Here is Chapter 28! Soon everything will be revealed with Arianna. Just a few more chapters! But things will definitely get interesting before then and even after! Let me know what you think. I love reading your reviews. They make me so happy. And here we go.

After spending the day making pointless small talk with Emese, Daymen, and Blazhe, Arianna had be more than happy to be in the solitude of her room. All afternoon, her grandmother was going on and on about how wonderful it was going to be once Daymen and her were married. Blazhe would ask her questions, trying to get the attention off of the engagement, but somehow, Emese always turned it back around. Arianna admired Blazhe for that, being sweet despite how evil his brother was.

The entire afternoon though, she had not had a moment alone with Daymen, and for that she was grateful. She was dreading the point where she was have to be alone with him. When he had an audience, his true nature was hidden, trying to keep up his wonderful, perfect gentleman façade. Alone, Daymen turned into a completely different person. Sure, he was arrogant and whatnot and that showed no matter what, but he played it off most of the time. With no one around, he showed how vengeful and selfish he was. All he's ever wanted was power and with Arianna, he was getting it.

Trying to push all thoughts of Daymen out of her head, Arianna's mind then drifted to the one thing that broke her heart. Sebastian. She couldn't blame him from running away. It was selfish of her to ask him to wait, to expect him to stay when she was to be with someone else. No matter how much she tried to reason with herself that Bash could do what he wanted, she still was angered by the fact that he ran off with Mary. Mary of all people! How could he do such a thing?

Before she could ponder this thought any longer, there was a knock at her door. When she opened it, she was surprised to see who was on the other side.

"Francis?" Arianna was shocked that he would come to see her so late.

"I need to talk to you." Francis said, walking right into her room.

"What is it?" Arianna asked but having a feeling she knew what he wanted to discuss.

"Do you know why Mary ran away?" Francis asked with desperation in his eyes.

"Francis…" Arianna started.

"No, Aria, please, if you know anything just tell me." Francis begged.

Arianna's heart broke at this sight. She loved Francis as a brother, even though they didn't get a lot of time to talk since she's been here. She didn't want to betray Mary so all she told him was she left for his protection.

"My protection? How is leaving protecting me? She broke my heart, Aria." Francis told her.

"I know, Francis, and I wish I had more for you but I don't. " Arianna felt so bad for not telling Francis but it wasn't her secret to tell.

"How could she have left?" Francis was now holding his head in his hands, sitting on Arianna's chair. "And to run off with Bash, my brother, of all people."

Arianna sucked in a breath at this statement. She had been trying not to think about Bash and Mary together.

"Do you know why Bash left?" Francis asked, desperation in his eyes.

Arianna bit her lip as her eyes started to water. "I'm afraid it was because of me."

"What do you mean, Aria? He loves you." Francis told her.

"I'm engaged to someone else, Francis. I explained all of that to him before and then tried to tell him everything but my new fiancée arrived just before he left. I asked him to stay so I could talk to him more but he didn't. Honestly, I don't blame him for leaving." Arianna said as she looked away from Francis.

"You're engaged to someone else? How?" Francis was perplexed.

"When I went back home when my father got sick, my grandmother had made a promise to one of the princes of Bulgaria, one that I did not want and that my parents had no idea about. Since the fire, I was hoping Daymen, my fiancée, would find someone else but obviously not. My grandmother has been set on us getting married every since she arrived. I, on the other hand, would rather be tortured every day of my life than be married to that narcissistic ass." Arianna spat.

"I'm so sorry, Aria. I wish I could help." Francis came over and hugged Arianna.

"There's no use, Francis. I shall marry Daymen and be miserable for the rest of my life. Isn't that how most royals live their lives anyway?" Arianna joked dryly.

Francis nodded, not sure of what to say to make Arianna feel better, and then bid her a goodnight. Sighing deeply, she tried to push all of her thoughts of Bash out of her head and laid down in bed, hoping that tomorrow would be easier. Sleep did not come easy for her though, nightmares plagued her each time she closed her eyes. Visions of the fire flashed before her eyes every time she shut them. It wasn't until well into the night when sleep finally overcame her. However, she did not sleep for a long, as there was a commotion in the early morning.

Arianna did not get out of bed, not wanting to see what was going on outside in the halls. She did not want to get up and face Daymen and her grandmother. So instead, she just lay in bed, hoping that all this could be a bad dream. That if she stayed hidden long enough, they'd all forget about her. However, that wasn't about to happen today.

The doors of her chambers burst open, startling her into an upright position. Lola was standing in the middle of her room, not bothering for formalities.

"Lola! You scared me half to death. What is it?" Arianna asked, a hand on her chest.

"Mary is back. Along with Sebastian." Lola said.

Arianna's eyes widened at this. She hadn't expected them to be back so soon. Something must've happened, something terrible. Quickly throwing her blankets aside, Arianna jumped out of bed and quickly dressed with Lola's help. She was about to go and see Bash when reality caught up to her. Lola noticed the look on her face.

"What is it, Aria?" Lola asked.

"I can't do this. I was going to rush off to see Bash, to talk to him, but I can't do it anymore. Daymen is here. I need to start distancing myself from Bash, keeping him out of my mind and out of my life." Arianna explained, tears coming to her eyes.

"Oh, Aria." Lola hugged her. "I've spoken to Mary and there is something I need to tell you. King Henry has threatened Bash's life. He says that if Mary doesn't wed Francis, he will kill Bash."

"Has he lost his mind?" Arianna exclaimed. "Bash is his son, his favorite son. How could he just kill him without a second thought?"

"I don't know, but Mary is still refusing to wed Francis, not wanting him to die." Lola explained.

"Oh, but she's perfectly fine with letting Bash die?" Arianna was starting to get angry.

"No, no. She's trying to figure a way where everyone wins." Lola told Arianna, trying to calm her down.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't be getting angry. That's not helping my whole ignoring Bash thing." Arianna said, breathing deeply.

"Should you really be trying to stay away from Bash now? Just ignoring him completely?" Lola asked.

Arianna sighed. "I have to. Daymen is a terrible man and if he knew how deeply I feel for Bash, I don't even want to imagine what he would. He's capable of dark things, Lola."

"Are you saying he'd kill Bash?" Lola questioned, wondering how Arianna could be with someone like this.

"He's killed before." Arianna replied darkly.

Lola was about to ask what she meant when Arianna's grandmother came into the room.

"Arianna! Isn't it lovely that Daymen is here? Shame that he came during all this commotion, though." Emese stated looking as happy as ever.

"Yes, that is a shame." Was all Arianna said.

Lola just watched the exchange with interest. She found it odd how Emese just cooed over Daymen when Arianna had made it clear he was nothing more than a monster. Could her grandmother not see that? Or did she just not care?

"Is there something you needed, grandmother?" Arianna asked shortly.

"Watch your tongue." Emese snapped. "I came to tell you that Daymen has requested your presence for a special dinner tonight."

"In the midst of all this?" Arianna questioned.

"Yes, your fiancé would like a dinner with you. It's just a formality for him to request. You are going to dinner tonight." Emese told her.

"Yes, of course. I look forward to tonight." Arianna responded, nodding.

"Good. That is all." Emese then walked out of Arianna chambers.

"Well that was rude." Lola announced.

"That is my grandmother for you." Arianna rolled her eyes. "She is very stuck in her ways, believing that a queen is nothing more than a king's property. I don't know how but she adores Daymen. It's quite sickening actually."

Lola nodded, feeling for her friend. "Come, let's talk a walk. Maybe it'll help you."

"Thank you, Lola. That sounds lovely." Arianna linked her arm with Lola's as the walked out of her room.

Arianna's mind kept drifting to Bash locked in the dungeon. She couldn't wrap her mind around all that was happening. Hadn't it only been two days ago that she was in Bash's arms? That Aylee had died in hers? Everything has been happening so fast that Arianna barely had time to process her own thoughts about everything. All she could think about was how she should be acting and feeling instead of what she really felt. As her and Lola came to the lake, she saw Blazhe standing at the waters edge. Arianna smiled a little and made her way over to him.

"Blazhe!" Arianna greeted.

"Aria, how lovely to see you." Blazhe bowed. "And who is this wonderful creature?"

"Blazhe, this is Lola, one of Queen Mary's ladies. Lola, this is Blazhe Draganov, Prince of Bulgaria." Arianna introduced.

"Pleasure to meet you, Lola." Blazhe said, taking Lola's hand and kissing the top of it.

"And to meet you as well." Lola responded, blushing a little.

"How are you, Aria?" Blazhe asked, concern in his eyes.

"I'm fine." Blazhe gave her a look. "Well, as fine as I'll ever be with your brother here."

"He hasn't done anything, has he?" Blazhe was now walking around the lake with Lola and Arianna.

"No, but give it time. I'm sure he'll do something soon." Arianna replied.

"What could he possibly do?" Lola piped in.

Blazhe directed his attention to Lola now. "My brother, even though he is family, isn't a very nice person. He's done some things that I am not proud of. I grew quite close to Aria when we were at her home and I want to make sure my brother does not hurt her as he has hurt many others."

"That didn't really answer my question." Lola pointed out while Arianna smirked at this. One thing that Blazhe was skilled at was diverting answering things he did not want to answer. The two shared a look before Blazhe responded to Lola.

"Daymen is just capable of things that most people would find immoral." Blazhe told her.

"Then why is Aria marrying him?" Lola couldn't understand this situation.

Blazhe shook his head. "I wish I knew how to get her out of it."

"I do, too." Arianna said quietly.