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 people 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
