Taken- a Selection FanFiction

Chapter 12

Two weeks, fourteen days, three hundred thirty-six hours, or 1.21 million seconds has passed. I had been engaged to Nathan for two weeks. I have had a ring on my finger constantly for fourteen days. I have been living in Nathan's room for three hundred thirty-six hours. I haven't seen Aaron's face in 1.21 million seconds.

All of these amounts of times led up to be far too long. It's been a few months since I had been taken from the palace. Since then, I've missed one ball, three teas, two exams, and now, I was missing Olivia's birthday ball.

Today was July 17, and a day for Illèa to rejoice. Today our youngest princess turned fifteen, and she was to be shown off to the world as a Princess of the country. Everyone seemed happy up there, above ground. They were celebrating.

Yet, I remained here. Underground and isolated from everything worth living for. The only sources of light in this deep, dark hellhole were Nathan and Harrison. Nathan wasn't a bad person; he was just dealt a bad hand, literally and metaphorically.

Harrison, Nathan, and I sat on the red carpeting in our room playing a card game Mary had taught me back at the palace. It was best suited for four or more people, but I had adapted it. For the fifth round in a row, I was the Queen and Nathan was my slave, leaving Harry as a towns person.

It made much more sense when you learned how to play.

"I win, again," I smiled. I took the cards from them as Nathan ran his hands through his hair in frustration. He wore the disheveled hair look well, and I could clearly see that each morning, considering I had to wake up next to him.

The first night I slept in here was almost brutally awkward when Nathan tried to sleep on the floor. I told him not to, which resulted in both of us sleeping on the corners of his giant King sized bed. It was sufficiently awkward, yet we could find it bearable.

"If you're getting this stressed out over a card game, then how are you going to govern a rebellion?" Harrison joked. I whacked him in the shoulder, and he winced in pain. "Watch where you weird that thing!" He shouted.

"What?" I asked with a furrowed brow. He pointed straight at my ring, which jutted out perfectly for jabbing him in his shoulder. I looked down sheepishly and uttered an apology under my breath.

Nathan and Harrison both laughed at my reaction as a guard came into the room, not even knocking on the door. His eyes searched over the situation with disgust, seeing us all joking on a floor over a card game. "Miss Fantasia needs to see Lady Ray and you in the study," he reported to Nathan.

He grimaced at the mention of the name 'Fantasia'. "Okay, thank you officer," he replied dismissively. Nathan rose to his feet and offered his hand out to me. I gladly accepted it, and when I stepped solidly on the ground, straightened my black skirt to the best of my ability.

"Let's go," he said. He put my arm in his, since we were supposed to look like a happily engaged couple. I personally, didn't mind this today, considering my foot was asleep from sitting on them for so long.

I leaned heavily on Nathan, but he didn't seem to mind. We walked all the way to the study and entered inside. The room looked as if it had been laid with snow, and there wasn't a speck of dirt in sight. The only thing that wasn't white was Fantasia.

She was a young woman, presumably in her twenties sat at the white wooden table. Her hair was wavy and medium length, with a few curls framing her oval-shaped face. Her black dress was fitted to her body, showing her slender frame. She had applied red lipstick, which was the only source of color in the room.

"You must be Lady Ray," she beamed. "And Nathan," she smiled wider. She touched Nathan's arm affectionately, dragging her manicured fingers along his bicep. I felt an odd sense of possessiveness, which was odd considering I had only felt it towards Aaron.

I dismissed the thought as quickly as it had come.

Nathan cleared his throat and took my arm in his, to which I gave a confused glance. He widened his eyes irritatedly, and I smiled as I got the message. Apparently, she didn't get the message because she continued to look at Nathan.

"Why are we here?" I asked with false annoyance in my voice. Nathan suppressed a smile beneath his smirk.

She broke her gaze and narrowed her eyes at me. "You two are here to make wedding preparations," she replied acidly. She sat down at the desk and continued to speak. "Unfortunately, you don't have much decision making considering that most things have been decided. However, we will permit you to have a bridesmaid and best man, and you can choose which flowers you want set up."

She put out several pictures of flower arrangements, along with dress designs. "Wait, these are all black," I said confusedly. Even the beautiful peonies and roses were black.

"Yes," she said, nodding her head as if I were a small child. "White is only a color to be worn by our glorious leader. Who would you want to be your maid of honor?" She asked while getting out a black inked pen.

I thought for a moment. I had always pictured Penelope standing next to me on that day. I imagined my wedding in my head, but it was nothing like the mess being planned. "Willow," I replied. She had been kind to me while we cleaned.

"And the best man?" She asked while looking at Nathan adoringly. She batted her eyelashes shamelessly, and seeing the opportunity, I reached over and grabbed Nathan's hand.

"Harrison Carams," he replied. I pulled back, surprised. I expected him to choose a close friend of some sort, but I was deeply surprised by this. He didn't look at me, but straight at the papers in front of him.

We sat there for about an hour to decide the few choices I got to have in my hostage wedding. Most of that time was spent either arguing or teasing Fantasia. She seemed to grow stressed and eventually left the room, leaving Nathan and me behind.

As soon as she left, we began howling with laughter. "Did you see her face when I kissed your cheek?" I giggled. "She was so mad!"

He found a break between laughs to speak. "When I put my arm around you, she was so pissed!" He chuckled. He had a full laugh, that was filled with rich sound. It was the type of laugh you wanted to hear all of the time.

After we calmed back down, I decided to change the topic. "Why did you choose Harry as your best man?" I asked seriously. I looked to his eyes for answers.

"I like the kid," he began. "He also is very important in your life, and if we aren't rescued in time for the wedding, he deserves to be in that part of your life."

"Thank you," I smiled. I was forced to collide with reality again. "Nathan, what if they don't come for us?" I asked.

"They will," he said confidently. "They have to. And we're going to be ready for them."

"What do you mean?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm going to teach you how to fight."

Guys I just finished writing the part when Elisa gets rescued :D