''Where do you think the others went? Like... Millie, Josh and Rose? Silvia, Cami?'' Aiden had taken me down to the slave quarters that I had left behind what felt like a lifetime ago. There was surprisingly nobody else down here yet, making me wonder if maybe the routine of chores and tasks still continued for each and every one of them despite what we'd been through.
Which undoubtedly it had. None of them probably had the slightest idea about what had happened to us.
''I'm guessing they're being questioned as we speak. My parents won't let Silvia off easy at all, it's best you don't think about it.'' He'd collapsed back onto the sofa in the centre of the living space, his head held in his hands.
''Rose and Josh are being questioned too?'' I worried for them. For Rose, any questioning from vampires would involve a lot of compulsion.
''Josh will be let off easy. I can't vouch for Rose.'' His voice was muffled because of his hands. It disturbed me that all of this was having this effect on him. How was a mere human supposed to handle it?
''Great. Will they put me through that too?'' It was a selfish question, but I had to be prepared. God knows what sort of information they'd get out of me. It disturbed me that I actually had feelings that needed to be hidden.
''No, I won't let them.'' Aiden met my gaze, dropping his hands from his face, ''There are things that we both know nobody can find out about.'' His eyes were hard and serious, a sight that I wasn't accustomed to seeing.
I was silent for a heartbeat, allowing his words to process and hopefully suggesting to him that I wasn't stupid, there was no way that the others would find out from me. It would be a certain death-sentence for me, and shame Aiden.
Changing the subject, I spoke again, ''So, what happens now?'' I clasped my hands together nervously, thinking that nothing could go back to 'normal'.
''Well, we have to try and act as we would have before any of this happened,'' When I opened my mouth to interrupt him and voice my previous thoughts, he spoke over me, ''No matter how hard that is, we can't give them any reason to want to question you.''
-*-*-*-
Days passed by without incident. In fact, I had hardly seen Aiden since he'd told me to act as if nothing had ever happened. He had left shortly after uttering those words, leaving me to contemplate how any of this was even possible.
My chores had resumed, a distraction that I was extremely grateful for, despite it being relatively hard work. I'd even seen Cami around, although she seemed much more subdued and quiet after meeting with her sister. Silvia, on the other hand, had proved troublesome apparently when being questioned. Although, somehow she was following orders for the Royals and working alongside Cami from day to day, something she didn't seem too happy about.
Rose had returned to doing her chores too, sparing little time to tell me anything about what had happened during questioning. Seeing her traumatised features after she had come out of it, I could make a sure guess that it hadn't been fun.
The other slaves, though obviously curious, were keeping their distance from us all. A part of me assumed that they were too scared to ask in fear that one of the Royals would punish them for it. I was extremely relieved that none of them mentioned it considering my own thoughts were all over the place for the time being.
Preparing dinner seemed so relaxing when compared to the rebel camp mission. Cooking beside Celia for the High Royals was somewhat nostalgic despite it only having been a few weeks since we'd been in this position last.
We'd been working in silence for a few minutes before she finally spoke. Other than a few simple greetings and a little small talk, she hadn't spoken to me since we'd arrived back, ''This must be weird for you.''
I paused, turning to face her and slouching back onto the counter behind me, ''What do you mean?''
''Well, I'm assuming you didn't have the luxury of a proper kitchen when you were away.'' She continued stirring a large pot of steaming soup, her eyes focused downwards.
I was shocked that somebody had finally addressed this topic of conversation. We were relatively safe in the small kitchen, all doors closed to ensure privacy from any eavesdroppers, ''No we didn't.'' I still refused to put anybody in danger by breaching this subject in any detail.
''Come on, Violet. You've got to give me some more details.'' She turned to face me then, laying the wooden spoon she'd been wielding onto the countertop, ''You disappear for days and then reappear looking like you've been dragged through a warzone. Tell me what happened!'' She threw her hands up in a frustrated gesture, but her face was lit up in a joking smile.
However, I didn't find her metaphor amusing. After all, it was scarily accurate.
''Fine. I was dragged along to do some work with Aiden. There's really nothing more to it.'' I stated matter-of-factly, turning back towards my chopping board and beginning to cut up more vegetables.
'''Do some work', eh?' Her tone was teasing and suggestive, but I chose to ignore that.
The door to the kitchen swung open, startling me for a moment as I thought that I may have said too much. Then the bright face of Jared revealed itself as he immediately swooped over to Celia, grabbing her around the waist and spinning her in the air. Her grin was so wide that it almost looked painful, her cheeks glowing a rosy shade.
I stared. Obviously Celia had forgotten to fill me in on a few secrets of her own.
''Jared, put me down!'' She squealed in delight, her hands gripping tightly onto his shoulders as he stared up at her in amusement. He obeyed, lowering her gently to her feet, followed by her joyful giggle, ''Go and help Violet with arranging the food. I'm going to start setting the tableware out.''
Jared turned to me, his eyes full of embarrassment, ''Sorry, Violet. I didn't see you there.''
''Right, I can see you only have eyes for her now.'' I winked, turning to give them a few moments of privacy before the kitchen door clicked shut signalling that Celia had left.
''Sorry again, that must have been really awkward for you.'' Jared came to stand beside me, grabbing an assortment of bowls from the cupboard to place the food I had prepared in.
This time, Celia had made some sort of steak dish, along with soup as a starter if the Royals desired it. She had said that she liked to be thorough and cover all bases with the meals just in case. I had no idea how she did it, hence why she had left me to deal with vegetables.
''No, you're both sweet.'' Honestly, it hadn't been awkward. Strangely, it had made me jealous. How could they find each other in a situation like this and actually be able to show their affection?
''Thanks, I think.'' He muttered, though I could hear the slight smile in his voice.
''How long have you two been a couple then?'' I asked, genuinely curious. It felt nice to be able to discuss such an easy topic.
''Not long. I've liked her for quite a while though.'' He answered, juggling with the vegetables I had prepared and trying to arrange them nicely.
''I knew it!'' I exclaimed, laughing at my own outburst. He looked momentarily shocked, but joined in with my laughter after a few seconds.
We sobered up quickly as I began to help him with the task at hand. It felt so comfortable to be able to talk to Jared without thinking about anything too complicated.
That was, until the next words left his mouth.
''What were the rebels like then?'' He asked nonchalantly, not even hesitating with his actions.
I froze, mind racing as his words circled in my thoughts. I hadn't told anybody that the rebels existed, let alone us meeting them. I mean why would any of us want to risk our lives in speaking about them? Rose wouldn't have mentioned them, and I doubted that Cami and Silvia would be so stupid. The only possibility would be if they'd overhead the High Royals speaking about them.
But, what were the chances of that?
''How do you know?'' I whispered, edging closer to him with only a fraction of suspicion clouding my judgement.
He gave me a sideways glance, his eyebrows raised in question, ''They didn't tell you?''
''Tell me what?''
He didn't speak, and for a moment I thought he would skip over the subject. He seemed to be contemplating, my nerves on edge at what he was about to reveal. I had my suspicions, but I wasn't going to voice them in fear that they were wrong and Jared seemed unpredictable in his position in all of this.
''Tell you...''He stopped again, my heart hammering in my ears as I anticipated his next words, ''That we're escaping.''
I stared at him, confused and completely lost for words. How could they be planning to escape the mansion?
Then it clicked.
The rebels had said that they had a man on the inside: spies. Jared must have been one of them for him to know about the rebels. But that pegged the question, how many more were there?
''You're escaping?'' I bit my lip, my voice shaking slightly as my thoughts raced over all of the possibilities. Before any of the recent events, I would have been absolutely all for it and extremely excited. But, as much as I wished those feelings would appear and make this less complicated, they didn't, ''How?''
''The rebels are making their move and we're leaving when they do. The High Royals will be so distracted with keeping the others contained, that they'll completely forget about us!'' Jared could have been jumping up and down with how excited he sounded, ''Are you sure they didn't tell you any of this?''
''They didn't.'' His expression dropped as he noticed the wariness in my tone. I couldn't help it, there was just so much that could go wrong with this, ''And, when is this all going to happen?''
''Tonight.'' He said casually, turning away and collecting the serving dishes he had prepared.
My jaw dropped as I gawked at him. He couldn't be serious; the rebels couldn't already think they were ready to launch this sort of attack. The High Royals had been on high alert since we'd come back and none of us knew where most of the rebel camp had escaped off to.
Obviously they'd been making their way here.
''Seriously?'' I whispered, disbelief colouring my tone as he continued to move around the kitchen, preparing everything to be carried up.
''Of course.'' He set the dishes down and strode over to me before reaching into his pocket and searching around for something, ''Here, take this. I wouldn't be surprised if one of those things compelled you to forget it all. This should help.'' He produced a tiny vial of clear liquid out of his pocket and pushed it into my open palm.
''What's this supposed to be?'' I asked, genuinely curious as I examined the vial. It was a little smaller than one of my pinkie fingers, filled to the brim with a clear liquid that was sloshing around on the inside.
''If you drink it, you'll start to remember everything that they made you forget. It would explain why you've been acting so strangely since you arrived back. Just give it a go.'' He shrugged, picking up his dishes again and backing out of the room.
I stood alone in the kitchen, my eyes locked on the little vial. Surely Aiden wouldn't have compelled me after all of this time? Still, I shoved the vial into my bra, a place where it was least likely to be discovered, and followed shortly behind Jared.
As I ascended the stairs, performing a balancing act with all of the food that I was carrying, I came to the decision that Aiden had to know about this. There was no way that this could happen without anybody getting hurt, so the best way to protect everyone was to tell somebody who could at least try to stop the situation from happening. Although, I wasn't entirely sure how he would do that.
My heart skipped a beat at the thought of betraying my own species. My old self would have scoffed at the idea of me ever helping out the vampires. But, telling Aiden seemed to be me doing just that.
I arrived in the dining room, not hesitating as I was faced with the faces of the High Royals all sat before me. Despite the judging eyes of the King and Queen, I carried on and assisted Jared with setting the table. Celia had done a beautiful job with the tableware and was stood at the side of the room, observing us also. I wondered if she knew about Jared, but then she must have done considering how close they were.
To them, this was seemingly the final night of their enslavement.
Remembering what I must do, I focused my gaze on Aiden. It was a shock to the system to see him sat there once again in all of his glory. His dark hair was styled, free of any dirt that had been lingering since our recent escape, his skin flawless. But right then, my aim was to get his attention.
As I walked past him, taking my time and trying to act casual, I tried to catch his eye. He looked up as I passed, his expression blank as I tried to convey some sort of emotion. Whatever strange expression I was making though, he seemed to dismiss with a shake of his head.
So much for that plan.
Gertrude fixed my problem a moment later, rushing into the room much more elegantly than I thought an old woman could move, ''They're coming!'' Her screech sliced through the silence like a blade, putting everyone on high alert, ''The rebels are coming!''
-*-*-*-
A/N Thanks so much for reading! We're coming to the end now, which is both exciting and kinda sad. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter, remember to vote and comment if you did! :)