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
