, but he had been nothing but nice to her over the past few days. And the longer she was here, the more fascinated with him she became. She hated the feeling, she thought it had something to do with the fact that she was trapped here, but she could not shake it.

  He pulled the book slowly from the shelf, holding it before him. “It was one of my favorites when I was younger. I think you will enjoy it.”

  Aria swallowed heavily as she stared at the fascinating book. Her fingers were trembling slightly as she reached out and took it slowly from him, unwilling to admit that she didn’t know how to read. He already thought her unmannered, ill kempt, dirty and possibly a little backwards. She didn’t want him to think that she was stupid too.

  “I’m sure I will,” she said softly.

  His finger was gentle beneath her chin as he nudged it upward. “Arianna, do you know how to read?” Her gaze darted wildly around; she looked everywhere but at him. She could not bring herself to look at him as she tried to figure out how to answer him. “Arianna?”

  She recognized the tone that he took when he was getting slightly aggravated with her. It did not happen often, usually only when she did not eat as much as he wanted her too, or when she tried to get out of having Maggie help her. For the most part he was patient, kind even, and she found herself liking him almost as much as she hated him for it. Because she was certain that something bad was going to happen, and that he would turn on her eventually. She was convinced that this strange kindness was just a rouse to earn her trust before destroying her completely.

  “A little,” she finally admitted on a whisper.

  He sighed softly; his finger momentarily stroked her chin before he released her. “Well we will have to remedy that. Come.”

  Aria stared after his retreating back before he disappeared from sight. Remedy that? What did he mean by that? Arianna followed him from the room, moving slowly back to the sitting room, but he did not settle onto the sofa. Instead, he crossed to the window seat by the bay window and settled upon it. Aria hesitated, uncertain as to what to do or say. She folded her hands before her, rocking slightly back on her feet as she watched him intently.

  His eyebrows rose slowly over his dark glasses, he patted the seat beside him. “I will not bite you Arianna.”

  Her eyes narrowed as she glared at him, not at all appreciative of his teasing words. She threw her shoulders back, thrust out her chin and walked swiftly toward him. His hand left the seat beside him, sliding away as she settled stiffly next to him. He studied her for a moment more before opening the book and placing it on their laps. Aria looked at the words, her discomfort growing as she stared dumbly at them. The words and letters swam before her on the page, blurring together before snapping back into focus; they still made no sense.

  “It’s ok,” he said softly.

  She turned slowly toward him, swallowing heavily. The force of his stare burned through her, even though she could not see it. His hand wrapped gently around her wrist, she jumped slightly, his touch searing into her skin. Her breath hitched in her chest, her heart leapt wildly. For a moment she could only stare helplessly at him, confused by the strange sensations and emotions coursing through her. Why was he toying with her like this? Why was he being so kind when they both knew that in the end he would only destroy her?

  Deciding not to fight against it, deciding to go along with his games, she settled back in the seat. Perhaps it was best if he thought she trusted him, that she was not waiting for him to rip her throat out at any moment. His arm slipped briefly around her waist, pulling her gently against his side. His skin was cool to the touch, certainly not as warm as hers, but not freezing either. She found that she fit perfectly against him, and did not mind the touch of his cooler flesh against her; in fact she almost welcomed it. A fact that she felt she should hate herself for, but she simply couldn’t, it felt too right. She was willing to play the game, but this was so very intimate and cozy. It was something she had never experienced before, and it was unnerving, frightening, and exciting all at once.

  She had to forcefully remind herself that he was a monster, that he was toying with her, and that he was taking joy in her discomfort, even if he didn’t appear to be. She tilted her head, her fingers twitching slightly as she studied those dark glasses. Not for the first time she wished he would take them off so that she could see his eyes. But in the week that she had been here, she had never once seen him without those dark shades.

  He settled the book more firmly between them. Arianna found herself forgetting everything else, even his fingers lingering upon her waist, as she drew her legs up beneath her. She was eager to absorb what he seemed to want to teach her, and she had been wondering about the contents of this book for nearly a week now.

  Leaning against his side she followed along as he slowly began to read through the novel, pronouncing each word carefully as he urged her to read along and sound out the words with him. She was surprised by the smile on his face; it was very rare to see such a thing on him. He was always reserved, professional, and perfunctory, but he seemed to be enjoying the book nearly as much as she was. Aria took great pleasure in his smile, and interjecting with the few words she knew. She found herself smiling along with him as he began to teach her to read.

  CHAPTER 5

  Braith studie
d Arianna as she sat curled within the window seat. Her long legs were drawn up beneath her; her dark hair aglow in the light filtering through the windows. Though the book was in her lap, she was not looking at it. Instead, her hands were pressed against the glass, her nose nearly touching the pane as she stared intently outside.

  He could see the longing in her face, the desperate driving need to be free radiated from her. It was only then that he realized what these past two weeks must have truly been like for her. She was used to being free, used to running wild and being outdoors. This was probably the most time she had ever spent indoors, probably the most time she had ever spent with a roof over her head and a steady stream of food on her plate.

  Food that was slowly beginning to put weight on her. It was rounding out her pointed edges; her collarbone did not stick out as sharply, her ribs and spine were no longer clearly visible beneath the dresses she wore. Her face had filled out; her cheekbones were not so sharp. She appeared even more youthful now, something he wasn’t entirely sure was a good thing. There was an innocence that clung to her, radiating from the inside out, but when she had been thinner she had appeared more worldly, wiser, and harder. He had found it a little easier to be indifferent to her then; he did not find it so now.

  Especially when she was staring out the window with that eager, longing look on her face. He moved slowly behind her, touching her shoulder lightly. She tensed briefly, but did not jump away from him, did not recoil or stiffen as she had when she’d first arrived here. Her eyes were wide, brilliantly blue as she stared questioningly up at him.