Chapter 6: Getting played

Stay safe.

Those are the last words that Aleena said to Azea. The words burned into her brain, as she had no idea what they meant to her.

She was walking into unknown territory without so much detailed information about Aleena De Luza's life.

Aleena was not helpful at all, on their way to the inn where the De Luza family was crashing. She started having pains in her stomach, the young man with her, Navel. As Azea had learned was his name, had to rush her to the nearest physician to ensure that it was nothing serious.

Hence Azea was left alone with only an address and a room key as a guide to the new life. Azea was aware of the dangers of the outside world.

There were key things that she had made note of while watching the lives of the people around her. One was that not everyone came into her life meant well, some of them came to devour her with the presence of wanting what was best for her.

Azea had caught a glimpse of the darker side of the world in her line of work. Seen the dangers that the world had to offer, little did she know that all she had seen wasn't close to what dangers existed in the world.

Young and adventurous, Azea made haste to arrive at the inn. Forming new dreams in her head, all the wealth she could make as queen before running away into the sunset.

She was set on her dreams, the new ones only aided to better the ones she already had. "I am Aleena De Luza, daughter of house De Luza and im pleased to make your acquaintance," she practiced how she would introduce herself to the king.

Azea spoke as her twin sister, word by word as though they were the same person. She stepped inside the inn. Only to find an entourage heading for the door, led by well-dressed gents of all ages with ladies following behind them.

She stepped aside to give them the way. Only to have the Lord at the front grab her by the shoulders. "Always on time my little princess. Today you make me proud as your father," the man spoke.

Azea gave him a weak smile. She figured that he must be Lord De Luza. The man that was holding Aleena's mother's custody.

"I am doing this only for my mother," she spoke as she assumed that Aleena would.

The Lord stopped in his steps. He halted so suddenly anf shockingly everyone stopped with him. Azea applauded them in her mind, they made a proper entourage, following the lead of the Lord to the dot.

"Your mother will be proud of you. Wherever she is, im certain she is watching over you," The man uttered.

"You are to set her free once I marry the king," Azea demanded.

"How?" the man inquired. "How am I to set her free when she already is," The Lord started walking once more. The door was held open, he led Azea outside. "I believe that she is one of the brightest stars in the night. Watching over her loved ones," the man added.

Azea's heart dropped. She had given her word to Aleena that she would save her mother but the De Luza family had already killed her.

"You killed her?" she asked to tremble slightly.

"Whatever do you mean Aleena dear? Your mother has been deceased for five years now. Are you feeling alright?" the lord placed his hand on Azea's forehead to check if she was fine.

That was a good question. One that Azea had no answer to, the news the man gave was quite shocking that she couldn't voice out anything.

"It must be the stress of marrying the king. That is why sister is thinking of mother today father," a girl spoke from the back.

Azea's eyes scanned the whole entourage, everyone had kind eyes. The man holding her seemed to hold only care and concern in his eyes for her.

Azea felt breathless.

"Wait, this isn't right. You took my mother captive to force me to marry the king," Azea fought with her mind to hold on to the idea of Aleena's story.

It was the only thing that made sense. And believing otherwise would mean that she would have to admit that she had been played.

Aleena looked her in the eyes and lied through her teeth. She shed fake sympathy tears to trick her into agreeing to take her place. And that was a truth that Azea wasn't looking forward to.

"What are you going on about child? You agreed to this marriage to save the De Luza family, no one has forced your hand," the man informed her. "Come now, it's time for the wedding," he added.

Azea's heart fell.

The words of the man echoed in her mind over and over again. The stories that Aleena told also rang opposite the words of Aleena's father.

'Trust no one,' this rule was one that Azea never broke. It couldn't be that the first time she chose to trust a person they turn out to be a liar.

The first time she met someone who seemed helpless only to figure that it was all a lie. Aleena played a good game.

Everything started falling to place. Aleena and Navel were supposed to walk her to the inn but her sudden stomach pain prevented them from coming with her.

She was fooled into believing that she was taking a step towards her freedom, however, she was someone else's plan for freedom.

Azea went numb. Everything went on around her, yet she remained frozen. Struck by the idea of how stupid she had been.

She didn't once question how Aleena and Navel found her or what they knew of her life. Where they suddenly appeared and why they didn't go to the authorities with their problem?

It turned out that Azea had not known of the darkness in the world as much as she wanted to believe she did.

'I will kill you Aleena De Luza,' she internally screamed.