Align Ourselves Page 4

  "It's really up to you, Aria," Martinez said. "If you wanna marry this guy, then do it. But...you have to understand that this means giving up any sort of future you have planned for yourself. If you don't want to, you know we'll all support you. If you go, we go with you. Fuck the Terra. We made it this far."

  She heard a few people murmur "Yeah" and "Shawn's right," while a few people nodded. The majority of the group just looked scared.

  "Aria, you can't actually be considering this..." Ben said.

  "I-I need to think about this for a little while...by myself."

  She wanted to be alone, but because they were all crammed in the dungeon, she didn't get the chance to do so. She settled for sitting in a corner and placing her head between her knees.

  To marry the king, she'd have to forfeit her entire future, all of her plans. It wasn't like she had any plans anymore, considering that her life lately revolved around getting through each day...but still. She could have married any man or woman she'd wanted to. She could have stayed single.

  But now, she either had to marry this man and stay here in this place. Or refuse the terms and be sent back to where they’d come from.

  She wasn't sure which option was worse. They were both equally shitty.

  But this place...it wasn't what she was expecting. And these people, they were actually considering letting them live here in peace.

  Despite all of that, she knew what it really came down to. Was she willing to sacrifice her life, her happiness for her people? So that they could get a chance to live in peace? In safety?

  When she took on the role of leader, she never imagined it'd come to this. This was her future.

  She looked around at her people, her friends. Aria knew they meant what they said; they’d follow her anywhere. But she wanted to do this for them. To give them some stability and safety.

  She climbed to the top of the stairs, where she knew a guard would be waiting. She didn't want to wait until morning; she didn't want to allow herself to change her mind. She knew what she had to do.

  She asked the guard to take her to the king's rooms; she told him it was important.

  To her surprise, he nodded and told her to follow him.

  He took her down large hallways, up a few flights of steps, and down a few more hallways until they stopped in front of two massive doors.

  The guard knocked a few times before they finally heard the door being unlocked.

  "Sorry to disturb you, Your Grace, but the lady requested to see you," the guard said, looking at Aria.

  The king looked a little surprised, but other than that, he seemed utterly impassive. He nodded at the guard and opened the door further, letting Aria come inside.

  The room they were in must have been his private quarters. Everything was so....nice. She felt taken aback, yet again.

  He motioned for her to sit on a plush, white sofa. She sat down, looking around the room. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been in such a nice place, if ever.

  "And to what do I owe the pleasure," he asked, seeming a little bored. Or maybe he was tired. He sat down on the opposite end of the couch.

  "I-I have thought about your terms," Aria said, her voice wavering.

  "And?"

  "And I have a few questions."

  He didn't say anything, waiting for her to go on.

  "If-if I decide to accept your offer....what exactly...I mean, what would you expect from me," she asked.

  "Is marriage a foreign concept where you come from," he asked as he smirked at her.

  She glared at him. How could he joke at a time like this? She kind of wanted to slap that stupid smirk right off his face, so she placed her hands under her thighs to control the shaking.

  "I would expect your loyalty. Not only to me but to my people as well. You'd live here with me. At some point, I'd like to have children...but that isn't exactly a condition, just my personal preference," he said, and still, he smirked at her.

  The urge to slap him was even greater than before.

  "So...I'd be...like, the queen?"

  "Well, I am the king. So yes, you would be the queen."

  She took a moment to consider that.

  "And my people....they would truly get to live here, in peace, in safety?"

  He sighed. "As I've said before, as long as they abide by my terms, they'll be safe."

  "Yeah, I know you said that," she snapped, very annoyed at this point. "But people don't always mean what they say. I have no idea who you are. From what I've heard, you aren't someone I should trust," she said before she could stop herself.

  But part of her didn't care. If she really was going to marry this man, she should at least get a little sense of who he was.

  "Yes, well, perhaps you shouldn't always believe what you hear. You and your people are a perfect example of that. You are not what I expected you to be....based on what I've heard, as you say," he said, seeming just as annoyed as she felt.

  She narrowed her eyes at him. "And if I accept this offer, will I have some sort of say here?"

  "You would be the queen. Of course, you'd have some sort of say here."

  It was the best she could hope for. And if she didn't accept it, then they would be forced to go back to where they had come from.

  "Okay...I accept your offer," she said after a few minutes.

  "Alright, I will let my people know tomorrow. We will have the ceremony in a couple weeks once everything has settled."

  "Okay then," she said, getting up. She was going to marry a king. She didn't even know him. "What's your name,” she asked. Part of her wondered why she was acting so bold, so familiar in front of him.

  He let out a short laugh. It kind of transformed him. Suddenly, he didn't look like the king. He looked like someone who's smile made her want to smile too.

  "My name is Lex, and you can refer to me as such," he said, his genuine smile from a moment ago was replaced by yet another smirk.

  "Okay, then, Lex. I guess we have a deal. Should-should we shake on it or something," she asked, but as soon as the question was out, she mentally cursed herself.

  "There's no need to....shake on it...whatever the hell that means. You still have the rest of the night to think it over. Hell, I guess you have all of the time until the actual ceremony to change your mind."

  "Is that what you're hoping for," she asked.

  "If that was what I was hoping for...I wouldn't have asked you in the first place," he said, getting up to walk her to the door.

  She prepared to open the door, ready to leave when he grabbed her upper arm.

  "But Aria? Once we do this...I expect loyalty. I expect commitment. If you or your people are planning something...if you go behind my back, if you betray me...I hope you understand that I'll have no choice but to kill all of you.”

  A chill ran up her spine.

  She gave him a nod before leaving. She felt safer in the dungeon.

  Chapter 6

  His parting words replayed over and over while she made her way back to the dungeon. If you betray me, I'll have no choice but to kill all of you.

  The threat rang loud and clear.

  When she was back in the dungeon, she told her people what was going to happen. The only person who protested was Ben. But she expected that.

  He did tell her he had feelings for her, after all. But whatever feelings she’d had for him were crushed when she realized how Mara still felt about him. How they had been in love once upon a time. Or until Ben met Aria if Mara was telling her the truth.

  A part of Aria was still hurt by the whole thing. But since then, she'd been so focused on staying alive that she didn't really have time to dwell on those feelings. And now, she was pretty much over it.

  Even though she was exhausted, she slept no more than an hour that night. And the uncomfortable dungeon was only part of the reason why.

  The next morning, a guard came to fetch them, and they made their way back into the throne room. There were a lot of pe
ople there, who they were, she wasn't sure. But they must've been important enough to eat with the king.

  Lex was at his place at the front of the room, talking to Grace.

  Aria tried not to look at him. He was dressed similarly to how he had been the night before, but this time, he had his crown.

  After they sat down and began eating, he stood. The entire room went quiet.

  "Aria, the leader of our new friends, has agreed to an alliance with us, with me. She's accepted my hand in marriage, and so we will accept her and her people into our community. For the time being, she and her people will be staying here in the palace until other arrangements can be made. I expect everyone to treat them with respect and welcome them into our home," he said, cutting right to the chase.

  "I will take the time to get to know the new people, and once I do, I will place them as I see fit. In the meantime, I'd appreciate it if the rest of you did the same. We will have our wedding three weeks from now, so I expect preparations to start immediately.” And with that, he sat back down, and the atmosphere in the room changed. People actually seemed excited.

  Throughout the meal, Aria noticed different people going out of their way to say hello to her and the others at her table. Instead of ignoring them, they tried to make chit chat by asking them a few questions or offering food or drink.

  Aria tried to look pleased, but mostly she felt like throwing up. She kept expecting things to go south. For the king to change his mind and kick them out. Or worse.

  Eventually, Lex rose from the table. He walked towards her, and for a second, she felt like she couldn't breathe. But he didn't even acknowledge her. Instead, he pointed to Martinez, Adrian, and a few other people and asked them to follow him. They all looked a little afraid, but they did as they were told.

  Before leaving, he turned back to face those who weren't going with him.

  "You are free to do as you please, so roam around the palace. Explore the grounds. If you wish to visit the village, please let my sister know to set you up with an escort. Do not go alone. That will be my only warning. I'm having rooms prepared for you all, but in the meantime, you may stay here," he said, looking around the group.

  And then he left with the group of people he had hand-selected.

  Aria stayed with the others, trying to eat. She'd lost a lot of weight; they all had. She couldn't remember ever being this skinny. And she felt weak, so she figured the best thing she could do was eat as much as she could. After her third plate, she noticed Grace walking towards her.

  "So, do you want a tour of the palace," she asked, getting right to the point.

  "Um. Sure. Can a few of my friends join?"

  "Of course.”

  Aria asked a few people to join her, and they left the throne room, following Grace.

  The palace was huge. There were a lot of empty corridors and hallways, but there were also a lot of rooms. The whole tour took about an hour. The palace felt comfortable and warm, and there always seemed to be people around.

  "So that's it. There's only one more place I have to show you guys. Personally, it's my favorite place in the entire palace," she said, a little mischievously.

  To Aria’s surprise, she led them outside to a giant outdoor recreation area, with what looked like storage sheds placed around the perimeter. There were guards here training with swords, bows, arrows, and even hand to hand combat. Some were riding horses.

  "Our training area," Grace said with a smirk.

  Aria didn't know where to look first. People with swords, knives, axes, bows, maces. Pretty much anything she could think of.

  "You guys just let anyone come out and use this stuff," Ben asked.

  "We have nothing to fear. And besides, did you not notice the guards,” Grace asked, raising an eyebrow.

  There were four of them, one in each corner. Do they always keep the weapons here? Or are they here because of the influx of guests now residing in the palace? Aria wondered.

  In the center of the space, people were fighting. Well, practicing. And to Aria's surprise, Lex was one of them. He explained something to Martinez while the others who had gone with him were practicing with some of Lex's people.

  "Well, what are you guys waiting for," Grace asked, "Who wants to practice?"

  "Uhh...I don't know if that's such a good idea.." Peter said.

  But before he could protest, Grace grabbed his arm and led him away.

  Mara and Ben followed. Eventually, the rest of the group joined them, some practicing with one another while the others watched.

  Aria found herself on the sidelines, watching the others. A while later, she noticed Lex walking towards her.

  He wasn't in his formal clothes anymore. In fact, he looked like everyone else here.

  "Your people are in terrible shape," he said, walking up to stand beside her.

  Aria crossed her arms over her chest. "Yeah, well, we haven't really had much to eat since we came up here," she said, a little defensively.

  "And they've got absolutely no combat skills," he added.

  "Well, we've made it this far."

  "Are you always this hostile? Or is it just my presence," he asked, raising an eyebrow.

  "I don't really know. But it might just be your presence."

  He smirked at her. "Do you want to practice?"

  "What?"

  "Do you want to practice," he repeated as he nodded towards the center of the space.

  "Uh...not really, no," she said. There was no way she was going to get up in front of all these people and pretend to fight. She knew she couldn't. She'd save herself the embarrassment.

  "Well, you know, even queens have to fight sometimes. You should learn how to protect yourself."

  She felt a blush creep to her cheeks at his comment. "I'm fine."

  "Whatever you say," and he actually rolled his eyes at her.

  Before she could think of a comeback, he left and joined the crowd in the center.

  Aria decided to leave and explore the palace on her own for a while. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had time to herself. It felt nice. She didn't have to worry about her facial expressions; she didn't have to talk to anyone or make any decisions. Eventually, she found herself walking into a garden. It had a bench, and there were flowers everywhere. For the first time in a long time, she let herself feel sad. She let herself mourn for those she was sure she would never see again. For all the things she would lose.

  She didn't want to marry this man. She didn't want to be the queen. But what other choice did she have? She knew this was the best option for her people. She had to put their needs in front of her own, yet again. She let a few tears slide down her face, grateful for the solitude.

  Eventually, she made her way back to the throne room for a late lunch. But when she arrived, there wasn't anyone else there. She cursed herself for missing lunch. She vaguely remembered where Grace had pointed out the kitchen, and after a while, she found it. It was huge. There were two older ladies, a young girl and a middle-aged man there.

  "Hello, there dear," one of the ladies said, noticing Aria standing in the doorway.

  "Hi-um...I-I missed lunch, so I was wondering if I could...If I could have something to eat?”

  "Well, of course, why don't you sit down at that table," the lady said, pointing to a small wooden table pushed against the far wall, "and I'll get you something."

  Aria felt a little awkward, but she made her way to the table. A few minutes later, the lady set down a bowl of what looked like a stew and a big piece of bread.

  "Thank you," Aria said, smiling at her.

  "You're welcome, my lady," the woman answered.

  She ate in silence. Well, this isn't so bad. I might have to marry a stranger, but at least I get to eat. And shoes, she thought, looking at her feet. A guard had brought her a nice pair of sturdy boots that morning.

  When she tried to clean up after herself, the same lady told her they would take care of it. She hated to admit it, but it w
as lovely. She was so used to taking care of the others, watching over them, she'd forgotten what it was like to be taken care of for a change.

  After she ate, she decided to go back to the bathtub room to take another bath. She warmed the water at the fireplace before dumping it in the tub. And then she just let herself soak for a while. She felt tired since she'd barely slept the night before.

  Aria roused to the sound of a few girls entering the bathroom, giggling and talking. Mara was among them. They were all sweaty; they must've been practicing their fighting skills.

  Aria knew she should eventually join them. She really should practice; she might need those skills. She should be able to defend herself.

  After her bath, she wandered around the palace some more, eventually settling on a windowsill to study the scenery.

  She could see the little village that was located below the palace. It looked nice. She could see the houses and make out people here and there. She wanted to visit, but she decided to save that for another day when she got a little more comfortable here.

  The sun had started to set, and she wished she had something to write or draw with. It was a beautiful place; there was no denying that. Eventually, she knew it was time for dinner, so she made her way back to the throne room. As usual, her friends were in their regular spot. Lex and Grace in theirs.

  She sat down next to Mara and tried to join in on the conversation. Everyone was in a significantly better mood than they had been yesterday. Hell, then they had been in the last month. That made Aria smile.

  She found herself relaxing and laughing with her friends. She hadn't laughed in so long.

  Later in the evening, Lex made his way down to their table.

  "I've had a few rooms prepared for you. Since there aren't enough rooms for each of you, you'll have to share. Decide among yourselves, and when you're ready, the guards can take you to them," he said, looking around at them.

  When his eyes landed on Aria, they darkened slightly.

  "For the time being, you can stay in the rooms with your friends until you're ready to move into my room," he said before walking away.

  A few people giggled. Ben glared at Lex as he walked away.