He sat up straight and took his shirt off. The bandage was still intact. And he hadn't bled through it, so Aria took that as a good sign. She took the old dressing off, cleaned some of the dried blood around the stitches, and put some more antiseptic ointment on it before patching it back up with a new bandage.
"Thank you," he said, putting his shirt back on.
"Have they brought you food? Water?"
"Yeah. A man came down to talk to me a few hours ago. He said his name was Hunt. Do you know him?"
"Yes," Aria said, "I do. And you can trust him. He's on our side."
"Our side?"
Aria told him about what was going on, about her mother and the group willing to help. About how Grace was safe.
She wished that she had more to tell him. She hoped that they'd made some progress. But it had been less than a day since all of this happened. She would take what she could get.
"I know it's not much," she said after telling him what had happened. "But we're working on it."
He nodded. "It's enough for now. But what can I do? I need to get out of here."
"No, Lex. For right now, you need to stay here. If you try to escape, you'll only cause more trouble. We need to let them believe that we're on the same side."
"Aria, I can't just sit here. My people need me.”
"You're right. They do need you. Alive. So getting yourself killed is not going to help them, okay?"
"But-"
"No but's, Lex. I'm serious. There isn't anything you can do right now. Wait until we do our part. I promise to keep you updated. And we will need you. But for right now, the best thing for them, for us, is keeping you alive. And that'll only happen if you stay here. If you don't resist."
He sighed. She knew it wasn't what he was used to. He was a leader.
"I know this is hard for you," she said, sitting down next to him. "But you've done so much for us. Let us do this for you."
"Alright."
"Promise me. Promise me that you won't do anything reckless?"
"I promise, Aria. Do you need me to swear on it? Or is my word enough?" he asked, smirking.
God, she thought, I've missed that fucking smirk.
"Your word is enough," she said, placing her hand in his.
They sat in silence for a few minutes. Again, she had that feeling. Like this was her place, right beside him. That no matter what happened, they'd have one another. That they'd get through this together.
"Lex, I-”
"Remember the days we spent at the house?" he suddenly asked.
"Yeah?"
"Maybe we should have stayed there. Grown old. Had a kid or two," he said, smiling.
"Wasn't that one of your conditions?"
"Actually," he said, "If I remember correctly, I said it was a preference. Not a condition."
She smiled back at him. Despite what was going on, despite the terrible situation they were in with Warren taking the palace and Lex being held prisoner, something like peace washed through Aria. Peace and light.
And maybe something she could only describe as hope.
"We'll go back," she said, putting her head on his shoulder.
They stayed like that for a few minutes, but eventually, she knew it was time for her to go. She stood up.
"Everything will be okay, Lex."
"You believe that?"
"I do."
"Okay, then. I do too. I believe you, Aria. I believe in you."
Chapter 41
Aria decided to go to her room so that she could have some privacy. So that she could think about her next move.
On the way there, she realized she hadn't eaten anything all day. She decided to stop by the kitchen first to grab a snack before going to her room.
When she saw Edwards in the kitchen, she had to remind herself that she couldn't throttle the woman then and there. That she had to be patient.
So she swallowed her pride and apologized to the woman.
"Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking," she said, "They were awful to us at first. I was lucky that...that he seemed to like me."
"Funny," Edwards said, "You really had me convinced last night."
Aria knew she didn't buy it.
"Yeah, well, he made us all believe that you were dead. So I was a little shocked. And the concussion you gave me didn't really help, either."
"Sorry about that," Edwards said, not sounding sorry at all.
"It's fine. I'm just glad that my mother and the rest of you are okay. That you found us."
Edwards nodded but continued to watch Aria as she moved around the kitchen. She grabbed an apple and some dried meat, pretending like she was looking for something else when really she wanted to grab one of the kitchen knives.
"Hey," Aria said, "Do you know where the bread is? I don't see it anywhere."
It worked.
Edwards turned to glance around the kitchen, and when her back was turned, Aria grabbed the knife she'd been eyeing and stuck it up her shirt sleeve.
"There it is," Edwards said, pointing to Aria's left.
Aria turned and grabbed a piece. After thanking the woman, she finally made her way back to her room.
Inside, she took the knife out of her shirtsleeve and placed it in her boot. She sat back down on the couch and ate quickly.
She got up to find a piece of paper so that she could jot down a list of things they needed to do before Warren sent the guards back for the others. If they were going to overthrow him, it had to be before he brought more reinforcements here.
She found a few pieces of parchment paper on Lex's desk. She grabbed a pencil and went back to the couch. As soon as she sat back down, there was a knock on her door.
Ben was the last person she expected to be standing on the other side.
And yet, there he stood.
"Can we talk?"
A few things ran through her mind at the same time.
The first thing was that
