ARIA:
The door clicked shut and Serene made sure it was locked before she turned to walk back into the room.
She had a tray containing chamomile tea in her hand and when she took a seat beside me, there was a smaller plate containing honey and lime juice in it.
She had taken it upon herself to get me these as Daneesha was nowhere to be found, which was really odd for someone who woke up every morning to make sure I did too.
"I got these for you," She said with a soft smile that had my nerves relaxing. It was surprising how she had gone from a tigress while defending me to a really sweet woman who served me tea to make me feel better. "This tea is to soothe you in general and I got the honey and lime for your throat."
"Thank you," I replied in a hoarse voice and cleared my throat, hating that I sounded like that. "Thank you for helping me."
"Oh, don't worry," She placed a hand on my arm. "Had I not intervened, Sheila would have snapped your windpipe. She wants you dead. She's always been obsessed over Lyall and I'd advise you to be careful around her."
I was glad she didn't ask the reason why any of that had happened. I wasn't sure explaining to her that Sheila found out I was mated to Lyall would make anything better.
I took the tea cup from her, smiling at her in appreciation as I blew air into it. After taking a few sips, I felt a tad bit better. Then she worked on squeezing lime juice into a tablespoon and mixing it with honey. Once she was done, she handed it over to me.
"You'll feel better after a few more spoons of this. I'll make sure to be here three times every day," She raised a finger to stop me when I tried to argue. "Ah, no. Don't even try to argue with me. I want to make Sheila hate me more than she already does and this is the only way I get to do it."
"Is it just the hate you both have for each other or is there something else attached to it?"
"What do you think?" She smiled down at me.
I shrugged. "I don't know. I don't really want to involve myself in it so I'll just pass."
Pushing to her feet, she grabbed the tray and smiled down at me. "Just stay out of her way. And if you don't tell Lyall what happened to you, I'll make sure I tell him. I'm giving you twenty-four hours to relay it to him," Her eyes fleeted down to my neck and she sighed. "In fact, I think he'll notice it. He cares about you. He'll see it."
"Thank you, Serene," I smiled. "Really. I mean it."
"You're welcome, honey."
With those words, she made her exit out of the room. Once she left, I leaned back into bed and continued to rub my throat, wondering what the hell just happened.
I went back to sleep and when I woke up later in the day, I realized that I missed breakfast and Daneesha was also nowhere to be found and it made me really worried that I hadn't seen her since last night.
After taking my bath, I cleaned up properly and slipped into a scarlet dress and a shawl I wrapped around my arms. Not even Sheila was going to dull the need for me to look good today.
I later changed the position of my scarf, pulling my shawl towards my neck and wrapping it around my throat to hide the red mark. I didn't want it pulling attention.
My stomach gurgled and I knew I had to eat or I was going to be consumed by hunger.
I made my way out of my room, tuning out the whispers from the maids as I walked past them. Of course, they had every right to say all sorts of nasty things to me but I didn't care in the least.
I was happy to see the dining table empty and hopefully, it was going to remain that way until I was done eating. Like Serene was lucky herself, the maid who served me was nice to me. Smiling and speaking to me with respect, unlike other maids who looked down at me in disdain.
"Aria?"
I snapped my head up to find Lyall standing by the door and staring at me in interest. "It's nice to see you after you missed breakfast this morning." He smiled and walked into the room. "I wanted to come get you myself but your maid told me you were still asleep."
"Daneesha? Did you see her?"
He pulled out a chair and took his seat before nodding. "Yes, I did. Something wrong?"
I shook my head and looked down at my plate. "Not at all. Nothing's wrong."
"You sure? Why does your voice sound hoarse? Did you catch a cold?"
I shook my head. "No, I didn't. I'll be fine. And yes, I am fine. Nothing is wrong."
"Come here."
I looked up from my plate to see he was smiling. Of course, he missed me. I couldn't even resist if I wanted so I pushed to my feet, and stylishly adjusted my shawl before walking over to his seat and carrying my plate with me.
He sat me on his lap and stared into my eyes with a grin, before pressing his lips into mine. I forgot all of my problems immediately, throwing my arms around his neck and pushing my body into him. His fingers gripped my hip really tight and he began to grind me against him, peppering kisses down my neck. I found it hard to resist him but the moment his lips grazed my neck, I jerked back.
He lifted his head. "What's wrong, darling."
I shook my head and cleared my throat. "Nothing at all."
"Why are you then moving from me?"
I scratched my head. "Nothing of much importance."
"I don't believe you," He pulled me back into him just as I was about to pull away. It was also too late because his fingers booked around my shawl and pulled it down, showing the angry red marks on my throat. His eyes darkened and his voice turned cold the moment he saw them. "Who the fuck did this to you?”