Align Ourselves

by Adrianna Schuh

  "I know," she said again.

  He slid to the floor, bringing his knees up and putting his head in his hands. He looked as desperate as she felt.

  "I'll think of something, Lex," she said, sitting down next to him. She placed a hand on his knee.

  "I feel like everything is falling apart," he said. "And there's nothing I can do to stop it. And it all started with me lying to you."

  "Lex...It'll be okay. And nothing is falling apart. We're just going through a rough patch. But we will come out on the other side, okay?"

  He lifted his head and turned to look at her, studying her for a few minutes.

  "What is it?" she asked, feeling a little self-conscious.

  "You're a good leader, Aria. You're a good queen."

  "Oh," she said, "Well, thanks. But I have help, you know."

  He smiled at her, and for a few moments, she forgot that they were running out of time.

  "I have to go," she said, rising to her feet.

  "Come back soon."

  He stood to walk to the stairwell with her.

  "I will."

  Before she could stop herself, she pulled him in for a hug. He was a little taken aback. His hands just hung at his sides for the first few moments, but then he wrapped them around her, lifting her up a little.

  She placed her lips on the bit of exposed skin by the collar of his shirt, inhaling his scent.

  She knew what she had to do.

  Chapter 43

  "Who all is leaving? Point them out to me," Aria said, sitting down next to Brent.

  He looked around for them and nodded in their directions one by one.

  "And him, in the blue shirt," he said, pointing out the last one. "Why?"

  "I have a plan. But I'm going to need help. Meet me outside, at the stables, in five minutes."

  She made her way towards Mara, who was sitting on the other side of the room.

  "The stables in five minutes. Wait until Brent leaves first," she whispered.

  Mara nodded in acknowledgment.

  Aria walked to the stables; she'd only told Mara and Brent. This had to be kept quiet; the others couldn't find out. Her mother couldn't find out. She knew what her mother would say. She knew that her mother might try to stop her. She couldn't let that happen.

  "Hey," Brent said, looking over his shoulder to make sure they were alone. "What's going on?"

  "I'll explain when Mara gets here," Aria said. It was cold. Much colder than any other night. And the wind that was picking up from the east didn't really help. But at least it kept people indoors.

  Mara showed up a few minutes after Brent.

  "What is it?" she asked. She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to keep warm.

  "This has to stay between the three of us, okay? No one else can find out," Aria said.

  Brent and Mara exchanged a glance before nodding in agreement.

  "Do you trust me?" Aria asked, looking at them individually.

  "Of course," Mara said.

  "You know we do, Aria," Brent replied.

  "Okay," Aria nodded. She reached into her pocket and took out three small vials. She gave one to Mara, she gave one to Brent, and she kept the third for herself.

  "We have to give these to three of the five guards. Put it in their drink, their food. I don't care how you do it. Just make sure they ingest it," she said.

  Mara and Brent studied the small vials in their hands.

  "Brent, you take the one in the blue shirt. Mara, you take the big bearded one. I'll get the third. Okay?"

  They looked up at the same time and nodded. After that, they turned to leave, making their way back to the throne room.

  They didn't even ask.

  That's how much they trust you.

  She felt an ache in her chest, right where her heart was. Affection for her friends, for how much they believed in her, made her smile to herself.

  How did she get so lucky?

  In the throne room, she studied the three remaining men who were supposed to leave in the morning, thinking about which one she should pick.

  Eventually, she settled on the biggest of the three. Hoping that his immune system was as strong as his body.

  She poured herself a glass of wine and made a show of drinking it, laughing too loudly and telling some made-up story. Her friends looked at her a little questionably, but eventually, they joined in too. Mimicking her and pretending to be cheerful, pretending to be a lot drunker than they were.

  She excused herself to use the restroom, stumbling a little as she walked. When she was close enough to the man, she tripped over her own feet and landed right behind him, placing a hand on his back.

  "Ms. Diaz," he said, turning to help her off of the ground. "Are you okay?"

  "I'm fine!" she exclaimed, laughing a little. "Just a little drunk is all!"

  She grabbed the hand he extended and rose to her feet. She placed a hand on the table, right next to his cup, pretending that she was trying to steady herself. Her hand jerked a little, hitting the cup and tipping it forward, spilling his drink on the table.

  "Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" she said, quickly picking the cup up.

  "It's okay," he said, smiling at her a little.

  "Here, let me pour you another!"

  "No, you don't have Ms. Diaz. Really, it's no problem."

  "No, no. Let me. Please. You have to try the wine I just had. Hold on a second!" she exclaimed, taking the cup with her as she walked back to her spot.

  She filled the cup up halfway. Then she turned her back to the man, pretending like she was talking to Brent. He looked around, making sure no one was watching before giving her a little nod. She quickly took the vial from her pocket and emptied its contents into the glass.

  She turned and walked back to the man, stumbling a little.

  "Here you go. Try it. It's so good," she said, flashing the man her brightest smile.

  "Th-thank you, Ms. Diaz," he said, taking the cup from her hand.

  It's Mrs. Mills, asshole.

  She stayed by his side, waiting for him to take a sip.

  He did.

  "Wow. That's good," he said, taking another sip.

  "Right," she said. "Well, have a good night."

  "You too," he said. She could feel him watching her walk away.

  By the time she got to her quarters, the guilt had set in.

  "Has anyone thought of anything?" Martinez asked.

  They had all come back to Aria's room that night. She knew they only had a few minutes.

  She had considered telling them, but she wasn't sure how they would react. If they'd be okay with what she had done.

  "Don't worry about it," she finally said. The others all turned to look at her.

  "What?" Hunt said.

  "It's taken care of. At least, I think it is."

  "What does that mean?" Katy asked, "Aria, what did you do?"

  "The less you know, the better," Aria said.

  Everyone was quiet for a few minutes.

  "Aria, what did you do?" Katy repeated.

  "I did what I had to do; that's all," Aria said, not meeting her mother's gaze.

  "Aria..."

  "I think it's time for you all to leave," she said. She got up to open the door.

  "Aria, tell me. Tell me what you've done," Katy said, making no move to leave.

  "Katy..." Hunt began. "The others trust Aria. Maybe we should, as well?"

  Aria looked up to find him studying her from afar. They left after that.

  "Did you do it?" Aria asked, grabbing Mara's arm as she tried to leave.

  "Yeah," Mara said, "It's done."

  "And you?" Aria asked, looking at Brent.

  He nodded.

  She nodded back, and they left.

  As she got ready for bed, she thought about what she had just done. What she had made Mara and Brent do. The others would find out eventually. But at least it wouldn’t kill them. It shouldn’t.

  But it wasn't like this w
as the first time she'd done something terrible to save her friends.

  If the others, if her mother condemned her for it....well, she could live with that. But losing everything, losing this place and everything that came with it...

  That was something she knew she couldn’t live with.

  Chapter 44

  "Aria! Aria, honey, wake up," Katy yelled, shaking Aria from her slumbers.

  It felt a little unreal, seeing her mother there in bed beside her.

  "M-mom? What is it? What's going on?" Aria asked, rubbing her eyes.

  "I need your help. Something's happened. Get dressed and meet me in the library," Katy said, crawling out of bed and leaving the room.

  Shit.

  Aria quickly got dressed and made her way there. She couldn't have slept more than two, maybe three hours tops.

  Warren, along with the two guards that Aria picked, were waiting for her.

  "What is this?" she asked. But she knew why they were there. She knew what was going on.

  "Something's happened to these two," Katy said, pointing at the guards. "They've come down with fevers. And they can’t keep any food down."

  Aria grabbed a rag and put it over her mouth before going to the two guards and examining them.

  "Do you know what this is?" Katy asked. Aria felt like there was a double meaning to her question.

  Aria backed away from the guards.

  "Yeah," she said, "I do."

  "What is it?" Warren asked, placing a rag over his own mouth.

  "When we came here, a few of us got sick, just like this. We started bleeding. It's some sort of virus. I guess the people who are native to here have an immunity to it. The doctor told me that it was an old virus from animals. Sometimes eating dairy products passes it. They're sick," she said, making the story up as she went.

  "Is there a cure?" Katy asked.

  "No."

  "What happened to you all? Did it pass?" Warren asked, looking at Aria.

  "Yes, but it's very, very easy to spread. We need to place them in quarantine. Have they been around anyone?"

  "They ate dinner with all of us. They've been around us all," Warren said, looking a little worried.

  "We need to check the others. The virus should pass in a few days. But like I said, it's very catchy. We need to ask about any symptoms," Aria said.

  Warren nodded and left the room.

  Katy and Aria stayed, helping the two guards. Aria knew there wasn't anything they could do, not really. But she had to play her part.

  Warren came back to let them know that he sent guards door to door, checking on all of the palace residents.

  "You're gonna have to delay the trip. They can't travel like this. And since we don't know who all has been exposed, I don't think it'd be a very good idea to send anyone else. At least not until the virus passes. In those close quarters, they could spread it to everyone," Aria said, looking at Warren.

  She knew her words were basically a confession to Katy. But that didn't matter. Her mother's approval was not very high on her priority list.

  "Okay," Warren said, nodding. "We'll wait until the virus passes. What should the rest of us do? I mean, how can we protect ourselves?"

  "We need to round up every symptomatic person. Put them in quarantine until they’re feeling better," Aria said.

  "Okay," Warren said, turning to leave again. "I'll send them all to the big room in the west end. That should be a good place for a quarantine. I'll leave a guard here so that if others stop by here first, they can send them there."

  Aria nodded.

  She and Katy helped the two men get on their feet. They walked to the room Warren had picked out in silence.

  Once there, they waited for the others.

  "Did you do this," Katy whispered, making sure that the guards were far enough away to not overhear their conversation.

  Aria found it hard to look her mother in the eye.

  "Aria," her mother said.

  "I did what I had to do," Aria whispered back.

  The look on Katy's face told Aria what she already knew; she definitely crossed a line.

  About twenty more people showed up to the quarantine room, they're symptoms varying in severity

  Aria didn't really have time to worry about herself. All she could hope was that she was immune. And if she wasn't....well, she hoped it would pass quickly.

  She didn't get the opportunity to talk to her mother again. And she was secretly grateful for it. Katy hadn't even looked at her since she found out that Aria was behind this.

  By the time that the sun rose, Aria felt utterly and totally drained. A few others had come, volunteering to help the sick so that Aria, Katy, and Jackson could rest.

  She stopped by the dungeon before going to her room.

  "Are you okay, Ms. Diaz?" the guard asked, "You look a little pale."

  "I'm fine. But I've been around the sick, so keep your distance," she said as he moved to let her through.

  "Well, whatever you have...I hope you feel better soon. Maybe you should give the king a kiss? Maybe he'll get sick."

  Aria had to remind herself that she couldn't slap him.

  She made her way down the stairs, feeling a little lightheaded.

  Shit. She was definitely sick.

  "Aria? What are you doing here?" Lex asked as soon as she got down the stairs.

  "I came to check on you," she said, placing a hand on the wall to steady herself.

  "Are you okay?" he asked, walking up to place a hand on her back.

  "Stay away from me."

  "What?"

  "You-you need to stay away from me. I'm sick."

  "Aria...what the hell is going on? I heard the guard? What was he talking about? What virus?"

  She closed her eyes, willing herself to stay upright. She couldn't pass out. There was still so much for her to do.

  "Aria. What the fuck? Tell me you didn't-"

  But she didn't hear the end of his sentence. Her knees buckled, and she felt herself falling back. No longer strong enough to stay upright.

  She didn't hit the ground like she knew she should have. Instead, she felt Lex's arms. One at her back and the other behind her knees as he caught her

  "Shit. Aria. Open your eyes," he said. His voice sounded panicked. Scared.

  It took all of her strength to open her eyes to look at him.

  "We should have stayed at that house," she said.

  And then everything went black.

  When she woke up, she was in a bed in the quarantine room. She looked around, unsure of the time or the day. The sunlight streaming through the window told her that it was midday, but the ache in her joints told her more than a few hours had passed.

  When she passed out, it was morning. Had she slept over a day? She tried to get out of bed.

  "Easy there," Adrian said, running over to help her out.

  "What happened?"

  "A guard brought you here. Apparently, you passed out in the dungeon."

  "Lex?"

  "He's fine. He carried you up the stairs, but the guards wouldn't let him take you further than that. I heard it was quite the fight," he said.

  "Oh my god. What happened? Is-is he okay?"

  "Yeah, he's fine. I checked on him a few hours ago."

  Relief washed over her. "Is he symptomatic at all?"

  "No, whatever the hell this is...looks like he's immune," Adrian said, raising an eyebrow. "Lucky him, huh?"

  "How long have I been asleep?"

  "The guards brought you here yesterday morning."

  So a whole day had passed.

  "What are you doing here?" she asked.

  "I’m sick too. I was here when they brought you in."

  "But you're feeling better?"

  "Yeah, I woke up this morning. Whatever it is, it passes fast. Well, for some of us."

  "Is...is everyone else okay?"

  Yes, our friends are okay. None of them caught it. All in all, it was about fifty of us."r />
  "Has...has anyone died?" she asked, afraid to hear his answer.

  "No," he said, looking away. "The guard? The big muscular one? That was supposed to go get the others. He has it the worst, along with a few others. They’ll recover, but they won’t be going anywhere for a while."

  Coincidentally enough," he said, lowering his voice, "Three of the five guards who were supposed to go on the mission to bring the others back are among the worst off. Kind of weird, right?"

  The look she gave Adrian told him all he needed to know. He didn't ask her anything else.

  She stood, ready to help the others.

  "You're weak. You should go eat something. Get some of your strength back before you go play doctor," Adrian said.

  She didn't want to leave; she wasn't ready to face the others yet. But Adrian was right; she was weak. So she made her way to the throne room.

  On the way there, she ran into Warren.

  "Ms. Diaz," he said, "Glad to see you up and walking. You scared us."

  "Yeah, I'm feeling much better," she said.

  "What were you doing in the dungeon? They said the king brought you up to the guard?"

  "Oh, um. I-I was checking on him."

  "Any reason why?"

  "Well, you said we should keep him alive. And he was shot. I was just making sure that-that his wound wasn't infected or anything."

  "That all?" he asked. The look on his face filled her with dread. He knew that wasn't all.

  "Why else would I go down there?"

  "I don't know...from what I heard...you and the king were quite close."

  "I told you he made me marry him. It-it wasn't real or anything."

  He studied her for a few minutes.

  "If you say so," he said, shrugging. "In any case, you are not allowed down there again."

  "What? Why?” she asked, momentarily forgetting that she was supposed to be feigning disinterest. "I mean, shouldn't someone periodically check on him?"

  "Yes, but leave that to me. Jackson will be checking on him from now on."

  "Oh," she said, "Well, okay then."

  She left after that, but she knew he was watching her.

  Fuck. He was suspicious. And now, she couldn't even see Lex anymore.

  No matter, she thought. You'll free him soon enough, and then we'll have nothing but time. She tried to convince herself that it would really happen, that she'd see him soon, and that they'd have all the time in the world to figure things out.