v

"What is she doing here?" Kael asked Miko and Riya.

"I found her being attacked, she had nowhere to go so I brought her here" Miko replied.

"Where is she from?" Kael asked.

" from Eldorada" Riya answered.

Kael leveled a glare at her, "And you just brought her here? What if she is a spy?"

"Come on Kael, she looks nothing like a spy" Miko argued.

"It isn't written on the forehead" Kael pointed out.

"Kael, don't be ridiculous, she isn't a spy, I found her on my rounds outside the forest, she was being assaulted, She doesn't have money or anywhere else to go, that's why I brought her here, isn't the forest a place for people who have nowhere else to go?" Miko told him.

Kael looked at her, a storm brewing in his eyes, Aria shivered from the intensity in his stare.

"come with me, I need to talk to you in private" He told her.

He walked inside, not even waiting for her to follow him.

"Go with him, and remember to be honest, he can tell if you are lieing" Miko told her.

"He can?" Aria asked.

"Yes, he can"

"Now go, we will be waiting here for you" Riya said as she pushed her towards the direction of the house.

Aria entered the house, she found Kael sitting in the living room, she tried to sit down on the chair close to him.

"I don't remember telling you to sit down" He told her.

She paused and stood back.

"So, you are Aria?" he asked.

"Yes, I am Aria"

"From Eldorada?"

"Yes"

"From nobility or the high society members?"

"I am from neither, my parents were poor peasants who died when I was little, I grew up with my aunt who was a poor servant, after she died, I made a living by selling trinkets at the market"

"I see, so what made you leave Eldorada?"

Aria narrated the circumstances that had led to her leaving Eldorada, Kael listened attentively.

"So let me get this straight, your former friend framed you for attacking her when you didn't because of a guy and the guy who was also your friend didn't believe you?" He asked her.

"yes, that's what happened"

"You are aware that they probably never regarded you as their friend?" He asked

"yes, I am aware of that"

"I will let you stay here but only on probation, if you break any of the rules, I will make sure you leave and no pleas from Miko or Riya will make me reconsider"

"Did i do anything to you? why don't you like me?" Aria blurted out.

"Don't take it personal, I don't like everyone" He told her.

"Oh!" She said, at a loss for words.

"Miko and Riya will fill you in on the rules of the forest and how to conduct yourself here. They will also be in charge of you" Kael told her.

"Okay"

"you can leave now"

"Thank you" She told him and fled the room.

She met Miko and Riya who were waiting anxiously for her outside.

"So, how did it go?" Miko asked.

"He allowed me to stay" She told them.

"Congratulations" Riya told her.

"He also said you were going to be in charge of me" She told them.

"That's okay, I don't think you wu be much trouble, or are you going to be troublesome?" Miko asked her.

"Of course not, I will be on my best behaviour" Aria replied.

"Good, now let's go home" Riya told her as she linked her arms with hers and led the way to the house.

ELDORADA

Lila sneaked out of the house in the middle of the night,she had someone to meet and it was important that no one saw her leaving or they would become suspicous about who she was going to see.

She sneaked out successfully and went to a narrow alleyway. She looked around but the person she had come to see was nowhere in sight.

And then someone seized her by the elbow and pinned her against the wall.

Lila opened her mouth to scream, but her scream was cut off by a hand covering her mouth.

She looked at the person covering her mouth and relaxed.

The hand was removed from her mouth and she glared at him.

"Sloan" she said with a grimace.

"Lila, my dearest" Sloan said with a mocking smirk.

"Why did you send a message for us to meet here?" She asked him.

"Would you have preferred it if i came to the house?" He asked her.

"Of course not, are you mad?" She asked him.

"Congratulations on your engagement, although l was a bit upset that I wasn't invited"

"Are you mad? why would I invite you?"

"why wouldn't you invite me, I mean, after all we have shared together, surely an invite wouldn't be out of place"

"Stop talking about that, we agreed never to talk about it again" she told me angrily.

"And what about my child?"

Lila looked at him incredously.

"Your child? Do you think you have the capacity to take care of a child?" She asked him.

"And what makes you think I can't"

"Sloan, you are an orphan with no status in society at all, you got into the school because of a scholarship, My father would throw you in prison for even daring to look at me. We had a deal, I recommend you to my father for a job and you forego custody of the child" Lila answered him.

"Does Asher know? Does he know the child you are using to trap him, isn't his?"

"That's none of your concern" Lila replied as she glared at him.

Sloan smirked, "So he doesn't know? Is this fair to him?"

"Stay out of it and mind your business, if that's all, I am leaving, don't contact me again" she told him as she pushed him away from her.

"That girl didn't attack you, did she?" Sloan asked as she walked past him.

"Goodbye Sloan" She replied him.