"Stop this," Aria said, looking at Lex. "You're the king. You can stop this, tell her to stop!'
"Why? She wanted to fight. And so she is," he said, shrugging.
"You don't understand," Aria snapped.
"Get up," Grace yelled, looking down at Mara. She kicked her again.
"No, you don’t understand," Lex said, indifferent.
Mara groaned, still on the ground. Aria hoped it was over. But Grace continued to circle around Mara.
"You’re pathetic," Grace said as she smirked down at Mara. A few people laughed.
Mara stood up, clutching her side, her mouth bloody. She spits at Grace's feet.
Grace looked to Lex, who nodded.
Aria was a little confused by the ordeal. Grace then turned back to Mara. Before Mara could even put her hands up, Grace punched her across the face so fast and so hard that Mara loses her footing and ends up falling face-first to the ground.
Aria decided to go to her, Mara's pride be damned. But Lex grabbed her arm and yanked her back.
"This isn't your fight, and as she said, this doesn't involve you," he said, clearly angry.
"I think she's had enough," Aria said as she yanked her arm free.
"When she's done, she'll say so. You are not in control here," he said.
Aria glared at him. She wanted to leave, but she was afraid to, for Mara's sake.
To almost everyone's surprise, Mara got back up. Aria wanted to scream at her. Tell her to stay down, or give in. But she knew that would only make Mara angrier.
"Are you done now?" Grace asked mockingly.
"Fuck you bitch," Mara shot back.
Aria cringed, watching Grace narrow her eyes, a scowl forming on her face.
"Well, you really shouldn't have said that," Grace said, raising an eyebrow.
Mara only had enough time to brace herself before Grace drove her knee into her stomach. She doubled over, gasping for air. Grace paused for a second, giving Mara enough time to look up before punching her one last time.
Mara doesn't get back up.
Aria goes to her, and this time Lex lets her. Grace smirked at Aria before walking away. Aria glared at Grace's back before turning to Mara, who’s still lying on the ground.
"Oh my god," Aria said, taking Mara's bloody face in her hands.
But Mara shoves Aria's hands away from her face, "I'm fine," she said, sitting up.
"Fine? You could have a concussion, Mara! What the hell were you thinking?"
"I thought that I wanted to fight, and I did. So back off. You're not my goddamn keeper, Aria. So stop fucking acting like it," Mara said, quite harshly.
Aria couldn't mask the hurt that washed over her. She was only trying to help. Lex makes his way towards them. Once he's close enough, he offers Mara his hand. To Aria's surprise, she takes it, and he pulls her up.
"Good job," he said.
"I got my ass kicked, I know that. You don't have to rub it in."
"What," he asked, looking genuinely confused. "No, I mean, of course, you got your ass kicked. But that was to be expected. The fact that you kept getting up is what I was referring to."
"Oh," Mara said.
"We’ve all been there. No one is born a warrior. But having the strength, the fire to keep going even though you are losing is just as important as combat skills. Even more so, I'd say. I suspect, with some training, you might be able to get a few hits the next time you decide to fight my sister. Who knows, maybe you'll even win," he said, smirking at her.
Mara's returning smile is hesitant and small, but it's there.
"I'll have one of my guards escort you to our healer; let him assess you and see if there's anything that needs to be done," he said before calling one of the guards over.
Mara nods and limps after the guard, following him out of the room.
Aria's anger from earlier had dwindled, mostly due to the way Lex had treated Mara. He was a lot kinder than she had been expecting.
"As for you," he began, turning to face Aria. "Remember what I said earlier. Your people can do as they wish, do not try to control them. And next time...don't interrupt. You are not the queen, just yet," he said, his voice cold.
Her anger returned. But she knew better than to try and argue, so she just nodded. She focused on channeling all of her rage into her eyes, hoping he'd get the message. He only rolled his eyes and left.
She stormed away, going back to her room. She laid in bed, thinking about Mara. And Grace. And Lex.
She was still angry once lunchtime came around, and although she was hungry, she stayed in bed. At some point, she fell asleep.
Eventually, one of the girls she shared her room with woke her up.
"Hey, it's dinner time. I figured you wouldn't want to miss it since you weren't at lunch," the girl said.
"Oh, um, yeah. Thanks."
The girl leaves the room, and shortly after, Aria followed, still a little groggy from her nap.
She sat down at her usual spot and looked around. She noticed Mara sitting at the very end of the table, so far from where she usually sat at Aria's side. Mara's face was already bruising her one eye almost swollen shut. Aria tried not to feel hurt by the distance Mara had put between them, but she was.
Ben took Mara's seat at Aria's side.
"Hey, where have you been? We missed you at lunch."
"I was taking a nap," Aria said, filling her plate. She was starving at that point.
"Oh," he said. They ate in silence for a little while before he spoke up again. "So, Mara and I had a fight last night."
"I heard," Aria said. She didn't really feel like talking.
"She says it's because I never loved her....like I love you," he said, looking at Aria.
Aria didn't know what to say to that, how to reply. So she remained silent.
"She's right, you know," he said, lowering his voice.
Aria looked up and saw Mara looking at her, just
