The Love of a Slave

Three months had passed since the incident in the forest. Summer had slowly melted away, bringing forth the vivid colors of autumn. Coran and Arielle had barely spoken to each other since their argument.

Arielle was currently laying on her stomach, leafing through a Cosmopolitin magazine one of the other humans had smuggled in for her. Her fingers fiddled with the ruffle of her blanket while she read up on the latest styles.

Muffled footsteps were sounding in the next room. She tried to ignore them, but it was a vain attempt. Coran barely spent any time in his room lately, and when he did, he never acknowledged her presence. She was still pissed at him, of course, but the loneliness was finally starting to sink in.

She heard a door beyond her room slam closed and she knew he had left. She sighed and slid off her bed. She cracked her door open a little and peeked in to Coran\'s room. \'Ha,\' she thought victoriously. \'The coast is clear.\'

She ran to the main door and pulled it open. \"Freedom!\" she muttered happily. Before she could take even one step toward the main hall the door slammed shut again.

\"Eek!\" she screamed and fell backward.

Coran was leaning triumphantly against the closed exit. \"Going somewhere?\"

Arielle glared at him. \"Come on!\" she said exasperatedly, throwing her hands up in the air. \"You can\'t keep me locked in here forever!\"

\"Just watch me.\" Coran said. \"You get yourself in to too much trouble.\"

Steam was practically starting to pour out of Arielle\'s ears. \"I don\'t get in to trouble!\"

Coran snorted. \"Yeah, right.\" he said, rolling his eyes.

\"But,\" she said pitifully. \"I\'m so bored!\"

\"That\'s not my problem!\"

\"Coran!\" to both of their surprise, she latched on to his arm. \"Please! I\'m going crazy in here!\"

\"Gah! Let me go, you psyco!\" he yelled.

\"Coran!\"

\"No!\" he screamed, desperately trying to pull her off. \"You\'re staying here!\"

\"No way!\" she said stubbornly. \"I want to go outside! I haven\'t had fresh air in months!\" she squeezed his arm even tighter.

\"What is wrong with you? Do you have PMS or what?!\"

\"No.\" she said, glaring at him. \"I just...\" she trailed off, looking at the floor. \"I just want to go outside.\"

He scoffed. \"Fine.\" he said grudgingly. \"If you\'ll stop acting so wierd.\"

\"I\'m not acting wierd.\" Arielle said indignantly as she walked out the door with him.

She let go of his arm when they were a safe distance away from the room. That was the longest converstaion they had had since their argument about Keeting. She wasn\'t sure if they were on speaking terms again, but she was too afraid to ask. So, they walked in silence for a while, until she realized something.

She stopped walking. \"Um... Coran?\"

He looked back at her and stopped walking. \"What is it?\"

\"Umm...\" she said worriedly. \"What day is it?\"

\"October 25th.\" he narrowed his eyes in suspicion. \"Why?\"

She put a shaky hand to her forehead. \"Ar-are you sure?\"

He glared. \"Of coarse I\'m sure!\" he snapped. \"Hey!\" he said when she started racing toward the gates. \"Arielle! What is this about?\"

Arielle just ignored him. She kept running until she reached the edge of the forest. She leaned against a large red oak tree and slid to the ground.

\"Arielle.\" Coran said sternly, finally catching up with her. \"What is this about?\" he repeated.

She looked up at him with surprise. She didn\'t think he\'d follow her. She opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. She tried to speak again, but only a muffled squeak escaped her lips.

\"Are you sick?\" he asked, sitting beside her. She shook her head. \"Then, what?\"

\"I...\" she managed. \"I...\" she tried to choke back a sob.

\"Arielle.\" Coran hissed, grabbing her by the arms and shaking her. \"Tell me what\'s wrong!\"

\"I...\" she sputtered. \"I can\'t!\"

\"Why?\"

\"Because you\'ll hate me!\" she yelled, crumpling to the ground.

\"Arielle?\" he asked uncertainly. He tried to put a hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged it away.

\"Please tell me what\'s wrong.\" he said, his voice softening.

She lifted her head from her hands and looked up at him. \"I\'m pregnant.\"

Coran felt as though he\'d been sucker-punched in the stomach. \"What?\" he said disbelievingly. \"No, you can\'t be. Are you sure?\"

She nodded feebly. \"I haven\'t had my period in three months.\" she said slowly. \"I never even thought about it until you made that PMS joke earlier.\"

Several minutes passed in silence. Arielle couldn\'t find the courage to look up. \"Coran, I know you\'re really mad, but---\"

\"Is Keeting the father?\" he said abruptly, cutting her off.

She looked at him in disbelief. \"Of course he is. Who else would it be?\"

Coran ran a hand through his hair. His brain couldn\'t seem to form a single intelligent thought.

\"Are you mad?\" Arielle asked uncertainly.

Coran didn\'t answer, he just sighed and stood up. \"Don\'t leave.\" Arielle pleaded. He pretended he didn\'t hear her and started to walk back toward the palace.

\"Fine then, just go!\" Arielle screamed, angry tears welling up in her eyes. \"You run away from everything!\" she said furiously. \"Including me.\"

Coran spun around and glared at her. \"Don\'t make this about me. It\'s not my fault you got yourself knocked up.\"

Arielle gasped. \"It\'s not my fault either!\"

\"Oh yeah?\" Coran said. \"Well, correct me if I\'m wrong, but I distinctly remember you telling me it wasn\'t rape!\"

\"Because I didn\'t want you to get hurt!\" she bellowed. \"I didn\'t want him to hurt you.\"

\"God, make up your mind!\" Coran said. \"Did he rape you, or was it consentual? I want the truth.\"

Her bottom lip trembled. \"I can\'t answer that.\" she said, turning her head away.

\"Why the hell not?\" Coran demanded.

\"Because I\'m embarassed!\"

\"Embarassed?!\" he snapped. \"You won\'t tell me the truth because you\'re embarassed?!\"

He took a deep breath. \"Alright, I\'m sorry.\" he said, trying his best to keep his voice calm and even. \"But I need to know, did he glamour you?\"

She nodded. \"Was it strong?\"

\"At first.\" she said. Coran huffed and began to walk away. \"At first he just disoriented me. But... I started fighting it.\"

Coran turned around with a suprised look on his face. \"You... fought it?\"

\"Yeah, when he started taking my jeans off, my mind went haywire.\" she said. \"So, I tried to clear my head.\"

\"So he made it stronger?\" Coran asked hopefully.

\"No, he weakened it.\" said Arielle matter-of-factly.

\"So we\'re back to consentual.\" Coran scoffed.

\"No, he weakened the glamour because he used illusion instead.\" she said, staring at the ground. \"So, in my eyes, I wasn\'t having sex with Dollan.\"

\"Who... was it then?\"

Arielle flushed and looked away. \"You.\"