Chained To Him [Editing]

Chapter Eleven

 As Aylah rubbed her shoulder, Jayde awoke feeling slightly stronger than the day before. Well enough to continue training at least, not that her condition would matter to the trainers. Jayde dressed and let Aylah comb the hair away from her face and into a long braid down her back. She walked across the hall, this time in front of her friend, willing herself to be ready to face her day of training. As she opened the door, Chev beckoned her with a small smile, hands tucked behind his back. She swallowed hard and came to stand before him.

The day passed just as her last day of training had, except unlike the other day, she followed orders without a second thought, giving into the training and working hard to please the trainers. It wasn't as terrible as she thought it would be, albeit humiliating at first. But she knew her humiliation would be that much worse if she disobeyed. One way or the other, they would force her to act as they wished, and she knew she had to choose the path of least resistance.

She slowly became accustomed to talking to the other girls in the morning and before bed, although she didn't see them throughout the day while being preoccupied with training. Ilana, especially, seemed to enjoy her company, and Jayde was happy to give Aylah some time on her own. She clung so closely to the older woman—she knew Aylah was more than happy to help her, but she still felt bad to put such pressure on her. She had survived two Imperial takeovers and led and army alongside Luther. Surely now, she could stand on her own some. It was only when the next phase of training started two weeks later that her plan to cooperate suddenly seemed lacking.

Jayde woke the morning that the next phase would start, realizing as soon as she opened her eyes that she lacked the resolve to suffer what was to come. Aylah had been with a visiting ambassador in his chambers for three days, and Jayde missed her sorely, especially now. But she dressed and did her best to braid her hair anyway, knowing she would be punished for any tardiness.

As soon as she entered the room, she knew something was amiss. Only Chev stood at the center of the room, while Blane and John were nowhere to be found. Jayde wanted to ask where the other trainers were, but knew better than to speak. Chev's face seemed troubled as he motioned for her to step forward.

"Today we begin the next part of your training," he smiled grimly. "And it seems that someone from higher up has taken an interest in you. He will be joining us shortly to visit."

Jayde's mouth went dry while her heart threatened to beat out of her chest. He couldn't mean Aragon. Not now, not when she was doing so well.

"Who?" Her voice was little more than a whisper.

"Your very own Lord Aragon, slave." His face remained impassive even as she didn't address him properly. Jayde shook her head slowly, silently begging him not to allow it. He ran a hand over his face and lowered his voice. "I don't want him here any more than you do, trust me. But he can cut off my head if I don't do as he asks in just the way he asks it, and I'd prefer to keep my head."

Jayde nearly laughed. He couldn't know their history, so he sounded like a fool in being empathetic, but she bit her tongue. Footsteps neared the door, and Lord Aragon entered, dressed in the finery of court clothing. He barely spared her a glance as he nodded to Chev.

"My deepest thanks for allowing me to come today. I know you like to keep them from visitors during training," he smiled. His voice, dark and smooth like chocolate, was utterly deceptive. Jayde heard it as if in a dream, not wanting to look at him but being unable to tear her eyes away from his face. When he finally glanced towards her, she closed her eyes and balled her hands into fists. Even when she could sense his presence a few inches from her, feeling his breath tickle her forehead, she refused to open her eyes, concentrating solely on composing herself. It had been so long since he had sent her here, she had nearly forgotten him with everything that had happened. She had tricked herself into thinking that he would forget about her now that he had punished her. How stupid she'd been.