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Collective gasps floated around the room. The richly dressed royalty finally turned to see what was happening. Even Aria
The prisoner looked up at the king with wide frightened eyes. She shook her head back and forth, her blackened hands opening and closing in the cuffs. “Y-your highness, I have already told you. Already told you everything.”
“Fine, take the prisoner—”
“Wait!” she cried and fought against the guards trying to drag her up.
Aria
“Shopping, I shopped at store. No, didn’t make it there. I don’t know. A man, a demon, came, t-took me. He’d kill me. I went. He d-dragged me away from my home.” She spoke so rapidly, her words ran together in a long stream without pauses except for large breaths. “We came near a rift. Atal warriors s-started to charge, to fight. The demon opened a portal. The Warrior pulled out a crossbow and killed him; he fell down, his body fell against me. I got knocked into the portal. N-now I'm here. I do not belong here.”
The king tapped a finger against the throne as he stared at her. His eyes, black as a sunless sky, watched her with an intensity that became of madness.
“Who was the demon?”
Tears slid down her cheeks. “I don't know. He...he took me away from my family.” Her soft voice broke and she hung her head low.
For several minutes, the only sound in the room was the thump thump thump of the king's finger on the throne. Then it stopped and silence suffocated the room like heavy rain.
“I'll allow you one bath.”
The news didn't make her smile, didn't light her eyes with joy. Her dried lips only pulled further into a frown. “B-but your highness, I do not belong here.”
He didn't blink as he watched her. “I know you're not one of us. But you didn’t admit to stealing from the queen and that must be punished.” He waved at the guards and they dragged the prisoner to her feet and out of the room.
Only after she left did conversation resume.
“Well that was odd,” Celine whispered.
“As if almost thirty years in a cell isn't punishment enough. Let alone for a crime she didn't commit,” Aria
“Aria
Aria
Aria
“Your highness.” Her eyes stayed trained on the gold and copper tiled floor below his booted feet.
“Look at me,” he said in a low voice.
She had to tighten the muscles in her body to keep from visibly shaking as she looked up at him. His eyes never used to be so dark. Once they were a deep brown but now black as tar. His skin, once golden like sunshine, now was darker—almost the color of coal. She had no doubt that years from now everything about him would be black, like his heart. His hair used to be a lovely auburn, red with a hint of brown that shined like polished copper in the light, but even that had turned over the years to the color of his mother's hair—black.
“Yes, your highness?”
He looked at her for what felt like a year. “You still have not taken a man?”
Of all the questions he could have asked her, in front of the entire audience, she never thought he'd ask that. “No, I have not.”
“Are you waiting on someone...particular?”
Where was he going with this?
“Yes,” she answered.
His eyes swept over her body. The look didn't linger, yet she felt the need to cover herself up with a heavy blanket. “Perhaps it's time for you to stop waiting and move on.” He paused to let that sink in. “He isn't coming back to claim you.”
She couldn't stifle her gasp. He was wrong. He would come back. But she kept her lips sealed, the last thing she wanted was to incur his wrath.
“I want you to dine with me tomorrow.”
She looked back down at the stone floor so he wouldn't see the panic in her eyes. “Anything you wish, your highness.”
She could hear the smirk in his voice. “Anything I wish....” He stood, every tall, terrifying inch of him. “Tomorrow then.” He stalked away, knee-high leather boots crunching on the stone floors.
Aria
“What was that all about?” she hissed in a low voice.
Aria
“He wants me to have di
“What could he want?”
“I...I don't know.”
Celine pulled her into a tight embrace. Suddenly, Aria
Don't be silly, she told herself. It's just di
CHAPTER 7
Medina's was a little shop squished between two other small buildings on a narrow brick street. On one side sat a coffee shop that always made Medina's smell like freshly brewed coffee and on the other side sat an antique shop that always had a ‘closed’ sign in the window. Lily told the driver to wait for her and went into Medina's.
A bell that sounded like a wind chime rang as she entered. Bright chandeliers and wall sconces lit the shop. Old rugs, discolored from age, covered the floor and a variety of bookshelves and glass cabinets lined the room. Lily gingerly passed through the bookshelves and smelled a mixture of herbs and coffee. Soft instrumental music played from the back of the store. A soft voice hummed along to the tune and made Lily smile.
She passed the cases of books and came into the main room where an island sat with plastic drawers filled with fresh dried herbs, plants, and little bottles of oils plugged with a small cork.
“Rosa?” The humming stopped and then the dark-ski
A smile lit up her face. “Lily! You're here!” They hugged, sharing a laugh. Rosa pulled away and looked her up and down. “And you're not wearing any shoes.”
Lily shrugged. “Long story. I was hoping to catch you here. I lost my backpack in a car accident and I need some supplies.”
Rosa shook her head and sighed. “You in a car accident? Why can I totally picture this?”
“Hey, I'm a great driver. The guy in front of me just slowed down too much.”
“Lily, I don't think that's how driving's supposed to work.”
She shrugged. “Whatever.” Picking up a brown paper bag, she began searching the shelves, grabbing essential oils, herbs, candles, and incense that got left in her pack.
Rosa took a seat in a wide but short chair that looked probably older than she was. “What happened to your nose?”
Lily told her about the car accident, the missing shoes, the door stamping her face, and then getting into Telal's.