Conquered

Prologue

Prologue

For most of the car ride, Aria was quiet. I tried to keep out of her mind, but couldn't. The more time I spent with her, the harder it was for me to keep away. Her thoughts were all jumbled. If you didn't know what to look for you would have probably been lost in the chaos. Among her thoughts were things like, what the hell was I thinking leaving the palace?

I wonder if Nate and more specifically Blake will be okay.

Alyssa is having a baby. Will I ever get to see my niece?

What was I going to do about this Zane situation?

Then she started having a conversation with herself.

Well it's too late to do anything about that now, Aria. You're already in a car with him. Speaking of which...

She turned to me.

"Where are we going?"

"She speaks. Are you done worrying?"

"I have no idea what you mean."

"We're going to my home."

"By home, you mean the south kingdom?"

"Yes."

"I can't go there."

"And why not?"

"I've heard stories about the uhm openness of affection there."

"Openness of affection?" I laughed. "That's a nice way of putting it. You mean public sex. The entire planet Atron is like that, so why single out my kingdom?"

"I've heard you can be taken against your will there."

The apprehension in her voice made me aware of what was really bothering her.

"No one is even going to come near you, Aria. Do you think I would allow anyone near you? You underestimate me. Anyone who dares to look, think or even imagine things about the king's mate would be put to death."

She gasped. "You can't be that cruel. That's a little extreme, don't you think? How would you even know anyway?"

"Are you seriously asking me that? I know what everyone is thinking at any given time. I just choose to ignore it if it's not important. Also that death rule was put in place long ago by our ancestors and neither Eli nor I is going to change it. But enough of that. You'll understand our ways eventually, and why we are like that. All I ask is that you trust me. If you can do that, then I promise you won't have to worry about a thing. Enough about me. What are you going to do?"

"About what?"

I pulled the car over, shut it off and turned to her. "Aria, what do you want to do? I'll support you no matter what."

"Do about what Zane?"

"Your nightmares."

"What can I do? Chances are I'll have to endure these horrible nightmares for the rest of my life." Her voice was cold, but the look in her eyes betrayed her. "Why are you asking me anyway? You probably already know."

"I don't find joy in digging around in people's thoughts. I want you to trust me at least a little and let me know what you're thinking and feeling."

"You want to know what I'm thinking, Zane? I want those men to burn in hell for what they did to me, and I want to be the one who sends them there. I want to torture them just as much as they tortured me and even more so. If they have loved ones, I want them to watch as I take something precious away from them. But why am I explaining myself to you? Why don't you take a look into my mind and see exactly what I'm thinking and feeling? You'll understand much better than any words I could ever spit out."

The more time I spent with Aria, the more sides of her I see. Which is the real Aria?

I did what she asked. I was surprised to see the level of depravity she hid deep within. All along I thought I was seeing into her deepest darkest thoughts, but I was wrong. This level of darkness wasn't one I have seen from her before. She hid it well.

"Now you see, Zane. Now you see what I really want. I want the ultimate revenge."

I started the car again. A smile formed on my lips. "If it is the ultimate revenge you seek, the ultimate revenge you shall have. Whatever you want shall be yours. I'll ensure of it. You should sleep now, Aria. I'm not particularly happy with you having such twisted thoughts, but I do understand why."

Her eyes started to drift close and her head rested sideways against the car seat.

"Sleep now, my dearest Aria. When you awaken, you will feel refreshed with a new sense of purpose."