She slipped easily through the forest, sticking to the trees, remaining hidden amongst their thick foliage as she darted from limb to limb. She moved slowly, keeping an eye out for any threat. She knew the forest better than anyone, knew the signs of danger. She could read the animals as well as she could move through the trees. They remained alert, and active, the birds continued to sing, the squirrels hopped eagerly in out of the branches, barely noticing Aria’s presence amongst them.
She reached the lake, sitting amongst the limbs of a tree as she surveyed the area around her. The lake was pristine, clear. There wasn’t even a ripple amongst his glass surface. She folded her hands beneath her, resting her head upon them as she sprawled out on the limb, content to lie amongst the branches and just watch the lake for a long while. Content to just take solace in the beautiful sight before her.
She didn’t realize she had drifted off until she tried to roll over and nearly fell from the tree. She started, sitting up on the branch in surprise. She hadn’t even been tired, but the events of the day had beaten her down, and taken more of a toll on her than she’d realized. She sighed softly, her gaze turning to the sky. According to the movement of the sun she had been asleep for a couple of hours.
She would have to go back soon, but before she returned she wanted to take a swim. She kicked her shoes off, letting them drop to the forest floor before climbing to her feet. She ran to the end of the limb, leaping off of it as she dove into the lake. She stayed beneath the water, swimming out for a long while before popping back to the surface. The water felt wonderful, refreshing, cleansing after the awful events of the day.
She swam for a long while before finally heading back. She stopped a few feet away from the shore, treading water. Jack was leaning against the tree, her shoes dangling from his fingertips as he watched her. Aria frowned at him, pushing the hair from her eyes as she swam forward.
“You need to stop taking off like that.”
“I can take care of myself.” She grabbed her shoes from his hand, but did not put them on. “What are you doing here?”
“Looking for you.”
“Did my father send you?”
“No, they’re still making plans. What are you going to do Aria?”
“What do you mean?”
“Are you going to tell him?”
Aria couldn’t meet his gaze. The water had managed to soothe her for a brief moment, but now she was back into the harsh reality of her life. “Are you?” she whispered.
“He is my brother, but I chose my loyalties when I took you from that palace. I cannot go back on that now, no matter how much I might want to.”
“You would allow him to be killed?”
He was silent for a long moment, his eyes sad yet accepting. “He would allow the same thing to happen to me, if the roles were reversed. He would hate it as much as I do, but we are on separate sides of this war. There is nothing that we can do about that. Now you have to choose a side Aria.”
She shook her head, hating the fact that she wanted to cry again. “How can I choose a side Jack? It’s not so simple. If I choose him then I forfeit my life, there would be nowhere for me to go after that. If I choose my family than I am giving up the only man that has ever made me feel this way, the only person I have ever been in love with.”
He stared at her for a long moment, and then he turned his back on her. She followed him as he made his way through the forest. They moved slowly together for a long time in silence. “I didn’t say it was going to be an easy choice, it wasn’t for me either. But it is one that you are going to have to make. And soon.”
“I don’t know when he’ll be back,” she whispered.
“He won’t be gone for long…”
“You don’t know that.”
Jack was silent for a long moment, and then he stopped walking and turned to face her in the dwindling daylight. The strong resemblance he bore to his brother caused a tug of longing to pull at her heart. He watched her with the same intensity that his brother always did, studied her with the same confusion that she had often seen on Braith’s face. It seemed that neither of them knew exactly what to make of her. But then, she didn’t know exactly what to make of them either.
She had thought Braith a cruel, monstrous bastard, and now she was in love with him. She had thought Jack a human, their friend, and companion, but it turned out she was the only one in her family that hadn’t known that he was actually a vampire, and a member of the royal family. She had been kept in the dark, because they all thought her too weak to be able to handle the truth. In truth, she was far stronger than any of them knew. There was far more to her than they had ever imagined. The only one that seemed to understand, and accept the true depth of her strength, was Braith. He was the only one that did not try to coddle her, did not try to shelter her anymore from the harsh realities of both of their existences. He was the only one that knew she was strong enough to handle the truth.
And if there was one thing she was becoming very tired of, it was being coddled.
“I do know it, and by the time he comes back you are going to have to make your choice.”
“What if I choose wrong?”
He glanced over at her, his eyebrows raised as he studied her. “I don’t think you have a right choice here Aria.”
She bit on her bottom lip as she nodded. “You’re right. Are you going to tell my family about this?”
Jack shook his head as he started walking again. “No. Braith is not a threat to them. Even if you choose them, he will not hurt them, that’s not who he is. If you don’t choose him he would not purposely hurt you in such a way. No matter how much it will hurt him if he loses you.”
She grasped hold of Jack’s arm, pulling him to a stop beside her. “I do love him,” she said softly.
He managed a wan smile, his hand enclosed hers. “I know that Aria. And though it is baffling to me, I know that he loves you.”
She frowned fiercely at him, not at all liking his comment. “Thanks.”
He grinned at her; his hand squeezed her tightly before releasing her. “I just never thought it of Braith. We may have been the closest out of all our siblings, but he always kept a part of himself distant, aloof. As the future king, he had to stay distant. It would always be his job to uphold his duties and responsibilities. And to Braith those responsibilities always came first. I didn’t think he would ever be capable of loving someone; he kept himself too separated for that.