If You Feel Better

Chapter 18

A night like any other night. Stars shining, moon full, clouds absent. The air was dry as usual, nothing but sand around in all directions.

Aya took a deep breath in, relishing the cool air filling her lungs. Being deep underground, the lair stayed fairly humid and hot, though not as hot as the outside during the day. Spending nearly all of her day down there was difficult. The air felt heavy, like trying to breathe stone. Being outside lifted that weight from the air, making it easier to fill her lungs. The only time Aya got to be outside was when Bakura brought her to the oasis almost every day.

Bakura tied up the horse to their usual tree. The ride had been quiet, neither of them talking to each other. He hadn't really punished her for breaking into the armory the night before. In fact, he had barely said a word. His silence was eerie. Aya had expected him to throw her back in the room and start screaming at her, maybe even slam her into the ground. But none of that happened. He had just been unnervingly quiet and had been since. It was as if he was pretending it never happened.

The image of Bakura bashing in his minion's head ran through Aya's mind over and over. She had severely underestimated his sheer strength. That could be her head if Bakura wanted it to be. How long was he willing to wait for her to sign the contract before he became frustrated enough to do that to her? If his own men were expendable, how expendable was she?

That incident reignited Aya's urgency to get out. She had spent the past three weeks devising a new plan. She thought long and hard about what would be the most successful way to escape this time. She couldn't take on all of the men in Bakura's lair. The moment she attacked one, the entirety of his army would be alerted. She needed to be around as few people as possible. There was only one time of day when she was around only one person instead of a hundred: when Bakura took her to the oasis.

Of course, that one man was Bakura. He was far above the others in intelligence, violence, power, and control. He wasn't easily beaten. Aya grew more nervous as the night went on, the time for action drawing nearer.

She tried to calm herself down as she undressed to step into the water. This is normal, Aya, she said to herself. You are taking a bath as normal. Do not alert him. She took an apprehensive gulp and a few deep breaths as she prepared her mind for what she was about to do.

She looked over to Bakura who was leaned up against a tree, arms crossed, and staring out boredly into the desert. This had become so routine for them that he didn't even bother to look at the princess anymore. He would stare out into the desert and, as long as he heard her singing, he knew she hadn't gone anywhere. So far, the arrangement was working well.

Fully naked, Aya took one last deep breath in until she tentatively stepped into the frigid water. The cold shot up her body in that familiar way she was used to now, but she didn't hesitate to go further in up to her shoulders. She looked up at the stars, shining so brightly and so beautiful, and she felt inspired by them. "As my heart beats, love turns into suffering," she sang wholeheartedly. "Every minute, every second."

Bakura could listen to her voice forever. It seemed every time she came to the oasis, her voice got stronger and more confident, and she never sang the same song twice. He wondered where she learned so many strange, yet beautiful songs. They were so different from the type of music Egypt was accustomed to.

She washed herself as she sang as per usual, looking to the full moon, as if she were singing to it and it was listening. She swam and twirled in the water with her song, feeling the music and lyrics flow through her body almost uncontrollably. "I'm convinced I've already almost, almost forgotten you and reacquainted myself with loneliness."