10. Amaya

Iawake disoriented, my head pounding. As awareness returns, I bolt upright in alarm. I am in a small room devoid of furnishings save the narrow bed I lay upon. There's one window that tells me I'm on the second or third floor, an adjoining bathroom, and a single door that is shut.

Heart racing, I leap from the bed and try the handle. But it's locked. "Hello?" I call out shakily. "Is anyone there? Why am I here?" Only silence answers my rising panic.

I desperately search the room for some means of escape but find nothing. The walls are solid stone, impossible to breach. Despair wells up as the full horror of my imprisonment sinks in.

I sink to the floor, hot tears spilling down my cheeks. How did I come to be caged like an animal? My last clear memory is of walking back from the market with...

A gasp escapes me. "Siderus." He was the one who brought me here, locked me away. But why? After our magical evening together, I thought...

Fresh anguish lances through me at this ultimate betrayal. I trusted him completely, let myself believe I had found understanding and shelter. How foolish I was, to think someone could truly care for someone like me.

Exhausted from sobbing and fruitlessly pounding on the unyielding door, I eventually retreat to sit huddled on the bed. However I came to be Siderus"s prisoner, I know with cold certainty he does not intend to let me go free. As the hours drag by, despair settles like a shroud around my shoulders, smothering even the faintest embers of hope.

At last, the heavy door swings open and Siderus enters. I leap up, heart in my throat. "Let me go, please," I beg, trying to move past him.

But his hand shoots out to grip my arm painfully. "You cannot leave yet, Amaya," he says coldly.

I search his face, this remote stranger wearing Siderus"s skin. "What are you doing?" I ask frantically. "This isn"t you. Let me go home, I won"t tell anyone!"

His jaw tightens, though his eyes reflect an echo of anguish. "You must remain here for now. It is the only way."

Rage and hurt rise up, choking me. "The only way for what?" I demand. "What are you going to do to me?"

Siderus flinches, but his tone remains stern. "Don't act like this. I need you to be compliant and contained until I have what I want from your father."

His callous words strike me like blows. "You used me," I whisper as bitter tears fill my eyes. "I was just a tool to exploit."

"Amaya..." Siderus reaches for me but I jerk away.

"Do not touch me, cretin!" Anger blazes through the hurt. "You are no better than the monsters I was warned of as a child. I curse the day we met!"

Siderus"s face spasms at that but he simply turns away. "Insult me all you like if it helps. You will remain here until I permit otherwise."

"Tell me why!" I demand, fury and hurt making my voice tremble. "Explain why you"ve done this, why you"re treating me this way!"

Siderus"s jaw clenches, his eyes shadowed. "There is nothing to say. This is necessary."

"Necessary?" I repeat in disbelief. "Kidnapping and deceiving me was necessary for what purpose?"

Siderus remains stubbornly silent, unable to meet my searching gaze.

I grab his arm, forcing him to face me. "Look at me! After all we shared, everything between us - don"t I deserve some explanation?"

Anguish flickers across his face, there and gone in an instant. But his tone remains cold. "You were a means to an end. Do not make more of it than that."

His callous words ignite a white hot fury within me. "A means to an end," I echo, voice trembling. "So you pretended affection, gained my trust, only to betray me so completely?"

Siderus flinches almost imperceptibly but says nothing.

Blinded by raging hurt, I shove him away from me. "Well, congratulations. You succeeded admirably in your deception." I swipe angrily at the tears spilling down my cheeks. "Just let me go."

Siderus looks away, jaw tight. "You must remain here. My plans cannot move forward otherwise."

His cold tone ignites a blaze of fury within me. "What plans?" I demand. "Give me some answers!"

Siderus"s eyes flash with regret, but his voice remains hard. "I owe you no explanations. Be silent and accept your confinement."

He turns to leave and panic rises in my throat. "No!" I cry, reaching for him desperately. "Siderus, please, you cannot just leave me here without answers!"

He hesitates, conflict flickering across his face before his expression closes over once more. "It is done. Do not make this harder than it must be."

Tears spill down my cheeks as he walks steadily for the door. "I hate you!" I scream after him, emotion choking the words. "I hate you for making me believe you cared, only to deceive me so cruelly!"

Siderus flinches, hand pausing on the door handle. For a moment I think he will turn back. Then his shoulders straighten and he passes through without a backward glance, the lock clicking decisively behind him.

I sink to the floor, sobs wracking my frame. The memory of tender nights under the stars mocks me now. I was a fool to ever open my heart to him. And now only bitterness and betrayal remain where affection once dwelled.