Warnings: None
The meal she was served was better than she was expecting. She hadn't wanted to eat, but the burning hunger gnawing at her stomach was enough to tempt her. Contemplating her thoughts as she ate, she hadn't expected to be given such a fine room either. This kind of treatment wasn't at all what she would expect from Zane.
When the clock read midnight, she had given up on waiting for some explanation and gave in to her exhaustion, collapsing on the ridiculously poofy bed. The bed was more comfortable than her own back in Phoenix Drop, she thought ruefully.
She found herself in the throes of cloudy dreams as she slept. She couldn't make out distinct voices or people, but they were all around her. She could hear rain and it was cold. Then she was thrust back into the waking world when the clock on the wall chimed.
The lord's eyes snapped open to bright sunlight. Slowly, she sat up, having to access her current situation all over again in her hazy state.
She was still here, in O'khasis, in this room she had been locked in. Patting the bed with one hand, she closed her eyes and sighed.
"Finally awake, are you? It's almost noon, you know."
The voice made her yelp and she kicked the blanket involuntarily, her fists balling up in the sheet. Across the room, Zane sat on the vanity chair, turned to face the bed.
"...Y-!" Aphmau stuttered. She scrambled off the bed and pressed herself to the wall, trying to put as much distance between herself and the priest as possible. She wasn't armed; she couldn't defend herself. Zane only smiled to her.
"Calm down. There's no need to be alarmed."
"No need?! What are you doing here?! I was asleep-" The thought of Zane watching her sleep made chills run up her spine. To think he had been there for who knows how long-
"You need to eat breakfast before it gets too late. You slept for a long time." The man stood and took a step in her direction, prompting Aphmau to grab the lamp off the table and hold it defensively over her shoulder.
"Stay away from me! What do you want? Why am I here?" She repeated the questions she had asked the guard from the day before; the same questions that had been running in her mind over and over since she woke up here.
The threat of being hit with the lamp didn't seem to faze Zane as he stepped over to the bed, presenting something from behind his back. He held in his hand a mound of lilac fabric, though from this distance, Aphmau couldn't tell what it was.
"I got you a present. I'm sure you'd like to change out of those clothes so I brought you another set," he explained politely.
"These aren't even mine. Where are my clothes?" the woman demanded.
"Ah... Well, you see, on the way here, they got a big dirty. I also assumed you wouldn't want to sleep in such clothes so I took it upon myself to get you something else to wear."
If she hadn't been uncomfortable with his presence before, she definitely was now. Her hands shook a bit, but she still kept a firm grasp on the lamp base.
"You undressed me?" her voice had lowered to little above a whimper, disbelief and horror tainting her tone.
"I didn't want you to have to sleep in dirty clothes. Now, I'll leave this here for you for when you feel like changing." Zane sat the set of clothes on the bed. She noticed briefly that the top was lined with lace and had a small bow at the collar.
"...You still haven't answered my question, Zane," she tried to sound more intimidating, but she only sounded frightened, "Why am I here?" The priest gave her an odd look, his curious expression causing Aphmau to become even more confused. He was so calm.
"You haven't figured it out by now? Honestly, I thought you were smarter than that," he replied dismissively. The lord wrinkled her nose at the insult. "I've brought you here to be my bride. I told you we would be married."
It took her a moment to comprehend what he had just said and for that time, she stared at him in blank confusion. Then she could only reply with, "What?!"
"You heard me, Aphmau." The way he said her name made her insides squirm from fear. "Put that lamp down and have a civil conversation with me." He ended the sentence with a curt smile.
Though her arms slacked so she wasn't holding the lamp over her shoulder, she didn't put it down just yet. "Tell me, what about you is civil?"
"Are you truly in a place to be making sarcastic comments at me?" he asked. The threat was subtle, but clear. She sat the lamp down on the side table where it belonged.
Slowly, she shifted to stand beside the bed, hoping that by moving out of the way of the door, it might somehow encourage him to leave. "I'm not marrying you, Zane. You're a coward for keeping me here."
The priest didn't look pleased with the response he received. "You will marry me or you'll never leave this place. You won't leave this room. Do you understand? You'll never see anyone you love again."
"..." Aphmau lapsed into silence at the statement. She didn't want to accept her fate, but she didn't want to submit to Zane either.
"Now that we're on the same page..." Zane came closer, but Aphmau forced herself not to move away from him this time. "You will do as I say while you're here. You won't do anything without my permission. If you try to escape or harm one of my guards, I'll make sure you're punished severely."
I'm not a dog, she thought in annoyance. But she couldn't hurt anyone without a weapon, even if she wanted to. She refused to reply to Zane, only staring him down from across the room. Accepting that he wouldn't get a response, the man shrugged it off.
"I'll give you 10 days," he finally said. The woman looked up, mildly confused.
"10 days for...what?"
"To accept my marriage proposal willingly."
Her eyes widened in surprise, then she glowered at the priest. "I'll never marry you," she whispered spitefully. She meant what she said, but she couldn't help, but wonder if she had a choice.
"..." Suddenly, Zane turned and went to the door. He took a key from a pocket on his vest and unlocked it, gripping the the handle as he spoke over his shoulder. "Like I said, 10 days." Then the door slammed and a gust of cool air rushed into the room.
Aphmau stared at the door for a while, then she sat on the edge of the mattress thinking. When she finally decided to stand again, her gaze found the clothes on the end of the bed. Using two fingers, she felt the silky soft fabric, frowning hard to herself. The material felt expensive. Why would he give her this?
After contemplating the idea some more, she took off her current clothes and slipped the new outfit on. The fabric felt even softer against her skin than it had to her hand.
With a heavy sigh, she went and laid back down on the bed, sinking into the covers quietly. 10 days until she was forced to marry Zane. She closed her eyes tightly, furious. She had to find a way out before then.
