And she missed it fiercely. Heat colored her face; longing sprang forth as she ducked her head from this stranger’s cruel perusal of her. She wanted so badly to be free of this room, wanted so badly to be home, wanted so badly to take back the last five minutes. She wished she had never come out here, wished that she had been able to slip away before either one of them had noticed her. But this was better, she decided. It was much better this way.
She had been spending the last couple of weeks in a kind of suspended dream. She had been trying to deny reality, but now it was staring her in the face and it was just as hard, and just as cruel as it always had been. She had known food, beauty, and cleanliness here but that was little compared to respect, admiration, and the unconditional love of her family. And she wanted that back so very badly right now.
“Perhaps, when you are done with her…”
“I do not share Caleb, you are well aware of that fact,” the prince said forcefully.
“There is always a first time for everything. She’s only a blood slave after all.”
Aria forced herself to keep her head down, she was afraid that if she looked at either one of them she would start screaming, and she would never stop. She wanted to tell them how awful they were, how wrong and horrendous and cruel their world was. She wanted to scream at them that she did not deserve this, that her people did not deserve this. She wanted to tell them just exactly what she thought of the both of them, but that would only guarantee her death.
And she wanted her freedom. Desperately. She wanted to show them that she was more than nothing; she wanted to show them that she was something special. And to do that she would have to get free of here, she would have to be the first blood slave to ever escape the bonds of their master. And she could do it somehow, she knew she could.
“Leave us.” Aria glanced up quickly, briefly meeting the shadowed eyes of her prince. Caleb was still inspecting her as if she were a side of beef, his eyes narrowed intently. She hated the leering gleam in his eyes; it reminded her of the creepy little vampire that had first claimed her. “Now!”
She jumped slightly at the barked command. The prince had never raised his voice at her. He had been overbearing and pushy when she had first arrived, but he had never yelled at her. Fresh hurt washed through her, she quickly buried it beneath her growing anger and sense of betrayal. She managed a brief nod before turning on her heel; she had to force herself not to run as she hurried from the room. She did not want them to suspect just how hurt she really felt, or just how infuriated she truly was.
Chapter 6
Aria stayed mostly within her room for the next few days, she did not bother the prince, and he did not bother her. Every meal time her trays would be sitting outside of her door. She took them, because not to do so would be foolish. She wanted to escape, she would escape, but in order to do that she would need to be strong. And she needed food to make her strong.
The only company she had was Maggie, but though the girl was always kind to her they had little to say to each other, and Aria did not trust her. On her third day of imposed solitude the prince came to her door, but she ignored him, pretending to sleep when he opened the door to her room.
On the fourth day, Lauren arrived.
Aria was just stepping out of the shower when she spotted the blond within the bathroom, clothes in hand. Aria froze at the sight of her; her hand flew to her throat as she stared in shock at the girl. Their gazes locked for a long moment before Lauren turned and left the room. Aria grabbed hold of the towels Lauren had left behind, drying herself quickly before wrapping the towel around herself.
She moved wearily to the dressing room in between the bathroom and her bedroom. Lauren’s hand was resting on the back of the chair as she waited impatiently for her, a cruel smile curving her full mouth. Her gaze traveled slowly up and down Aria, her lip curled slightly in disgust. Aria would have been happy if she had never seen this girl again, and it was more than apparent that Lauren felt the same way.
“Where is Maggie?” Aria inquired softly.
Lauren shrugged absently; she lifted the brush, twisting it within her hand as she eyed Aria cruelly. “I don’t know, the prince has requested my services from now on.”
Aria tilted her chin defiantly up, her hands clenched tightly. This was just one more way for him to humiliate her, and put her in her place. He was punishing her for locking herself within her room, punishing her for hiding from him, but she would take that punishment without complaint. She could take whatever he and Lauren threw at her.
She did not look at the girl again as she settled into the chair before her. Lauren began to brush out her hair, pulling sharply at it, nearly tugging it from her head. Aria was unable to keep herself from wincing every once in awhile, but she did not utter a sound of complaint. Lauren smoothed her hair out, and then reached forward to grab hold of some of the barrettes upon the table. Aria did not miss the bite marks that marred Lauren’s wrist and inner arm, nor did Lauren miss Aria’s wide eyed, disgusted reaction to them.
The hateful blond leaned close to her ear. “The prince was exceptionally hungry this morning.”
Aria froze, unable to move or blink as the implication behind those words sank in. No matter what Lauren did to her, and no matter what happened within these rooms, it would do Aria no good to tell the prince about it because Lauren was his mistress, and the one that he fed from. He would not believe anything that came from Aria’s mouth, especially not when it was about the woman that was providing for his needs.
Aria shuddered in disgust, but she was more ashamed to admit that the realization caused an odd twinge of hurt within her. She should be relieved he had not turned to her; it was the last thing she wanted after all. She was lucky that he had not come after her, that he was not using and abusing her, that he was going to other women. Then why wasn’t she?
She may not understand her strange reaction to these circumstances, but she was beginning to understand Lauren’s intense dislike of her a lot more. She was threatened by Aria’s presence within these rooms.
What she didn’t understand was what the hell she was doing here. The prince had someone to sustain and provide for him. What did he want with her, when he had not even once tried to feed from her? Was she simply here for his enjoyment? For him to mentally torment her? She also did not understand, or want to acknowledge the sharp pain of hurt that stabbed through her. She refused to be hurt by the knowledge that the prince was with other women, refused to allow such an awful thing to happen.