Chapter 5 : Breakfast with the Enemy?

*Amaya*

I awoke the next morning to my surprise, sprawled out on my stomach with the blankets twisted around my legs. Without thinking, I wiggled my legs out from the blankets with complete ease. My broken leg! How was that possible? It felt completely healed.

It was unbelievable but so was everything that led up to that moment. What was real anymore? Everything had changed. I sighed as I rolled onto my side. I watched the sunlight dance through the gaps of the long velvet curtains. Jessa must’ve closed them after I fell asleep. It felt as if that happened weeks ago, not last night.

I stretched and let out a loud sigh of relief as I pondered how long I had slept. It must’ve been for a very long time, I felt so rested I could almost pretend that I was back home. But it was pointless to pretend, I could no longer hold onto the naivety I once had.

I stood up and was taken aback as the skirt of a light blue cotton nightgown untwisted itself around my waist and fell over my legs. My stomach sank in fear, I wasn’t wearing this the night before. I then realized that my hair had also been braided and was now trailing behind me, messily.

Did they drug me? Oh, Goddess, they must have.

My heart began to race and my hands started to tremble. I frantically began to search for what? I had no idea what I was looking for. My ratty dress? A weapon? Evidence of my drugging? I only knew that I’d know when I found it.

I rushed over to the dresser on the other side of the room. Pausing, I noticed that the dresser was made of dark wood but along the doors and top, lighter wood had been inlaid to look like stars just as the ceiling was painted to mimic the night sky.

I quickly glanced around the room to discover the star motif covered the entire room. It was breathtakingly magical. Part of me wanted to stay there forever.

But that was crazy. This was Shadowguard. I must’ve hit my head harder than I realized.

I returned to my frantic search as I flung open the dresser drawers but they were empty. Why? Why would anyone keep an empty dresser in a room? I wasn’t sure why but that scared me more than anything else. I had to escape.

Panic set in deeper when I opened the closet door. The closet was packed full of some of the most exquisite dresses I’d ever seen in my life. Although each was darker in color and made in various fabrics, they shimmered in the sunlight.

A chill ran down my spine. These dresses weren’t for everyday wear. The rumors were true and these must be the dresses of the victims of the Alpha King’s sadistic ritual of torture and cannibalism.

The realization hit me like a ton of bricks. I’d be his next meal.

‘Although,’ I thought to myself, ‘I mean, would it be so bad?’ I shook my head no, I couldn’t think like that. It would be very bad. Even if he had kind eyes and full lips? I mean, the way he looked at me… He couldn’t be that bad.

“Amaya!” I scolded myself out loud. “No!” I had to stop thinking of him like that. I needed to focus.

I began to dig through the dresses trying desperately to find anything other than those gowns. Hell, even if it was a robe to wear over my nightgown and a pair of shoes.

My search came to a screeching halt as I heard voices moving toward the room from the hall. I quickly ran to the bed and threw the blankets over my head as I held my breath. The voices were becoming louder and louder until finally, they became quieter as the voices moved back down the hall.

“Shit,” I cursed under my breath. I had to get out of here. Damn a robe, I needed to leave now.

I crept toward the door and pressed my ear against the wood. It sounded like the coast was clear. It was my opportunity. I opened the door as silently as I could. My heart dropped to my knees. Before me was a long winding hallway. I had no idea how to get out of the castle and it wasn’t going to be easy.

I snuck down the hallway as quickly as I could darting in and out of shadows. Taking the first turn, I made my way down another twisted hallway but it led nowhere. I cursed under my breath once more and tried to retrace my steps.

I found an unlocked door that led to a small corridor but all the doors that lined the walls were locked and the corridor led to a staircase that only went up. That was no help to me. I retraced my steps once more but it was frustrating. Everything looked identical. I was completely lost.

I stumbled upon a long hallway lined with portraits. I stopped in front of the one that I recognized, the Alpha King himself. I took a deep breath. Man, he really did do something to me. He felt like home, but that didn’t make any sense. I felt an unfamiliar feeling arising from deep within me. Was it desire?

No. I shook my head. Nope. Fear and desire were the same thing. Yep, that feeling was fear. I was full of fear of the King. It had to be that. So much fear. I felt my cheeks becoming flush, it was too much. I needed to focus.

I followed the hallway to a flight of stairs that led down. My heart wanted to jump from my chest in joy. Finally, I’d made progress. I crept down the stairs as slowly as I could but around halfway I was hit with the smell of food.

My stomach growled audibly. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was. I couldn't even remember my last meal. I was too excited to eat at the ball and then, well, everything else happened. I was ravenous. I couldn’t control myself, like an animal I quickly bounded toward the smell.

I cleared the stairs, turned the corner, and stopped in my tracks. I found myself in a large open seating area with high vaulted ceilings. Windows lined the wall, floor to ceiling, displaying the snow-capped mountains of Shadowguard. They felt closer than they had the night before.

“Amaya!” Jessa called happily from the corner of the room.

I froze in place as my heart dropped into my stomach. I was so distracted by the beauty of the mountains that I didn’t realize I wasn’t alone.

I slowly turned on my heel in her direction. She flashed me a giant smile. She was seated on a large velvet couch. Asher was seated next to her on an oversized chair. In front of them was a long table covered in an overwhelming amount of delicious-looking food.

I was stunned. I’d been told that there was no fresh food in Shadowguard. But none of this food was rotten. It looked mouth-wateringly good, my stomach jumped in joy at the familiar sight of bacon, eggs, scones, and, Goddess yes, coffee.

But as much as I wanted to run over and funnel every crumb into my mouth, I couldn’t move.

Standing off in the corner was a tall slender man that I hadn’t met yet. His energy was intense. He looked familiar. He had one of those faces that could be placed anywhere. He stared at me with an uncomfortable amount of intensity as if he were studying my movements.

“Amaya!” Jessa called again as she patted the cushion next to hers. “Come sit, sit!”

I awkwardly shuffled my feet and slowly walked over to her. I sat down gently with my back perfectly straight and placed my hands in my lap.

“See, Jessa?” Asher said jokingly as Jessa poured me a cup of coffee. “That’s how a lady acts.”

“Ha ha ha,” Jessa replied in a sarcastic mocking tone. “You’re so funny, Asher.” He broke out in uproarious laughter.

“Ignore them,” the slender man said in a low tone only I could hear. I was taken aback because I hadn’t even heard him move toward me. He moved around the couch and sat in an oversized chair across from Asher. He quickly grabbed an apple and took a bite before I could process what’d happened.

But that didn’t matter because Jessa, having missed that exchange, continued, “Cream? Sugar?”

“Uh,” I stuttered. I was overwhelmed. My brain felt slow and everything felt a little too fast. I paused. I could feel that our companions were also heavily invested in my answer. Everything came to an awkward standstill.

“I, I, uh,” I fumbled over my words. I always wanted to try coffee with cream and sugar. Sugar wasn’t something I was allowed to eat back home. Cream too, it was too fatty. I realized as I scanned the table, back home I couldn’t eat a lot of the food. No bread, no pastries, no flavor. But I wasn’t at home anymore. Caine no longer wanted me, so who cared if I gained a little weight? Cream and sugar in my coffee won’t kill me.

“Um, yes. Please. Thank you.”

Jessa smiled happily as she poured a considerable amount of cream into my coffee turning it from a dark black to a light tan. She then mixed the remaining sugar cubes into my cup and stirred it before handing it to me.

I cautiously took a sip. It was sweet! I have no idea that coffee could be sweet.

I looked around the room. The couch was situated away from the window so I wasn’t distracted by the mountains. The room was filled with light and fresh air. There was a large fireplace in the corner that was bigger than my bedroom back home.

This room was warm and inviting. I felt like I was at home, which was the opposite of how I felt in my father’s castle. I’d felt like nothing more than yet another display in that castle.

“You didn’t leave any sugar for him,” Asher teased. “He’ll come down soon.”

Jessa rolled her eyes, “I think Wren will be understanding.”

My stomach flipped at the mention of his name. I set my coffee down on the table and without thinking, grabbed a blueberry scone from the table. Jessa smiled approvingly as I brought it to my lips and took a small bite. I was too nervous to eat.

“Saunder, why don’t you go see where he is? He never sleeps in this late,” Jessa ordered the slender man who nodded his head and quickly raced up the stairs.

I placed the scone down. I felt my cheeks flush with heat and my heart was racing. I grabbed the coffee cup and held it in my hands. The warmth of it was comforting as I tried to ground myself.

“I left some dresses in the closet for you, I don’t know if you saw them or not. I didn’t know what you liked so I put a little bit of everything but if none of them work, that’s totally fine too!” Jessa said cheerfully. “Just let me know!”

I nodded my head. Her kindness toward me was still hard for me to understand but I could tell that she was being sincere. Before I could reply, I heard those familiar heavy footsteps bounding down the stairs. It felt as if time was slowing with his approach.

Wren was joking with Saunder as they walked down the stairs. In the sunlight, I was shocked to discover that he was much younger than I’d been told. I must’ve missed it last night. His honey-brown eyes crinkled as he laughed. He wasn’t dressed like a king. Nor like a monster.

I gripped my coffee cup and rolled my shoulders to make myself smaller as I tried to hide behind Jessa. He hadn’t noticed that I was there and I wanted to keep it that way. It became painfully obvious to me that I was still in my nightgown and my hair was unkempt. Shit, why was I trying to impress him?

“Careful! Jessa took all the sugar!” Asher called out playfully.

Jessa rolled her eyes and replied in the same manner, “You’re a tattletale.”

“Jessa!” Wren’s voice was deep but his tone was soft and playful without any hint of hierarchy as if he wasn’t the king. “How could-“ but he didn’t finish his sentence.

His eyes met mine and the playfulness was replaced with concern and empathy. I smiled at him. I couldn’t help it and I’m not exactly sure why I did. He returned the smile to me and gave me a quick nod as he grabbed a slice of bacon from the table.

“So, do you have big plans for the day, Princess?” Asher asked, breaking the awkwardness.

I didn’t know how to answer. Wasn’t I a prisoner? Prisoners don’t have plans. I stumbled awkwardly as I failed to answer him.

“Easy, Amaya and I are going to get new clothes-,” Jessa began matter-of-factly.

But Wren cut her off. “Princess Amaya.” Goddess, it was as if he purred my name. “Do you want a tour of the castle? I’d be honored to give you one.”

Without hesitation, I replied, “Yes, thank you.”