Chapter Forty Four


    Chapter Forty Four


    Aliya''s POV


    Trian stood dutifully at his post by the door. I watched him out of the corner of my eye, careful not to let him know I was looking. The man was indeed handsome.


    I wanted to say something to him-anything-but I didn''t know what to say. Since the incident, we hadn''t exchanged a single word. He went on breaks and returned as quickly as he could; he was always present, and suddenly my room didn''t feel like a cage anymore.


    If only I could talk to him. What would I say?


    Ask him about the weather?... maybeplement his... clothes. His uniform was different from the soldiers here. He wore a thick, ck, high-cored jacket paired with fitted pants. From the texture, it looked like it was either made of crocodile skin or something that closely resembled it.


    I found my eyes trailing lower.


    "Aren''t you hungry?" He asked, and I quickly looked away from him, my gaze returning to the book in my hands, the one I held up-side-down.


    I was indeed hungry, but I was used to being starved.


    "It''s not yet time to eat."


    "You''ve not eaten in days." He reminded me. Of course, I hadn''t. It''s not new to me. Empress Julia only brings me food when she believes it''s the right time; this is time for studies. I was to keep reading and reading until she thinks I had read enough.


    "The Empress will send me a meal if she believes it''s time. I voiced out.


    "You''ve not answered my question, Aliya," he said, calling me by my name again; my stomach fluttered with ''butterflies''-I got those anytime he called my name. "Are you hungry?"


    "Yes. I am hungry, but I have learned to ignore hunger."


    "Stay here." He says, pulling the door open.


    I watched him walk away. I knew for a fact that it wasn''t yet time for his usual breaks. The previous


    soldiers assigned to watch over me had never left me alone, not even once; they''d rather take turns to do their business.


    I sat on the chair, curious as to what he went to do.


    He returned in about thirty minutes. A tray of food in his hands. My stomach growled from the mouthwatering


    smell.


    "Eat." He says the words sounded more like an order.


    I wanted to eat, all so badly; I wet my lips, but I couldn''t make a move because I knew what this was: It was a test. The Empress wanted to test me, and if I failed, I would be punished.


    "Thank you, but it''s not time to eat. If it''s time, the Empress would bring me some food." I repeated. "The Empress is not around now; she won''t be for the next two days." He says, and my eyes drift back to the food. A temptation-that''s what it was.


    "Had she sent you to test me?" I asked, of course even if she had, he would deny it, and yet I still asked.


    "No. She isn''t aware."


    Chapter Forty Four


    I took the tray of food with visibly shaking hands. I was going to be punished, but I was so hungry, I gave in to the temptation. I took a handful of blueberries and shoved it into my mouth; I continued with the roastedmb and bread rolls. I had never been given this much- in a very, very long time-and I emptied the tray of food in a matter of minutes; only then did I realize how uncourteous I had behaved. I didn''t invite him to eat, and he might be disgusted watching me eat like a pig. This would have earned me some punishment if I dared this with Empress Julia present.


    I looked up, only to see him watching me.


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