“Not bad brother, not bad.” Aria’s eyes widened, she couldn’t stop her head from snapping up as the stranger stopped before her. His hair was the same dark color as the prince’s, his features similar, though his nose was slightly larger and sharper, and his lips were thinner. His eyes, unhindered by dark shades, were a deep forest green, and surprisingly beautiful. He was shorter than the prince, but his shoulders were broader as he stepped imposingly closer to her. Aria had no choice but to take a step back as he used his height and size to intimidate her. His eyes gleamed with amusement as he stepped closer to her, causing her to retreat another step.

Anger spurted through her, but she swiftly buried it. It did not matter how much she wished to stand up to this imposing, overbearing, pitiless creature, to do so would only cause problems. Especially since, if his looks and words were any indication, he seemed to be a prince in his own right. Aria had heard rumors that there were four brothers, and two sisters. But she had also heard that there were three brothers and no sisters. Or even five brothers and three sisters. The rumors about the royal family had always swirled rapidly, with none of the villages knowing anything for certain, and the rebel outlets knowing even less. Aria supposed that was the way the royal family liked it, where no one knew anything about them for certain, and they could not be completely pinned down.

She wondered which of the brothers was older, which of them would one day rule the kingdom. But she supposed in her situation it didn’t make much of a difference. She was at the mercy of them both.

The prince remained silent, his indifference causing a small pain in her chest.

Had she simply imagined the growing bond between them? Had she simply just wanted to believe that perhaps he may actually be starting to like her, and that was why he had taken her for a walk today, that was why he had been teaching her to read?

Of course she had, she realized, anger at herself springing forth as she forced her head back down. Of course he cared nothing for her, she was nothing here, she never had been, and she never would be. She had known all along that he was only toying with her, stringing her along, just to make it hurt more in the end, and though he probably was not done with his game she was most certainly done playing it.

Her fingers clenched, she closed her eyes as she took a deep breath, trying hard to keep control of her anger. She was not angry at them, she was not even angry at this whole awful situation, but she was infuriated with herself. She had been a fool to let her guard down, a fool to think she was anything more than a backwoods disposable girl to them. Except, she was more than that.

Her father was a leader, a ruler in his own right. In her world, she was an outstanding hunter, and a fierce warrior. She did not have Daniel’s knack for making strategies and creating plans, nor did she have William’s charismatic ability to rouse people to battle, but she was quick and she was strong, and she was adept at using many weapons. She was also good with animals; she tended to the ones that they kept within the caves, nursing and healing them when necessary. She was talented at capturing, and breaking the animals they needed to aid them such as horses, bulls, cows, sheep, and goats. Yes, she may be a nothing in this world, but in her world she had many different talents and abilities that were looked upon highly. In her own world, she was something, and she was admired and loved and respected.

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.

She knew that the vampires were cruel, indifferent, brutal, and bloodthirsty but this was the first she had heard of this sort of thing. But then again, she had always just assumed that a blood slave was drained and tortured physically, but perhaps they were also mentally assaulted until they snapped completely, and had to be killed.

Aria shuddered at the thought, seconds before a barrette was jabbed roughly into her scalp. Aria shot Lauren a dark look, but her protest and anger died out as she saw the malicious gleam in Lauren’s eyes. A sinking feeling filled her as she realized that it was not only the vampires that were cruel here, but also the humans, her own kind.

And she was completely at Lauren’s mercy, a fact that was driven home by the sharp stab of the next barrette.

Aria withstood it all through the next few days; she took the handfuls of hair she lost with silence. She remained quiet through the skin pinching, jerking, pulling, and shoving that it often took for Lauren to get her into clothes that fit perfectly once on, but seemed almost impossible for Lauren to get on her at times. Bruises marred her skin from her chest down, but she was well aware of the fact that Lauren did not touch her face. Though she was in pain, Aria would not give Lauren, or the prince, the satisfaction of seeing her break, of seeing her cry.

Instead, she kept it all inside, letting her anger fester. She let it build, fueling her rage and fanning her desire to escape this place the first chance she got.

It wasn’t until she was climbing out of the shower, and Lauren pushed her onto the hard floor, that a startled cry of pain escaped her. Her knees smacked off of the hard floor, her palms stung painfully, her hip was bruised, and she heard the sharp crack of one of her ribs. Aria pushed herself slowly up, gingerly rising to her feet, her hand cradling her wounded ribs.

She had been trampled by horses before; it had hurt worse than this, but not by much. At least then she had been able to roll through most of the horses hooves. Now she was on a constant collision course with the woman that was torturing her on a daily basis. She did not know how much more she could take before she snapped and pounded the girl into a bloody mess. For though she was beaten, and now also broken, she was certain she could still take the blonde on and just as certain that she would face immediate death afterward for it.

She was beginning to think that death might be worth it, if it meant getting to extract a little revenge upon Lauren. The only thing holding her back was that she wanted to extract revenge upon all of them, not just the bitch before her. She wanted to show everyone that she was more than just the simple minded blood slave they thought she was.

Aria cradled her ribs as she defiantly met Lauren’s smug smile. She moved slowly, gingerly into the dressing room, trying not to cry as Lauren pulled the strings of her dress tight. For the first time since she had arrived, she ignored the tray of food outside her door, preferring to curl up in the bed, trying to fight off the agony crushing her chest. It did not help that she could not get the offending dress off, could not work the horrible tight ties free.