The confidence turned her worry to excitement. Her anticipation wasn't tinged with anxiety anymore.
The thought of seeing Lex at the end of the night gave her a feeling she thought she'd long forgotten; butterflies in her stomach.
What will he say? What will he do, she thought, mindlessly poking at the food on her plate. She thought of all the ways their reunion could go. Would they get a minute alone? Or would they be too busy fighting? Trying to figure out what to do next?
That brought her up short. She hadn't really thought about what would happen after this. And the group hadn't really discussed it. What would they do with Warren and the others? What would Lex do? It was up to him; he was the king, after all. And this was his land.
"What's got you so worried?" Mara asked, sitting down next to Aria. She looked around before leaning in and whispering, "Thinking about your lawfully wedded?"
Aria smiled. "Yeah, I was, actually."
"Relax, you'll see him tonight. How will you celebrate?"
"What?"
"After we win," Mara whispered, a smile playing at her lips. "How are you gonna celebrate?"
"I don't really know," Aria said. And she didn't. Everything with her and Lex was still so.... up in the air. She hadn't really had time to work through everything that had happened between them. But the night her people attacked, things had changed between them. Again.
She shook her head; she couldn't think about that now.
"What about you?" Aria asked, hoping to change the subject. Her feelings for Lex were something she had to work out on her own, in the quiet of their room, when her loved ones were safe and sound.
"What?" Mara asked.
"How are you gonna celebrate? Gonna give Grace a big sloppy kiss?"
"Shut up," Mara said, rolling her eyes.
Aria smiled to herself.
"Who are you with tonight?" Mara asked once they were out of the throne room.
"I’ll be waiting to hear what happens in the training area," she whispered. "As soon as Grace gives us the signal, we'll radio in to let the rest of you know it's time. After that, I'm with Hunt. We're going for Warren. What about you?"
"I'm with Martinez's group. We're going for the guards," Mara said.
They'd reached a turn in the hallway, and it was time to part ways.
"Good luck," Mara said, pulling Aria in for a hug.
"You too," Aria said, hugging Mara a little tighter than usual.
Aria went to her room. She decided to go ahead and get ready, even though it wasn't close to midnight yet.
After she got dressed, she looked at herself in the mirror. She hadn't intended to dress in all black, and yet there she was. In a way, her outfit reminded her of Lex and how he looked the first time she saw him.
Dark. Dangerous. Intimidating.
She sat down at her vanity table and put on a little makeup, similar to how she'd had it on her wedding day.
After putting a long black coat on, she tucked the knife she'd stolen from the kitchen into her belt. She sat down on the loveseat across the fireplace and waited.
At some point, she began to shake her leg.
She got up, too full of nervous energy and anticipation to sit in one place. She paced the room, going over the plan again and again.
Wait for Grace's signal, notify the others, find Hunt. Go to Warren's quarters and take him prisoner. Head to the throne room.
Find Lex.
After pacing the room for what felt like hours, she heard a faint knock on her door.
She opened it and found Brent.
"It's time," he said, and together they made their way toward the training area. They'd let Grace go ten minutes before they left, so she'd get a chance to get there and disable the guards before Aria and Brent showed up.
The cold in the hallways was relentless; Aria felt it in her bones.
So cold.
They didn't speak a word.
Silently, they stopped at the door that would lead out to the training area.
And it didn’t sound like anyone was coming their way from the other side.
She shook her head, silently telling Brent that Grace had not given them the signal yet. Aria hoped that she would hurry up. They were all alone, on palace grounds past the curfew Warren had set. If a guard caught them, they'd never get a chance to do this.
A few minutes passed. Aria pressed her ear to the door. Silence.
"Something's wrong," Aria whispered. Grace had been there for about fifteen minutes; she had said she would only need a few.
Just then, a loud crash came from outside.
Fear and curiosity propelled her forward. She knew this wasn't part of the plan. But neither was that crash. And Grace would have never made such noise; she knew they had to be as quiet as possible.
Aria ran outside with Brent right on her heels. Whatever she was feeling, he must have been feeling it too.
When they came upon the space, she saw two things.
Adrian lay crumpled on the ground. It looked like he had been knocked out. That must have been the sound they heard.
Aria glanced to her left and saw Grace on the ground. A woman was on top of her, choking her.
"Mom!" Brent yelled, running towards his mother.
Aria ran to Adrian's side. She had to make sure he was okay. "Adrian! Adrian," she yelled, shaking him.
"I'm fine," he groaned, trying to stand up.
Aria helped him up. She'd been so worried about him she forgot about the others in the room.
She turned, noticing that the two guards that worked with Adrian were lying on the ground. They were dead if the puddles of blood by their bodies were anything to go by.
"Mom," Brent yelled, trying to shove his mother off of Grace.
But she was a lot bigger than he was.
She threw one arm back, and her elbow collided with the side of his face, the force of the blow knocking him to the side.
Aria ran
