Her Unending Nightmares

ARIA

.

I huddled at the far end of the cold cage. My entire body aching massively. The wounds inflicted on me stung as though my body had been bitten terribly by group of ants. I bit down hard at my lips to reel in the pain and suppress the heat that burned up my insides as the images of my mother and father being killed flashed through my head. It has been a week since my family was massacred in cold blood and I still can't get over the trauma that came with it.

Taking deep breaths, I tried to find my footing but failed miserably as I crashed down to the cold, hard surface. After Ryan rejected me that day, he had brought me to the palace to serve as one of the lowest ranking slaves and everyone here bullied me, especially Keira, his sister. I wish i had just died instead rather than being alive to go through this constant pain and bitter torture.

"Aria..." Someone called out to me from the cage. I recognized the familiar voice of Martha, my cellmate who was also locked up in the cage with me. She reached out to me and tried to push me up but I wouldn't budge. I was too exhausted. I am starved and Ryan had ordered them not to serve me food.

"Get up Aria!" She cried out desperately, careful not to touch my bruises and open them up for the second time.

"Keep your voices down!" A guard yelled from outside the cage. He whipped the bars continuously to silence our voices.

"She's sick!" Martha croaked out "She's burning up. If you don't help her, she will die!"

"And do you think that I'm the least bothered if she lives or dies?" Came the guard's snide remark "Slaves die in here every single day so it doesn't matter if she does! She's just as worthless as the rest of them."

"So shut up otherwise you'd be clearing up the mines alongside the other slaves assigned for the night. Do you understand?" He grunted in anger and I heard his receding footsteps until they were gone.

"Martha... I don't feel too good! I hurt everywhere!" I whispered wearily while Moira held me closer to herself to offer comfort.

She pushed out my damp and sticky hair that had glued to the side of my face and tucked them behind my ears. I felt the sweat break out of my skin as my entire body trembled and shook under her arms.

"Nothing will happen to you Aria." She breathed into my neck soothingly "You'll be fine. The goddess will not let anything happen to you my dear." She sobbed sympathetically. Martha was the closest thing I had to a mother ever since I was brought in here by Ryan who accused me of sleeping with a guard and trying to elope with him.

The guard had tried to force himself on me and when caught, he lied that i had tried to seduce him. I know that Ryan could tell that he was lying but he still chose to believe him so that he could use that as an avenue to punish me. Tomorrow was supposed to be my eighteenth birthday but i don't think I'll make it out of here by then.

"Everything will be fine my dear." She tried to reassure me amidst sobs but i knew that nothing would ever be fine. My life had taken a drastic turn for the worse. Ever since i was brought here, I have been assaulted countless times by the male guards that supervised the slaves and each time I tried to protest or show any form of resistance, they punished me as a way of teaching me a lesson.

Earlier today, one of them had tried to force himself on me and because I had hit him, the chief guard took it upon himself to whip me till my back became numb and that's why I had ended up falling sick to the point of dying.

"I am f-fine Moira." I smiled weakly "I am just tired, that's all."

"You are just too young Aria." She cried pitifully "No one should ever have to go through this." She was right but my fate had already been decided since I the day I was born. I will live and also die here. There was no hope for a common slave like me now.

"Alpha King Ryan is approaching the dungeon! Pay your respect!" I heard the sudden announcement made by one of the guards and I panicked.

He's here. Oh no!

I trembled in fear as I suddenly became restless. Why did he chose to come here today of all days? I heard the clattering of keys and before I could assimilate what was happening, he was already in my cage. His huge framed body occupied the space and I suddenly felt small and insignificant in his presence. I could feel his peering gaze on my skin even though I wasn't staring directly at him.

"Aria..." He drawled in his deep voice that startled me and I suddenly went numb in the knees but still I forced myself to kneel down in front of him, my head bowed to the ground. Martha did the same as well. Who would've thought that i would one day bow down in this manner to the man i once loved. To the man that i had once intended to marry? To my own betrothed?

"Welcome my l-lord!" I greeted him in the usual manner that he had forced me to.

He crouched down beside me and lifted my chin to meet his scary and solemn face. I squirmed when my eyes came in contact with his dark and scary ones. He was fuming in anger and I could see the rage registered in them. Gone are the days when these eyes looked at me with love. Now all i could see reflecting in them was nothing but pure hatred.

"I hope that you have learned from your mistakes?" He questioned but i didn't reply. Angered by my silence, he slapped me across the face till I tasted blood which caused me to yelp in pain.

"When I ask you a question Aria, you answer immediately." His grip on my chin tightened and I struggled to breath through my mouth "I do not tolerate it when I am put in an unnecessary suspense."

"F-Forgive me my lord!" I whimpered, my hands flew to carress my bruised cheeks that had just been assaulted by his hands. Tears trailed down my bruised cheeks as I struggled to maintain eye contact with Ryan's compelling ones.

"Now, I'll ask again. Have you learned from your mistakes?" He repeated for the second time, eyes burning with fury as they bore holes into my skin. 

"Y-Yes m-master." I choked out a reply. My insides, hurting massively from all the pain.

"Good. Next time when you try to whore around, keep it in mind that i own you Aria." He tightened his grip on my chin that i almost felt him breaking my jawbone. I grimaced but he still didn't stop. Instead, he only applied more pressure. "You're the payment for what your father did to my parents so don't you ever forget that." He pushed my chin away forcefully and i crashed to the ground, gasping for air.

"I'm releasing you today because I'm feeling generous but anything out of line will attract dire consequences Aria and you should know by now that i do not bluff. Your dead parents should be enough proof to this claim." He threatened before gesturing to the guard to unlock the chains that binded my hands and legs. I cannot believe that he would one say say something like this about my own parents who welcomed him into their home as their very own.

He took one look at me before exiting the dungeon and I stared at his back until he was out of sight. I was led outside by a guard only to see the head maid waiting for me with my maid uniform in her hands which she presented to me as soon as she saw me.

"Clean yourself up and wear this." She ordered. I quietly took it from her hands without uttering a single word. "Meet me in the kitchen when you're done. The alpha king is making preparations for his banquet which is tomorrow evening and everyone is working busily so don't think you've been left off the hook."

I sighed deeply. "But I'm hungry and bruised. I haven't had anything to eat for two days and my wounds aren't even healed yet. You don't expect me to—"

She chucked. "And so what? You think that you'll be given any kind of special treatment because you haven't eaten?" She questioned. "You seem to be forgetting that you are no longer the alpha King's woman. You are just a maid like the rest of us and I don't care if you're limping or will die tonight. It is none of my business so go ahead and change." She spat fiercely before walking away.

I glared at her in anger. My eyes burning with the flames of revenge. Worried about getting whipped again, i wiped my tears with my palm and headed towards the kitchen. Right then and there, I vowed that as long as I lived, I would become the greatest nightmare for the whole royal family. They are going to pay for everything that they had put me through.