"There's one more thing," Aria said. "The king wants to make an alliance with us…… through marriage."
Everyone looked around in confusion. A few people actually look scared.
"Between whom," Mara asked.
"The leader of each group," Aria said, her voice devoid of emotion.
"So....that means that...you...you'd have to marry him," Peter asked.
Aria nodded.
"No," Ben yelled, getting up. "Absolutely not, Aria! You've heard what the others have said about him. We-we can't consider this."
"Yes, Ben, I've heard what they've said..." Aria began, "But so far...it-it isn't as bad as they said it was." She couldn't believe she was actually considering marrying him. She realized, at that moment, that she didn't even know his name. She was considering marrying a stranger.
"Yes, but that doesn't mean it's not true. He-he could just be acting this way to get you to marry him," Ben yelled.
"Okay, but why would he do that? What exactly does he have to gain from us? I mean, he was right. There are literally 25 of us. And most of us don't even know how to fight or anything. So why would he be trying to trick us," Martinez asked.
"I-I don't know. I just know that something weird is going on," Ben said.
A few people started talking all at once.
"Everyone be quiet," Aria yelled. "There's an easy way to settle this. Show of hands, who wants to stay?"
About twenty hands are raised.
"Okay, who wants to go," she asked.
Only three hands go up.
"Aria...this place is okay, but we can't ask you to do that. You don't even know who he is," Mara said quietly.
"I know, but what other choice do we have, Mara? Those are his terms. And if we decide to leave...." she thinks back to that horrible time of being a captive, being completely powerless.
"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,
