Ben looked genuinely happy if a little surprised.
"What's gotten into you," he asked, twirling her around.
Aria lets out a laugh, pretending she's a little drunk before she pulls him closer.
"I know it was you," she whispered.
He looked taken aback. His eyes widened. Totally and completely guilty. "Aria-"
"Don't say anything. It doesn't matter; I know you did it. And I know why. But Ben, you could have gotten us all killed. We want to stay, I want to stay. Isn't that enough for you?"
"But Aria...I did it, I did it for you-"
That pissed her off. She knew good and well that the only person he did it for was himself.
"So that you won't have to marry him. Aria, he's-"
"Shut up, Ben. If you care about me, you'll shut the hell up and never speak of this again. I'm putting everything on the line for you. I'm not going to tell the king. But if he finds out you did this...and worse, if he finds out that I knew... Ben, listen to me. If you care about me, if you care about any of us, then you'll stop. Don't do anything like that ever again, okay," she whispered.
"Okay," he said back. And she felt relieved. So, so relieved. He had finally understood. "I love you, Aria."
She just looked at him for a few moments before pulling away, heading back to the table. She felt a little guilty, but she couldn't say it back. She didn't love him; she had been infatuated by him. He made her feel....light. But the things she didn't like about him had overpowered those she did.
Cautiously, she made her way to the front of the room and stood below the table, looking up at Grace.
"Hey um, where's Lex," she asked.
Grace smirked. Why is this family so infuriating?
"It's a tradition not to see one another for a few nights before the wedding," Grace said.
"A few nights," Aria asked, a little shocked. She knew the wedding was close, but hearing the words from Grace's mouth made her panic a little.
"Three more days, and you'll be the queen."
"Oh, um. Okay, then."
"But Lex is a rule breaker. A rebel. So if you really want to see him, you could probably find him in his quarters," Grace said, raising an eyebrow.
Aria blushed. "No, no. It's fine. I just, I just wanted to talk to him," she stammered.
Grace was still smirking when Aria turned to walk away.
Chapter 12
The next morning Aria left breakfast early and spent the whole day outside in the garden, writing.
Mara joined her before dinner time. They spread a blanket in the grass underneath a huge tree. They ate apples, and Aria wrote random musings in her journal while Mara sketched.
They studied Mara's sketch for a little while after she was done. She'd drawn Aria exactly how she looked right now, laying on the blanket with her dark brown hair fanned out above her. Mara loved drawing. And Aria thought it was nice to see her looking so content, even if only for a little while.
Eventually, they made their way to the throne room for dinner. The palace had been cleaned and decorated. It had a cheery feel to it.
They sat down and ate with their friends. Aria was so focused on eating that she missed most of the conversation until the giggling made its way down to her.
"So how do you feel about that, Aria," Ben asked, a few seats down. A few people giggled.
"I'm sorry? Feel about what," she asked.
"How do you feel about the fact that your future husband is fucking someone else right now," Ben asked. His voice sounded...proud. Like he'd been right all along.
"I don't care," Aria said. She could feel herself blushing.
"Well, you can't blame the man," she heard someone say, "I guess he'll have to commit to her when they really do this. So he's probably just enjoying his freedom while he still can."
"I wish he'd enjoy his freedom with me," one of the girls said. People laughed. They continued to talk about it.
Aria felt embarrassed; they were acting like she wasn't even here. She felt pissed off, too. And a small part of her actually felt a little hurt.
"So what about you? Or is he the only one who can have some fun?" Ben asked. He was actually smiling. Like the whole situation was something to be happy about. And maybe for him, it was.
"I can have fun. But unfortunately, I haven't found anyone I'd actually like to have fun with," Aria said, narrowing her eyes.
A few people laughed. Ben looked hurt. Good.
She excused herself and walked back to her room alone. For some reason, she was the only person the guards didn't follow nearly as much as the others.
She wasn't sure why she felt so hurt by what she heard. A part of her was glad. Glad that he'd get it out of his system. Hopefully, then he wouldn't have expectations where she was concerned.
For the first time in a while, she thought about her mother. They hadn't had the best relationship since her father died. But it would be nice to know that she was OK. That their people had ventured above ground and started a new life for themselves. Hopefully, somewhere far from the Terra.
She laid in bed for a while. When she heard the other girls coming into the room, she pretended like she was asleep. She didn't feel like talking. Especially to people who laughed at her, even after everything she'd done for them.
The next morning, Aria skipped training and went to the bridge. It was her favorite spot in the garden, overlooking a small pond. She leaned over the edge, balancing her journal on the railing. It was dark and cloudy outside. A light rain had begun to fall. She realized it was the first time it had rained since they had arrived. So she didn't bother to head inside; she wanted to feel it on her
