The Kidnapped Queen (4)

Lyn suddenly felt dizzy. What is this situation? It made her feel sick. A pair of arms wrapped around her protectively, disrupting the cold feeling in her veins. When she realized it belong to Rhys, she looked confused. Why did she feel a sudden wave of comfort just now? Almost like this happened before.

"Oi quit it," Rhys glared at Ayah, "She doesn't need to know anymore. It was my decision."

"You make me sick. During the time her beloved Kazuya went away, she fell for you, and you two became a couple." Ayah said, "But it was all for nothing. The moment she went to the Sound Kingdom, she forgot all about you."

She liked Rhys? When? Lyn wanted to place her hand on her head; she tried to stop the throbbing pain.

"I'll give you two a choice. If you can find a way to escape here, then I won't go through my plans. But if you don't, and you trigger a single alarm then you'll remain stuck here till you rot away," Ayah said. She wore an evil grin on her face, "I'll leave the key here," Ayah placed a small key in the center.

She said nothing else before she turned and left the cell. It didn't take long before her fading footsteps vanished.

"Rhys,"

"Oh, sorry. I'll let you go."

Lyn reached out and buried her head in his back, "Please tell me why? And how much do you believe what she said?"

"Kazuya left for three-four months. Almost half a year, during that time we did date." Rhys trailed off, "Do you remember that?"

"I don't remember." Lyn admitted.

She doesn't remember. However, when she heard Ayah's story and Rhys words just now she feels pain in her chest.

"Yeah, of course, you wouldn't," Rhys seemed bitter, but he continued, "Even if you did, it's the past right? You're in love with Kazuya now, your married and I'm trying to steal you away."

Why does that sound wrong to her? She wants to tell him something important. But, why can't she find the right words? It doesn't make sense. Rhys is already trying to draw the line between them. But it feels wrong for him to do that. She doesn't want him to.

"Go back to sleep; I'll think about a way to get out."

Lyn wanted to protest, but she knew it would be better to listen to him.

...

Whenever she thought of her husband Kazuya all sorts of thoughts spiral out of control like a whirlpool in her head. From the very moment they met, there was something about him that drew her attention to him. With his fair skin, delicate cheekbones, and contrastingly dark eyes and dark hair.

He emits an aura that attracts others but at the same time maintains a distance. At first Lyn always saw him as having a bright personality, but later she realized he had a dark side of him. Then again all humans have a dark side. But Kazuya? His dark side was on the average scale, he's torn and lost when it comes to life and yet there is something unique about him.

However, when she thinks of the man called Rhys. Her heart would hurt and she would find herself subconsciously longing for him.

She is addicted to him, and everything about him. She's been running away for a long time. But she no longer wants to escape. She wants to face reality. Why does she have these feelings when she thinks of Rhys? A man who isn't her husband?

"Lyn,"

The mere mention of her name brings her back to the reality of the situation she's in — trapped, cold - and playing a dangerous game.

"I figured out how we can get out, but have you recovered your strength?" Rhys asked.

Has she? Lyn didn't need a mirror to know her face was deadly cold, and that she could barely raise her hand.

"You need to eat."

"But, it's not like she will give us food," Lyn said. She knew Ayah, that girl can be equally cruel as her sister when it came to torturing others. Escape? Ayah probably proposed that plan knowing full well that she won't be able to regain her strength with nothing to eat.

Rhys smiled, "I bribed a guard, well the guards on rotation. They are going to sneak some food in; it will not be a lot though."

Lyn nodded, "As long as I eat something."

Even if it's just a little she will regain her strength. She needs nothing fancy. Back then when she had little to eat, Lyn didn't complain. She just accepted whatever. Plain garments, plain meals - but at least she could live.

She flinched when Rhys handmade contact with her hair, "What are you doing?"

"I'll make you remember the feelings you had for me," Rhys murmured against her locks.

Lyn said nothing to that.

How could she answer that? Back when she was a Princess, she already had memory issues. Lyn thought she recalled all her missing memories. But it turns out in the process of recovering the other memories; she lost something else. When Ayah said those words, Lyn recalled how she woke up in the Sound Kingdom. Kazuya was by her side. She woke up injured, but Lyn didn't remember what happened.

All she knew that Kazuya was there, he grew up in the half year she last saw him, but when he embraced her, it all came rushing back. The feelings that were starting to bud six months ago. For a while, she even forgot about Rhys. Is that what Ayah was talking about?

She doesn't know, and does she even want to remember now that she knows something was missing?

...

It's easy to fall into a deep sleep when you have nothing to do. Or maybe she just wanted to avoid speaking with Rhys. It felt like the more they talked, the more they will disclose topics they shouldn't.

Not having a meaning or a message, she indulged himself with the knowledge of books. Reading, continually reading, continually knowing. Constantly adapting your brains thoughts to what your reading, your opinions shift and you begin to see the world in a different light than before. But that's when you learn it. When it's all finished, that's when you understand it. How different everything is. What this world really is like.