Chapter 91—The pull between them

Chapter 91: 91—The pull between them Lucen felt the dripping sounds in the dark, the cold, frigid air against his neck. He could sense Aya’s dissatisfaction but didn’t know quite what to say. "I’ve been training and preparing for our journey," Lucen apologised. "I’m sorry about that. But I have been thinking about you." Her cell had a small bed and a desk and chair added to it to help her. She sat on the chair, elbows on the table, chin placed on her palms. "So you came to just see me?" Lucen scratched his head, smiling shakily. "Just sit down then." She gestured at the bed, and Lucen blinked twice. He wondered whether he should ask for another chair, but decided to not be a creep and just sit. The bed was nice and comfortable; it was warm like she had just rolled out of it. Lucen caught Aya watching him closely, and his skin began to crawl like he was in a crowd of people. "I’m sorry for being dumb," Lucen said. "I... um, I’m glad to see you doing well." "Thank you. I’m about to go on a journey to retake my home," Aya said, "and my soon-to-be husband came to curse me out and nearly put his hands on me." Lucen rose to his feet, eyes flashing. "Duran?" Aya stood up and pushed him back down, then sat beside him, just a bit too close. She stayed silent for a moment. "He was just making it clear that I’ll never be worthy of his choosing. He said he will fight against this with everything. I told him what he wants doesn’t seem to matter much." Lucen laughed a little. "But he didn’t... he didn’t touch you. Because I will actually kill him this time." "I’m glad you’re willing to do that." Aya nodded, smiling a bit too wide. "You did duel him already for a lady, so a second wouldn’t be much trouble." Lucen suddenly found the ceiling incredibly interesting. Aya stared into him for a long time. She finally grew tired of his attempt to sidestep the problem. "So what may I be useful for today?" Lucen cringed. "I just wanted to talk about something mildly important." Explaining all that happened with Kedral and Heimar made him feel worse. There was no way they would ever let him leave. Anywhere he went, he would be recognised as a Lightcloak. The Lightcloaks were too worried about their reputation to fre him. Aya tapped her leg nervously. "The Lightcloaks were disgraced for their failure to protect the heart. Many of the old houses blame your family for what happened. They won’t be any support if the King wants to force you to do something." "But isn’t that what the empire is?" Lucen asked. "Everyone is subject to the King." Aya shook her head. "Everyone is subject to Kal, our god. The King is picked and can be removed or forced to stand down. The Veiled King is the first ruler that wasn’t chosen by god. But he has a lot of supporters, both willingly and forced. Like the Cross family and even yours." Lucen raised an eyebrow. "I’m very sure Chester hates the King." Aya laughed. "The King did banish your family, but he also saved it to an extent. Alger was to be imprisoned, but the Veiled King reassigned the entire family to the Grey Keep and gave the Metia family your former estates." "So they may not like him and think his rule is illegitimate, but they have to respect what he has done for them, and are wary of any more debts to him." "Yes. We can use that against them," Aya said, smirking. Lucen clasped his jaw, trying to piece together what she was saying before she told him. "We use Kedral’s deal between me and Heimar to make Chester offer us something?" "No. Keep your deal with Kedral. Chester will ask you to purposely fail the quest, which will end up with me dead and give Chester everything he wants." "So we first have to decide what he wants and make sure we gain more than him." "Exactly." They examined what could motivate Chester and what they could offer him without hurting themselves. The quiet of the pits was broken by their voices and occasional laughter. The flickering torch in front of Aya’s cell cast a red glow over her fair skin. Her eyes were like plain mirrors through which Lucen saw himself. "I’m not sure when Liam is going to tell his mum," Lucen said. "I really hope he can come too. I’m just barely starting to see this less as a death trap and more as a fun journey." "I didn’t get to travel here. All the Keeps come with an emergency teleportation function," Aya explained. "I used it, then ended up not too far from Castaway. Meeting new people, trying new things. I’m so ready. If this is the last journey of my life, I’ll make sure to enjoy the ride." Lucen stared into her eyes. "It won’t be the last." Aya’s face turned slightly redder. "I know." "We’ll probably have crazier journeys later on. Trust me, once I step out of my house, problems come running. And you know what they say about problems." "That they suck?" "That you can never have enough of them." Aya laughed heartily, falling to the bed. Lucen was half lying down and was slowly realising they had forgotten about Chester. She stared up at him, face half-buried in the mattress. Lucen felt his heart nearly jump out of his throat. It became too quiet. The silence of the dark pits was punctuated by the occasional sound of water dripping from somewhere, but now it was filled by something else. The words left half-said and the pull between them. Aya rose, her black hair slightly tousled, her silver eyes steady and serious. Lucen resisted the urge to lean back as she came closer, not wanting to offend her. But something screamed inside him that this was a bad idea. Her eyes pulled closer to him, and he could feel her warm breath breaking against his cold skin. There was something else in him that wanted her—that part of himself that had never been talked to by a girl, never been wanted so furiously. Aya looked him dead in the eye as her hand draped over his lap. He could hear his heart pounding in his ear, feel the heat rushing through his body. Tron’s loud voice cut through the heavy silence. "Ahhh, the young Squires, here to see Lady Aya finally." Lucen jumped off the bed like it was made from hot coals and stood at the entrance of the cell, doing his best to compose himself. Aya neatly arranged her scattered hair and clothes. Footsteps clicked against the stone floors and hushed voices discussed things. Set, at the head of the small crowd, stood close to the entrance and called out, "Lady Aya, we wish to meet you if it is convenient." Aya cleared her throat. "Do enter, one of your own is already here." Her voice sounded a bit higher than when she invited him in. Set was followed by Ymir, Callan, Tharic, Kon, Helie, and some of their class. They all raised eyebrows or paused when they saw him in the cell, arms crossed. He offered them a simple nod, not trusting that his voice wouldn’t be awkwardly high too.