The Prince's Prisoner

Warmth

Please, please, please read the note at the end. 

Chapter 14 - Warmth. Enjoy!

Aria lay on the bed, eyes vacant and mouth flat. The boredom was almost comically consuming, how she would just lie there, not that the chain attached onto her anklet and the bed really helped.

So she tried to run. As in waited a week, and when he finally let her into the library, slammed the biggest volume book over his head about three times and took off running. It didn't succeed, well, it succeeded in pissing him off, but other than that, it turned out rather poorly.

Loki had introduced the chain, a way to severely punish, and terrify, her into obeying. It was currently working.

It had been possibly two weeks since she first awoke, and Aria was finally starting to learn. She didn't fight as much when he held her at night, or if he told her to sit with him, or eat together. Slowly he was taking her passion, her fighting spirit away and leaving a pet in the process, as he liked her call her in mockery.

Sometimes he would leave her a book on the nightstand if she had been 'good' the day before, other times he would leave with nothing, like he had that day because she tried to throw a knife at him from across the dinner table. It was childish, Aria knew it was unprofessional, immature and was not clever enough to get her the fuck out of here. She was an Agent of SHIELD, she hadn't been acting like it. Instead going for petty attempts at hurting him or seeing herself as nothing more than a victim.

But he hadn't raped her yet.

That was one of the worst parts, the wait. He'd tease her with it, start to raise her dress if she really fought back, run his lips across her neck if she back talked him. Every night her heart raced and mind went numb when he touched her. Tonight could be the night she would chant to herself. Yet, it hadn't been. Why hadn't it been? He clearly wanted too, they slept practically moulded together, Aria could feel that he wanted too. She didn't understand what the self-denial brought him. She appreciated it, but she knew he wouldn't just be doing that to get into her good books, he wouldn't do it at all if that's what he intended. No, there had to be more. Was it to just to torment her further? The promise of it happening, the lack of action is what was destroying her the most.

Rolling over, she cursed to herself when the chain tugged her back, restricting her from even reaching the end of the bed. This kind of punishment was more emotionally difficult to handle than the mental torture or the physical pain, because it made her dependent on him. When he came back and unlocked that chain, she felt relief and gratitude, that's what broke her, the way her emotions betrayed her, making her thankful for him chaining her up, it was sickening. And he knew he was doing it, he was incredibly clever to have manipulated human minds like this, and it clearly didn't just come from training a god damn horse.

Aria never knew what day of the week it was, the time or how long she had actually been there. Her day, as he probably intended, was assessed by Loki, when he left she assumed it was the morning, when he returned she guessed it was late afternoon. She hadn't seen anyone, she had heard someone in the other room once, a woman humming, most likely a staff member making food or cleaning, Loki seemed the kind to need servants. Aria had screamed and screamed for her help, she received no reply. Loki later told her that he had now soundproofed the bedroom unless he otherwise decided. So he could still bark orders at her from another room, but her hope would be diminished. He also told her that the woman was dead. She had complained to her manager about the issue, and the manger, loyal to Loki, had reported her in return. She had been killed for her betrayal.

Having never been the outright cause of someone's death before caused guilt to hit Aria like she never expected. While Loki had tried to comfort her, she had just sobbed uselessly. Comfort was putting it nicely, he only used affection with her to manipulate her human emotions into trusting him.